The Canadian Horticulturi^ 



Vol. XXXIII 



SEPTEMBER, 1910 



No. 9 



Critical Position of the Apple Industry in Ontario* 



t 



SO.MK fifteen or more years ago the 

 apple industry of Ontario was at 

 its best. Since that time, for vari- 

 ous causes, there has been a general de- 

 cline of interest in apple orcharding, a 

 general increase in the percentage of 

 defective apples, and a general falling off 

 in the quantity of good apples finding 

 their way to market. The industry is 

 coming to life in a few localities, but over 

 Ontario generally orcharding is still on 

 the decline. 



The causes which have led in recent 

 years to the decline of the industry are, 

 first, the increa.se of fungous and insect 

 pests. It is said that until twenty years 

 ago or even later, apple scab and codling 

 worm were not found abundantly in any 

 ection of Ontario. Since that time they 

 ave .spread and multiplied In every sec- 

 ion until now the.se two pests are the 

 most serious with which the apple 

 grower has to contend. 



The second great reason is a climatic 

 one, namely, winter injury. Within 

 the last six years Ontario has experi- 

 enced unusually trying winters. That of 

 1903-04 was particularly destructive to 

 fruit plantations. Since that date trees 

 have been dying by degrees in all sac- 

 tions of the province, especially the 

 northern ones. Previous to that time 

 there had been little opportunity of deter- 

 mining the hardiness of various varie- 

 ties and, as a consequence, many varie- 

 ties which ultimately proved tender were 

 planted in almost all localities. 



The third great rea.son is that in the 

 past we have suffered from an over- 

 supply of buyers. It is not altogether 

 the fact that there have been too many 

 buyers, but rather the fact that there 

 have teen too many of the wrong kind. 



The trade has had many reputable re- 

 presentatives for many years, but a large 

 proportion of the crop has from year to 

 year passed through the hands of men 

 without capital and, in too imany in- 

 stances, without character. The coun- 

 try has been over-run with men whose 

 business policy consisted very largely of 

 sharp practice. I'nHer the influence of 

 lower prices brought about by such dis- 

 couraging conditions, farmers have lo.st 

 interest in apple growing, and we are 

 to-day in a position from which no one 



•Extracts from an addreSH delivered before the 

 Apple Shippers' Association in Niagara Palls, in 

 August. 



Prof. J. W. Crow, O.A.C., Guelph, Ont. 



can do so much to deliver us as the hon- 

 est, reputable apple dealer. 



Buyers state that the codling moth 

 has been the worst enemy their business 

 has encountered in the last score of 

 years.. The growers state emphatically 

 that the worst enemy they have met with 

 is not the codling moth but the disreput- 

 able dealer — the man who operates with- 

 out capital and who by means of crooked 

 practices endeavors to get more than he 

 pays for or to deliver less than he has 

 .sold. 



BUYERS BECOMING GROWERS 

 It is significant of the condition of 

 the trade in Ontario that many buyers, 

 finding they are no longer able to secure 

 good apples are going themselves into 

 the business of apple growing. It is 

 also to be noticed that a number of buy- 

 ers have transferred the scene of their 



All Should Read It 



I have been much interested in 

 watching the steady growth in 

 practical usefulness of The Can.a- 

 DiAN Horticulturist. It is worth 

 many times its subscription price 

 to anyone who cultivates even only 

 a small city lot. To the profes- 

 sional as well as to the amateur 

 horticulturist, it is indispensable. 

 Every member of a horticultural 

 society in Ontario should read The 

 Canadian Horticulturist. — R. 

 B. Whyte, President Ontario Hor- 

 ticultural Association. 



operations from Ontario to localities on 

 the other side of the line or to the Mari- 

 time provinces. At present it is an utter 

 impossibility for an isolated grower in 

 Ontario to dispose of a small quantity 

 of good apples to advantage. 



COOPERATION ADVOCATED 

 The only method which promises a 

 solution of the dilliculty is that of co- 

 operative selling. It is a fact not lightly 

 to be passed over that in almost every 

 locality in Ontario in which the apple 

 industry is on a paying basis there is to 

 be found a growers' cooperative selling 

 organization. 



More than any other one thing, we 

 need reputable dealers with good market- 

 ing connections to come into Ontario 

 and buy our fruit, paying therefor prices 



303 



that will encourage the production of 

 good apples. Good apples are always 

 worth the price, but if the production of 

 a high grade article is to be assisted, 

 growers must receive the encourage- 

 ment of profitable prices. 



THE NORFOLK DISTRICT 



The locality in which the most rapid 

 development has taken place in recent 

 years is the county of Norfolk. It is 

 probably correct to say that growers in 

 this district are in advance of those in 

 other districts with respect to their 

 general methods of spraying, pruning, 

 cultivating, grading and packing. The 

 credit for this condition of affairs belongs 

 very largely to Mr. James E. Johnson, 

 of Simcoe, Ont. 



Mr. Johnson, as manager of the Nor- 

 folk County Fruit Growers' Association, 

 has established a reputation for grading 

 and packing unexcelled in the province. 

 The association handles the largest pro- 

 portion of the apples grown in the 

 locality and last year packed some 

 19,000 barrels. The orchards which last 

 year produced this amount of fruit have 

 not, as one might expect, just come into 

 bearing, but have, as a matter of fact, 

 been on the spot for twenty-five years or 

 longer. Most of the orchards in that 

 locality vary in age from thirty to fifty 

 years. 



Previous to 1900 no apples worth men- 

 tioning were being exported out of the 

 county. Since, however, it haa been 

 demonstrated that old orchards, if pro- 

 perly handled, are capable of yielding 

 good crops and paying good returns, 

 considerable interest has been arou.sed 

 and new planting is going forward at a 

 rapid rate. The bearing orchards con- 

 sist largely of Baldwin, Spy and Green- 

 ing and average not more than three 

 acres in extent. The newer plantings 

 vary in size from five to seventy-five acres 

 and consist principally of the same varie- 

 ties, although a large proportion of earl- 

 ier varieties, including Alexander, Weal- 

 thy, Snow, Mcintosh, Blenheim and 

 •King are being used. 



At present almost all the orchards in 

 the county are being more or less care- 

 /ully looked after. Cultivation is the 

 rule, as is also thorough spraying. Sit- 

 uated as they are, in the southerly por- 

 tion of Ontario, there has been very little 

 experienced from winter injury of any 



