THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



103 



Mr. G. W. Hunt, who conducts a commission 

 business in both Ottawa and Winnipeg, was 

 called on and said that he was in sympathy 

 with many features of the resolution. There 

 are, he claimed, mushroom dealers, who do a 

 great deal of damage to both growers and deal- 

 ers. If licensing the dealers will control these 

 men, the rest of the dealers will be much 

 pleased. He could see no injustice to the deal- 

 ers in their being expected to show their books. 

 He was not acquainted with the methods of 

 selling fruit in England, but believed that the 

 dealers in Gt. Britain are a close cooperation, 

 and that they frequently stack their goods. 

 By stacking he meant making piles of fruit and 

 placing the good fruit in the centre with the 

 bad i)ackages of fruit on the outside, and list- 

 ing the whole pile as defective fruit. The men 

 who do this give favorite buyers the tip, and 

 they are able to buy in the whole lot at low 

 prices. Such methods, he claimed, are impos- 

 sible in Canada. 



He was in favor of cooperative selling, and 

 claimed that if every barrel of fruit was prop- 

 erly packed and consigned, it would sell for more 

 than were it sold F.O.B. Were it possible to 

 get the transportation that was asked for, goods 

 might be consigned and sold for better prices 

 by auction than F.O.B. The trouble with Ont. 

 fruit is that it is not packed in uniform 

 packages. He did not see any objection for a 

 10 day limit for rej^ort of a sale, as any honest 

 dealer could give it, and it would get rid of the 

 mushroom dealers." 



Mr. Graham asked if the resolution was in- 

 tended to include commission houses abroad, 

 and was informed by Mr. Pettit that it was 

 not. Mr. Brodie and Mr. Hunt said they would 

 oppose it otherwise, as it was not fair that 

 dealers from other countries should be allowed 

 to compete on unequal terms with Canadian 

 dealers. 



They also should be required to give a guar- 

 antee, and they would be willing to do it, were 

 they honest. 



Hon. Mr. Fisher said he thought it was prop- 

 erly a provincial matter. Mr. Armstrong, of 

 Alberta, favored the resolution, and thought 

 copies should be sent the Provincial Govts. 

 One speaker was afraid that the giving of a 

 bond would not work out in the way it was 

 hoped. A dishonest dealer would give a small 

 bond, and would show it to growers as a proof 

 that he was honest. In this way he would buy 

 goods to a much greater value than the amount 

 of his bond, and then skip out. It was finally 

 decided to refer the resolution back to the reso- 

 lutions committee. This was done, and the fol- 

 lowing day the following compromise resolu- 

 tion was submitted and adopted: 



"Resolved, That in the opinion of this con- 

 ference the question of controlling commission 

 dealers should be left to the Provincial Govts., 

 and it respectfully urges upon such Gov- 

 ernments the necessity of placing such safe- 

 guards on the commission business as will pro- 

 tect the legitimate interests of those consign- 

 ing fruit to the commission market." 



OCEAN SHIPMENTS 



Conditions surrounding the shipment of 

 fruit to Gt. Britain were dealt with at the 

 Thurs. mng. session in two resolutions that 

 read as follows: 



"Resolved that (a) All subsidized lines should 

 have good ships at not less than 12 knots speed, 

 thoroughly ventilated holds for fruit, apart and 

 free from heat and taint of other cargo. 



"(b) Close supervision of the stevedores to 

 ensure proper stowage and careful handling in 

 both loading and discharging. 



"(c) Just and reasf>nable cimditions in all 

 bills of lading so that in case of loss through 

 breakage or non-delivery of goods the shipper 

 may recover easily such loss from the ship. 



"(d) That the Government should hold back 

 part of such subsidy in order to indemnify 

 shippers that may have suffered loss througii 

 the failure of the steamship to sail within a 



reasonable time after the advertised date of 

 sailing." 



MARITIME SHIPMENTS 



The second resolution read: 

 "Resolved, that whereas the export of fruit 

 from the Maritime provinces by sea is not sat- 

 isfactory on account of the slow service pro- 

 vided by the lines now sailing from Halifax 

 to Great Britain, and 



"Whereas, these lines are subsidized by the 

 Federal Government for amounts that should 

 give a satisfactory service: 



"Therefore, be it resolved that we ask the 

 Government to combine the two subsidies now 

 paid to two lines in a subsidy to any one line 

 that will give a 12 knot weekly service during 

 the fruit shipping season." 



Discussion was lead by Mr. Ruddick, who 

 showed what oversight is given by the Dept. to 

 fruit shipments. He submitted copies of in- 

 spectors' reports that showed that the inspect- 

 ors have to report the date of inspection, the 

 temperature of the fruit on the wharf, condi- 

 tion of the apples, name of the shipper, etc 

 This is done at Montreal and also in Gt. Britain 

 after the receipt of the fruit. A sample report 

 of a shipment made last Oct. by the steamship 

 Bavarian, showed that she sailed Oct. 26, con- 

 tained 28,000 bbls. of apples, that the temper- 

 ature in the shed on the wharf had been 60 to 

 6.5 deg., that the temperature of the apples in 

 the barrels before loading had been 70 to 80 

 deg. Of these apples 105 lots had been in- 

 spected, of which 20 per cent, had been found 

 to be in bad condition. Many of the apples 

 were scalded, showed scab and were otherwise 

 defective. The temperature in the hold of the 

 ship during the first 3 days of the voyage was 

 62 deg., and gradually dropped to 51 deg. after 

 the vessel had been out 7 days. At the end of 

 the voyage the temperature was 57 deg. In 

 the cold storage dept. the apples on loading, 

 showed a temperature of 66 deg., which dropped 

 to 40 deg. by the time the vessel 'reached Gt. 

 Britain. 



Mr Ruddick was asked if reports were taken 

 regarding the shipments from N.S. points, and 

 was told that reports were received but that 

 thermograph records were not kept. Mr. Rud- 

 dick was asked if the Dept. has any control of 

 the temperature maintained in the vessels, and 

 replied that it has not, but that the records of 

 the temperatures on the vessels are filed on 

 the Board of Trade at Montreal, where the ship- 

 pers are able to see them. Where improper 

 temperatures have been maintained the com- 

 panies find it difficult to obtain fiulher ship- 

 ments. 



"Mr. Fisher was asked by Mr. Eaton if the 

 Govt, intends to have thermographs put in every 

 vessel, and was told that it does. Mr. Eaton 

 asked if figures could be obtained showing the 

 comparative temperatures on the deck and in 

 the hold. This led to a long discussion, the re- 

 sult of which was that the Govt, claimed that 

 efforts on their part had shown that a satisfac- 

 tory record of temperatures on deck cannot be 

 secured. Mr. K. D. Smith wanted to know 

 what guarantee the Govt, has that the cold stor- 

 age machinery on the vessels is hot stopped 

 during the course of the voyage. In reply Mr. 

 Fisher stated that the thermograph records 

 would show any variation in the temperature. 

 In a discussion it was decided that 12 knots an 

 hour would be a satisfactory rate of speed 

 where low temperatures are maintained on the 

 vessels. The resolutions were then carried. 



ICED CARS FOR FRUIT 



Mr. Graham submitted a resolution which 

 claimed that as the Govt, furnishes ice for a cer- 

 tain number of cars, used for the export of dairy 

 produce, it should do the same for the fruit 

 growers. He had frequently been told, when 

 he wanted to use these ice cars for his fruit, 

 ihat he could not have them as they were re- 

 served for dairy produce. Mr. Parker rather 

 mischievously said, that as the dairy commis- 



sioner has charge of the fruit division, he should 

 be able to remedy this matter. 



A little further discussion resulted in Mr. 

 Fisher promising to extend the same privileges 

 in regard to iced cars to shippers of fruit for 

 export, as are given to shippers of dairy produce. 

 This announcement was heartily applauded . Mr 

 E. D. Smith asked if this would include apples 

 and was told that it would. Mr. Brandrith 

 wanted to know if B.C. growers cannot obtain 

 the same privileges for the inter-provincial 

 trade, as they export but little fruit. Mr. 

 Fisher replied, with a smile, that he would con- 

 sider the matter. 



MARKS ON PACKAGES 



The following resolution caused a lively dis- 

 cussion: "Resolved, that all the marks required 

 by the provisions of section 4 of the Fruit Marks 

 Act shall be placed on both ends of closed 

 packages." Mr. Starr said that shippers place 

 their mark on one and consignees on the other 

 end. Were the shippers to be forced to place 

 their marks on both ends it would cause con- 

 fusion. Fruit Inspector Smith said he was in 

 favor of such a resolution as he found that some 

 shippers were not too scrupulous about putting 

 their marks on the end. They would place part 

 on the end and part on the side, making it diffi- 

 cult to find it. When part of the package was 

 removed, the marks disappeared. The resolu- 

 tion finally carried, the word "either" being 

 substituted for the word "both." 



LEGAL APPLE BOX 



The following resolution also was carried: 

 "Resolved that the Act legalizing the apple 

 box be so amended as to make the Act apply to 

 internal as well as export trade, but to closed 

 packages only." This was done at the request 

 of the B.C. growers, who pointed out that while 

 the growers in the other provinces conduct an 

 export trade largely, theirs is an inter-provincial 

 trade, and that it is just as important there 

 should be uniformity in boxes for the inter-pro- 

 vincial trade as for the export trade. Mr. 

 Fisher said that such a proposal had been made 

 when the discussion took place in the House of 

 Commons, regarding the standard box, but it 

 had not been adopted owing to the fact that it 

 might interfere with growers who sell apples on 

 their local markets in all sorts of boxes. It was 

 pointed out that as the resolution referred to a 

 closed package only, it would not interfere with 

 this practice. 



STANDARD APPLE BARREL 



It looked at first as though it would be dif- 

 ficult to reach an agreement in regard to a 

 standard ajjple barrel, but it was finally decided, 

 practically unanimously, to make the 28 in. 

 barrel the standard for Canada. This action 

 was taken by the adoption of the following 

 resolution: "Whereas a large proportion of the 

 fruits of the Dominion are bought and sold by 

 the barrel, and whereas the size of the barrel 

 varies in the different provinces, leading to con- 

 fusion in price quotations; therefore be it re- 

 solved, that the present barrel, described in 

 Section 4, Chapter 26, Statutes 1901, be made 

 the standard uniform barrel in Canada for ship- 

 ment of fruit and that no other size of closed 

 barrel be allowed after two years. 



"And further resolved, that this conference 

 recommend the Department of Agriculture to 

 strictly enforce the provisions of the Act relat- 

 ing to the sale of certain commodities (sec. 4 and 

 5) relating to the size of and uniformity of 

 packages." 



The description of the barrel as contained in 

 the Act is as follows: "All apples packed in 

 Canada for export for sale by the barrel in 

 closed barrels shall be packed in good and 

 strong barrels of seasoned wood having dimen- 

 sions not less than the follo\ying, namely: 26J4 

 in, between the heads, inside measure, and a 

 head diameter of 17 in., and a middle diameter 

 of 18J^ ins., representing as nearly as pos-sible 

 06 (marts." 



