136 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



June, 1910 



Good fruit brings a high figure at re- 

 tail in the Old Country markets. I have 

 seen apples on show for sale at retail at 

 a guinea a box and at one franc each. 



We need at St. Thomas a pre-cooling 

 and shipping depot for our fruit. With 

 such a warehou.se, the value of our whole 

 crop would be increa.sed but especially 

 our early apples. If we could pick our 

 fruit in season and take it to such a depot 

 immediately, where it could be properly 

 cooled, packed and shipped, we could 

 save an immense waste in our crop. 



Success with Strawberries 



One of the most successful growers of 

 strawberries in Canada, is Mr. James E. 

 Johnson, of Simcoe. Ont., and his meth- 

 ods as described by him at the short 

 course in fruit growing held in Guelph 

 last winter, were listened to with great 

 eagerness. 



Last year Mr. Johnson harvested from 

 ten acres about 84,000 baskets of berries. 

 This he considered to be a small crop, 

 claiming that about 10,000 baskets an 

 acre is a good average crop. 



The main requisite to success is a 

 thorough knowledge of the business and 

 of the habits of the plant. A wide know- 

 ledge of the methods in use by the best 

 growers is of the greatest aid to the be- 

 ginner. Mr. Johnson's plantation is part- 

 ly on sand and partly on clay. 



Plant only the best plants to be had, 

 was Mr. Johnson's advice. Do not take 

 plants from the outside of the row. Dig 

 the whole row and reject all small plants. 



The rows are made forty-two inches 

 apart, with plants set three feet apart in 

 the row. Thus horse-cultivation can be 

 kept up both ways for a considerable 

 length of time. The ground is marked 

 both ways by means of markers. The 

 plants are set at the intersection of the 

 marks. Cultivation is kept up once or 

 twice a week regularly for the first sea- 

 son. 



In growing the matted row, which is 

 the method followed, it is necessary to 

 place them by hand in their proper place. 

 The plants are not allowed to develop 

 fresh runners as all the strength of the 

 young plant is needed in order to estab- 

 lish it. When the placing of the runners 

 commences, cultivation one way ceases. 



Mulching in winter is always practised 

 with straw or very coarse manure. Last 

 year the wind blew the straw off and the 

 result was a diminished crop. 



Two crops are harvested from each 

 patch. To renew the patch is perhaps one 

 of the greatest problems. Just after har- 

 vest has ended the mower is run over the 

 plantation ; then the mulch is stirred up 

 with a hay-tedder and fire run over the 

 patch. The ground between the rows is 

 then plowed in such a way as to narrow 

 the rows to about a foot in width. The 

 cultivator and hoe is set to work and the 

 patch made thoroughly clean. 



-Spraying for the rust is considered by 

 .\1r. Johnson to be one of the best means 

 of securing a heavy crop. Heavy appli- 

 cations of spray are made once or twice 

 just before bloom. Thoroughness in this 

 is necessary. Bordeaux mixture is used 

 according to the following formula : Blue 

 stone, six pounds ; lime, ten pounds ; 

 water, fifty gallons. The spray is applied 

 by a traction spray cart with a set of six 

 nozzles attached, such as is used for po- 

 tatoes. — D. .S. 



Marketing Strawberries 



J. C. Gilman, Fredericton, N. B. 

 Boxes and crates for strawberries 

 should be procured early in the season, 

 with extra slats, .so that you will not have 

 to stop in a hurried time to hunt up laths 

 and shingles before you can pack your 

 berries, and keep the grocer and custom- 



Some New Brauwick Grown Strawberrio 



Glen Marys last year on farm of Mr. J. 0. Oilman, 

 near Fredericton. 



ers waiting while makeshifts are brought 

 into use. 



Different growers have different meth- 

 ods at picking time ; most, however, use 

 what is called a stand, a field basket or 

 picker's basket, which in most cases is 

 simply a shallow box with four legs, three 

 or four inches long, and a handle made 

 out of a barrel hoop, or anything suitable 

 for that purpose. These picker's stands 

 are made just large enough to hold six 

 boxes. 



Keeping tally of the pick must be pro- 

 vided for. After trying several ways, 

 each of which had objections, we have 

 found nothing beltter than a picker's 

 ticket with four rows of figures totalling 

 roc; the top row has ten sixes, the sec- 

 ond row ten twos, while each of the other 

 two rows have ten of the figure i. Write 

 the picker's name on each ticket given 

 out. This will often prevent difficulty 

 arising when tickets are lost and found. A 



punch similar to a conductor's punch 

 should be used to punch out the figures 

 to tally with the number of full boxes 

 brought in by each picker. 



Have a corn whisk for your pickers to 

 remove the factory dust from the boxes 

 before using. Give beginners a few sim- 

 ple directions. Explain the difference be- 

 tween picking and pulling. Show them 

 that by picking a berry it may be placed 

 in a box without harm, while by pulling 

 the ripe berries are bruised, stems are 

 broken and green berries are wasted. 



Pass among your pickers and see that 

 your instructions are being carried out. 

 Some new hands will be apt to damage 

 the fruit at first, but by patiently showing 

 them you may soon find them quite ex- 

 pert. A convenient shelter should be pro- 

 vided, to which the berries may be taken, 

 and packed for market. 



The chief methods of disposing of the 

 crop are shipping to .some distant point, 

 to be sold on commission, supplying local 

 irade by selling to the grocers and private 

 customers, and .sending to the canning 

 factory, the la.st method for disposing of 

 any surplus. Whichever plan we follow, 

 we should aim to be prompt, to deliver 

 our fruit free from the dust of the street, 

 and in the best possible condition. 



Cultivating Raspberries 



Chirles F. Sprott, Bumaby Lake, B. C. 



For cultivating raspberries I find the 

 Planet Jr. cultivator a most useful tool. 

 .After the patch has been cleaned up and 

 the land more or less hard from the walk- 

 ing up and down of the pickers, a reversi- 

 ble single horse extension disc harrow 

 is an exceedingly useful tool to get the 

 land in condition for the next year's crop. 

 Care must be taken that neither the disc 

 nor the wheel hoe is allowed to go deep 

 into the soil to cut the roots of the plants. 

 It is not safe to cultivate much deeper 

 than two inches or the cultivator will cut 

 or damage the roots. 



The raspljerry crop wants a rich .soil, 

 and takes more potash than strawberries 

 or potatoes. If profitable returns are re- 

 quired the soil must have sufficient of the 

 three main elements of plant food to make 

 a strong growth of new wood and also a 

 big crop of berries. 



There are several large fruit tracts to 

 ooen up in the Okanagan valley, British 

 Columbia. Areas still unimproved most- 

 ly require extensive reservoirs back at 

 headwaters or long flumes or pipe lines 

 to get water on to the land. There is an 

 ample snowfall in the mountains, but 

 the big rush of water is over by July i. 

 With wise conservation the irrigation 

 supply may be increa.«e^ for rrany years. 



A cool moist soil is best adapted to 

 the growth of currants. It should tend 

 towards clay rather than sand. 



