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they are shunted oif at a station, a hundred and fifty miles away, it is a simple 

 matter to open these cars. They are simply sealed with a little lead button and it 

 is an easy thing for anyone to help himself to a barrel or two barrels of apples,^ and 

 there will be a shortage then. It is found repeatedly that this is actually aone. 

 "We have counted carefully at the shipping point and found a shortage at Montreal. 

 What other way can we account for it ? The parties say they are perfectly certain 

 of their count, that it is cori-ect, and it comes back that there is a shortage at Montreal. 

 The goods must have been taken out in the meantime, somewhere during the 

 shunting'. I cannot see that it is fair that they should not be liable for the delays 

 to some extent. It would not be fair that a railway company should be liable for 

 delays in every case, because there are some delays that cannot be avoided, but 

 there are some delays surely that they should be liable for— unnecessary delays. 

 There are unnecessary delays; we know that. Another drawback is heat._ A 

 steamship company is not liable for heating the apples. If they packed them right 

 around the boiler, they would be in fine condition when they got to the other side, 

 yet, I presume they would tell us they are not liable for anything. They are not 

 liable for shortage. We have heard a good deal of stealing going on up the Thames, 

 and a great many complaints have come to us. We find that shortages are 

 increasing in the Atlantic trade. We have wondered how that could occur. I do 

 not know, but I do know that shortages have occurred and damages have occurred. 

 Well now, I think I will leave it at that, in the meantime, except this point, that I 

 think probably it is possible to lower the rates. I would like the representatives of 

 the* companies present to consider that matter. Are the present through 

 rates on apples as low as the rates upon other corresponding goods — for instance, 

 on flour ? I understand the rates are very much lower on flour. I under- 

 stood that, but I do not know how it is, and I would like some of the gentlemen present 

 to answer that question. Are the rates not lower upon flour than upon apples? If 

 this is so, I think that is wrong, because I think apples are a much closer freight to 

 handle than flour. I should say apples should be much lower. The gentlemen 

 present will bo able to tell us whether they are at present. I have been told that 

 this was so. Taking even these points I have mentioned from simple jottings I have 

 made, I think the representatives of the railway and steamship companies should 

 look at this matter fairly and squarely, and meet us like men, and do somettiing 

 towards remedying some of these difficulties. Let them do what they can. We are 

 willing to wait. We are willing to put up and be satisfied with some improvement 

 if we can see some improvement going on. We do want to see some improvement. 

 We cannot go to-morrow and ask people to extend their orchard area. We cannot 

 advise them to do such things unless we get the accommodation necessary to place 

 that fruit in competition with other countries in Great Britain. We must come into 

 competition with other countries. We have the fruit here. We know that there is no 

 country in the world can grow a commercial apple, a winter apple of as high a flavour 

 as we can in this Canada of ours. The finest apples in the world are Canadian apples. 

 We challenge the world to meet us in any market for apples. We have the flavour, 

 and some seem to have struck the happy medium in apple culture. We want the 

 carrying companies to assist us in building up this trade to which there is practically 

 no limit. After the British market is supplied I can understand that there are other 

 markets we can go to. We are willing to meet with the fruits of other countries in 

 all these markets and compete for a place, and I believe we can compete successfully 

 if we can get the arrangements to suit us for fruit in transportation. (Applause). 



Mr. p. C. Dempset. — Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, — The selecting and packing 

 of fruit for the market is something like the old fashioned recipe for cooking the 

 bear— "catch him first;" so we want to consider what we are to do to get the fruit 

 first. If we cannot get good fruit it is nonsense for us to talk of selecting and packing 

 properly for the foreign market, because our foreign markets don't want our fruits 

 unless they are good. Attention should always be given to the thinning of our fruits. 

 The fruits are easily thinned now, and in dealing with it we can accomplish two or throe 

 difterent points. One is, that when we thin out the branches and remove a large proper- 



