134 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



Early Crosby, Early Triumph, and 

 Early Minnesota. 



Now we can grow not only these 

 kinds but also the late maturing varie- 

 ties, and extend the season of sweet 

 corn canning in some parts of Ontario 

 a month longer than in Maine. Why 

 do we not can the canned sweet corn 

 that our own people consume ? Is there 

 a reason, and what is that reason 1 



IS FRUIT KAISING PROFITABLE ? 



The Williamette (Oregon) Farmer 

 thus comments upon this subject, after 

 stating that W. H. Jessup, a successful 

 fruit-grower in California, is of the 

 opinion that the market for fresh fruit 

 is limited and uncertain, but that in 

 canning or drying fruit for the markets 

 of the world there is scarcely any limit 

 or uncertainty. Of the two Mr Jessup 

 gives the preference to the dried fruit 

 business, as being the most certain in 

 the long run, because the fruit can be 

 put up cheaper and transported at less 

 cost than the canned fruit, while, if 

 properly evaporated it possesses all the 

 good qualities of canned fruit of the 

 same grade. 



The Farmer gives the following par- 

 ticulars respecting dried fruit : 



Apples turn off 5 to 5 J lbs. of dried 

 fruit to a bushel of 50 lbs. weight, so 

 that they hardly yield more than ten 

 per cent, of dried product. Machine 

 dried apples sell readily at 9 to 10 cents 

 and estimating the product at 5|^ lbs. 

 to the bushel, the result would be 50 to 

 55 cents per bushel. Any person can 

 see that to dry apples in the orchard, 

 and realize that much, will pay hand- 

 somely. 



Pears turn off about 7 lbs. per bushel, 

 as near as we can estimate, and will sell 

 as well as apples, and perhaps better. 

 So few pears are dried that we have 

 never made an estimate, but we have 



for two years in succession dried Bart- 

 lett pears very nicely, and sold the pro- 

 ducts at 16 cents per pound, which was 

 $1 per bushel. 



Plums yielded from 20 to 25 lbs. to 

 the bushel of 50 lbs. We noticed that 

 Peach plums, Columbias, Coe's Golden 

 Drops, Yellow Egg plums, grown in an 

 orchard, turned ofi" 25 per cent, of dried 

 product, say 12J lbs. to the bushel, and 

 as we sold extra choice fruit for 16 

 cents, well packed, that was $2 per 

 bushel. But 16 cents is over what we 

 can expect. Suppose that really choice 

 pitted plums sell readily for 12 cents, 

 which is probable, and that they turn 

 off 10 lbs. per bushel, then it is evident 

 that there can be great profit made 

 i-aising and drying them. 



Prunes, again, dried with the pits in, 

 turn off 28 to 34 lbs. per 100 weight. 

 If we average them at 1 5 lbs. per bush- 

 el, and can sell at 8 cents per pound, 

 there is $1.20 per bushel. 



Take the range of choice fruits of the 

 varieties for drying of plums and pears, 

 and it must be apparent to every one 

 that there is great profit in gro wing and 

 drying them for market. If the grow- 

 er can net 50 cents per bushel for the 

 fruit on the tree, there is no branch of 

 husbandry that can be more profitable. 



One thing to be remembered is that 

 there is no fruit tree more healthy than 

 the plum and prune, and no tree bears 

 more certainly and more abundantly. 

 This is a fact that is well established in 

 our state. 



We figured up carefully the whole 

 matter before setting out an orchard, 

 and came to the conclusion that it will 

 pay handsomely to grow fruit when 

 prunes will be worth 6 cents, and pitted 

 plums 8 cents per pound. Even at that 

 price the product will average to yield 

 |1 per bushel in value, and the expense 

 of curing need not be over one-fourth of 

 that amount. 



