340 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



ducts at the exposition was due not only to 

 the natural resources of the locality, but 

 even more to the skill and care of the men 

 who handled the fruit from the tree to the 

 show tables. A similar exhibit of storage 

 fruit could not have been made at the 

 Columbian Exposition in 1893. The pro- 

 gress since then has been due not so much 

 to the methods of cold storage as to the fact 

 that we have learned that fruit should de- 



vel< p full size and high color before pick- 

 ing, that in the handling it should be treated 

 like a delicate living body, that heavy wrap- 

 ping protects it from bruising, that it should 

 be packed in small packages, shipped imme- 

 diately to a warehouse and stored in a tem- 

 perature of 29 to 31 degrees F. We need 

 to apply the lessons of this great exposition 

 to the handling of fruit for commercial pur- 

 poses. 



COOPERATION 



MAXWELL SMITH, FRUIT INSPECTOR, VANCOUVER, B. C. 



COOPERATION is a uniting of efforts 

 for mutual profit and improvement 

 without injury to anyone, and not a com- 

 bining of forces to crush competitors for 

 the purpose of building a temple of fortune 

 on the ruin of a weaker rival. True co- 

 operation cannot fail to produce the most 

 salutary effects upon those who profit by its 

 practical operations and to raise its votaries 

 to a much higher plane than can possibly 

 be obtained under the ordinary competitive 

 system. It is not a means to an easy liv- 

 ing without the toil of hand or brain, but 

 provides a just remuneration for both, and 

 gives men a clearer conception of the innate 

 dignity of honest labor. Cooperation does 

 not require the subversion of law or exist- 

 ing institutions, the annihilation of the capi- 

 talist or the overthrow of labor unions and 

 other organizations. It encourages indi- 

 vidual efforts by rewarding according to 

 merit and pays capital its reasonable hire, 

 but the profits go to the producer and to the 

 consumer. 



A cooperative organization cannot be 

 made proof against wrong doing on the part 

 of its members. It is subject to all the 

 dangers of mismanagement the same as any 

 other business concern. Cooperation is of 

 paramount importance to the horticulturist. 

 As we travel about the country many worth- 

 less orchards arrest our attention. The 



owners are often discouraged and disap- 

 pointed men, who have practically lost faith 

 in the fruit business. These conditions may 

 be the result of planting varieties that are 

 not suited to the locality, want of proper 

 cultivation of the soil, the lack of proper at- 

 tention to spraying, or the absence of good 

 judgment in pruning and training the trees. 



PROFIT BV other's MISTAKES. 



But, whatever the cause may have been, 

 the ugly fact stares us in the face, of time, 

 money and toil wasted and only a miserable 

 failure as the result. How often have we 

 seen this in the case of pioneers, while those 

 who come later, plant and raise beautiful 

 orchards that pay the owners handsome pro- 

 fits ; and people wag their heads and sneer 

 at the pioneer in his misfortunes, forgetting 

 that by his mistakes and failures he may 

 have saved his new neighbor from a like 

 fate and made the latter's success possible. 



Strive to profit by the experience and re- 

 search of those who have been successful in 

 their particular undertakings. Seek to 

 emulate the example of those who walk the 

 highways of success in your chosen calling. 

 But while our eyes are fixed upon the few 

 who have been pre-eminently successful, 

 we must profit also by the experience of 

 those who have failed. Let us be honest 

 enough to acknowledge the debt which we 

 owe to them. 



