August, 1912 



THE CANADIAN HORTICTJLTTFKIST 



191 



cabbage root maggot. Where the cab- 

 bage butterfly spends the winter is not 

 known to us ; but these white butter- 

 flies are of perennial occurrence, as 

 everyone must have seen as they flit 

 over turnip, rape, cauliflower, and cab- 

 bage fields in early spring. The butter- 

 flies do no damage, but from the eggs 

 which they deposit are hatched the green 

 caterpillars which have been so destruc- 

 tive in many parts. There are several 

 broods in the season. These caterpillars 

 are easily controlled by arsenate of lead 

 or paris green. Owing to the peculiar 

 nature of cabbage foliage a sticker is 

 usually added to the poison. We have 

 found soap added to the spray as effec- 

 tive as anything for this purpose. 



The white maggots that feed on the 

 roots of cabbage hatch from eggs laid 

 by a small fly somewhat resembling the 

 common house fly, near the plant at the 

 surface of the ground. If tarred paper 

 discs are used when plants are set there 

 will be little trouble. This disc prevents 

 the deposition of the eggs. After the 

 plant is attacked little can be done. Cer- 

 tain decoctions are recommended to be 

 poured in the soil around the plants, but 

 the task is almost hqpeless. 



OTHER CROPS 



Cucuml>ers, squash, pumpkins, melons 

 and other similar crops are all subject 

 to the striped cucumber beetle. These 

 wiry little fellows are not easily poison- 

 ed and not easily controlled. We have 

 found bordeaux, though not a poison, as 

 good as anything for this beetle. Bor- 

 deaux acts as a repellant. These beetles 

 do not like its flavor and avoid plants so 

 treated. Land plaster, road dust or even 

 flour is of some avail. These substances 

 protect the leaves by forming a close 

 covering for them. The beetles will not 

 eat through the powder and the plants 

 are saved. The powder should be put 

 on in the morning when the plants are 

 wet with a powder gun or by sifting 

 through a cheese cloth bag. Traps are 

 sometimes employed. A few seeds are 

 planted somewhat earlier than the main 

 crop, around the borders of the field . 

 The lx!etles congregate on these and may 

 be poisoned by much stronger applica- 

 tions of arsenic than we would dare to 

 apply to the main crop. If these trap 

 plants are killed by the poison no matter. 

 'l"he bacterial diseases of the cucurbits 

 cannot be controlled by sprays. The 

 first plants attacked should be dug up 

 root and branch and burned. Serious 

 outbreaks are sometimes thus avoided. 



With all summer sprays for vegetables 

 thoroughness is the important thing to 

 Ije sought. A plant thoroughly sprayed 

 with a weak spray mixture is much more 

 thoroughly protected than one partly 

 covered with one twice as strong. All 

 plants subject to attack should be en- 

 tirely covered with their spray armor 

 all the time. Then, and then only, are 

 the plants safe. 



Marketing Early Vegetables 



E. E. Adatns, Leamington, Ont. 



SOME years ago it was the rule to 

 ship some kinds of vegetables in 

 barrels, hogsheads, boxes, or other 

 packages. There has come a change. 

 To-day we find many varieties of vege- 

 tables in packages of various kinds, at- 

 tractively labelled and containing a def- 

 inite amount of same varied commodity. 



Things have changed with men's ideas. 

 The marketing of many kinds of horti- 

 cultural products has followed somewhat 

 closely along commercial lines. Pack- 

 ages vary little now, as more advanced 

 ideas have wrought out a new system, 

 whereby more standard packages are 

 used. These have proven very advan- 

 tageous. It is rather confusing to have 

 a large number of packages and as many 

 difi^erent prices attached to them. We 

 find some markets quote some lines of 

 vegetables at so much per strap, so 

 much per box, so much per hamper, and 

 many other ways, which causes consid- 

 erable confusion, but from the leading 

 shipping centres now we find celery in 

 cases of four to six dozen, tomatoes in 

 four basket carriers and some in six 

 basket carriers, cukes in what are called 

 half-barrel hampers, lettuce the same, po- 

 tatoes in barrels containing one hundred 

 and sixty-five pounds, and so on. These 

 packages being standard, buyers know 

 what to expect when a quotation is 

 given. 



Some growers or shippers are using a 

 brand or trade mark to distinguish the 

 quality of the goods which they market, 

 and much to their advantage, as buyers 

 soon recognize an honest brand and ask 

 for it on the market. A brand should 

 include the name and address of the 

 grower or shipper, as also the variety 

 of contents of the package. 



Much of the fruit and vegetable pro- 

 ducts are sent to market to some com- 

 mission house to be sold for the best 



price obtainable on a basis of ten per 

 cent, commission. This is at times a 

 very satisfactory method, but it is not 

 always the best. In the marketing of 

 perishable stuff, we must do the best 

 thing possible in order to avoid loss, and 

 as commission merchants have usually a 

 large trade to cater to, their services are 

 very necessary to assist distribution, al- 

 though some think otherwise. 



For shipping hot house tomatoes we 

 are using boxes measuring six by nine 

 by nineteen inches and containing twenty 

 pounds. These are all wrapped in tissue 

 paper with the grower's name, and the 

 box has a lithographed label on one end, 

 and each end has a thin band of sheet 

 iron nailed around it for security. These 

 boxes are made of pine one-quarter of an 

 inch thick and planed on one side. We 

 also use corrugated paper all around the 

 inside of the boxes as protection to the 

 fruit. For hot house cucumbers we use 

 the eleven quart basket, with a label 

 pasted on the top before covers are made 



up- 



Lettuce is shipped in boxes and bar- 

 rels. Asparagus in eleven quart baskets, 

 radishes in boxes, cabbages in bushel 

 baskets, wax beans, field grown toma- 

 toes, peppers and egg plant in the eleven 

 quart baskets. Canteloupes are shipped 

 in bushel crates and baskets, also in 

 eleven and sixteen quart baskets. 



Close attention is given to careful 

 growing, packing and shipping. Every 

 order received each day up to five o'clock 

 is shipped promptly. Promptness in fill- 

 ing orders is to he regarded as one of the 

 great essentials to success. 



When applying nitrate to plants in 

 active growth care should be taken not 

 to scatter it on the leaves as it is very 

 injurious to the foliage of many garden 

 plants and vegetables with flat leaves. 



Lettuce Grown by R. H. Ellis, Leamington, Ont, Spring 1912 



