THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



115 



The Men who Guard the Reputation of Canadian Fruit 



Here are shown all the fruit inspectors of the Dominion Department of Agriculture, from the Atlantic, in the person of Mr. G- H. Vroom, of Middleton, N.S.. at the 

 extreme left, to the Pacific in Mr. Maxwell Smith, of Vancouver, B.C., at the extreme right. This photograph was taken at the recent Dominion fruit conference at Ottawa, 

 which was the firtst occasion on which all the inspectors met together. In the centre of the front row may be seen Mr. Alex. McNeill, chief of the fruit division, r On his left is 

 Mr. J. J- Philp, of Winnipeg, and on his right Mr. F. L. Dery, of Montreal, Que. Those in the back row, reading from left to right, and starting next to Mr. Vroom, are 

 Messrs. E. H, Wartman and J. F. Scriver, both of Montreal; Mr. P. J. Carey, of Toronto, and Mr. A, Gifford, of Meaford, Ont. At the Dominion fruit conference these men 

 were highly praised by the delegates from all the provinces for their splendid work and for the tact and judgment they have displayed. 





district responsible for the number of 

 barrels he agreed to ship. This would 

 make the president responsible to the 

 manager for all the apples in his dis- 

 trict, and in turn the manager a re- 

 sponsible party for any company to 

 do business with. By having a large 

 number of barrels under his control he 

 could make much better terms with 

 the steamship and railway companies 

 than the individual growers can. 



There are two reasons for the ex- 

 orbitant rate on apples: One is that the 

 growers have to pay what the steam- 

 ship companies demand because they 

 ire not in a position to do otherwise; 

 the other s the companies have to 

 ;harge a high rate so that they can 

 jive large rebates to agents to do work 

 ;hat the growers' agents should be do- 

 ng. As long as the present system 

 xjntinues, as long as we remain inac- 

 ive and unorganized, the high rates will 

 )revail. We are apt to censure railway 

 md steamship companies for their high 

 '.harges, but we as growers are more 

 O blame. We have it in our power to 

 nake conditions much more favorable 



■ 



, 





o ourselves. It remains to be seen 

 vhether or not we will do it. 



By shipping from Annapolis and 

 /ictoria Reach there would be a sav- 

 11 g in railway charges. We can ob- 

 ain an ocean rate from these ports of 

 S cents on small cargoes from 7,000 



to 10,000 barrels. The subsidy we 

 should get would reduce this from five 

 to eight cents. I do not think it too 

 much to expect a 40 cent rate. The 

 railway charges on this end should not 

 average half what they do, or nine 

 cents. The expenses for collecting the 

 apples would be about four cents per 

 barrel for president, two cents for 

 manager, and five cents additional for 

 unforseen expenses, bringing the total 

 cost up to 60 cents. This means a 

 saving of 30 cents to the grower in 

 shipping expenses. It does not seem 

 much on one or two barrels, but when 

 you have several hundred in one year, 

 and several years in shipping, it counts 

 up enormously. 



The growers are ready for this move- 

 ment. Cooperation seems to be in the 

 air where every farmer can breathe it. 

 The editor of an agricultural paper, 

 when on a trip through the valley last 

 summer, said: "I am glad you people 

 down this way have got hold of co- 

 operation." That doesn't half express 

 the condition of things. It is coopera- 

 tion that's got hold of us We must 

 expect to meet with discouragements, 

 disappointments and opposition, but 

 not failure. There are no difficulties or 

 oppositions to be met with that cannot 

 be overcome by a determined and unit- 

 ed effort on the part of the fruit 

 growers. 



Cooperation in packing is not of first 

 importance, because it would be neces- 

 sary to have central packing houses, 

 and have the fruit brought to these 

 and packed by experts. This would 

 entail considerable cash expenditure 

 on the part of the grower, and if he had 

 never seen the beneficial results of co- 

 operation he would think long and 

 seriously before doing it. The saving 

 to be effected in the transportation is 

 an incentive for union. After we have 

 gained knowledge by experience, and 

 have more plainly seen the need of 

 uniform packing and packages, and, 

 above all, have gained that confidence 

 in one another that is so necessary for 

 the success of any cooperative society, 

 we will be willing to furnish the capital 

 for such additional outlay as may be 

 necessary. 



The advantage of a good and uniform 

 package can hardly be over-estimated. 

 It would inspire confidence in the buyer 

 as well as the seller. We could guar- 

 antee our entire output, and when 

 buyers knew the brand could be de- 

 pended on, they would pay 25 to 50 

 cents more per barrel than they other- 

 wise would. In this way the grower 

 would be more than repaid for his out- 

 lay. Much can be said in favor of uni- 

 form packages, whether of box or bar- 

 rel. It seems to be the only way that 

 we can gain the best reputation and 



