176 STxVTE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



fruit he comes again. Tlie stencil number is fixed in his mind; and when 

 he finds the fruit, prices can be held firm, and all concerned realize a substan- 

 tial benefit from the transaction. 



Now, let us see how the best grades of this man's fruit fares. The com- 

 mission merchant receives it, and if you have succeeded in making him 

 believe that you are honest, or if you have a good reputation already 

 established on thQ street, he will place your fruit in the hands of some good 

 customer, perhaps having to guarantee it and take a moderate price for it. 

 It proves all right and this customer tries this brand again and again; and 

 if, after a long acquaintance, the fruit has proved perfect, you have gained a 

 customer who will not let your fruit go begging. This class of growers, I am 

 sorry to say, is quite small, but there are a few of them scattered all over 

 this fruit belt. Each of us can name a few. If you are acquainted with 

 such a man you will find his general reputation and credit is good. He is 

 said to be making money; you find him at meetings like this; his eyes 

 and ears are open, and in slang phrase, he "catches on" to every item 

 that can be used to improve his busiuess. You seldom hear him call 

 commission men "thieves." He finds them his friends, anxious to do his 

 business, ready to accommodate, willing to suggest improvements, interested 

 in his welfare, and oq the whole a very satisfactory and indispensable part- 

 ner in the business. 



Our second class is a very large one, composed of fairly honest men who 

 do not mean to defraud anybody unless it pays ; who, if they owe you a dol- 

 lar will pay it, but when it comes to packing fruit you will find that their 

 finest apples, peaches or berries are always in sight and the poorest is some- 

 where in the same packag*^. If one of these men should have his deception 

 pointed out to him by a swindled purchaser, he would probably lay it to the 

 boys or the hired man. If you or I should argue with him, he would claim 

 that it was all right, as others do so; also that the purchaser expects to finl the 

 best on top, and I suppose he would not like to disappoint the buyer. These 

 are the most common arguments used in defense of this plan. This class of 

 men will often tell you that their commission man has instructed them that 

 it is the best course to pursue. Now don't you believe a word of it. I have 

 a quite large acquaintance with the leading firms on South Water street, 

 aud I never heard one of them recommeud such a cours3. On the contrary, 

 they plead for straight packing, full size packa«;e3, and regular shipments. 

 From this class of shippers we can hope for better things, as there is a pretty 

 good element among them, and they will respond fairly to a request or demand 

 for better work, especially if they can be convinced thai it pays; but few of 

 them have patience enough to give a better method a fair trial. I have in 

 my mind a few men who have tried a few shipments and condemned tiie plan 

 because it did not advance prices as rapidly as they desired, forgetting, per- 

 haps, that they had been years building up a rather bad reputation for their 

 fruit, and expect to remedy all that in a few shipments. Here let us urge 

 upon all shippers that a steady determination to get to the front by honest 

 packing and honest packages will get you there as sure as the sun shines. 



Now, we will call attention to the third class of growers, with whom I 

 claim all honest fruit growers as well as the general public have a right to 

 interfere, not by law but by force cf public opinion, and compel them to 

 quit their disreputable methods or abandon their business in disgrace. This 

 is the thoroughly dishonest portion of the lake shore fruit growers. Let me 



