d 



anuary, 1910 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



II 



class. The course is planned very largely 

 for apple growers, both present and prospec- 

 tive, and no interested person can afford to 

 niss the up-to-date information which will 

 le brought forward in lectures and demon- 

 stration. Tender fruits come in for their 

 share of attention, however, and there are 

 besides, many subjects which are of interest 

 to all fruit growers. Opportunities of this 

 kind should not be missed. 



In spite of the fact that some eastern 

 apples sent this season to British Columbia 

 were condemned and destroyed for disease, 

 Ontario apples sold in Vancouver at $10.00 

 a barrel. How much did the Ontario grow- 

 ers get out of it? 



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mi 



PUBLISHERS' DESK 



In keeping with our policy of constant 

 advancement, a new cover design has been 

 adopted for The Canadian Horticitltx7Rist. 

 It is hoped that our readers will appreciate 

 the change. This design will be carried 

 throughout the year with a different illus- 

 tration each issue. Instead of running des- 

 criptions beneath these illustrations, as here- 

 tofore, descriptive matter relating to same 

 will appear, when necessary, in this column. 

 The first item in the index of each issue 

 also will tell something about the cover 

 cuts. 



m 



m 



Our February issue will contain articles 

 n spraying fruit trees and on spraying 

 laterials. Short letters from our readers 

 n their experiences in spraying will be 

 welcomed. Tell your results with some par- 

 ticular spray mixture and give directions for 

 ^(ts application. Send photographs of spray- 

 g scenes. 



Plan to Visit Great Britain 



Since page 10 went to press, a letter 

 has lifer received from Canadian Trad'-" 

 Commiss'oner MacKinnon, Birmingham, 

 that contains a formal invitation to Can- 

 adian fruit growers to visit England. This 

 strengthens the suggestion that is made in 

 the editorial on page 10, and is a further in- 

 ducement for united action in this matter. 

 Our fruit men will appreciate this court- 

 eous invitation and those that can do so 

 .should make definite arrangements for the 

 trip as soon as possible. Mr. MacKin- 

 ■on's letter is as follows : 



The following is an extract from a letter 

 tist received from the secretary of the Na- 

 tional Fruit Growers' Federation : — 



'I am instructed by the Council of 

 'the Federation to offer to Canadian fruit 

 'growers a most cordial invitation to visit 

 'some of the chief fruit plantations of 

 'England. If this visit is arranged, and 

 'my Council sincerely hope it will be, 

 'they will feel greatly honored at this 

 'opportunity of welcoming Canadian fruit 

 'growers.' 



"This follows a suggestion made in one 

 of my reports to the Department of Trade 

 and Commerce, published in the weekly 

 report of August 30, to the effect that Can- 

 adian fruit growers ought to imitate the 

 example of those on the continent and visit 

 the i)orts and markets of this country. A 

 prominent member of the Federation 

 l)rought the matter to the notice of the 

 president, who himself ijroposed to his 

 Council that an official invitation be sent, 

 so that if such a party is organized, they 

 should visit not only the markets, but one 

 at least of the chief fruit growing districts." 



Box Packing Methods in British Columbia 



W. J. L. Hamilton, South Salt Spring, Vancouver Island 



SUCH a thing as an apple barrel is un- 

 known in British Columbia as we find 

 the box method of packing much more 

 satisfactory. But the art of packing 

 apples in boxes is not learned in a day. As 

 a matter of fact, skilled apple packers are 

 few and far between at the present time 

 in this province. We have only one size 

 of box, namely ten by eleven by twenty 

 inches inside measurement ; so it requires 

 some skill and experience to pack without 

 slackness, all the varied sizes to which the 

 different varieties grow. 



I do not propose to enlarge on the meth- 

 ods of packing. These are admirably 

 treated of in a bulletin issued by the Dairy 

 and Cold Storage Commissioner at Ottawa, 

 which I can confidently recommend to my 

 readers. 



I desire to call the attention of beginners 

 to some points in which care should be 

 exercised if best prices are to be realised. 

 "Fancy" apples should be all perfect speci- 

 mens of nearly even size, just enough dif- 

 ference in size between the ends and mid- 

 dle of the box to allow a "crowning" or rise 

 towards the middle of the box of three-quar- 

 ters of an inch to ensure that, when the 

 apples settle into place, no slackness will 

 appear, as nothing tends to bruise fruit 

 more than any slackness of pack. Only new 

 clean boxes should be used and these should 

 be lined with paper provided for 'the pur- 

 pose. 



It is advisable to wrap each apple separ- 

 ately in wrapping jjaper of the proper size, 

 and the apples should be suitably arranged 

 in layers packed so tightly that standing 

 the box on end gently will not disarrange 

 the completed layer. It is well to note 

 on the end of the box, amongst the rest 

 of the information called for, the number of 

 apples the box contains. 



The diagonal pack is the most desirable, 

 next to that, the "offset", whilst the 

 straight pack (rows running parallel to the 

 sides of the box) is the least satisfactory. 

 This is because each apple rests directly 

 on the top of the one below it, so that it 

 is much more likely to be bruised injurious- 

 ly than if, as in the other forms of pack, 

 it nested into the spaces between the fruit 

 of the layers below. 



All "fancy" grade apples should not only 

 be perfect in form and color, but they 

 should be free from disease, worm marks, 

 or bruises, and they should be good speci- 

 mens of the variety as regards size. The 

 greatest care should be exercised in pack- 

 ing, so that not only are the very best prices 

 realised but the credit of the province as 

 a quality fruit producer is maintained. A 

 litle patriotism of this sort is not only 

 commendable but profitable. 



In packing other grades, like care should 

 be maintained and in every case the grad- 

 ing should be somewhat better than the 

 legal definition of it that is called for. Many 

 will object that this leaves too many culls. 

 This is true, especially in orchards that have 

 not been properly sprayed and oared for. 

 I am however, trying to introduce in 

 British Columbia, a scheme whereby our 

 fruit will come into its own and realize 

 the price its high quality merits, which 

 it has never done yet. 



One point of this scheme is the evaporat- 

 ing of the culls, whereby they and the No. 

 3 grade (which has no right, to damage the 

 good name of the province by being on the 

 market at all) can be evaporated and sold 

 at a higher price than can be obtained for 

 the No. 3 as boxed at present. 



Other points in this scheme are, the com- 

 bination of all the scattered co-operative 



fruit growers' associations under one head, 

 preferably the British Columbia . Gov- 

 ernment; the erection of cold storage 

 plants at central points to receive 

 the fruit once it is boxed, where it 

 can be held for top prices ; the establish- 

 ment of agents throughout the world to sell 

 this fruit for us ; and, above all, the pro- 

 vision of a school to instruct the young 

 men of the province, who desire it, in the 

 art of grading and boxing fruit so that 

 they can go out into the fruit districts as 

 officials of the co-operative associations to 

 train local packers and to afltix a govern- 

 ment brand on all boxes according to their 

 quality, as a guarantee to the purchasers 

 that they get what they pay for. 



Cold Storage of Fruits 



A portion of an address given by Mr. J. 

 A. Ruddick, Dairy and Cold Storage Com- 

 missioner, Ottawa, before the Ontario Fruit 

 Growers' Association at its last convention, 

 appeared in the December issue of The 

 Canadian HoRTictiLTXTRiST. The second in- 

 stalment is published herewith. Mr. Rud- 

 dick's remarks on the pre-cooling of fruit 

 and on the construction of cold storage 

 warehouses and cooling rooms will appear 

 later ■ 



COLD STORAGE MAY BE OVERDONE 



The cold storage of apples might easily 

 be overdone. It would be quite practic- 

 able, for instance, to preserve any of the 

 early fall apples if placed in storage at the 

 proper time, for several weeks or even 

 months, but it would ' not be good business 

 to do so, because the trade would be shy 

 of such varieties out of season. It would 

 be unbusinesslike to attempt to carry in- 

 ferior varieties into the season for better 

 ones. 



SEASON MAY BE EXTENDED 



By degrees, however, the season for sup- 

 perior varieties might be considerably ex- 

 tended. The Rhode Island Greening is a 

 good type of this class. The season for the 

 Greening has been extended for six weeks 

 or two months in the United States by 

 means of cold storage, with the decided ad- 

 vantage that it misses the competition of 

 cheaper varieties. The question of vari- 

 ety should be carefully considered in select- 

 ing a stock for cold storing. 



THE FUNCTION OP COLD STORAGE 



The proper function, then, of refrigera- 

 tion in connection with our fruit, is two- 

 fold. First, the rapid chilling of early ap- 

 ples and tender fruits, and their preserva- 

 tion in transit; and second, the storage and 

 early checking of the ripening process in 

 late apples intended for long keeping. When 

 the coid weather comes on, natural tem- 

 peratures can be utilized but the damage 

 is done before that time arrives, especially 

 in those seasons when warm weather pre- 

 vails late into October or November. 



In these two fields, there is a great op- 

 jiortunity. Of course, there is always the 

 further advantage of being able to carry 

 surplus stocks over a period of glut in the 

 market. There is particular need for cold 

 storage in those warmer localities where 

 late apples approach more nearly the stage 

 of full ripeness on the trees. There is this 

 to be said also, that apples which are well 

 matured and highly colored keep better in 

 cold storage than greener and more im- 

 mature ones do. 



But it would be a mistake to suppose that 

 all Canadian apples require cold storage. 



