.38 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



February, igi2 



The Canadian Horticulturist 



PublUhed by The Horticultural 

 Publi>hinc Companr. Limited 



pjBrrSRBORO, ONTJLHIO 



Th« Only Horticultural Magazine 

 in the Dominion 



OrrioiAi. Oroan or the Ontario, Quebsc, Nbw 



Brunswick and Prince Edward Ibulnd 



Fruit Growers' Asbooiationb 



U. Bhonbon Cowan, Manairing Direotor 



1. The Oanadian Horticulturist is published on 

 the 25lh day of the month preceding date ol 

 issue. , ^ r, , 



2. Subscription price in Canada and Ureal 

 Britain. 60 cents a year; two years, $1.00. lor 

 United States and local subscriptions m Peter 

 boro (not called lor at the Post Olfice), 25 oenU 

 extra a year, including postage. 



J. Kemittancee should be made by Post Omoe 

 or Express Money Order, or Registered Letter. 

 Postage Stamps accepted for amoumts less than 

 $1.00. 



4 The Law is that subscribers to newspapers 

 are held responsible until all arrearages are 

 paid and their paper ordered to be discontinued. 



5. Change of Address— W hen a change of ad- 

 dress is ordej-ed, both the old and the new ad- 

 dresses must be given. 



6. Advertising Jiates quoted on appUcation. 

 Copy received up to the 18th. Address all ad 

 vertising correspondence and copy to our Ad- 

 vertising Manager, Peterboro, Ont. 



7 Articles and Illustrations for publication 

 will be thankfully received by the editor. 

 CIRCULATION STATEMENT 



The following is a sworn statement of the net 

 paid circulation of The Canadian Horticulturist 

 for the year ending with December, 19U. The fig- 

 ures given are exclusive of samples and spoield 

 copies. Most months, including the sample cop 

 ies, from 11,000 to 12,000 copies of the Canadian 

 Horticulturist aje mailed to people known to 

 be interested in the growing of fruits, flowers 

 or vegetables. 



January, 1911 •"'o™ 



February, 1911 "•*? 



March, 1911 "'"^ 



April, 1911 5'3S? 



May, 1911 {I'tii 



June, 1911 fX'nfia 



July, 1911 "'"51 



August, 1911 l"'"^ 



September, 1911 J'Ji? 



October, 1911 J'jji 



November. 1911 j'-'S 



December. 1911 ''*'"' 



Total !»•«' 



Average each issue in 1907, 6,627 



.4 > 190S, 8,695 



.. " " •• 1909, 8,970 



44 '4 '4 " 1910, 9,067 



.4 1911, 9,541 



Sworn detailed statements will be mailed 

 upon application. 



OUR PROTECTIVE POLICY 

 We want the readers of The OanadiMi Horti- 

 culturist to feel that they can deal with our 

 advertisers with our assurance, of the adyertifl 

 ^' reUabiUty. We try to admit to oar eolumns 

 ^ly the most reliable advertisers. Should, any 

 subscriber, therefore, have good oause to be 

 di^tiifled with the. treatment he receives from 

 anv of our advertisers, we will look into the 

 matter and investigate the oi™"™*,*^*^^^^; 

 Should we find reason, even in the sugntesi 

 de^e. we will discontinue ta^edi.ately the pub- 

 Uoation of their advertisements in The Horti- 

 oiSurist Should the circumstances warrant, 

 we will expose them through the columns of 

 the S^per ^us we will not only protect our 

 r^de^sTbut our reputable advertisers as well. 

 AU that ta necessary to entitle you to the bene- 

 fit of thlT Protlotive PoUcy is that you include 

 in all vx>ur letters to advertisers the words, 

 •? saw you? ad in The Canadian Horticulturist." 

 Com^alnu ^ould be made to "8 a«..«>on„a« 

 SoSible iStIr reason for dissatisfaction has 

 been found. 

 Communications should be addressed 



THE OANADLAN H0UT1CULTUR18T. 

 PETEEBOEO, ONT. 



EDITORIAL 



SPRAYING 



Great progress has been made during the 

 past ten years in the general adaption by 

 commercial fruit growers of spraying. Nev- 

 ertheless we may expect to see even more 

 rapid improvement in the future. The past 

 decade has been devoted in a large meas-- 

 ure to experimental work. The lack of 

 definite information in regard to the best 

 sprays to use and methods of applying them, 

 as well as of the cost involved and probable 

 returns, caused thousands of growers to 

 hesitate about adopting this practice. These 

 conditions are now largely a matter of the 

 past. While there is considerable experi- 

 mental work still to be done and we may 

 expect to see further improvements made 

 in our spraying appliances, still the bulk of 

 this work has been accomplished. 



Our agricultural colleges and experiment 

 stations now have in pamphlet form and 

 furnish such complete information, on 

 points that even until quite recently were 

 largely a matter of some uncertainty, even 

 a novice can now readily obtain the in- 

 formation required to enable him to make 

 an intelligent and profitable start in spray- 

 ing. So many thousand fruit growers in 

 all parts of the country have demon- 

 strated conclusively the profitable results 

 that invariably follow where spraying is 

 I>roperly conducted, the value of spraying 

 is no longer a matter of doubt. 



No better evidence of the tremendous in- 

 crease taking place in the practice of spray- 

 ing need be furnished than is given eke- 

 where in this issue by Mr. S. C. Parker, 

 the Secretary of the Nova Scotia Fruit 

 Growers' Association, who makes the state- 

 ment that last spring alone about one hun- 

 dred and twenty-five gasoline spraying out- 

 fits were bought by the fruit growers of the 

 Annapolis Valley alone and that an equal 

 number will probably be purchased this 

 year. This, although an important fruit 

 centre, represents but a small part of the 

 fruit growing area of Canada. It is typi- 

 cal, however, of the progress that is being 

 made elsewhere in the fruit districts of the 

 Dominion. There are still many thousands 

 of farmers who have not adopted the prac- 

 tice of spraying. These will soon see the 

 necessity for doing so, and thus spraying 

 may be expected to make even greater ad- 

 vances in the future than in the past. 



of itself is a pretty good indication that 

 the profits derived from the handling of the 

 goods are not nearly as large as a super- 

 ficial glance at the situation might load one 

 to suppose. The fact is that the middlemen 

 on the average make only reasonable prof- 

 its. The difference between the jprice they 

 obtain for the goods thev sell and the price 

 paid to the grower is not all retained by 

 the middleman by any manner of means. 



The main reason why the growers do not 

 obtain more for their products is because 

 of the excessive cost of doing business in 

 our largo industrial centres like Toronto 

 and Montreal. Land in our cities runs up 

 in value to, in some cases, several million 

 dollars an acre. The commission merchants 

 have to do business on land that is possi- 

 bly worth $10,000 an acre. A firm of any 

 considerable sine may have to pay six to 

 ten thousand dollars a year in rental alone. 

 But this is not all. Their help also lives 

 on higli-priced land and have to pay ox- 

 cefisive rentals in consequence. Fifteen to 

 twenty per cent, of the wages paid by com- 

 mission firms, or thousands of dollars addi- 

 tional of their expenditures, really repre- 

 sents nothing but money that is in turn 

 paid out by tiieir employes to the city land- 

 lord. 



These firms in turn sell their goods to 

 grocers and fruiterers, who also are taxed 

 in the same way. The indirect taxation, 

 for that is what these rentals represent, 

 forms a large part of the cost of doing busi- 

 ness in the city, and when this cost is taken 

 out of the selling price of the goods it helps, 

 to explain a large part of the dittereuce 

 between what the grower gets and what 

 the consumer pays. There are other rea- 

 sons brides this, such as excessive railway 

 rates and express charges. This being the 

 case, we will make more progress in set- 

 tling the trouble of the middleman when 

 we look into these matters and cease to 

 lay all the blame at the door of the middle- 

 man. 1 axing land according to its value 

 would help to solve the difficulty. 



THE EXORBITANT MIDDLEMAN ? 



As a result of a speech delivered last 

 month by Mr. G. A. Gigault, Deputy Min- 

 ister of Agriculture for the province of 

 Quebec, at the annual convention of the 

 Quebec Vegetable Growers' Association, in 

 which reference was made to the large part 

 of the final selling price of fruit and vege- 

 tables that is taken by the middleman, that 

 association appointed a committee to con- 

 sider the advisability of forming a joint 

 stock company to handle the products of 

 its members. In other words, the associa- 

 tion is hopeful that by some such action 

 some of the profits it is believed now go to 

 the middleman may be retained for the ben- 

 efit of its members. 



We doubt if the middleman deserves one- 

 half of the abuse to which he has been sub- 

 jected. We venture to say that there is 

 hardly any other line of business in which 

 the proportion of successes to failures is 

 as small as in the commission business. Ihis 



The Ontario Vegetable Growers' Associa- 

 tion is to be congratulated upon its decision 

 to encourage the growing of seed potatoes 

 in Northern Ontario. The great suooees 

 that has attended the efforts of those grow- 

 ers in the north country who have gone in 

 for the growing of potatoes has demonstrate 

 ed clearly that the country is ideally adapt- 

 ed for the growing of this product. Under 

 the favorable conditions that exist it should 

 prove an unusually profitable crop for the 

 growers. They have a practically unlimited 

 market in o'der Ontario for ail that they 

 will be able to produce for many years to 

 come. There is nothing to prevent the 

 vegetable growers of Northern Ontario du- 

 plicating the great success that has been 

 achieved by the potato growers of Maine 

 and New B^uns^vick. 



The outline given elsewhere in this issue 

 of the splendid work accomplished by the 

 flower guild in the city of Ottawa to arouse 

 a greater interest in the growing of flowers 

 among the young, offers many helpful sug- 

 gestions to the officers of horticultural so- 

 cieties elsewhere in the province. While 

 not every city is favored by having three 

 such enthusiasts as Messrs. R. B. Whyte, 

 W T. Macoun and J. A. Kllis,&tillthere are 

 many centres which are fortunate m having 

 thoroughly capable men and women who can 

 duplicate the success that has been achieved 

 in Ottawa if they will but make up their 

 minds to put forth the requisite effort. By 

 doing so they will put the whole community 

 in their debt and accomnlish results that 

 will tell for good in the lives of others. 



