202 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



August, 1913 



Better Transportation Facilities Needed 



TIIF' need 'of somethinjj bci.nK' done to 

 ensure a better railway service in the 

 supplying of cars, a better mileage rate 

 in transit, and a more prompt delivery at 

 terminals for fruit shipments was forcibly 

 brought before the Railway Coramissio,n at 

 a sitting in Ottawa, June 16th, by G. E. 

 Mcintosh, the transportation agent of the 

 Fruit Growers' Association of Ontario, 

 when the questions of reciprocal or aver- 

 age demurrage were considered. 



At present a shipper who allows his car 

 to remain more than twenty-four hours of 

 free time at terminals before unloading 

 is fined one dollar a day for every day be- 

 yond such free time. Last winter the 

 Board raised this to two dollars and three 

 dollars for the first and second day, for 

 four months as an experiment, but the ex- 

 periment did not bring about the result 

 which the railways claimed would be forth- 

 coming, viz., that cars would be released 

 by consignees and could then be supplied 

 promptly to the shippers. The fact then 

 is apparent that the fault is really con- 

 gestion at terminals, which can only be 

 remedied by the railways in providing bet- 

 ter terminal facilities. 



RBOrPROC.\L DEMTTRRAGE 



The fruit shippers are asking for re- 

 ciprocal demurrage, that is a system by 

 which the railway, as well as the shipper, 

 would be fined for delay in unloading, ac- 

 cording as one or the other was respons- 

 ible. The same would apply in the order- 

 ing of cars. If cars were not supplied in 

 forty-eight hours, the railways would pay 

 the shipper demurrage for each day's de- 

 day, and if supplied and not loaded in pro- 

 per time, then the shipper would pay the 

 same rate. Delays in transit, or in placmg 

 would, or should, be in the form of a 

 penalty. 



By the average demurrage system the 

 charge on all cars held for loading or un- 

 loading by shipper or receiver would be 

 computed on the basis of the average time 

 of retention to all such cars released dur- 

 ing each calendar month, as follows : 



A credit of one day allowed for each car 

 released within twenty-four hours of free 

 time, and a debit of one day charged for 

 each twenty-four hours beyond the first 

 forty-eight hours of free time. 



At the end of the month the total num- 

 ber of days credited will be deducted from 

 the total number of days debited) and one 

 dollar a day charged for the remainder. 



Mr. Mcintosh said the fruit shippers of 

 the province favored the reciprocal plan, be 

 lieving that its adoption would be a fair 

 settlement of the question, whereas the 

 average plan would discriminate against 

 the small shipper in favor of the big one. 

 They, however, would gladly accept any 

 ruling whereby the service would be made 

 more satisfactory, irrespective of a 

 penalty. 



DEL.\YS COSTLY 



The delays last season in supplying re- 

 frigerator cars for the fruit shipments of 

 this province, according to Mr. Mcintosh's 

 evidence, had" cost the growers several 

 thoHsands of dollars. He reported that out 

 of forty shippers, requiring one thousand 

 one hundred and eighty-six refrigerator 

 cars, twenty-six of them experienced de- 

 lays in getting cars after ordering them, 

 of from four to thirty-eight days, and in 

 some instances were compelled to use box 

 cars. An instance was given of one ship- 

 per who ordered eight refrigerators on 

 October 24th. He received two on Novem- 

 ber 28th, one on November 30th, and one 



on D(;ci'niber 1st, but no more until Decem- 

 ber 1.3th. Another ordered six on Novem- 

 ber 4th, and received the first car en De- 

 cember 10th. So on all through the list of 

 twenty-six shippers, ridiculous delays were 

 referred to. 



Delays in transit was another matter up- 

 on which some striking evidence was sub- 

 mitted by Mr. Mcintosh. These were on 

 everything required by the fruit grower, 

 from the nursery stock to the orchard pro- 

 duct, including spray material and fruit 

 packages. On fruit shipments to the west- 

 ern market, Winnipeg shipments travel- 

 led as slow as two and three-quarter miles 

 an hour ; Brandon from four and three- 

 quarter to ten miles an hour ; Regina four 

 and three-quarters, five and one-half, and 

 six miles an hour, and several other points 

 about as bad. 



Conditions at export points were also 

 referred to, instances being quoted where 

 cars were held back a full week and more 

 during severe cold weather, and were bad- 

 ly frosted. Fifty-seven shipments of nur- 

 sery stock by one shipper to points in On- 

 tario, during the month of May, was even 

 acknowledged by the railway representa- 

 tives to be a most shameful condition of 



affairs. Some of these required seventeen 

 days going twenty-three miles, fifteen days 

 going twenty-eight miles, twenty-two days 

 going thirty-seven miles, twenty-six days 

 going seventy-two miles, and so forth 

 throughout the whole fifty-seven shipments. 

 Similar reports to the above were sub 

 mitted on the placing of carload shipment^ 

 of fruit after arrival at destination. 



R.\TE OF TRANSIT 



Ten miles an hour, was Mr. Mclntosh'- 

 reply to Chairman Drayton's inquiry as tr 

 the rate of transit at which he though: 

 the fruit should be delivered. This, he 

 said, was not unreasonable, when the high 

 rate charged on fruit is taken into con- 

 sideration . 



To the great fruit industry of this pro- 

 vince the decision of the Board upon this 

 important problem means considerable. 

 Fruit growers pay a high rate because of 

 the perishable nature of their commodity 

 and deserve, therefore, the service for 

 which they pay. "No company obtaining 

 its right of operation from the Govern- 

 ment, which is in reality the people," said 

 Mr. Mcintosh, "should be allowed to serve 

 or so humbug the people, causing those 

 who make their operation possible, great 

 loss either through carelessness or a de- 

 fective svstem." 



Central Selling Agency for Ontario Fruit 



Grow^ers 



o 



NTARIO fruit growers have decided 

 on advancing another step, as they 

 are now to have a central selling 

 agency. Representatives of the various 

 local associations met in the Parliament 

 Buildings, Toronto, on June 17th, for the 

 purpose of amalgamating the local asso- 

 ciations into a central agency. Of the 

 fifty-two associations in the province, 

 twenty-four were represented at the meet- 

 ings. 



During the discussion it was shown that 

 more centralized cooperation was necessary 

 in the marketing of Ontario fruit. Here- 

 tofore, the different associations had been 

 bidding against one another, and buyers 

 had been inclined to pit one company's 

 offer against that of another. Under these 

 circumstances the formation of a central 

 selling agency was deemed advisable. 



After some considerable discussion it 

 was decided that the local associationis 

 should guarantee fifty thousand barrels 

 of apples, or the equivalent in their fruits. 

 Each association will subscribe for stock at 

 the rate of one hundred dollars for every 

 thousand barrels of apples or the propor- 

 tionate amount of other figures which it 

 shall offer to the company for sale. The 

 minimum amount of stock which will be 

 allotted is two hundred dollars, repre- 

 senting two thousand barrels or forty car- 

 loads of tender fruit. A charge of twenty- 

 five cents a barrel will be made for sell- 

 ing apples, the amount to be withheld 

 from the returns made to the company. 

 .After paying the running expenses of the 

 company and setting an amount for divi- 

 dends and reserved fund, any surplus earn- 

 ings will be returned to those associations 

 which took stock in the company in pro- 

 portion to the number of barrels of fruit 

 sent in by them for sale. According to 

 the by-laws only one vote is allowed to 

 shareholders, no matter how much stock 

 is held. 



The charter of the association gives the 

 company power to manufacture and handle 

 all supplies and appliances required by tfie 



association and also to carry on a business 

 of refrigeration, cold storage, forwarding 

 agents, and packers of provisions of all 

 kinds. 



It is understood that the fruit offered for 

 sale shall be a projjortionate amount of all 

 varieties or a «;tated number of barrels of 

 all varieties grown by the members of such 

 associations. All apples offered for sale 

 shall be subject to the inspection of the 

 company's officers, who may reject same 

 before shipment if not up to grade. Any 

 car lots reported as arriving in bad con- 

 dition will be examined and where the local 

 shipping association is at fault the mat- 

 ter will be adjusted and such association 

 will have to stand the loss and expense. 

 Where the transportation is at fault the 

 company will look after the collection of 

 damages from the railway company, no 

 loss being incurred by the local associa- 

 tions. Apples of each variety and grade 

 shall be pooled, the directors at the close 

 of the season setting the prices to be paid 

 to the local associations for their output. 



The officials are : President, Elmer Lick. 

 Oshawa ; vice-president, Robt. Thompson, 

 St. Catharines ; directors — C. W. Gurney, 

 Paris; Adam Brown, Owen Sound; Roy A. 

 Carey, Oakville ; sec.-treas., P. W. Hod- 

 getts, Toronto. 



STOCK ALt PLACED 



In a recent letter to The Canadian Horti- 

 culturist, Mr. Hodgetts says : We have prac- 

 tically closed our stock book for the first 

 issue of stock and find that we have thir- 

 teen associations who have subscribed for 

 the minimum amount of stock, two thou- 

 sand dollars or over. This is about one- 

 quarter of the Associations in the province, 

 but will represent about fifty thousand bar- 

 rels of apples for the first season's busi- 

 ness, which is the amount that the direc- 

 tors of the company felt able to handle the 

 first season. We hope next year to issue 

 (more stock, so as to take in a number of 

 the other associations that were not able 

 to see their way clear to joining this sea- 

 poij. 



