3i8 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



including a shipment from Winona to "Wood- 

 stock, a distance of 60 miles, which was on the 

 road six days; to Port Perry, a distance of 100 

 miles, which took 13 days. 



- ully 25 per cent of Mr. Smith's shipments 

 were on a par with those mentioned. This re- 

 sults in frequent and heavy loss. , He asked 

 that if the railways cannot supply cars when 

 calleu for they should at least state the precise 

 time, two or three days^ later perhaps, when 

 they could furnish them. Shippers are charged 

 demurrage when they delay cars over a short 

 time, and he thought this rule should work both 

 ways. 



SOME INTERESTING INFORMATION. 



Mr. R. J. Graham, of Belleville, disputed the 

 statement of the railroads that the apple busi- 

 nessi is confined to two months of the year. 

 Last year between April and August almost 

 150,000 apples were shipped, the entire export 

 totalling over 1,000,000 barrels. He asked that 

 cars be shipped within at least one week of the 

 order and that the fruit shall be delivered at 

 its destination in a reasonaibly good condition. 

 A statement from the Dominion steamship line 

 was quotea which showed that none of their 

 ships from Novemiber 28th to March 6th carried 

 freight which was not receipted for as " partly 

 frozen," " frosted " or " chilled," owing to the 

 lack of proper equipment. Apple shippers, he 

 claimed, must have proper equipment or they 

 will be obliged to go out of business. 



Complaints were also made of the character 

 of the agents' receipts, which are given at the 

 owner's risk. Shippers are willing to accept 

 the risk if they can get proper cars, but if the 

 equipment is inferior the companies ought to 

 bear part of the risk. Shippers also desire to ■ 

 receive receipts for the exact count, and not 

 " owner's count, more or less." 



LITTLE ATTENTION PAID TO CLAIMS. 



Troubles of the fruit growers in regard to the 

 failure of the railways to furnish satisfactory 

 information concerning claims were described 

 by Mr. H. "W. Dawson. These claims are often 

 thrown back to the shfppers by the railroads 

 with a disclaimer of all responsibility. He 

 presented over 1,000 claims, about which no 

 satisfaction could be secured. 



Mr. Dawson favored a flat rate on fruit ship- 

 ments, no matter what the value of the ship- 

 ment. It should not make any di.^erence to 

 the railways whether a car load of peache"s is 

 worth $1,000 or $400. He had examined his 

 books and found that the claims which were 

 settled by the railways had averaged' over a 

 year in settlement. The rate on apples is 150 

 per cent greater, considering weight, than that 

 on flour, which is given much more protection 

 en route and in transhipping. 



WHAT THE RAILROADIS SAID. 

 In their replies the representatives of the rail- 

 roads admitted the correctness of most of the 

 charges that had been made, but claimed that 

 the railroads are doing their best to grapple 

 with the situation. 



Mr. Pullen admitted that there is a deficiency 

 of cars, both in numiber and quality, in spite of 

 the fact that the company has added greatly to 

 its equipment of late years. He could not, 

 however, give any particulars as to the addi- 

 tions that have been made. He claimed that 

 demands for cars for small fruit have been 

 fairly well met. One reason for damage to 

 fruit is that growers will not organize and erect 

 warehouses for the proper storage of their fruit. 

 He read a letter from Mr. J. M. Riddell. local, 

 freight agent at Montreal, to the effect that 65 

 per cent, of the fruit cars reaching Montreal 

 last summer up to the close of navigation were 

 in refrigerator cars, which went through in 36 

 hours. 



Mr. Pullen claimed that much of the fruit 

 shipped is -over ripe, and that one cause of low 

 prices is the fact that shippers flood the mar- 

 ket. The modern air brake causes cars to stop 

 suddenly, which frequently results in the break- 

 age of frail packages. The chief cause of de- 

 lay in the shipment of fruit is the nximerous 

 transfers at junction points. Mr. Pullen would 

 not admit that lack of ventilated cars is re- 

 sponsible for much of the loss complained of. 

 The great cause of delay in train service is due 

 to facilities at stations not having kept pace 

 with the growth of traflSc. The railroads are 

 endeavoring to improve these. 



OBJECTED TO THE PROPOiSED CHANGE. 



Mr. Bosworth Objected strongly to the re- 

 quest of the fruit growers to have the classifi- 

 cation of small fruits reduced. Montreal, he 

 claimed, is a dumping ground for fruit, and it 

 is reasonable to expect small returns there. 

 The reduction asked for would put small fruits 

 in the same class as sugar, soap, iron, nails,- 

 etc., and as the latter are not subject to injury 

 by delays, the railroads, if forced to handle fruit 

 on the same basis would naturally give these 

 other goods the preference. Fruit growers, he 

 said, want more .and better cars, but ask that 

 their fruit shall be carried at a lower rate, al- 

 though to furnish the improved cars will re- 

 quire money. This he did not consider fair. 

 Were the change made in the classification it 

 would spoil the existing harmony, as the can- 

 ned goods man, for example, would have a good 

 case to come before the commission and also 

 ask for a reduction. If the fruit growers find 

 the rates will not leave a fair margin of profit 

 the companies are willing to consider the cases 

 on their merits. Mr. Bosworth askeu tlie com- 

 mission not to make a change in classification, 

 which will effect business from Halifax to Van- 

 couver. 



Further evidence will be taken by the Com- 

 mission. 



There are a large number of horticultural 

 papers published in the United States, but only 

 one in Canada, and that is The Canadian Horti- 

 culturist. Help us make it a credit to Canada 

 by recommending it to your friends and patron- 

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