NINETEENTH ANNUAL MEETING 235 



terest in with the growers, to give them their influence, they 

 can help you. As one of the speakers said here, he wanted 

 character in business. That is what we want, one of those 

 men who will take pains to go in and help the growers. That 

 is the kind of man that will be remembered for years after- 

 ward, whereas they would be forgotten if they went on in 

 the present way. If you cannot get that kind of men, then 

 you have got to do these things yourself. Now we have got 

 a tariff wall over in Canada the same as you have. We 

 should be able to make our baskets as cheaply as you can. 

 Our basket men got the baskets up and up in price, just as 

 high as they could, they kept raising the price until we just 

 made up our minds that we would not stand it any longer. 

 We immediately placed an order for several hundred thous- 

 and of the same size that we were formerly buying at home. 

 Immediately the price of baskets dropped. The manufac- 

 turers realize that they cannot charge the association what 

 thev used to charge the individual growers. We can bring 

 them in from outside. That resulted in a saving of thous- 

 ands of dollars to our growers by keeping the cost of baskets 

 down, not only to our members but to the whole public. We 

 realize that we can do it. We send in our order early in the 

 season for about what we are going to need, with the option 

 on a further amount, depending on the crop as it shows up 

 about the first of June. If we want more we have the option 

 so that we can get them, not taking into account the carriers. 

 As soon as the contract is made, why, the other makers prac- 

 tically fix their prices by that, so that we are helping all, — 

 not only our own members but the public as well. Now then 

 it is up to you people here to adopt some system of that 

 kind. You can save money. 



Now on the question of spraying. That is a vital ques- 

 tion. I believe it is one of the best things, and it is one of 

 the things which has got to be done if we are going to get 

 a good crop of fruit nowadays. One of your speakers, a 

 good man, was talking about renovating old apple orchards, 



