THE CANADIAN FEUIT TRADE 



INTERVIEW WITH DOMINION GOVERNMENT 

 OFFICIAL-POSSIBILITIES OF THE FUTURE. 



PROBABLY most people connected with 

 the fruit trade know in a general way 

 that the Canadian Government are doing a 

 good deal to aid and extend the export fruit 

 trade, but few persons are aware of the 

 extent to which this is done, or the many 

 points at which the Government assists the 

 grpwer or the packer. With the object of 

 attaining some reliable information on the 

 subject the Glasgow representative of this 

 journal had an interesting interview with 

 Mr. W. A. MacKinnon, chief of the fruit 

 division, who is at present in this country 

 inquiring into the needs of the British trade* 

 and endeavoring to ascertain where the Can- 

 adian falls short in supplying those needs, 

 and what can be done to remedy any short- 

 comings that may exist. 



The "fruit division," it may be exclaimed 

 at the outset, is one of the sub-divisions 

 into which the Department of Agriculture is 

 divided. The Department of Agriculture is 

 under the charge of the Hon. Sydney A. 

 Fisher, Minister of Agriculture, and a most 

 important branch is that directed by the 

 Commissioner of Agriculture (Prof. James 

 W. Robertson), who like many other Can- 

 adians, is of Scottish origin. This branch is 

 divided into various "divisions," and it is 

 with the fruit division that we have mean- 

 time to deal. 



"Our main efforts," said Mr. MacKinnon 

 in answer to our representative, "are devoted 

 to the commercial aspect of the fruit trade; 

 one of the most important things we have 

 had to do recently was to see to the enforce- 

 ments of the Fruit Marks Act of 1901 as 

 amended this year." 



" I suppose," ventured our representa- 



tive, " that Act will be on the lines of our 

 Food and Drugs Act ?" 



"Perhaps so. The Fruit Marks Act was 

 passed to put an end to fraudulent practices, 

 which casts discredit upon Canada and in- 

 volved loss to those engaged in the fruit 

 trade. These frauds were of two kinds — 

 (i) fraud in connection with sale by descript- 

 ion, as where ordinary fruit was described or 

 marked as 'No. i,' 'choice,' 'fancy,' or other- 

 wise excellent ; and (2) fraud in sale b> 

 sample — cases of 'faced' fruit in which the 

 surface of a package of fruit was such as to 

 give a false representation of the contents. 

 The perpetrators of these frauds were 

 shielded by using fictitious names, the names 

 being changed frequently, too ; but under 

 the Act every package must bear the full 

 name and address of the responsible shipper." 



"I should think that would have a most 

 salutary effect." 



"Yes ; because before the passing of the 

 Act, if the trade got sick of any particular 

 brand they did not get any more of it — at 

 least under the same name. The Act makes 

 the shipper accept responsibility, and the 

 credit or discredit attaching to his own 

 goods." 



" How does the Act operate in the event 

 of bad fruit being found ? How is a deci- 

 sion arrived at ? " 



" It is held that false representation is 

 intended where more than 15 per cent, of 

 the whole is decidedly inferior to the surface 

 shown. Under the Act, too, every package 

 bears one of six marks — first quality, No. i, 

 or XXX ; second quality. No. 2, or XX J 

 and third quality. No. 3, or X. A fine is 

 provided for every package marked to indi- 



