REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST 187 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



end of the season, as well as the high quality of the fruit, will no doubt make a lasting 

 impression on the British market.* 



' There was a fair yield of apples ; but in various parts of the province of Ontario 

 complaints were made of the scarcity of barrels, and, on this account, buyers were 

 more particular than ever in the selection of this fruit ; thousands of bushels of apples 

 that in former years would have passed for shipment to Great Britain, were this sea- 

 son rejected by them.' — (C. C. James). 



Not only was the quality of the fruit exported this year better for the above rea- 

 son, but the rigorous application of the ' Fruit Marks Act ' has prevented much second" 

 rate fruit from going forward, which otherwise would have found its way to the 

 British markets. This will be a decided and lasting benefit to the country. Grapes 

 were a good crop in the Niagara peninsula, but in Essex and Kent the crop was prac- 

 tically destroyed by the Black Rot of the Grape (Loestadia Bidwelli, V. & R.) 

 Plums were an enormous crop in almost all parts of the Dominion, injuries by the 

 Plum Curculio being considered this year rather a benefit than otherwise for the work 

 they did in thinning fruit on the overloaded trees. The only discounted reports as to 

 plums were from some parts of the maritime provinces. In British Columbia consid- 

 erable loss occurred from the attacks of the fungous disease known as Brown Rot or 

 Ripe Rot (Monilia fructigend), which attacks the fruit just when it is ready for the 

 market. This loss was chiefly on Vancouver Island and near the coast on the main- 

 land. Orchards which had been sprayed early in spring and where the diseased plums 

 had been carefully gathered and destroyed, were noticeably freer from attack than 

 where no remedial measures had been adopted. The Shot-hole Fungus (Cylindro- 

 sporium padi) also did considerable injury by defoliating the trees before the fruit was 

 ripe. This, like the last named disease, can be controlled by regular spraying. Peaches 

 were an enoiTaous crop of excellent quality. Cherries were fair on Prince Edward 

 Island, good in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, excellent and abundant in Qiiebec, 

 Ontario and British Columbia. The pear crop is reported as good ; but the ravages 

 of the Pear-tree Slug were serious in some places, and the Pear-tree Elea-louse is re- 

 ported by Prof. Loclihead as having been very injurious in the Grimsby district of 

 Ontario. On the fruit farm of Mr. W. R. Dewar, trees were much stunted and were 

 covered with the dirty black fun.gus, Fumago salicina, which develops upon the honey- 

 dew emitted by this insect and various other kinds of plant-lice. Berries and small 

 fruits generally were seriously affected by the drought of early summer through the 

 region where this prevailed. The rains, which came about the middle of June, were 

 too late to save the strawberry crop but helped considerably raspberries and currants. 

 Cranberries in Nova Scotia did not produce such a paying crop as usual, but this was 

 not due to any trouble with insect enemies. In Prince Edward Island this crop was 

 renorted as ' fair.' 



* The following extract from the ' Glasgow Herald ' of January 5, 1904, in an article upon 

 the Fruit Imports into the United Kingdom in 1903 is significent : ' Green Fruit Import. The 

 apple trade was unique, 1903 being a bumper year. The total weight was 4,550,000 cwt. valued 

 at £2,850,000. In ten years the imports have been nearly doubled ; 1903 even surpassed 1896, 

 •which was the most prolific season of recent years. The imports in favour of 1903 against 

 1S06 are 3,000.000 bushels. Vv'e get the largest parcels from the United States and Canada. 

 These countries send us more than 2,500,000 cwt. annually. Of course, the Canadian apples 

 are much supsrior to those of the United States. 



