THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



January, 1915 



come this slate of affairs by cooperative 

 effort, but that the consumer likewise is, 

 by a united effort, attempting to meet 

 his brother, the producer, half way. Hy 

 bringing the c:<>nsumcr and the producer 

 together, by eliminating the unjiecessary 

 expenses of distribution and thus giving 

 a fair profit to the producer on the one 

 hand, and a good article at a civilized 

 price to the consumer on the other hand, 

 is the aim of cooperation. 



THE MIDDLEMAN 



.Many people are constantly crying 

 down the middleman, attributing all 

 their troubles to this mo.sl unhappy man. 

 Although agreeing that there are per- 

 haps too many middlemen, I cannot 

 agree that he is an unnecessary evil. The 

 middleman is doing a perfectly legitimate 

 business, and in most cases is doing it 

 at as low a percentage of profit as he 

 possibly can. He fills an important role 

 in the commerce of our nation, arud will 

 always be amongst the important and 

 potential elements of this country. 



Competition among the middlemen is 

 keen too keen in fact, and here is where 

 the trouble lies in some respects. In a 

 small town or in a locality, or section 

 of any city, there is just so many thou- 

 sand dollars' worth of business to be 

 done. Now if this sum amounts to 

 say fifty thousand dollars a year, and 

 there are five men to divide it among, 

 each on the average does ten thousand 

 dollars' worth of business. Now each 

 must live, and to live at all respectably 

 he needs say two thousand dollars a 

 year. This he must make out of his ten 

 thousand dollars' business, or in other 

 words, he must clear just twenty per 

 cent. Supposing on the other hand that 

 this business could be done by two men, 

 each doing twenty-five thousand dollars' 

 worth of business, then the net profits 

 woirid remain the same, but the percent- 

 age would be less, in the latter case only 

 eight per cent. 



This illustration, althoug'h exaggerat- 

 ed, will serve to define the point in ques- 

 tion that there are evidently too many 

 middlemen. It is often related by some 

 of our best theorists that this is an im- 

 possibility and that such a condition 

 could not exist, for competition would 

 prevent it, but he has only to investigate 

 the amount of business done by some of 

 our poorer storekeepers to be convinced 

 that such is only too true. Not the 

 elimination of the middleman then, but 

 only the weeding out is, or should be, 

 the aim of a cooperative movement. By 

 such a movement the producer can, to 

 a certain extent, control the price of his 

 own produce, which will in time adjust 

 the foregoing state of affairs. But this 

 cannot be attained unless both consumer 

 and producer reach out and meet each 

 other in concerted and well directed 

 efforts . 



A go(xi illuslralion of a coojjerativc 

 society acling as both consumer and pro- 

 ducer is found in the United Fruit Com- 

 panies of .Nova Scotia. Before the ad- 

 \ent of cooperation in Nova .Scotia, a 

 large number of fertilizer companies did 

 business in the Annapolis Valley, each 

 company having general agents and a 

 large number of minor agencies, all, of 

 course, deriving their expenses and sal- 

 aries from the profits on the goods ihey 

 sold. In the small towns where perhaps 

 a couple of carloads would be ordered, 

 this quantity would be divided among 

 many producers and the result would 

 be probably not one large shipment 

 would be sent to those places, but in- 

 stead, a larKe number of small shipments 

 would l:>e sent, thus raising the freight 

 rates and all overhead charges. Now 

 that the farmers, or at least a large 

 number of them, purchase their fertiliz- 

 ers through the organization, that in- 

 stitution can save all those extra charges 

 and also obtain a finer price, thus giv- 

 ing to the consumer the same article as 

 before at a much lower price by simply 

 reducing or eliminating unnecessary dis- 

 tribution charges. So much for the pur- 

 chase of supplies. 



To be successful at coop)eration, the 

 persons interested must first learn that 

 they must c-o-o-p-e-r-a-t-e, for the 

 dangers of cooperation come from within 

 and not from without. It is the petty 

 jealousies of one member for another 

 and the loose organization of the com- 

 pany that has been the downfall of those 

 societies which have come to grief. If 

 an organization is to succeed, every 

 member must lay aside his own personal 

 ambitions and possibly even sink his own 

 personality in a common cause. .\t the 

 start it may seem that the poor man or 

 the poor grrower is the only one who is 

 making while the man who had estab- 

 lished a reputation may for the first few 

 years be a loser. But the ultimate end 

 cfinrot help but be beneficial to all. 



end of .\ugust or early in the spring, 

 and over seventy-five per cent, of them 

 will make good bushes ready for plant- 

 ing out. — R. B. VVhyte, Ottawa, Ont. 



Fruit Notes 



Most fruit Krowers are better off with 

 two or three good market varieties than 

 fifty doubtfuls. It is well enough known 

 that what will grow successfully in one 

 place will not do in another. Hence 

 select what will do in any particular place. 

 Three or four varieties are enough — a 

 few early, some mid-season, and the 

 majority late. Thus by having fruit com- 

 ing in at different times, it helps out 

 when gathering comes, prolongs the 

 season, keeps the market from being 

 flooded to a certain extent, and the 

 grower can do with less help. 



Currants are very easily propagated. 

 If one wishes to irtcrease their stock 

 take a cutting of new wood about six 

 inches long, plant it in good soil the 



Fertilization of the Orchard * 



M. B. Darit, B.S.A , Eiperiment Farm, Ottawa, Ont. 



The question of properly fertilizing the 

 apple orchard goes hand in hand with 

 the topics of moisture and cover crops, 

 'ihree elements of plant food are requir- 

 ed by most soils and can be supplied 

 either in the form of commercial fer- 

 tilizers or in the form of barnyard man- 

 ure. Which of these to use depends 

 on the relative cost of each. 



Where it is difficult to obtain barn- 

 yard manure, commercial fertilizers in 

 conjunction with a cover crop wijl give 

 just as good results as the manure. 

 There is probably no better place for 

 economic u.se of fertilizers than in the 

 orchard, for here the humus content of 

 the soil is maintained by the use of cover 

 crops, and this is one thing that cannot 

 be supplied by fertilizers of any kind. 

 AMOUNTS TO C8E 



The quantities to apply per acre will 

 \ary to a considerable extent with the 

 condition of the .soil. On old run out 

 soils where successive crops of apples 

 have been removed without any applica- 

 tions of fertilizers being made, the 

 amounts per acre required will be com- 

 paratively large for the first three years. 

 The best indication of the needs will be 

 the trees. If the trees are not making 

 much growth, indications are that con- 

 siderable quantities of nitrogen will be 

 required to give them a start. In the 

 case of nitrogen, after the orchard has 

 been brought into good condition, a very 

 large part of the nitrogen required can 

 be obtained by the ploughing under of 

 leguminous cover crops. Until the trees 

 show signs of vigorous growth, one hun- 

 dred and fifty pourds of nitrate of soda, 

 three hundred and fifty pounds of acid 

 phosphate and one hundred pounds of 

 muriate of potash per acre should be 

 applied. 



.After the orchard has been put in good 

 condition, and if leguminous cover crops 

 are used, this may be reduced to an an- 

 nual application of fifty to seventy-five 

 pounds nitrate of soda, two hundred and 

 fifty fjounds of muriate of potash. If 

 manure is used, it may be applied at the 

 rate of six tons to the acre, which will 

 supply about the same quantities of 

 plant food per acre. If using manure, 

 however, each year it would probably be 

 better to leave out the leguminous cover 

 crop every other year so as not to get 

 loo much nitrogen in the soil, for barn- 

 yard manure is generally fairly rich in 

 that element. 



•Extract from Bulletin 79. recently issned by 

 the Dominion Department of Ap-iculture. 



