EDITORIAL NOTES. 



H7 



the worst of it. But on what basis shall 

 tne union be formed? 



Mr. Keyes, of St. Catharines, proposed a 

 stock company for the Niagara District, 

 with a capital of $200,000, and shares of 

 $100. The company to buy several acres 

 of ground, erect immense packing houses, 

 and attempt to pack and ship all the fruit in 

 the district. For the second grade an im- 

 mense canning factory would be erected. 

 This plan looked 

 well on paper, but 

 like all such stock 

 companies might 

 be a tremendous 

 failure unless man- 

 aged just right. 

 And what central 

 packing house, un- 

 der one manage- 

 ment, could handle 

 the immense crop 

 of peaches, plums 

 and apples grown 

 in the Niagara Dis- 

 trict. The conclu- 

 sion therefore pre- 

 vailed that each 

 member of a union 

 should pack his own 

 fruit according to 

 standards agreed on. 

 only by the com- 

 pany, and all pack- 

 ages would be sub- 



FiG. 2773. Mr. 



Business Manager of the 



ject to inspection by the manager or his as- 

 sistants. 



Where the Union Should Begin 



The most common sense plan of union 

 proposed was suggested by Mr. M. Pettit, 

 of Winona. The greatest obstacle in the 

 way of successful fruit growing is the sell- 

 ing ; and here, in Mr. Pettit's view, is where 

 the union should begin. An instance was 

 given where grapes brought the grower only 



15 cents a basket, and yet in Winnipeg these 

 same grapes sold for 45 cents a basket! 

 Similar instances, in the case of other fruits, 

 were related, and it was plainly evident that 

 the grower who spent his year's work and 

 his capital in producing the fruit was re- 

 ceiving the least share of the selling price. 



M. Pettit's Plan of Co-Operative Selling 



Mr. Pettit would have all growers and 

 shippers agree to- 

 gether that they 

 would sell certain 

 grades of fruit at 

 certain fixed prices. 

 He would have a 

 managing board in 

 each fruit district, 

 which would meet 

 every Friday morn- 

 ing and fix the 

 prices for the quo- 

 tations for the fol- 

 lowing week. No 

 man should sell be- 

 low these quota- 

 tions, whether fruit 

 grower, fruit buyer, 

 or commission mer- 

 chant ; but in sell- 

 ing to the trade the 

 producer would al- 

 low the dealer a cer- 

 tain regular trade 

 discount. In carry- 

 ing out this scheme, w^e suppose that a man- 

 aging director would be the paid official in 

 each centre, he would be in a position to take 

 large contracts, to be filled by the union 

 from surplus stock of which notice would 

 be given the manager, and much of which 

 would be held in cold storage until sold ; 

 while each member could make as many 

 private sales as he chose, providing 

 he kept up to the fixed price. This 

 scheme does not necessarily contemplate 



H. B. Cowan, 



Canadian Horticulturist. 



