'pie (anadien f|orticclt(irist 



APRIL, 1905 



Volume XXVIII 



Number 4 



THE WISHES OF FRUIT GROWERS IGNORED 



IN spite of the apparently unanimous 

 wis'hes of the fruit growers of Canada 

 the Hon. Sydney Fisher, Dominion Minister 

 of Agriculture, has placed the Fruit Divi- 

 sion under the control of the Dairy Commis- 

 sioner. This means that in matters of 

 policy affecting the fruit industry the chief 

 of the fruit division must consult the Dairy 

 Commissioner and has no right to confer 

 direct with the Alinister of Agriculture. It 

 means that the fruit industry is placed on a 

 lower level than the dairy and live stock in- 

 dustries and even than the matter of the sale 

 of seeds, as all three have been recognized 

 b}- the appointment of commissioners subor- 

 dinate in their work only to the Minister of 

 Agriculture. 



W'hen it became known, some months 

 ago, that it was proposed to place the chief 

 of the fruit division under the control of the 

 Dairy Commissioner protest was imme- 

 diately made by fruit growers in all parts of 

 Canada. Resolutions opposing such a 

 move were passed by several associations 

 including the provincial fruit growers as- 

 sociations of Prince Edward Island and 

 British Columbia. 



The protest from the British Columbia 

 association was as follows : 



" We, the undersigned, the members of 

 the executive committee of the British 

 Columbia Fruit Growers' Association, beg 

 to protest against the reported proposal to 

 unite the Dairv and Fruit divisions of the 



Department of Agriculture under one head. 

 We feel that the fruit industry in the Do- 

 minion is becoming so important that the 

 chief of the Fruit Division should be next 

 to the minister and not subordinate to the 

 chief of any other division. 



(Signed) " R. M. Palmer. 



•• H. Kipp. 



" T. W. Stirling. 



"J. C. Metcalfe. 



"W. J. Brandrith." 

 The Prince Edward Island growers at 

 their annual convention in December passed 

 the following resolution unanimously: 



'* Whereas it has come to the knowledge 

 of this association, through the press that 

 an amalgamation of the Fruit with the Dairy 

 Division of the Department of Agriculture, 

 Ottawa, is in contemplation ; therefore it is 

 resolved that this assemblage of the fruit 

 growers of Prince Edward Island do re- 

 spectfully express to the Honorable the 

 Minister of Agriculture its unqualified dis- 

 approval of any such amalgamation as 

 detrimental to the large and increasing horti- 

 cultural interests of Canada, which call for 

 extension in their central offices rather than 

 restriction." 



Other provincial associations would have 

 taken similar action had they heard of the 

 proposal in time. As it was, many promi- 

 nent fruit growers wrote direct to Mr. 

 Fisher. A number of papers also regis- 

 tered vigorous editorial protests. 



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