172 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



The Standard Apple Box for Canada 



Juiy> 1912 



AT tho recent Dominion Kiuit Confer- 

 once in Ottawa a resolution was car- 

 ried requesting tlie Dominion gov- 

 ernment to malie the Ktandar<l 

 a))i)l6 box now used for the export 

 trade the standard box for domestic use also. 

 Tliis box is lOin. by llin. by 2()in. in size. 

 Hitherto there hag not been a standard box 

 for use within the confines of the Dominion. 

 The resolution mentioned was not carried 

 until after there had been a lively di-scussion. 

 Some of the delegates later expressed the 

 view that the standard box decided upon 

 may yet have to be altered. 



Mr. AV. H. Bunting, of St. Catherines, 

 who, while conducting an investigation into 

 the fruit conditions in Canada last fall and 

 winter for the Dominion government, 

 visited the west, including some of the west^ 

 ern States, took advantage of his oppor- 

 tunities to look into the box question. 

 "There are," he said, "a numher of differ- 

 ent sized boxes in use in the United States, 

 of which two aro as follows, 10)^ bv IIK bv 

 18K, and 10 by 11 by 20%. The box we 

 propose to standai-dize has not been found 

 the most suitable for their purpose. It is 

 pos.sible that when we get more experience 

 we may find their box the best suited for 

 our needs. While it may be safe for us to 

 standardize our export box for home use 

 also, our doing so will prevent us from 

 gaining experience in the use of boxes of 

 other sizes." 



R. H. Agur, Summerland : "I feel that we 

 should not standardize our present box, as 

 while it may be suited for our needs now it 

 may not be suited to them a few years from 

 now." 



Hobt. Thompson, St. Catharines: "We are 

 coming into competition more each year on 

 the western markets with the apples from 

 the western states, and should be free to 

 meet them on an equal basis by using boxes 

 of the same size as theirs. To standardize 

 our present box may place us under a handi- 

 cap. For the present we should defer adopt- 

 ing the .standard box." 



Prof. W. S. Blair, McDonald College, Que- 

 bec : "We have l>een experimenting at the 

 college in the use of different boxes. The 

 students seem to ijack the fruit more readily 

 in the Oregon box." 



A. W. Peart, Burlington : "About eight- 

 een years ago we used a box that was equi- 

 valent to four boxes t') the barrel, and liked 

 it very much. When the size was change<l 

 to our present export box we felt aggrieve<I. 

 Now, however, we have adju-sted ourselves 

 to its use and are well satisfied with it." 



Mr. Gibb, an expert box packer from 

 British Columbia, who, although not a dele- 

 gate, was present, was asked for his opinion. 

 He stated that both the Pacific Coast and 

 Canadiiin boxes have certain advantages, but 

 these advantages are not so great either way 

 as to nece.ssitate any change in the size of 

 the Canadian box. 



Harold Jones, JIaitland, Ont. : "We should 

 not overlook the fact that our Canadian 

 box represents an imperial bushel." 



W. A. Pitcairn, Kelowna, B.C. : "Be- 

 cause there is no standard box for home use 

 we can now use any kind of box we want to. 

 There should be a standard, as there is no- 

 thing to prevent a firm from using a box 

 that is an inch shallower than our regular 



box. We should standardize our present ex- 

 port box." 



R. M. W'inslow, Victoria, B. C. : "One 

 of the fundimental conditions in the vest 

 is that we shall be free to meet the com- 

 petition of the Unit<'d States fruit growers 

 on Mjuil terms. There are three cubic 

 inches more space in the boxes they use 

 than there is in ours, while our box has one- 

 seventh more surface. Their box has less 

 wa.«te on the side and carries a little more 

 fruit. This gives them a great talking 

 poiTit with the buyers. Three-quart«i-s of 

 the fruit bought in the west is brought in 

 from the United tates. We are going to 

 have to endeavor to replace their fruit with 

 ours, and therefore should be free to com- 

 j)ete with them on equal terms. In the 

 States the drift is to the smaller box. This 

 unrest is likely to crystallize within the 

 next two years in the adoption of a stan- 

 dard box. I feel, therefore, that we should 

 defer action for the present." 



R. H. Agur : "Many fruit growers are 

 packing apples and pears in the same car, 

 and find the difference in the sizes of the 

 boxes inconvenient. If we change the size 

 of our present apple box the size of the 

 pear box will probably have to be changed 

 also, as well as the peach box. All this 

 would lead to other changes. Everything 

 considered, therefore, I am in favor of con- 

 tinuing our present sized box." 



Robt. Thompson, St. Catharines: "Until 

 the best and most convenient sized box is 

 finally decided upon we had better defer 

 establishing a standard sized box for the 

 Canadian home trade." 



W. F. Summers, Victoria, B.C. : "At 



Canadian Nursery Co., Ltd. 



10 Phillips Place, Montreal, P. Q. 



Have an immense stock of all Flowering Herbaceous 

 Plants, Paeonies, Roses, Shrubs and Trees. 



Lists and Catalogues on application 



A few vacancies for respectable representatives 



Terms on application 



Apple Boxes 



"W/^E make a good box at the right 

 price. It is especially suited for 

 the apple grov^er and shipper. 



One of our large cu^omers la^ 

 year used thousands of our boxes 

 for the export trade. Such trade 

 demands a strong, durable box. 

 Our boxes gave every satisfaction. 



Our Boxes are Right. 



The Price is T^ight. 



Let Us Quote You. 



Barchard & Company, Limited 



135-151 Duke St. TORONTO 



