414 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



how their business shull be conducted. If a 

 buyer purchases a lot of barrels, as 'tight' he 

 should have the right to reject if when de- 

 livery is made they are found to be 'slack.' 

 Remember this, too, that competition is too 

 keen in Liverpool to render anything- but fair 

 dealing impossible." 



" I have," said Mr. Pritchard, "known a 

 lot of barrels to be 'tight' on Tuesday night 

 on arrival, and 'slack' next day. The rolling 

 about on the dock and the difference in 

 atmospheric conditions caused the change. 



"That sort of thing," said Mr. Dawson, 

 "is a possibility, but a remote probability." 



"The Canadian Government," Mr. James 

 continued, "has maintained at great expense 

 an agent in Liverpool for the purpose of 

 seeing the manner in which Canadian pro- 

 duce is handled there. This agent has in- 

 formed me that the only serious objection he 

 had to make was the rough handling to 

 which the fruit was subjected on arriving in 

 Liverpool, but I told him if he had to handle 

 170-pound barrels all day, at 20c per hour, 

 he perhaps would not be more gentle than 

 the dock hands." 



THE NEW YORK SYSTEM. 



Mr. Forster, of New York, said that 

 California oranges were sold by auction in 

 New York without the right of rejection, and 

 what was possible with oranges in New 

 York should be possible with apples in 

 Liverpool. "Grapes are sold in the same 

 way," he added, " and that is the greatest 

 gamble of the lot. The section from which 

 the sample is taken may be worth $6, and 

 the rest not worth more than $3, but we 

 have got to take them." 



"We are only wasting time in discussing 

 this matter," said Mr. Peterson, "as the 

 Liverpool buyers will do as they like any- 

 how." 



CO-OPERATIVE SELLING SUGGESTED. 



"I do not see why," responded Mayor 

 Graham, warmly, "if those who really act 



as our agents in Liverpool will not conduct 

 the business as we want it done, we cannot 

 send a man of our own over to handle the 

 business for us. There are enough of us to 

 doit. (Applause). When we buy lemons in 

 Montreal we have no right of rejection. Why 

 should such right exist in Liverpool, where 

 there is unlimited freedom of inspection be- 

 fore purchase ?" 



" It must not be forgotten," said Mr. 

 Pritchard, "that Liverpool is not the end of 

 it. The applies landed there are largely 

 forwarded to other centers. A buyer, 48 

 hours after buying, may have an order to 

 send on to Dumfries or Edinburgh. That 

 man does not want them to be forced to 

 take melted apples which he bought on the 

 basis of tight. If you remove the right of 

 rejection you introduce the speculative ele- 

 ment ; you force buyers to guard against 

 the loss that will follow being forced to take 

 'slacks' when 'tights' have been paid for, and 

 the result will be that barrels that would 

 bring a guinea under the present system 

 will not bring over 15s. under the one you 

 propose to exchange for it. Neither is it 

 practical to have your own representative in 

 Liverpool. Apples form a sort of surplus 

 trade, and if the Liverpool buyers determine 

 to freeze your representative out of business 

 he will find apples collecting on his hands to 

 such an extent that the Dock Board will 

 have them thrown in the river. Besides, 

 buyers, under the present system, have not 

 the absolute right of rejection. They can- 

 not refuse a barrel simply on their own 

 statement that it is 'slack.' They must 

 prove that it is so." 



Mr. Cummings, in response to the implied 

 threat as to what might happen if the associ- 

 ation sent its own agent to sell in Liverpool, 

 said it might be necessary to go still further 

 and seek the co-operation of the grocers in 

 towns beyond Liverpool, the men who sell 

 direct to the consumer — thus bringing con- 

 sumer and producer more nearly together. 



