The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1905-03-03
THINGS WE NEED.
Paper Read by o. w. Rowland before
the State horticultural Society
And Published I'm The True Northerner In
Accordance with ~ Resolution Unani-
mously Adopted I'm the state Meeting
Requesting Such Publication.

This is the second time tnat 4 nave
been drafted into service before this
august and honorable association, and
now, as on the former occasion, | feel
my inability to say anything that will
be interesting, not TO say Instructive,
TO this assembly of horticulturists
whose experience has been SO much
greater than my own along these lines
in which we are all so vitality con-
cerned. When our respected sccre-
tary wrote asking me TO prepare a
paper on the topic assigned me, he
was very particular TO remind me that
long essays were not in order and that
l would do we'll not 10 exceed Is min
utes. l do not think l shall expand
that limit to any great extent. In
deed, l am inclined to think that my
stock of information would be. eX-
hausted and my pond run dry, so to
speak, were l to attempt to greatly
overrun the quarter hour. Neverthe-
! less, there are some things that l know
are needed by Michigan fruitgrowers.
For one thing, we need that there
should be higher degree of honor on
|
/ fruit man? Perhaps that would not
be fully warranted. for / should dis
! like TO think that the average fruit
! grower is dishonest, but some fruit
men fall trifle short of strict bust
ness integrity. What l mean is this,
/ that the brand of any Michigan fruit
| grower on package of fruit ought to
be an absolute guaranty of its quail
ity, but, TO our disCredit be it said,
such is frequently not the case, as
/ you all very we'll know. The man
who puts up a package of fruit with
/ the fine fruit on the top of the pack
age and the mulligrubs in the bottom,
is not only dishonest, but he is guilty
of obtaining money under false pre-
lenses, and, while he may succeed in
disposing of his inferior fruit, he is
running his reputation with the con-
sumer; and not only that, he is dam
/ aging all the fruitgrowers of the state.
/ Michigan fruit cannot be excelled
anywhere and it ought TO stand at the
very highest point, but it does not,
simply for the reason that so many
growers do not pack their fruit hon
estly. When a man has purchased
two or three packages of fruit and has
found that he has been cheated in its
quality he is apt to become suspicious
of all fruits coming from the same
section, and justly so. You, your
selves would do the same thing. If
all our fruitgrowers would carefully
select their fruit and pack and brand
it according to its quality, Michigan
would stand higher in the fruit mar
kets of the country than IL does al the
present time. OF course we all have
some fruit that is not Of first quality,
but this should be marketed. if mar
keted at ALL according to its true
grade. If it is seconds, let it be so
branded, so that the consumer may
know what TO expect when he buys it.
This is a question of vital import
ance to MS all, and the problem is,
how are we going to remedy the mat
ter?
Since all men are not honest and
since it seems impossible to show
them that it would be for their inter-
est to be honest, it would seem as
though some way should be devised
to compel them to quit their mean
ness" This, it appears to me, might
be accomplished by system of COM
pulsory inspection, an inspection that
would really inspect, and which should
be provided for by statute. If the
dishonest packers were themselves
the only ones to suffer by their evil
practices, it would not make so much
difference, but it affects every one of
us, besides the Injury done to the con-
sumner. Let us strive, by some means,
TO reach point where the purchaser
of Michigan fruit can safely say:
That fruit came from Michigan and
l know it is all right" And not only
ought the shipper of fruit TO put up
all his packages of uniform quality
throughout, but they should be of
full weight. It is no less a fraud to
cheat in quantity than it is to deceive
in quality. There has been altogether
too much of a tendency to get the adj
vantage of the consumer by constant
ly decreasing the size of the package.
The jest about filing the bottoms of
strawberry boxes instead of the tops
has too much foundation in fact.
Brother horticulturists, whatever else
we do, let us try to be honorable in
our business dealings, giving straight
goods, honest measures and full
weights. The golden rule was made to
apply to fruitgrowers as we'll as to the
rest of the world. David Harum's
rule, DO TO the other fellow what he
would do to you, and do it fust," is a
poor business rule; in fact, David
himself used it only when making
horse trade.
We also need more thorough organ
ization for our own preservation from
destruction. In some localities it is
true, fruitgrowers are fairly we'll or
ganized, while in others they have no
organization whatever; but wherever
such organization has been had the
results have been decidedly favorable
for the grower. 1t has taken a long
time and much effort TO convince
Michigan horticulturists of the neces-
sity of combining for mutual protec-
ton, and even yet they are only half