PROCEEDINGS OF THE SUMMER MEETING 21 



tried in recent years, and it is possible tliat it can be successfully man- 

 aged. II" not, it is time for those who have any fruit to sell "to sell 

 it and stop their complainls. 



Mr, Hancock: Mr. Graham said, as to the method of procedure last 

 year, that the fruit was not graded. That is one of the features that 

 the central packinghouse system is to obviate; that is one of the defects, 

 and the fruit, as 1 understand it, is brought into the central packing- 

 house (the growers grade their fruit and bring it there). They are 

 members of the association, it is their fruit all through. A man brings 

 in a hundred bushels of peaches. He receives a credit slip for a hun- 

 dred bushels of ungraded fruit. As soon as it goes through the hands 

 of the expert grader he is credited with a certain percentage of his 

 fruit, so much of No. 1, so much of No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4, as it will 

 grade. So soon as it goes into the hands of the grader it loses its identity 

 as his fruit; it belongs to the association, but he as a contributing mem- 

 ber is interested in it. The fruit is sold in almost every case outright, 

 and he is credited in the first place with his credit slip of a hundred 

 bushels of ungraded fruit. Then he is credited with perhaps 40 bushels 

 of No. 1, 30 bushels of No. 2, 10 bushels of No. 3, and 20 bushels of 

 culls, which will make him his 100 bushels. Then he is credited at the 

 close of the day's work with the selling price of all those, according to 

 the grade and the quality he has brought in. This plan is, of course,, 

 comparatively new here. As explained by Mr. Owen at Holland, it 

 has been in operation for five years, but in this same method of pro- 

 cedure I understand it has been practiced a good while with the oranges 

 and other fruits of California. There are features in it that are admir- 

 able. There may be defects. Time will show that in both cases. Mr. 

 Graham says that we must bring our fruit in and sell it and take what 

 we can get. That is what we have been doing, and in most cases it 

 has been very little at that. For the past three years we have not, 

 in many cases, received enough for our fruit to pay the cost of harvest- 

 ing and shipping, and I know last season, part of the season at least, 

 the more a man shipped or the more he had to ship the more he was 

 out of pocket during at least a part of the season. There is no doubt 

 that at times, if we were following the central packing-house system, 

 we would not make as much, but it is necessary that something should 

 be done, and I believe there are features in this system that are good 

 and the best thing perhaps that we have in sight. As has been already 

 stated, there are two companies of this kind to be organized in this state 

 this year, and I hope that their success will be so great that it will 

 start us out in the right direction. We certainly need a change of some 

 kind, and I think there are some good features of it. I understand also 

 that this same plan is in operation in northern Ohio, in regard to celery, 

 and I hope that the time will come when we can have something of 

 the sort in operation right here in our own city along that line. There 

 is certainly need of grading in our fruit and vegetables, and it seems 

 to me this is the best method that has been brought before us for 

 doing that kind of work. 



Mr. Morrill: You will readily see that I am a little weak on this, 

 not having had an opportunity to hear w^hat has already been said, 

 and never having had any practical experience in the central packing- 

 house system. I have never seen it in operation. I can readily see 

 where there would be some defects that perhaps could be easily rerae- 



