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THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



and a practical and time-tried way, that I ain 

 confident if universally adopted, would place the 

 product of the orchard on a more profitable 

 basis than is now being realized. As long as 

 the present careless methods are continued we 

 may expect to be the victims of our own failure 

 to protect oud interests by the positive means 

 within our reach. 



Handsome Dividends. 



If we will carefully investigate the hundreds 

 of unions and co-operative plans that are now 

 in exisitence in nearly every branch of business, 

 you will find they are all declaring handsome 

 dividends to their stockholders, while prior to 

 their consolidation in many cases they were ac- 

 tually running at a loss. 



What has been true in other branches of busi- 

 ness through the result of co-operation to avoid 

 competition and reduce the cost of placing their 

 produots on the markets can be made true of 

 the fruit industry in the different fruit growing 

 sections of the country. It is not a visionary 

 and undemonstnated theory. It is the further- 

 ance of a co-operative plan that is now in actual, 

 practical and successful operation in several of 

 the States, and the more universal this system 

 may become adopted, in like proportion, better 

 results will follow. 



If some of the fruit organizations have not 

 proven entirely satisfactory to their members, 

 due to mismanagement, that should not preju- 

 duce or deter those interested from investigation 

 of the plan, for there are fruit companies that 

 are thoroughly successful and making money 

 for their members. The co-operative fruit 

 company will succeed if organized and managed 

 upon a business basis, just the same as any 

 other business enterprise requiring co-operation. 

 It is surely the best means in which to conseive 

 the' interests of the producer, and we know that 

 the grower's interests can best toe served 

 through facilities which they may own and con- 

 trol. 



After thorough local organization has been ef- 

 fected throughout the various fruit producing 

 sections, let us for a moment see what further 

 advantages might be attained in the way of 

 uniting all these companies in each county or 

 section into one powerful corporation. 



County consolidation could be successfully ac- 

 complished only through the 'Central Packing- 

 house System, and then not until local organiza- 

 tions had been established and perfected at the 

 shipping points throughout the county. After 

 the establishment of companies at the different 

 shipping points, then the consolidation qf all 

 into one powerful union under one management 

 would place the fruit growers in possession of 

 the key to the situation of the avoidance of fruit 

 gluts, competition and distribution. To accom- 

 plish such an end of thorough organization it 

 would mean for each locality to enter the work 

 with a spirit of determination. 



We must be prepared to join our neighbors in 

 correcting the existing wrongs and surmounting 

 the obstacles and objections that may confront 

 us. 



Organization. 



We have the power, and we can do it if we see 

 fit. As one of our western horticulturists very 

 aptly stated: "If I were compelled to use but 

 one word in designating the remedy for the 

 many evils and disadvantages with which we 

 have to contend, it would be " organization." 



Organization leads to co-operation, and or- 

 ganized co-operative effort is the power and in- 

 fluence that is shaping and moulding the flnan-, 

 cial and commercial interests of the present 

 time. Look where will at any business worthy 

 of the name, and we find it compactly united in 

 some form of union that seeks to make the in- 

 terests of one the care of all, and the prosperity 

 of all, the prime object of each individual. 



Mr. Owen's system has not been applied 

 to apple packing and selling, but he thinks 

 there is no reason why it should not 

 be so applied. His grades, AA, A, B, 

 C, correspond with our Fancy XXX, XXX, 

 XX and X, the latter being culls ; and every 

 man's fruit is graded separately and given 

 a receipt for just what he puts in of each 

 grade. " We have," said Mr. Owen, " a 

 demand for our culls as well as for our 

 higher grades, and sell nearly all our stock, 

 seldom making a consignment." 



The current expenses are cut down to a 

 minimum on every hand by Mr. Owen's 

 system of co-operative packing and ship- 

 ping ; baskets are purchased wholesale ; la- 

 bor is economised ; goods shipped mostly by 

 freight in car lots, and sales made f. o. b. to 

 large jobbers. They could pack and ship 

 from 3,000 to 5,000 bushels of peaches per 

 day, and the total cost to each member was 

 about 18 cents per bushel. 



OUR ASSOCIATION TO ENCOURAGE LOCAL 



T5NI0NS. 



AT this point in the proceedings of the 

 meeting the committee on resolu- 

 tions reported as follows : 



That in the opinion of this Association the 

 future development and continued pros- 

 perity of the fruit growers of Ontario de- 

 pends on the formation, in every district, 

 where such does not now exist, of a grow- 

 ers' co-operative organization for the pur- 



