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THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



January, 1910 



In the cooler districts at least a portion of 

 the late or slow matuririK varieties may be 

 preserved for early marketing if properly 

 handled in ordinary frost-proof ware, 

 houses. While cold storage would longtlion 

 the season of all apples, the gain in value 

 would' not be equal to the expense in all 

 cases. 



As one whose duty it is, as a public offi- 

 cer, to give all reasonable encouragement 

 to the use of cold storage, I feel that it 

 would be unfortunate if these things were 

 not well understood and clearly recognized 

 before there is any large expenditure made 

 in this connection. 



PACKAGES IN COLD STORAOE 



The question of package is of some im- 

 portance in the cold storage of apples. In 

 the case of the early varieties, for which 

 quick cooling is important, the box package 

 on account of its smaller size and, there- 

 fore greater extent of surface as compared 

 with bulk, and the openings at the edges, 

 undoubtedly facilitates the attainment of 

 the object in view. With later varieties for 

 which quick cooling is not so important, 

 the barrel carries no serious objection. 



WRAPPERS AND COLD STORAGE 



All apples will keep better if wrapped in 

 paper. The wrapper helps to prevent the 

 bruises which may result from the handling 

 and the pressure of tight packing, and it 

 also prevents the spread of mould spores 

 or other germs of decay from one apple to 

 another. The wrapper offers the further 

 advantage that it prevents, to some extent, 

 the collection of moisture on the surface 

 of the apple when it is changed from a low 

 temperature to a comparatively high one. 



The wrapper is obviously more useful on 

 early and tender varieties than on later and 

 firmer ones. Circumstances and labor re- 

 sources must guide the individual in d'^tcr- 

 mining how far it will pay to carry the mat- 

 ter of wrapping. 



British Columbia Inspection 



Editor, The Canadian Horticulturist : 

 As the inspection stations are run at pre- 

 sent, the Dominion agent has the first 

 "whack" at any importation of nursery 

 stock and it is fumigated by him. It is 

 then passed over to the provincial inspect- 

 ors who apparently ignore any previous 

 fumigations and, if any sign of pests or 

 disease, is either fumigated again, dipped 

 in solutions or destroyed. What is left is 

 handed over to the consignee and if it sur- 

 vives he has something to show for his mon- 

 ey ; if not, he has the experience. 



Why in the name of common sense can- 

 not these two stations be consolidated into 

 one general station, and if the stock is re- 

 ported clean on inspection, why should it 

 be fumigated at all to its detriment? All 

 United States and eastern Canadian stock, 

 I understand, has to be fumigated before 

 leaving the home nursery. 



No one wants to get any disease or pest- 

 infested stock into British Columbia, but 

 nurserymen are not mind readers enough 

 to tell what the demand is going to be 

 a year or two in advance, and if he is 

 doing any amount of business and wants to 

 fill his orders complete, he either has to 

 buy what he is short of and burn up or 

 sell cheap his surplus, or go out of busi- 

 ness. Under the present regulations he 

 might as well go out of the nursery business 

 and get into some respectable one. — M. J. 

 Henry, Vancouver, B.C. 



Nova Scotia Fruit Groovers Meet 



In find The Canadian Horticulturist 

 not only interesting but the most useful 

 and helpful paper that 1 can get anywhere. 

 — C. J. Pearson, Ottawa. 



THE 46th annual meeting of the Nova 

 Scotia Fruit Growers' Association, 

 held at Kentville, Dec. 1 and 2, was 

 one of the most practical meetings in 

 its existence. For the first time the sub- 

 jects of thinning fruits and the use of lime- 

 sulphur as a winter spray were discussed 

 and the experiences of practical growers as 

 to the necessity of these two practices in up- 

 to-date orcharding were given. 



THINNING FRUITS 



R. J. Me8seng<'r, Bridgetown, gave a 

 talk on the benefits of thinning in his own 

 orchard in which he cit'^d the case of one 

 tree of Baldwins among others which had 

 in previous bearing years given a heavy 

 crop of apples, 80 per cent. No. 2's and un- 

 der. This year after thinning the tree pack- 

 ed 75 per cent. No. 1, 20 per cent. No. 2 and 

 5 per cent. No. 3. Thinning .saved time in 

 picking, packing, and saved the vitality of 

 the tree and also we get more dollars for 

 the smaller number of barrels shipped of 

 the thinned fruit. Quite a number gave 

 willing testimony in favor of thinning, 

 among them, R. S. Eaton, G, C. Miller, 

 F. H. Johnson and Mrs. Sangster. 



SULPHUR SPRAYS 



Mr. L. D. Robinson of Berwick gave an 

 interesting talk on winter sprays, dealing 

 chiefly with the lime-sulphur solution. In 

 the discussion on this paper it was the gen- 

 eral opinion that about 18 lbs. sulphur and 

 20 of lime was about the right proportion 

 of ingredients, that the water should be 

 boiling, that the sulphur should be added 

 first, then the lime, and that it need not 

 be applied hot as long as it was slightly 

 warm. Boil about 35 minutes to an hour. 

 It should be used only as a winter spray 

 at this strength. 



Capt. C. O. Allen reported having re- 

 ceived several barrels of Niagara Brand 

 prepared lime-sulphur last spring and had 

 distributed some. Those who had used it 

 spoke of its beneficial effects in cleaning 

 up the tree. The impression seemed to be 

 that the commercial article was not as effi- 

 cient as the home-boiled lime-sulphur. 



PROPOSED CHANGES IN FRUIT MARKS ACT 



The question of a definite size to be men- 

 tioned in the Fruit Marks Act for minimum 

 No. 2 and No. 1 of the principal varieties 

 of apples was taken up by Inspector Fitch. 

 He thought the present definition using 

 the word "medium" was too vague and al- 

 lowed of too much variation, that different 

 minimum sizes would have to bi' established 

 for the different varieties according to 

 typical size, e.g., Baldwins, Greenings, 

 Gravensteins, etc., minimum No. 2, 2 1-4 

 in., No. 1, 2 1-2 inches; Nonpareil, Golden 

 Russets, etc,. 2 1-8 and 2 3-8; Spys, Blen- 

 heims, Kings, etc., 2 3-8 and 2 5-8, and so 

 on. Since grading in this way would throw- 

 out a great many small perfect apples he 

 recommended a definition for No. 3 and the 

 barrelling of many of these smooth apples 

 from 2 1-4 to 2 inches and marking them 

 No. 3. The latter then would be for a 

 small price a good apple for the poorer 

 classes. He deplored the sending away of 

 such trash as was now oft«n shipped under 

 the brand of No. 3. 



■ After some discussion in which the speak- 

 ers were about equally divided as to the 

 advisability of definite size, the matter was 

 left in the hands of a committee to consider 

 and report at next meeting. 



MOISTURE IN ORCHARD SOILS 



F. T. Shutt, Ottawa, chemist for the Do- 

 minion Experimental Farm, gave a very 

 able address on "The Control of Moisture in 

 Orchard Soils." Some of the points of the 

 paper were that tlie sjiowini; of grass or 



grain in any orchard was bad practice on 

 account of the great amount of water given 

 off and taken from the soil by these crops, 

 that intertilled crops might be practised in 

 young orchards, that tillage should begin 

 in orchards as soon as possible in the 

 spring, that orchard soil should be culti- 

 vated to form an earth mulch as soon as 

 plowed and that ground should not be plow- 

 ed and left without further cultivation. 



PLANT DISEASES 



Prof. H. W. Smith of Truro spoke at 

 some length on plant diseases. He strongly 

 urged the necessity of stringent legislation 

 for the prevention of the importation of 

 plant diseases. The professor gave the lif ■ 

 history and habits of some of the more com- 

 mon fungi and urged the adoption of all 

 means possible to prevent the spread of 

 disease, such as burning all diseased plants 

 and parts of plants, dead trees, etc., 

 find the plowing undei of leaves upon 

 which might be found the spores of such 

 fungi. The aphis which had caused us so 

 much trouble this year he was glad to say 

 had a natural enemy which would probably 

 keep it in check. 



MISCELLANEOUS 



Prof. M. Gumming of Truro spoke hope- 

 fully of the work of the college of agricul- 

 ture. From Prince Edward Island alone 

 125 men were coming to the short course 

 and an increased number from Nova Scotia 

 and New Brunswick. He hoped to see the 

 maritime provinces fully united in the in- 

 terests of agricultural education. 



A. S. Barnstead attended one of the meet- 

 ings and spoke of the work being done by 

 the department of labor and immigration. 

 They were trying to get before the people 

 of Great Britain the desirability of coming 

 out here and settling and they were 

 endeavoring to get the better class of British 

 workmen to come. Any who are in need of 

 farm help should apply as early as possible 

 to this department. 



Robert Thompson of St. Catharines, Ont., 

 gave a very interesting talk on "Co-opera- 

 tion," telling us how successfully it had 

 worked out in his association. Mr. Thorap- 

 ■son took part in many of the discussions 

 and proved a great help to the meetings. 



The officers for the ensuing year are : 

 Pres. E. E. .\rchibald ; vice-pres., R. J. 

 Messenger; sec, S. C. Parker, Berwick. — 

 R.J.M. 



The Grimsby Fruit District 



Linns Woolverton, Grimibj, Ont. 



In my note about the Niagara peninsula 

 which appeared in the November Canadian 

 Horticulturist, I should have explained 

 that those high prices at which peach farms 

 are being sold about Grimsby include build- 

 ings, and in some instances, the year's 

 I)each crop. 



Location too has much to do with values 

 here, and the fruit farms of 10 or 15 acres 

 in extent which lie close under the pro- 

 tection of the mountain and face the H.G. * 

 B. trolley so that fruit may be shipped 

 from one's private platform, bring the 

 highest prices. 



It is only of recent years that the old 

 settlers in the Niagara district have begun 

 dividing up their farms and offering parts 

 for sale. There are two reasons — one the 

 high prices offered and the other the diffi- 

 ctiHv of cultivating to advantage too many 

 acres in fruit, especially in these days of 

 high wages. 



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