The Canadian Horticulturist 



bl. XXIX 



SEPTEMBER, 1906 



No. 9 



TKe Ontario Cooperative Fruit Groovers* Association 



A PROVINCIAL organization of 

 cooperative fruit associations 

 was inaugurated on August 14, 

 in the office of The Canadian Horti- 

 culturist. It is to be called The On- 

 tario Cooperative Fruit Growers' As- 

 sociation. The following officers were 

 elected : President, A. E. Sherrington, 

 Walkerton; first vice-president, D. John- 

 son, Forest; second vice-president, W. 

 H. Dempsey, Trenton; third vice-presi- 

 dent, Robt. Thompson, St. Catharines; 

 secretary-treasurer, A. B. Cutting, 507 

 Manning Chambers, Toronto. 



The associations that were repre- 

 sented by delegates are located in vari- 

 ous parts of the province; thus the 

 meeting was a representative one. The 

 names of the delegates and of their 

 respective associations are ; A. E. Sher-' 

 rington, Walkerton; W. H. Gibson. 

 Newcastle; W. H. Dempsey, Trenton: 

 Wm. Leary, Parkhill; Robt. Thomp- 

 son, St. Catharines; \V. A. D. Ross, 

 Chatham; D. Johnson, Forest; W. R. 

 Davis and W. H. MacNeil, Oakville; 

 Elmer Lick, Oshawa; J. E. Johnson, 

 Simcoe; and Dr. J. D. Hamill, Meaford. 

 Several associations, not represented, 

 including Ingersoll, Ilderton, Belleville, 

 and Orillia, sent word expressing them- 

 selves in hearty accord with the 

 movement. Others present were : P. W. 

 Hodgetts, Sec. Ontario Fruit Growers' 

 Association, Toronto ; P. J. Carey, Do 

 minion Fruit Inspector, Toronto, and H. 

 B. Cowan . Toronto, who called and 

 acted as secretary at the meeting. 



OBJECTS AND PURPOSE 



The objects of the association are of 

 a wholly commercial nature, and are 

 designed to assist the various local co- 

 operative fruit growers' associations: 



A. — By acquiring and furnishing re- 

 liable information regarding fruit con- 

 ditions and prospects throughout Can- 

 ada, the United States and Europe. 



B. — By assisting the various local as- 

 sociations to market their fruit to the 

 best possible advantage. I. By placing 

 agents in the leading local and foreign 

 markets. 2. Bv bringing the local as- 

 sociations in close touch with leading 

 buyers. 3. By acquiring and dissem- 

 inating reliable information in regard 

 to prices paid in the case of actual 

 sales. 4 By assisting local associa- 



tions to procure satisfactory accom- 

 modation for the storage of their fruit, 

 and cars for the shipping of same. 5. 

 By cooperating in the purchase of sup- 

 plies at the best possible prices. 



c. — By cooperating with the On- 

 tario Fruit Growers' Association in the 

 formation of additional local coopera- 

 tive fruit growers' associations, and in 

 such other educational work as will be 

 in the best interests of the fruit growers 

 of the province. 



D. — By taking steps that will tend 

 to bring about more uniform grades in 

 the pack of the fruit of the province. 

 Already, following the purpose of this 

 clause, the Dominion Fruit Division 

 has been petitioned to provide that the 

 local cooperative fruit growers' asso- 

 ciations be specially inspected and 



A Leader 



I am pleased with the great 

 improvement that has been 

 made in The Canadian Horti- 

 culturist. It is one of the 

 leading horticultural journals 

 that comes to my office. — W. 

 N. Hutt, State HorticuUurist, 

 Maryland Experiment Station, 

 College Park, Md. 



specially protected ; it has been request- 

 ed that a fruit inspector call, at fre- 

 quent intervals throughout the packing 

 season, at the various cooperative 

 fruit houses, so as to guarantee a high 

 standard of character and pack in the 

 fruit sold by the associations. The 

 Fniit Division has been asked, also, to 

 hold special meetings in those locali- 

 ties where cooperative fruit growers' 

 associations are situated, to demon- 

 strate the best and most approved 

 methods of packing fruit, particularly 

 apples, in boxes and barrels. In reply 

 to these requests, Mr. Alex. McNeill, 

 Chief of the Fruit Division, promises 

 to assist the newly organized associa- 

 tion in every way possible ; special pro- 

 tection will be afforded and arrange- 

 ments already have been made for an 

 expert packer to visit the cooperative 



fruit houses and give demonstrations 

 in correct packing. 



membership 



Membership in the Provincial Asso- 

 ciation shall be confined to the local 

 cooperative fruit growers' associations 

 of Ontario that have charge of the grad- 

 ing, packing and sale of the fruit of 

 their members. Each affiliated asso- 

 ciation shall have the right to appoint 

 one representative to act as a director 

 of the Provincial Association. The 

 membership fee shall be $5.00 a year. 

 In case it be required to meet further 

 obligations of the Provincial Associa- 

 tion, a small levy per barrel will be 

 made on the affiliated associations. 



HOW IT happened 



The need for united action on the 

 part of the cooperative fruit growers' 

 associations in the province has be- 

 come apparent during the past few 

 years, and is a result of the great in- 

 crease in the number of these organ- 

 izations. The meeting that culminated 

 in the organization of The Ontario Co- 

 operative Fruit Growers' Association 

 was called by The Canadian Horti- 

 culturist. It was the outcome of 

 considerable correspondence on the ques- 

 tion between this journal and coopera- 

 tive associations, in different parts of 

 the province, that resulted from the 

 trip of the representative of The Hor- 

 ticulturist this summer to Great Brit- 

 ain. The associations desired that our 

 representative should place them in 

 touch with leading and reliable firms 

 in the Old Country willing to handle 

 Canadian fruit. They asked, also, for 

 certain important information relating 

 to the British fruit markets. The idea 

 of calHng this meeting met with the 

 enthusiastic approval of such leaders in 

 the movement for the cooperative 

 handling of fruit as Messrs. A. E. Sher- 

 rington, of Walkerton; W. A. D. Ross, 

 of Chatham; Robt. Thompson, of St. 

 Catharines, and D. Johnson, of Forest, 

 who have long recognized the fact that 

 the time was coming when the local co- 

 operative associations should be united 

 through a central organization. 



The newly-formed Ontario Coopera- 

 tive Fruit Growers' Association will pro- 

 ceed along conservative' lines. Too 



