190 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



August. 1916. 



tion in their postsessiou they callecl a 

 meeting of those interested find -report- 

 ed to them somewhat as follows: 

 "We find the fruit indusitry of 

 the northwest to be the greatest 

 example of disorganization to be 

 found in the United States. The 

 very fact that you have a number 

 of strong organizations makes it 

 all the worse, because it gives you 

 larger clubs to use in your game 

 of tearing each other to pieces. 

 Your principal trouble is 'selfish- 

 ness. ' If you have a sincere desire 

 and are willing to do certain 

 things, we will suggest a plan upon 

 which you can meet on equal terms 

 and agree." 

 They were answered in this fashion: 



"We realize our deplorable con- 

 ditions and know that if we do not 

 agree to certain practices that we 

 will have no industry in a few 

 short years. We therefore are here 

 with open hearts ready to agree to 

 any constructive plan that will as- 

 >sist the industry.''" 

 Growing out of this report a Fruit 

 Growers' Agency was formed for the 

 purpose of reorganizing the industry, 

 harmonizing the competing interests, 

 bringing order out of chaos, and re- 

 establishing better conditions. It is yet 

 too early to decide what success will 

 attend this new effort. In the mean- 

 time we in the east may learn some 

 valuable lessons from the conditions 

 that have thus been revealed in tlie 

 west. 



Lessons For the East. 



In the first place, let us note that 

 the primal cause of the trouble in the 

 west was SELB"^ISHNESS. AVhat a 

 flood of light that one word throws on 

 the whole situation, both east and west ! 

 The evil worm it represents find its 

 way to the centre of every effort of 

 man to improve his condition, and 

 again and again thwarts Iiis best efforts. 

 It explains why men refuse to cooper- 

 ate as long as they think they can do 

 better for themselves in some other 

 way ; it leads men to throw down their 

 association when a buyer offers them 

 an extra inducement to sell outside 

 their organization; it is the cause 

 which prompts growers to rush imma- 

 ture fruit to the market in the hope of 

 obtaining some of the early high prices ; 

 it explains why buyers so often find in- 

 ferior fruit under number one grades, 

 and makes clear the motives which 

 prompt even cooperative associations 

 to cut the sfroiiud from under each 

 others' feet in their anxiety to market 

 their products. 



What are we going to do about it? 



In some ways there is not much that 

 can be done. A greater than humaa 



agency is required to deal with t^s 

 evil in the hearts of men. Let *, 

 therefore, recognize this fact, and noi 

 make the mistake of thinking that the 

 mere passing of laws or imposition of 

 fines or attempts at unity of effort will 

 be sufficient to overcome it. It may 

 seem to disappear for a while, but soon- 

 er or later is sure to break out in a 

 ■fresh spot. For the same reason, also, 

 we should discourage rather than en- 

 courage the modern tendency to have 

 ministers of the gospel devote more at- 

 tention to learning methods of farming 

 and iittending short courses in agricul- 

 ture in order that they may help the 

 members of their congregations in a 

 direct temporal way, instead of giving 

 their full attention to the moi-e import- 

 ant spiritual matters. Once ministers 

 step aside from the main purpose of 

 their calling and commence to fritter 

 away their time on minor issues, that 

 growers themselves are better able to 

 cope with, disaster rather than bene- 

 fit will be the result. Let us not, also, 

 bave our appeals for the adoption of 

 coo'periative methods so much on sel- 

 fi';h arguments as by exalting the un- 

 selfish spirit which will lead a man to 

 prefer to suffer loss rather than to de- 

 fraud his neighbor. A cooperative or- 

 ganization that is held together for 

 purely selfish purposes has the seeds 

 of decay and disintegration within it- 

 self. 



Let us not, also, make the mistake 

 of expecting too much from the adop- 

 tion of cooperative methods. These 

 are important, and are always the first 

 and absolutely essential step forward 

 towards better conditions. They are 



only, however, a means towarrd an end. 

 Even were all our fruit growers to fer- 

 tilize and cultivate their land, prune, 

 spray and thin their fruit and cooper- 

 ate in its sale, other and still larger 

 problems would remain to be solved. 

 We would still have to deal with the 

 possibility of over production, the in- 

 creasing cost of land and all kinds of 

 supplies, the growing poverty of the 

 masses of the people in our cities with 

 the consequent reduction in their pur- 

 chasing power, as well as competition 

 with other classes of products. It is 

 true we cannot deal with all these 

 queirtions at once. One step at a time 

 is the safe and ordained method for 

 all of us. Let us once recognize, how- 

 ever, the necessity for taking further 

 steps, and we will not make the mistake 

 of being too optimistic concerning the 

 benefits likely to attend the taking of 

 any one or even several steps. Some ' 

 of these other issues we trust will be 

 discus.sed in future numbers of the 

 Canadian Horticulturist. The broader 

 the viewpoint we have when dealing 

 with these problems the .safer and more 

 permanent will be the progress made 

 when dealing with them. 



The box is the coming package, for 

 most varieties at least. It is easier to 

 pack; easier to handle in the orchard, 

 on the train, or in the home of the con- 

 sumer; it avoids bruising, and it en- 

 ables a householder, who does not want 

 to buy more than a barrel at a time, to 

 have three varieties in his home at a 

 time. 



Each little Job takes time and costs money. Covering the fruit baskets on the fruit farm of 

 h'. Bell & Sons. Burling'ton, Ont., preparatory to loading tor market. 



