390 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



portation companies, and let every grower pick and pack his crop 

 so carefully and honestly that he can testify upon oath that it was 

 properly done, and then this throwing around of fruit by the ex- 

 press companies can be stopped. 



Fruit bought direct from an association sells quicker and 

 easier than any other. "The test of the pudding is m the eating." 

 The consumer knows the freshest fruit, for he eats it, and the 

 freshest fruit is the kind that sells easiest ; therefore the dealer who 

 buys direct can sell more and sell it quicker and sell it easier than 

 his competitor who buys from the middleman. 



Fruit bought direct will also bring more money than any 

 other and costs less. It will bring more because, other things be- 

 ing equal, the freshest fruit has the least waste and will bring the 

 highest price ; and, it costs less because the middleman is not 

 handling the business for nothing, and it is universally admitted 

 that profits on all commodities are paid by the consumer and not 

 by the producer — just as government duties are paid by the con- 

 sumer and not by the producer. 



Then again, the dealer is more certain of his supply if he buys 

 direct. If there is any supply at all, the Minnesota associations 

 will fill dealers' orders first and with the best fruit. 



Finally, the dealer who buys direct is able to secure not only 

 every advantage which he could by dealing with the middleman 

 but many more besides, for the middleman is dependent upon the 

 grower. 



Perchance this paper may sound a little too encouraging for 

 the association. If so we would say in closing that we would not 

 advise the organizing of any more associations in the state of 

 Minnesota without the most careful investigation. Both North 

 and South Dakota, which is our best retail territory, have placed 

 many orders for nursery stock during this past summer, and 

 they will soon be raising their own fruit ; in fact there is already 

 a fruit association in South Dakota two years old. Wholesale 

 shipments from Wisconsin, Omaha and the Pacific Coast have also 

 increased during the past season. And, worse than this, some of 

 our Minnesota associations, laboring under a wrong idea of the laws 

 of commerce, have begun to cut each other's prices. Altogether 

 a variety of conditions are arising which are by no means en- 

 couraging, and the new association will meet with many dis- 

 couragements before success is assured. 



