“No!” put in Royce Pederstone, “because there isn’t a market for the fruit when you have it harvested.”
“Wait a moment! I am getting to that.
“There is a market; but there is no organisation to command it.
“When we jointly own and work these properties, we can immediately approach every rancher in the Valley, as one of themselves with mutual interests. We can organise––we shall organise––for I know how. We shall have a large, central warehouse for the segregation of the Valley’s produce, for grading, for packing and for distributing. This will at once eliminate unfair competition and the highway robber in the guise of jobber. Only first-class fruit will be allowed to go out. We will ship out under the Valley’s special brand, with the grower’s own name underneath. We will make our own way into the markets and demand fair prices for our harvests.
“Again, a single individual––or individuals crying separately––can do little or nothing with the Powers that be, as you well know; but once we are organised we can and shall insist on the Government introducing a proper system of irrigation throughout the entire Valley,––not a hit or a miss scheme such as presently obtains, for, if we would insure ourselves against periodical failure, if we would have annual uniformity of quality in our fruit, we must have proper irrigation. So far as the Government is concerned, our battle is more than half over, for we have in you a representative who knows the requirements of the Valley as no other member of parliament does.
“And in regard to the water,––look at the unlimited supply we have of it right at our very doors. If only some clear-minded inventor would devise a cheap, feasible scheme for getting the water up from these great, but low-lying lakes, on to the higher ranch levels! Failing that––we still have the lesser lakes up on the surrounding hills, as well as the numerous waterways in the neighbourhood.
“This glorious Valley is practically free from blight; 394 the coddling moth is under perfect control. There is nothing, Mr. Pederstone, and you know it too, nothing in the world to prevent the Valley’s production of fruit from increasing year by year as the younger orchards come to bearing age and fresh orchards are planted.
“There is no reason why we should not be able ultimately to take care of the entire Canadian requirements, with a surplus for export trade.
“As a vast fruit-growing organisation, we can demand and get all the transportation facilities we require.