The Canadian Horticulturi^ 



Vol. XXX 



NOVEMBER, 1907 



No. 11 



TKe Operation of tHe Fruit MarKs Act" 



Alex. McNeill, Chief, Fruit Division, Otta-wa 



THE Fruit Marks Act has been in 

 operation in Canada for six years. 

 This is long enough to develop 

 the weak and the strong points of the 

 Act, though it may not be long enough 

 to secure all the advantages that may 

 arise from such legislation. 



The Act prescribes that all closed 

 packages, boxes and barrels shall be 

 marked, first, with the name and ad- 

 dress of the owner of the fruit at the 

 time of packing; second, with the vari- 

 ety of the fruit, and third, its grade. 

 One of four grade marks must be used, 

 namely. Fancy, No. 1, No. 2 or No. 3. 

 Any one of these grade marks may be 

 used, together with any other designa- 

 tion that is not contradictory to or 

 more prominently marked than the 

 prescribed grade mark. The Act also 

 declares that all packages, whether 

 opened or closed, must be so packed 

 that the face or shown surface fairly 

 represents the grade of fruit all the 

 way through the package. 



Three grades are defined. The Fancy 

 grade consists of fruit practically per- 

 fect. The No. 1 grade allows ten per 

 cent, of imperfect fruit; ninety per cent, 

 must be practically free from serious 

 defects and of good shape and color. 

 No. 2 grade consists of eighty per cent, 

 free from defects that would cause 

 material waste; and all the apples, 

 whether defective or not, must be nearly 

 medium in size for the variety. No. 

 3 grade is not defined. 



The rest of the Act is taken up in 

 naming the penalties and in providing 

 machinery for its enforcement. The 

 fine for violations is not less than 

 twenty-five cents, nor more than one 

 dollar per package. 



The workman who packs and marks 

 fruit contrary to the provisions of the 

 Act, is subject to a fine not less than 

 $5, nor more than $40. Anyone chang- 

 ing the marks upon packages after in-* 

 spection is subject to a fine not less 

 than $40 nor more than ?500. 



The Act is enforced by a staff of ten 

 permanent inspectors assisted by eight 



* A resume of an address delivered at a mectins of 

 the American Pomolo(rical Society held at the .fames- 

 town Exposition.' 



temporary inspectors. These are dis- 

 tributed over the whole Dominion; 

 but special attention is paid to the 

 export points, particularly.;-^ Montreal, 

 St. John and Halifax. In the enforce- 

 ment of the Act it has been found 

 necessary to make an average of about 

 fifty prosecutions a year; and it is no- 

 ticeable that only in a comparatively 

 few cases is the same man fined twice. 



COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS 



There are now between fifty and 

 sixty cooperative apple selling asso- 

 ciations in operation in the Dominion 

 of Canada, and in no instance has a 

 cooperative association been fined. The 



The Best of its Rind 



The Canadian Horticulturist 

 is the best publication of its kind in 

 America. It should be the property 

 of every man who calls himself a 

 fruit man. — E. H. Wartman, Do- 

 minion Fruit Inspector, Montreal. 



interpretation of this fact is that the 

 cooperative system removes very largely 

 all temptation to mark or pack fraudu- 

 lently; but perhaps even a more potent 

 influence is in the closer supervision 

 which can be given to the workmen 

 by those in authority under the co- 

 operative mode of work. Instead of 

 sending out gangs of men into isolated 

 orchards, the cooperative associations 

 are gathering the fruit into packing 

 houses, and having the work done 

 under the supervision of competent 

 and responsible men. >»<- 



The success or failure of the Act 

 must be judged by the evidence which 

 is forthcoming from those who have 

 watched the working of it, and who 

 are affected by its results. The pre- 

 sumption is, of course, that the Act 

 was framed for the benefit of the pro- 

 ducers, middlemen and consumers. 

 These three classes, therefore, should 

 be heard from. The law was enacted 

 primarily for the benefit of the Cana- 

 dian people, but as the export feature 

 of the Canadian apple trade is a' most 



263 



important one, the success or failure 

 of the Fruit Marks Act has to do with 

 the foreign countries using Canadian 

 apples. Testimony, therefore, of those 

 who buy Canadian apples in foreign 

 countries will be of value. 



ACT heartily ENDORSED 



The opinion of the Fruit Marks Act 

 held by Canadian growers may^ be 

 gauged very accurately by the criticism 

 of the provincial associations of each of 

 the provinces of Canada where fruit 

 growing is an important feature. With- 

 out exception the provincial associa- 

 tions have expressed their hearty ap- 

 proval of the Fruit Marks Act and the 

 way in which it is enforced. It would 

 not be hard to make a list of many 

 hundreds of growers who have during 

 the past six years expressed individu- 

 ally their approval of the principles 

 of the Act. 



The retail fruit merchants repre- 

 sent perhaps more nearly the consum- 

 ers. They have almost without ex- 

 ception expressed their approval of 

 the principles of the bill, and they are 

 at present engaged, through their Do- 

 minion Association of retail sellers, in 

 introducing new features for the pur- 

 pose of more effectively enforcing the 

 Act locally; but there is no dissenting 

 voice with reference to the principle 

 of the Act itself, and there is no differ- 

 ence of opinion with reference to the 

 very great improvement that the Act 

 has made in the local fruit trade as 

 well as the export trade. 



OPINION OF THE MIDDLEMEN 



The apple operators, who are the 

 true middlemen, are not quite so unan- 

 imous. There are, indeed, among 

 them a few who are not favorable to 

 the Act, though I know of no one who 

 objects to the principle of the Act, the 

 objections being urged against special 

 features or against what thej- deem 

 the indiscreet enforcement of it. The 

 fact that there is no one who criticizes 

 the Act would be sufficient reason for 

 an explanation of this want of perfect 

 unanimity. The explanation is found, 

 in the nature of the business and the 

 character of manv of the men who 



