The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1907-06-27
CANADIANS IN.
SPECT BERRIES
OUR REPUTATION At STAKE
Poor Packing Causes TrOub e-David.
son Fruit Company Suffers for
SIN Of Grower.

Hood Rivers strawberry packers have
been dishonest in their packs accord.
ing to the laws, rules and regulations
of the Dominion of Canada.
We neaithed some very interesting
documents in the office of the David.
son Fruit Co. the fist OF the week,
the text OF which We publish below.
Ii 10 evident tnat some grower has
been guilty Of dishonesty in his pack,
or that he has been very careless In
his instructions to his packers. We
ofte, wonder why our returns are moi
much larger than they are. Ii 10 q
tact that this deception that Is prao.
tioed In the packing Of our fruits is q
very costly one to the grower. The
union or private commission house
that does the shipping must inevita.
bly, give an account TOR the misdeeds
Of the shipper who has not graded up
to the standard. This complaint, up
on the part of the receiving merchant,
must be met by reduction in the
paying price for the fruit, and the
grower must stand the expense. The
Glacier is 10th to publish an an.
nouncement Of this character, which
affects the good name OF its citizens
and heralds to the world that there is
even a single unscTupulous fruit grow.
or in Hood River valley. However,
we are Jealous for the future good
name of our valley as the standard
bearer OF good fruit and an honest
pack, and Is for this reason that we
speak plainly on this matter.
Hond River has made for hersele o
great name In the fruit maits of the
world, and we cannot condone an act
of this character. IL this method of
hypocrisy is not nipped In the bud
we cannot reasonably hope TO main
tain our unsullied reputation.
For prudential reasons we have
omitted the names of the parties In
interest in the communication that
we herewith publish, which is as fol
lows: ,o
Department of Agriculture,
Office OF the Dairy Commissioner,
Ottawa, Canada, June 18th, 1907.
The Davidson Fruit company, Hood
River, Oregon. Aa
Gentlemen - Our inspector. j. j.
Philip, of Winnipeg, reports that while
on inspection duty at the warehouses
Of the various fruit companies in tnst
city, he noticed some Hood River
Strawberries fol sale that contained
very fine berries on the top OF the
boxes while those underneath we're oi
inferior quality. beg to say that In
Canada we have law embodied in
the enclosed ''Fruit Marks ACT"
which deals very strongly with par
ties who overface their fruit. Fiuit
put up in the above way subjects the
person handling it here to prosecu
tion. This, Of course. will not only
injure your customers In Canada, but
will have tendency to injure your
reputation as shippers of first class
fruit. The commission merchants
who are found offering any such over
faced goods for sale from the United
States will be prosecuted and will un.
doubtelly charge the shipper with
any fines which are thus incurred. As
a matter of information, would ap.
prise you that the fine for the first
offense is Is cents, and for all subse-
quent offences one dollar per package.
Yours very truly,
A. M. Neill,
Chief fruit division.
We also add the following extracts
Of the "F'Iuit Marks Acts" referred to
In the communication, which is the
late law In Canada In reference to the
matter In question.
No peis son shall sell, or offer, ex
pose or have in bis possession for sale,
any fruit packed in any package in
which the faced or shown surface
gives false representation of the
contents of such package; and 1t shall
be considered false representation
when more than fifteen per cent Of
such fruit is substantially smaller in
size than, or inferior In grade to, or
different in variety from, the faced or
shown surface of such package.
Every person who, by himself or
through the agency Of another person,
violates any OF the provisions OF this
Act shall, for each offence, upon sum
mary conviction, be liable to hue
not exceeding one dollar and not less
than twenty-five ceuts for each pack.
age which Ia packed, sold, offered, ex-
posed or had In possession for sale
contrary to the provisions OF this
Act, together with the costs of pros
ecLtion; and In default of payment OF
such fine and costs. shall be liaEle to
Imprisonment, with or without hard
labor. for term not exceeding one
month, unless such fine and the costs
of enforcing it are sooner paid.
Whenever any fruit in any package
is found to be so packed that the
faced or shown surface gives a false
representation Of the contents of the
package, any inspector charged with
the enforcement OF this Act may mark
the word, "fa;sely packed" In plain
and indelible manner on the package.
Whenever any fruit packed in a
closed package is found to be be false
ly marked, the said Inspector may
efface such false marks and mark the
words "falsely marked" in a plain
and indelible manner on the package.