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THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



July, 1913 



Reasons for Fruit Company's Failure 



Editor, Thf Canadian Horticulturist,— In 

 the June issue of The Canadian Horticul- 

 turist there appeared an article in refer- 

 ence to the failure of The National Land, 

 Fruit and Packing Company. The failure 

 of this company is attracting considerable 

 attention, and the daily press is inclined 

 to belittle the business ability of those 

 who were in charge. As I was at one time 

 general superintendent of the company. I 

 wish to explain that those in charge of the 

 operating end of the concern were not re- 

 sponsible for its failure. 



As you know, the company was promot- 

 ed and floated in the Old Country over 

 two years and a half ago. In September, 

 ]0n, I was managing the Wentworth Fruit 

 C.rowers' Association at Hamilton, and had 

 (|uite large interests there in the orchard 

 business. Mr. T. R. Rolph. acting for Mr. 

 Evans, president of The National Land, 

 Fruit and Packing Company, wrote and 

 asked me to take charge as general super- 

 intendent, at a salary of $2500 a year. I 

 soon discovered that the general superin- 

 tendent was not to be given full sway, as 

 Mr Evans himself took. full charge of the 

 finances. In spite of the fact that I sent 

 numerous protests to the executive show- 

 ing the impossibility of some of the 

 schemes which they were advancing, mat- 

 ters did not mend. 



As soon as the crop of 1912 was safely 

 harvested I tendered my resignation. Mr. 

 F.vams had gone to the Old Country and 

 left us with practically no money on hand 

 for handling the output of about one hun- 

 dred and fifty thousand barrels of apples 

 from the orchards that had been leased. 

 The situation is self explanatory 



One of the main factors contributing 

 to the downfall of the. concern was, I be- 

 lieve, the method in which the six hundred 

 and sixty orchards throughout the coun- 

 try were leased. A local man in each dis- 

 trict was offered a royalty of ten cents a 

 tree for ten years on all orchards rented by 

 him. The result was that such a man 

 would go out and rent everything in sight, 

 and the compamy found themselves with 

 some pretty mean deals on their hands. 

 Even with these drawbacks there were 

 many of the orchards that would have paid 

 well under proper manag-ement. 



I will cite am example of some of the 

 peculiar ideas that I was expected to carry 

 out: I was instructed by the executive 

 to buy two hundred carloads of culls for 

 the evaporator at Mimico. As the evap- 

 orator was only partially constructed at 

 the time, I protested against this course, 

 but to no avail. By the first of December 

 there were as many as seventy car loads 

 of these apples on the track at Mimico at 

 one time. Most of these were badly frozen 

 and in addition the railway company sent 

 in a demurrage bill of over two thotisand 

 dollars The result was that these apples 

 cost the company about ninety cents a bar- 

 rel on the track at Mimico. This will give 

 an idea of the difficulties I had to face in 

 trying to make this venture a profitable 

 one. 



It now appears that the reorganization 

 of this company will not be possible, but 

 it is not the impracticability of the scheme 

 itself that should be found fault with, but 

 the extrem'; extravagance in operative 

 methods. I would have left the company 

 sooner than I did had it not been 1 thought 

 T should stand by the company until the 

 : riormous crop had been gathered. I do 

 iiot \vish to criticize too harshly Mr. Evans 

 OT other members of the executive, as they 

 evidently did not realize just exactly what 



they were up against. The fact that this 

 company was operated in two of the worst 

 years known in the apple business for some 

 time past, is no doubt partly responsible 

 for its failure. The farmens, however, from 

 whom these orchards were leased are bet- 

 ter off to the extent of thousands of dol- 



lars because of the greatly improved con- 

 dition of their orchards. 



I am writing you because I think that 

 in all fairness to myself, I should not be 

 criticized for the failure of a company that 

 was due not to poor management on my 

 part, but to extravagant financial meth- 

 ods." 



Hamilton, Ont. Roy A. Carey. 



A Successful Association 



The success of the Wentworth Fruit 

 Growers' Association (Ontario) has beem 

 su^ch as to attract considerable attention, 

 and has led to a demand for information 

 as to how it is managed. It is conducted 

 on the true cooperative principle. The 

 object of the association, as one of its by- 

 laws states, is "to encourage the fruit 

 growers in the County of Wentworth. who 

 are interested im the improvement of the 

 quality and quantity of fruit, to cooperate 

 for the purpose of securing a better and 

 more uniform system of packing and mar- 

 keting their fruit." 



This organization is not a joint stock 

 company. It has no stock and is so mam- 

 aged that no capital is needed. An an- 

 nual fee of one dollar entitles the members 

 to all the privileges of the association and 

 to one vote. 



At the annual meeting, am executive of 

 seven members is elected by ballot. The 

 executive appoints a member to act as 

 manager and secretary-treasurer. The , 

 manager is paid by commissiom on a slid- 

 ing scale basis. He receives twenty cents 

 a barrel up to five hundred barrels, the 

 commision dropping to twelve and one- 

 half cents on more than one trousand bar- 

 rels. He attends to all arrangements for 

 marketing and selling the fruit. He pro- 

 cures good packers, who are sent out to the 

 various orchards. He also gets quotations 

 on barrels, spraying materials, and all 

 orchard supplies that the members re- 

 quire. It is also his duty to visit the 

 members, give advice onl spraying and cul- 

 tural methods, and oversee the packing. 



When we state that the association is 

 operated without capital, the question 

 naturally arises, how is money obtained 

 for payment on supplies ? The firms from 

 whom supplies are obtained, invoice each 

 member and collect from him for his pur- 

 chase. The packers that are sent out are 

 paid bv each member for the time that 

 the packer spends on the place. The asso- 

 ciation has mo warehouse, the fruit being 

 shipped directly from the orchards. In 

 case money is required to be advanced for 

 packers or for supplies, the executive sibtdis 

 notes at the bank, to be paid back when 

 the returns for fruit come in. 



To ensure the production of the highest 

 quality of fruit possible, each member is 

 obliged to prune, fertilize, and cultivate 

 as recommended by the manager, anid 

 must spray at least three times. The 

 manager oversees the packing, which 

 must be up to the standard set by the 

 association. 



To safeguard itself, the association re- 

 quires the members to make all shipmemts 

 exceeding five barrels through the asso- 

 ciation . An exception is made of such 

 early varieties as Astrachan, Duchess, and 

 St. Lawrence. In case a member wishes 

 to make an independent shipment of more 

 than' five barrels, he must receive the per- 

 mission of the manager, and must also 

 nay the associatiom fifty cents on every 

 barrel so shipped. Should a member not 

 romplv with these requirements, he would 

 be asked to withdraw from the associa- 

 tion. So far the association has n.cver 



had to ask a member to do so. 



The Wentworth Association also controls 

 the Oakville and Ancaster Associations. 

 Last year over fourteen thousand barrels 

 were packed and shipped, most of the fruit 

 going to the western and Old Country 

 markets. The larger proportion is sold 

 to wholesalers and retailers. Shipping 

 through commission men is avoided as 

 much as possible. At the end of the sea- 

 son the apples are prorated and members 

 paid according to actual value. Numbers 

 of complimentary letters have been re- 

 ceived by the association from western and 

 Old Country fruit houses, commenting on 

 the excellence of the pack. 



The success of the Wentworth Associa- 

 tion is materially strengthening the co- 

 operative movement in the district. It 

 has been due largely to the efficient work 

 of its manager, Lome H. Carey. 



Poor Orchards Being Hit 



A correspondent from that splendid apple 

 region along the east coast of Lake Huron 

 says : "Markets ini 1912 were no good for 

 apples. Three-quarters of the crop was 

 left to rot on the ground." This corre- 

 spondent must be considered as sneakimp- 

 only for a very limited area iw giving the 

 quantity of apples left to rot. yet the truth 

 (remains that throuehout western and 

 southern Ontario in 1912 large quantities 

 of apples were sold at an exceedingly low 

 price or not sold at all. 



The reasons for this are not far to seek. 

 First and foremost was the complete break- 

 down of the old system of itinerant buyers 

 who. since the inception of the apple trade, 

 have been the recognized means of dispos- 

 ing of the crop in Ontario. This failure of 

 the itinerant buyers to appear upon the 

 ground was caused partly by the Old 

 Country firms refusing to make laree ad- 

 vances, which they had always done in 

 former years, leaving these buyers without 

 money to finance their purchases. Second, 

 even in the case of buvers having funds, 

 the cooperative associations have become 

 so numerous that thev cover the oround, 

 especially in the better apple districts. 

 leaving only the inferior orchards for the 

 outside buyer Third, there was a dis- 

 trust in the minds of many of the old 

 buyers with reference to the condition c{ 

 the apple market. 



The net result was that in many districts 

 where there are comparatively few or- 

 chards and where the orchards for the 

 most part are very poorly cared for. no 

 buyer deemed it worth his while to visit 

 them. Canadian apple dealers, with capi- 

 tal of their own. preferred to deal direct- 

 ly with the cooperative associations, where 

 thev could purchase large quantities of 

 fruit of uniform grade, and with the tirade 

 marks guaranteed. It is not at all likelv 

 that ,anv buyer with capital of his own to 

 risk will, in the future, care to handle the 

 small, ill-kept orchards, containing many 

 varieties, of the ordinary farmer engaged 

 in mixed farming With individual selling 

 it is not probable that these orchards_ will 

 ever again become really worth while.— 

 Report of the Dominion Fruit Division. 



