NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



353 



a quality and better condition than the 

 shipped ones. Our English apples have not 

 the color that yours have, but we are in- 

 clined to think that the expense of wrapping- 

 them in paper and putting them in small 

 packages, as was done in this case, is at 

 this time of year inadvisable." The 

 same people wrote me a letter — a letter 

 which I received only yesterday. It is not 

 confidential, therefore I use the names. 

 " By the S. S. Manchester Trader we re- 

 ceived from Messrs. Pettit & Son and Mr. 

 Andrews, of Grimsby, Ont. , consignments 

 of apples in boxes of about 45 to 50 lbs. 

 gross. The quality and size were good, 

 and such will always command good prices. 

 We have written Messrs. Pettit and And- 

 rews, advising them to send all they can, 

 if they can ship the same quality and size, 

 as we feel sure they will do well. We 

 would be pleased if you would advise any of 

 your shippers if they hold this A i stock to 

 ship it here, packed in 40 lbs. net boxes, 

 and the apples wrapped in tissue paper. It 

 is no use sending small or medium sized 

 fruit, as there is plenty of this kind on the 

 market." Those apples, looking down the 

 sales, sold from seven shillings, and in fact 

 one lot of seven cases as high as 9s., from 

 9s. down to 4s. 6d, per case for everything 

 except the samples. These are substantial 

 good prices for 40 lbs. of apples. . 



At the same rate of expense as the ship- 

 ments made by the Department, a package 

 that size would cost about 40 cents for trans- 

 portation and selling expenses. The freight 

 charges varied according to the rates that 

 prevailed on the ocean, and also as to 

 whether a full carload was sent. If they 

 sold for 7s. with 40 cents to come off, they 

 would net about $1.28 per box. 



EXORBITANT FKEIGHT CHARGES 



TWENTY five years ago, very little fruit 

 was sent by freight. It was thought 

 necessary to send it by express notwith- 



standing the exorbitant rates. Soon how- 

 ever it was found that the Express company 

 was receiving all the profits and that very 

 little was left to the poor fruit grower for 

 his labor. The writer once shipped 300 

 baskets of peaches to Montreal. They were 

 magnificent Crawfords, but the market was 

 glutted and the whole lot sold for $1 1 i.oo, o^ 

 which $80.00 was taken by the express 

 company for charges ! Such outrageous 

 charges led us to seek the fast freight service, 

 which has been a great relief, but now that 

 immense quantities of fruit are being sent 

 forward, even the freight rates are far 

 too high. Why, for example, should a car 

 of grapes be carried from St. Catharines to 

 Montreal for $56.00 and other fruit for 

 $66.00? The fruits are now all put up in 

 the same kind of packages, there is no more 

 trouble handling the one than the other, 

 why then the discriminatiom ? This matter 

 of transportation charges is most important, 

 and has been referred to a committee of our 

 Association, upon which rests the responsi- 

 bility of bringing before the company the 

 necessity of entirely new classification rates 

 and lower charges for carrying fruit. We 

 would suggest that local fruit growers" 

 associations also take action to support our 

 eff"orts. 



GRADE MARKS FOR APPLES 



NOTWITHSTANDING that the Fruit 

 Marks Act permits the use of vari- 

 ous terms to designate No. i. No. 2, and 

 No. 3 apples, it is most desirable in the in- 

 terests of both seller and buyer that uniform 

 terms should be adopted and defined. 

 Nothing is simpler than the X's suggested 

 by inspectors Lick and Carey at their Prince 

 Edward County meetings ; XXX standing 

 for No. I fruit, which means that it shall be 

 sound, uniform and at least 90 per cent clear 

 of blemishes ; XX for No. 2, and X tor 

 No. 3. In addition of course the shipper 

 may add the word " extra" or " fancy " to 



