SELLING FRUIT IN GREAT BRITAIN ON COMMISSION 



The chaiires that have recently been made 

 that certain British importers of Canadian 

 fruit have long had an understanding through 

 which they have been able to keep down the 

 prices of the fruit led The Horticulturist to 

 write to Mr. W. W. Moore, at Ottawa, Chief of 

 the Extension of Markets, to see if some of the 

 Dominion Government's agents in Great Britain 

 could not be utilized to investigate the truth of 

 these charges. "The following reply has been 

 received from Mi'. Moore : 



Some time ago I noticed in the press a state- 

 ment by a Mr. Cochrane, of Boston, in which he 

 charged the importers of fruit in Great Britain 

 with making fraudulent returns to apple ship- 

 pers on this side of the water. As Mr. Coch- 

 rane's statement was copied by the Canadian 

 newspapers I presume this is the matter to 

 which you allude. 



At the time Mr. Cochrane's statement ap- 

 pealed I noticed it, but did not consider it worth 

 an inv'estigation. I know something of the 

 methods whereby the leading fruit brokers in 

 Liverpool, London and Glasgow dispose of the 

 apples they receive on consignment, and, as far 

 as the principal firms are concerned, I do not 

 believe they make fraudulent retui'ns or act dis- 

 honestly in any way. 



In Liverpool there are six firms who dispose 

 of apples by public auction. From what I 

 know of the manner in which these sales are 

 conducted I do not think that it would be possi- 

 ble to form a combine to keep down the prices 

 without such an arrangement becoming public. 

 Of course, apart from the six firms I mentioned, 

 there are a number of smaller concerns in 

 Liverpool, each of whom handle considerable 

 quantities of imported apples during the year. 

 Some of these may be crooked and make false 

 returns, but I have never heard any specific 

 complaint regarding the business methods of 

 any of the British fruit dealers. 



This department has not " agents " in Great 

 Britain in the proper acceptance of the term, 

 but we have inspectors at the chief ports, whose 

 duty it is to observe and report regarding the 

 condition in which Canadian perishable pro- 

 duce is landed from the steamers and the hand- 

 ling it receives during the process of discharge. 

 These inspectors are stationed at Glasgow, 



London, Bristol, Manchester and Liverpool. 

 The Chief Inspector is Mr. A. W. Grindley, who 

 is stationed at Liverpool and who has local 

 supervision of the work of the other inspectors. 

 Mr. Grindley is a Canadian who has held his 

 position for over six years. He is wide awake 

 and energetic, and is thoroughly informed re- 

 garding the selling end of the apple trade. I 

 shall write him to-day and bring the charges, 

 referred to in your letter, before his attention, 

 and as soon as I receive his reply I shall trans- 

 mit it to you. 



A BRITISH OPINION. 



The charges which have been made have at- 

 tracted attention in Great Britain. The fol- 

 lowing clipping from the Manchester Daily 

 Despatch may be of interest : 



A strong appeal has been made on behalf of 

 the fruit growers and fruit shippers of Canada 

 to the High Commissioner to investigate cer- 

 tain grave accusations, formulated very definite- 

 ly on the other side, against the foreign fruit 

 trade of Liverpool, Manchester, and London. 

 It is alleged that the English importers, who se- 

 cure consignments of fruit through agents in 

 Toronto, Montreal, Nova Scotia and Boston at 

 prices to be determined at auction in England, 

 have manipulated the market in collusion with 

 the fruit salesmen of the auction rooms. By 

 secret arrangement among the sellers and buy- 

 ers concerned, the fruit is " knocked down " at 

 prices that are unremunerative to the Canadian 

 exporters. 



Such an impeachment of the honor of gentle- 

 men engaged in a most reputable branch of 

 commerce, is not supported so far by sufficient 

 evidence to warrant any special investigation 

 by the Canadian authorities. Complaint of the 

 low prices obtained for colonial fruit in the 

 English market is chronic, and this j^ear's slump 

 in fruit, consequent upon an exceptionally 

 abundant season, as it affects the exuberant 

 imagination on the other side, is reflected, it is 

 thought, in this daring indictment of the Eng- 

 lish dealers in fruit on the ground of bogus 

 sales and control of the market by a dishonest 

 fruit ring. The matter has gone too far in 

 Canada, however, to warrant the trade involved 

 in treating the charge with contemptuous 

 silence. 



PACKING APPLES IN BOXES FOR EXPORT 



ALEX. C. BIGGS, BURLINGTON, ONT. 



Every fruit grower with a spark of pride for 

 the fruit industry of this country must feel 

 humiliated by the article which appeared in the 

 January number of The Horticulturist, on Pack- 

 ing Apples in Boxes, by J. B. Thomas, of Lon- 

 don, England. 



The article gives the impressions of a very 

 prominent apple dealer upon the new and grow- 

 ing custom of packing apples in boxes, which 

 he discourages, not because it is not a good 

 style of package but because Canadians do not 

 know how to pack apples in boxes. His words 

 are : 



" I have observed the Canadian attempts at 

 packing in boxes, and, with few exceptions, I 

 may say that the less we see of such boxes and 

 such packing the better for those interested In 

 shipping apples from Canada." 



I do not agree with Mr. Thomas in the view 

 that because we are not proficient in the pack- 

 ing of apples in boxes we should cast them 

 aside. If such a rule had been applied to bar- 

 rels years ago perhaps we should not be using 

 them now. The box has its place for first- 

 class fruit suitable for a certain class of cus- 

 tomers, and the barrel for both first and second, 

 grades for those who favor it. 



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