112 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



campaign of work, binding itself to co-operate with the rail- 

 roads and with the trolleys and buyers. There was some 

 capital needed, and a membership fee of from $3 to $5 per 

 year was charged; this raised a thousand or fifteen hundred 

 dollars, but not enough to do business with. Last year the 

 lowering in the price of peaches made the peach business so 

 unprofitable that all the growers decided they must co-oper- 

 ate or bust. They didn't want to do the latter, so a prelim- 

 inary campaign was started to which all contributed. It was 

 agreed to form a stock company with $50,000 capital, each 

 grower to subscribe for not less than $50, and no one to have 

 more than $1,000. The organization was perfected and later 

 the stock was increased to $100,000. Within the last five 

 weeks this balance has been raised. The business is now in 

 the hands of an executive committee of nine, who have abso- 

 lute control of where the fruit is to go. The grower is sim- 

 ply to harvest his crop, pack it and put it in the refrigerator 

 car. It puts the growers into one great commission house. 

 That means business. What is going to be the result? They 

 are spending money liberally ; the manager is paid $7,500 

 per year ; he is an expert railroad man and was for years in 

 the employ of Armour & Co., having charge of their fruit 

 shipping. Now there are but six dealers in New York city 

 who can buy our crop. What are the other dealers going 

 to do? They are coming to Georgia to buy. The society 

 has inspectors to inspect the fruit. It is not believed by any 

 one of the society that any of that $100,000 will ever have to 

 be touched except in the preliminary matter of caring for the 

 crop up to the first of June of this year; then it will be re- 

 funded. I beheve the stock will pay from 30 to 50 per cent, 

 dividend. The time has come when we can do the same in 

 Connecticut. We have a splendid opportunity to sell most 

 of our products in nearby markets. We can be good neigh- 

 bors and friends and yet not succeed in business. Co-oper- 

 ation will help us. Let us try it. 



President Gold: We should, be thinking of and edu- 

 cating ourselves up to the point so that when an opportunity 



