54 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
must awaken to the importance of 
these little details, and bear in mind 
that fruit should be handled with the 
same care that we would give eggs, 
and will actually stand no more rough¬ 
ness without great damage. Stop and 
consider. Is there one of the abuses 
mentioned that we cannot coriect and 
entirely eradicate? 
I am not making these statements 
at random, nor without abundant evi¬ 
dence to substantiate every word or 
assertion. They have all been con¬ 
firmed by actual tests, made by gov¬ 
ernment experts, both in this state ana 
California, during the past season. Re¬ 
member that the slightest scratch upon 
the rind of the fruit is just as surely 
fatal as a deep puncture or severe 
bruise, provided the fruit is exposed to 
the rot spores, which are never want¬ 
ing in every one of our packing houses. 
Every small inch of atmosphere con¬ 
tains thousands of them. 
Marketing.—Here comes the business 
part of all of our undertaking, the one 
that must be revolutionized very soon, or 
the business of the growing of citrus 
fruits in our fair state will soon fall into a 
more chaotic and helpless state than 
it is at the present time. Who is to 
blame? No one but our dear selves, 
and no one but the growers can ever 
correct the existing evils. We can and 
must do it. 
Let us take the state of Florida as a 
whole, and make it a business proposi¬ 
tion, applying to each one of us singly; 
for what concerns any one of us, ap¬ 
plies to every one in Florida engaged 
in the growing of fruit. 
Let us see if we are acting as busi¬ 
ness men should—are adopting good 
business methods. What are we 
doing, and what are our methods, and 
what must we do? If you will bear 
with me, I will enumerate some of our 
follies. To begin with, we are sup¬ 
porting about one thousand solicitors 
and drummers, representing commis¬ 
sion houses from almost every city in 
the North, South, East and West. Add 
to these one thousand men about 
five hundred livery rigs and drivers. 
These are all high-priced men, and ex¬ 
pensive livers. This army of itself 
costs us hundreds of thousands of dol¬ 
lars annually. But this is but the be¬ 
ginning of our extravagant manage¬ 
ment, for we are supporting, in a good 
part, an equal number of commission 
houses in nearly every city in the 
Union. I do not wish to be under¬ 
stood as casting any reflection upon 
these men, nor upon the fruit houses; 
for I acknowledge that the great ma¬ 
jority of these men, also the houses 
which they represent, are doing a legi¬ 
timate business, and at the same time 
doing the very best they can for our 
interests. But, is our way or system 
of marketing correct and in keeping 
with good business principles? I would 
answer, most emphatically, No! No! 
You will ask, “Is there any remedy 
within our reach, any system of econ¬ 
omical marketing upon which we can 
all unite, one which shall be just to all, 
one by which the widow and the small 
grower with a badly assorted grove, 
producing a little of all varieties and 
kinds of citrus fruits, will fare as well 
and receive the same price (quality the 
same), as the most shrewd and com¬ 
petent business man?” To this I an¬ 
swer, with the same emphasis and con¬ 
fidence, Yes! 
You inquire by what authority and 
