210 



American ^ae Journal 



Mar. 14, 1907 



of existence. The reasons were not 

 hard to find. In regard to the latter, 

 which were organized among purely 

 professional fruit-growers, there was 

 nothing to hold them together. The 

 enthusiasm instilled in them by the or- 

 ganizer brought them to the meetings 

 for perhaps the first year, but after- 

 wards they were content to stay at home 

 and obtain such information from the 

 horticultural publications. The trouble 

 with the horticultural societies was 

 somewhat different. They claimed that 

 it was impossible for them to receive 

 full justice from a board of directors 

 who were largely professional fruit- 

 growers. 



The directors of the Provincial asso- 

 ciation at their next annual meeting dis- 

 cussed the matter thoroughly, and, while 

 not discouraged, decided to proceed 

 more cautiously, and along sounder lines 

 than they had been working in the 

 past. It was discovered that there were 

 in existence in the Province a few fruit- 

 growers' associations, so-called, that had 

 been working along commercial lines 

 for a number of years with considerable 

 success. Mention was also made of the 

 formation of a number of such asso- 

 ciations in Ohio and New York States, 

 which had for their main object the 

 better packing and shipping of the fruit 

 grown by their members. As much in- 

 formation as possible was obtained in 

 regard to this work, and at the annual 

 meeting at Leamington, 1903, a manager 

 of one of the largest of these associa- 

 tions in Ohio addressed the convention 

 on the so-called co-operative movement 

 among fruit-growers. One of his main 

 contentions was that to hold fruit-grow- 

 ers together, or, in fact, any class of 

 farmers, it was necessary to show them 

 that it would mean more money in their 

 pockets by joining an association. At 

 the close of this convention a special 

 committee of the Ontario association 

 was appointed to undertake the forma- 

 tion of co-operative fruit shipping as- 

 sociations throughout the Province. 



This work has now been carried on 

 for three years, with the result that 

 there were last year over twenty strong 

 associations in existence throughout the 

 Province, and the probability is that this 

 number will be doubled during the pres- 

 ent year. Every association reports that 

 instead of having trouble in getting 

 members they have had to turn great 

 numbers away. The success of the 

 movement, of course, lies in the fact 

 that, where in former years farmer* 

 had been compelled to accept almost 

 nothing for the product of their orchards, 

 or in many cases had allowed it to rot 

 on the ground during the last three 

 years they have been receiving very 

 handsome profits from the area in fruit. 

 In some cases the profits have been so 

 very high as compared with past 

 methods that we have kept them quiet 

 for fear of inducing too many to rush 

 into the co-operative packing and ship- 

 ping without proper leadership. 



You may say that we have not yet 

 accomplished our end, as these associa- 

 tions are purely commercial. Such is 

 not the case, however, as almost every 

 one of them has one or more meetings 

 during the year, at which addresses are 



delivered on purely educational topics. 

 In addition to this the profits from the 

 orchards have so pleased the owners 

 that they have begun to pay attention 

 to the various educational matters in 

 connection with the orchard, such as 

 pruning, cultivation, use of clover, crops, 

 etc. In addition to this, the by-laws 

 of many of the associations compel the 

 growers of the fruit to practice better 

 methods of pruning and spraying, and 

 in this way the interest of the farmer 

 is increased on subjects which in former 

 years he paid no attention to what- 

 ever. 



The formation of these commercial 

 associations has worked a wonderful 

 change in the aims and methods of the 

 Provincial association. The programme 

 for its annual meeting is now arranged 

 with a view to promoting the welfare 

 of these associations in every way. An 

 opportunity is given to each of them to 

 report on the year's work, prominent 

 authorities on all subjects relating to 

 the packing, marketing, etc., are brought 

 to deliver addresses. The subject of 

 transportation, instead of being a small 

 issue, as in former years, is now one of 

 the leading topics at the meeting, and 

 the strongest committee appointed is one 

 dealing with matters affecting the trans- 

 portation of the fruit crop. 



The sum and substance of this mat- 

 ter from our experience is that some 

 commercial aim seems necessary to get 

 the farmers together and to hold their 

 interest. Along with such commercial 

 idea, there is no trouble in working in 

 educational matter. 



I have noticed in your annual reports 

 that from time to time considerable 

 discussion has arisen as to whether it 

 is advisable to form too many of these 

 associations or to increase your mem- 

 bership beyond its present members. 

 The fear has been that production will 

 increase to such an extent as to flood 

 the market and lower prices. The same 

 might have been said in regard to the 

 fruit situation five years ago. The On- 

 tario markets were evidently taking 

 about all that they could handle, and 

 no other markets seemed available for 

 anything except perhaps our apple crop. 

 It was pointed out, however, that large 

 quantities of fruit were going into our 

 Northwest Provinces from the United 

 States. The Ontario men seemed to be 

 lax in their method of handling the 

 fruit, so that the west would not touch 

 our fruit in any considerable quantity. 

 This, however, has been remedied by 

 the organization of local associations, 

 and, where from one point two years 

 ago one carload of fruit was sent to 

 the west, the past season 60 carloads 

 were shipped into Winnipeg for distri- 

 bution throughout the Provinces of 

 Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. 

 In regard to the apple markets, as 

 soon as it was known that our fruit 

 could be purchased in quantities and of 

 even quality, the larger apple firms in 

 Great Britain and France sent their buy- 

 ers direct to Ontario, with the result 

 that most of last season's crop has been 

 bought f. o. b. here. Under the old 

 system the fruit was gathered together 

 by the packers right from the orchard 

 and sent on consignment to the Euro- 



pean markets, with very unsatisfactory 

 results in most cases. A great deal of 

 fruit was wasted in the orchards in 

 many cases and fruit after being bar- 

 relled was exposed to all kinds of weath- 

 er conditions before being placed on 

 board cars, and even then did not re- 

 ceive proper attention en route to the 

 places of destination. Now this has 

 all been changed. The fruit is packed 

 at the proper season, hauled into cen- 

 tral packing houses, where it is proper- 

 ly graded and packed by the one set of 

 experienced men. The purchaser now 

 knows that he can depend on getting 

 exactly what he desires, and, as the re- 

 putation of the firm is at stake there 

 is very little chance for dissatisfaction 

 from either party. 



(Continued next week.) 



Report of the Kansas Con- 

 vention 



The 4th Annual Meeting of the Kan- 

 sas State Bee-Keepers' Association was 

 held in Topeka, Dec. 27 and 28, 1906. 

 At 2 :30 p. m. Pres. Dr. G. Bohrer 

 called the meeting to order. The min- 

 utes of the previous year's meeting were 

 read by the Secretary and afterward ap- 

 proved. 



Pres. Bohrer appointed the following 

 committee on amendments to the Con- 

 stitution : E. Davidson, J. D. Smith, 

 and J. J. Measer. They recommended 

 that the office of treasurer be abolished, 

 and that the secretary act as treasurer. 

 At the evening session C. P. Dadant, 

 of Illinois, read a very instructive paper 

 in "Bee-Culture vs. Horticulture," show- 

 ing the importance of bees in the polli- 

 nation of fruit-growing. 



[See page 109 for this paper. — Ed.] 

 The present foul brood law was dis- 

 cussed, and it was unanimously agreed 

 that it was deficient as a measure to 

 stamp out the disease. Pres. Bohrer 

 appointed the following committee to 

 secure necessary amendments : O. A. 

 Keene, J. J. Measer, and E. W. Dun- 

 ham. It was thought that the law 

 should allow the bee-inspector at least 

 $3.00 per day instead of $2.00 as it now 

 reads, and to have the power to go in- 

 to any adjoining county if necessary 

 where there is no inspector, should a 

 case of foul brood or any other bee- 

 disease appear that is of dangerous 

 character. 



Another change should be in the num- 

 ber of signatures to a petition, which 

 should be redrced from 25 to 5, as many 

 a county could not secure 25 bee-keep- 

 ers to sign a petition; and if there were 

 only a few, and foul brood be en- 

 trenched, it would soon become un- 

 manageable. For this reason, only 5 

 signatures on a petition is asked. 



The second day's session was called 

 to order by Pres. Bohrer at 10 a. m. 

 It was voted to hold the next meeting 

 at Hutchinson during the week of the 

 State Fair. 



The following officers were elected for 

 the ensuing year : President, Dr. G. 

 Bohrer, of Lyons; Vice-President, E. 

 W. Dunham, of Topeka; Secretary and 

 Treasurer, O. A. Keene, of Topeka. 

 Several questions of interest were 



