i8o THE FUTURE OF OUR AGRICULTURE. 



economic argument, and does well to, induce its members, 

 for whom it is expected to sell their produce, to produce 

 such of a certain, the most marketable, species, consistent 

 with the conditions of the soil, climate, etc., of the locality. 

 It cannot, of course, compel members to produce such. 

 However, any one of experience — say, our fruit growers 

 in Worcestershire — knows well how great a difference 

 uniformity of article makes in the dependable marketableness 

 of produce. It applies to wool. It applies, above all 

 things, to fruit ; and accordingly, wherever we have fruit 

 culture largely developed, as a business undertaking, we 

 see growers in one district sticking to the same description 

 of produce. There may be more than one. And there may 

 be more than one species of fruit cultivated. But of what- 

 ever there is every one species wants to be produced in 

 large and uniform masses. The day of the old farm orchard 

 with its one tree of one sort, one of another — dear as it is 

 to the owner consuming the fruit himself — is, for business 

 purposes, gone by. The fruit trade of America is something 

 truly enormous. An official " Bulletin," issued in 1915, 

 estimates the annual sales of fruit (and vegetables) executed 

 on co-operative lines at about $1,000,000,000 (;^200,ooo,ooo). 

 More than fifty per cent., so it is stated, of the deciduous 

 fruits of the North-west and Middle Rockies, and the 

 larger portion of Californian fruit ports are distributed 

 and marketed by co-operative organisations of growers. 

 That indicates the magnitude of the organisations and 

 operations, which dwarf anything that we can show in 

 Europe, though our own co-operative fruit growers, alike 

 in this kingdom and abroad, know well enough what advan- 

 tages Co-operation and co-operative selling bring them 

 after they have learnt to standardise, to grade and to pack, 

 and generally to consult the markets and adapt them- 

 selves to their requirements. Our co-operative fruit growers 

 do pretty well in this country. The French fruit, flower 

 and vegetable growers have turned Co-operation to even 

 better use. Collecting their produce, more specifically 

 the early varieties — in the cultivation of which, of course, 

 the South beats us — they have obtained sufficient command 



