136 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



May, 



GLEAMS. 



Power of Example. I 



hold that a person beau- 



_^ tifying his own place is 



3' a great stimulus to his 



neighbors to do the s&me.— Downs, of Ontario. 



We have Boblns here that rob us all. Last year 

 was a poor year for Cherries; there were not enough 

 to make it worth while fighting the Robins,— 3/r. 

 Jarvis^ before the Ontario Association. 



Walnuts for Highway Trees. For tree planting 

 on the roadside I should say plant Walnut, not be- 

 cause it is the most beautiful tree, but because it 

 grows very rapidly. It will make in ten years a 

 larger and more handsome tree than the Maple in 

 a much longer time.— Mr. Be al, before the Ontario 

 Fruit Growers' Association. 



The prize-list of the first floral show of the Man- 

 itoba Floral Association, of Winnipeg, has reached 

 our table. First, second ^nd third premiums are 

 oifered on 61 distinct floral articles or collections. 

 The show will take place August 10th, llth and ]2th 

 next. Winnipeg is to be congratulated on possess- 

 ing such an enterprising young society. 



Plant Flowers. I have been thinking of their in- 

 fluence on our home life. The wives and children 

 of farmers are generally deprived of many of the 

 enjoyments that city people have at their doors. 

 We should strive to cultivate in our homes that 

 which to them by nature is lovable— flowers which 

 add so much to the pleasures of our homes. If we 

 expect our children to follow us in rural pursuits, 

 we should make our homes as attractive and pleas- 

 ant as possible. Our public schools shoukl be sur- 

 rotinded with flowers, and botany should be taught 

 in them.— W^. R Ward, before the New Jersey State 

 Society. 



The Value of Honeysuckles. I would call at- 

 tention to the value of these for many purposes- 

 for flat beds on lawns, for mounds of any height de- 

 sired, for columns closely compact or loose, jor cov- 

 ering dead trees or fences. There is no hedge 

 which has half the beauty of a wire fence covered 

 with Honeysuckles; it has compactness, without 

 stiffness; grace, with wildness and beauty both of 

 flower and foliage. A gap is fatal to the appear- 

 ance af an ordinary hedge, for it is difficult to fiU. 

 A gap in a Honeysuckle hedge can be at once filled 

 by the adjacent vines. For the purpose I have 

 mentioned the best adapted are the Scarlet Trum- 

 pet, L. sempervirens; Japan Evergreen, L. Brachy- 

 poda; Hall's Japan. L. Halleana; Magneviirs, L. 

 Magnevilla; Chinese, L. Sinensis; Monthly Dutch 

 or Fragrant, L. Belgica; Golden-leaved Japan, L. 

 var reticulata aurea.^S. B. Parsons, before Penn- 

 sylvania Horticultural Society. 



FROM 

 •THE- 



BEl N(5-MATrER-THAT-DESERVE5 

 •TOBE-WIDELY-KMOWrH- 



The objects of the Exchange ai-e the advance- 

 ment of the interests of its members by promot- 

 ing a better system of packing and grading 

 fruit, whereby the quali^ shall be guaranteed 

 to the purchaser and by co-operation securing 

 a more systematic and profitable method of 

 shipping and marketing our products. 



The officers of the Exchange consist of a 

 President, Vice-president, Secretary and seven 

 Directors, who constitute an Executive Board 

 to direct the policy and control the business 

 interests of the Exchange. Also three Auditors 

 and five Arbitrators. 



The Executive Board have the general busi- 

 ness management of the Exchange, the appoint- 

 ing of a Treasurer, Inspector, and Manager, 

 and all other business or financial agents thereof 

 and make such rules and regulations for their 

 guidance as the interests of the Exchange 

 require. 



The Inspector is required to devise such 

 methods of inspection and packing and such 

 rules and regulations necessary therefor as shall 

 improve the character and enhance the reputa- 

 tion of all goods shipped under the stamp of 

 the Michigan Fruit Exchange. 



The Board of Arbitration is required to consider 

 all grievances and adjust all questions ot right and 

 .duty and all differences of whatever character 

 arising in the Exchange on application ot any inter- 

 ested person. Such adjudication to be final. 



The membership fee for the first thirty members 

 of the Exchange was fixed at two dollars each, and 

 for others such sum as the Executive Board may 

 determine. 



A division is made among the members of all 

 cash in the treasury in excess ot five hundred dol- 

 lars at the end ot each season's business, such 

 dividend to be declared by the Executive Board 

 pro rata on the net cash business of each member 

 with the Exchange. 



We have made a distinct step forward in com- 

 mercial horticulture and shall hold what we gain 

 and advance as fast as we can with safety. We 

 shall encourage and sustain our package manufac- 

 turers in securing fair prices. We shall support 

 transportation lines, if they encourage us to do so. 

 We shall try to sustain every honest commission 

 house on the market with whom we deal and who 

 desires our friendship. Worthy firms in legitimate 

 business are our best friends. 



Under the head of Benefits the principa 

 sources of income are the legitimate diflference 

 between wholsesale and retail prices on pack- 

 ages, transportation, cartage and commission, 

 with some small incidental saving in postage, 

 exchange, etc. 

 These savings we estimate on a very conserv- 

 ative basis as follows: 



Estimated saving on business to Chicago: 



Average saving on each package, 7 cents. 

 Estimated saving on busines to Omaha: 



Average on each package, 35 cents. 



Estimate of aggregate saving for the season of 

 150 days., based on the average saving on different 

 goods., to the following points: 



Ijarge as these estimates are. there is nothing 

 wild or visionary about them, as we will undertake 

 to prove by actual results. There are shipped 

 from within ten miles of this lake shore an aggre- 

 gate of over 9,000,000 packages annually which 

 should yield the producer at least $1,000,000 more 

 than he now receives. 



The indefinite benefits that accrue to the shipper 

 by doing his business through the Exchange, con- 

 sist of ~ 



1st,— A more even distribution of goods to points 

 where they can be sold to best advantage. 



2d.— By better handling under the personal super- 

 vision of our agents. 



3d.— By securing more honest returns of the 

 actual sales of our products. 



In the old way when everything was shipped 

 haphazard to Chicago, to one firm to-day and to 

 another tomorrow, no dealer could depend on a 

 regular supply for his customers. Overstocked 

 one day and selling goods at a great loss the next, 

 he may be compelled to buy of his neighbors to fill 

 while on swindlers i his orders. 



The Michigan Fruit Exchange of 

 Benton Harbor, Mich. 



lExtracts from a recently published Statement 

 showing its Character, Plan of Operations, etc. By 

 the courtesy of W. A. Brown, Inspector, Benton 

 Harbor, Mich.] 



When the projectors of the Michigan Fruit 

 Exchange, less than one year ago, with faint 

 hearts, joined themselves together to promote 

 their mutual interests by securing a better 

 system of packing and marketing their pro- 

 ducts, " They builded better than they knew," 

 for no one dreamed of the strong and vigorous 

 support that has gathered around them and 

 transformed their hopes into assured success. 



and dead beats we shall wage war. These and the 

 irrepressible drummer must go; they have become 

 a nuisance and we propose to abate them. 



While we look forward to the time when, united 

 with our brethern of the South and West, and 

 worthy dealers in our large cities, we can propose 

 and sustain a system ot large distributing houses 

 and auction sales ot fruits from all points on their 

 arrival, as is now done in the English markets, yet, 

 tor the present, we must content ourselves n-ith 

 what is within our reach and encourage all honest 

 efforts tor improvement. 



The seal or stamp of the Exchange is placed 

 upon the packages ot its members; each package 

 so sealed is guaranteed to contain full measure of 

 first quality of fruit. The seal at once made a 

 reputation. The Exchange requests ot its patrons 

 to return any packages not up to the standard; the 

 money will be refunded and the purchaser reim- 

 bursed in every way. As the Exchange requires 

 every man using the trade-mark to place his name 

 upon his package, a delinquent is traced out easily 

 and he is expelled from the organization. 



The system ot inspection adopted contemplates 

 the actual inspection ot all fruits which the shipper 

 deems v^orthy of the stamp of the Exchange. 



The stamp ot the Exchange shall be placed by the 

 Inspector only upon packages containing fruit or 

 vegetables which are strictly first-class at the time 

 ot shipping, and as designated by the stamp used. 



The minimum working force of the Exchange will 

 consist ot three men and will be able to handle about 

 1000 packages dailj' at an expense of $10, or, about 

 one cent each . This will include all necessary tele- 

 graph, postage and stationery expenses; with more 

 business the proportion will rapidly diminish. 



This we remedy by giving our customers a reliable 

 daily suoply and by directing ourgoods where they 

 are most needed Our agent on the ground can 

 best judge ot this and places them where they can 

 be used to best advantage, it left to his discretion. 

 We can also ship to outside points with better 

 judgment and guard against an oversupply in the 

 smaller markets. 



In the old way of handling after our tender fruits 

 have been brought to the shipping point and loaded 

 with the greatest care, they pass from our sight and 

 the next we know of them some are reported 

 " damaged," and sold at a low price. How was it 

 done ? Let us follow them and see: Unloaded by 

 careless hands; sorted by worse; carried from pile 

 to pile ; thrown into the wagons, some on the bottom 

 and some on the side ; hurried to the commission 

 house and unloaded as carelessly; or, if going 

 further, taken to the express oflice, unloaded, sort- 

 ed and loaded again in the same way ; then to a hot 

 express car and forwarded to their destination. Is 

 it any wonder some of them are damaged? 



This we can remedy. Our agent in Chicago will 

 have the cartage under his own control. He will 

 refuse to receive damaged goods, and will see that 

 our tender fruits are properly bandied in transit 

 and, it they go beyond the city, will load them direct 

 into the oars for their destination. Or, it we ship 

 by rail, they can go in refrigerator cars, undisturbed 

 from tlie grower's wagon to their destination. 



While an individual shipper is helpless and must 

 say, " Give me what you please," the Michigan 

 Fruit Exchange is able to protect its patron, and 

 will do so with every means at its command. 



Our agent in Chicago wires the shipping agent 

 here the full particulars of each morning's market 



