OUR MEETING AT WATERLOO. 



Moved by 1). D. Smith, seconded by Joseph 

 Tweedle, " That this association has listened 

 with deep interest to the information furnished 

 by Prof. Robertson and Secretary L. Wool- 

 verton regarding the result of the trial ship- 

 ments «f tender fruit to Britain in cold stor- 

 age under the auspices of the Dominion Gov- 

 ernment, and desiro to record our thanks for 

 the same. We appreciate the fact that these 

 shipments have been experimental in every 

 sense, and consequently perfectly satisfactory 

 results could not have been expected the first 

 season, and while on the whole the results 

 have been unsatisfactory from a present finan- 

 cial aspect we are glad to know that they lead 

 us to believe that with further experience a 

 permanent and lucrative market may be con- 

 fidently looked for in Britain for at least 

 pears, peaches, tomatoes and probably grapes. 

 We would therefore respectfully urge upon 

 the Government, in view of the vast interest 

 at stake, to continue on an extensive scale the 

 experimental shipments another season, put- 

 ting large quantities of suitable varieties of 

 Canadian grapes continously upon one or more 

 of the Bt itish markets, to test fully whether 

 or not the British palate will ultimately be- 

 come accustomed to and like their flavor, and 

 conducting at the same time further experi- 

 ments with other fruits to overcome the diffi- 

 culties found to exist in getting them landed 

 in good condition. 



" We also desire at the same time to record 

 our gratitude to Mr. George Fisher of Bur- 

 lington for the plucky experiments which he 

 and his neighbors conducted this season on an 

 extensive scale on the same line, exporting 

 tender fruits to Britain, and for the leport 

 given here of the results of these experiments, 

 which we are particularly glad to know turned 

 out eminently satisfactory from a pecuniary 

 point of view, confirming the results obtained 

 through the Government experiments that at 

 least a number of our tender fruits can be ex- 

 ported profitably under proper conditions and 

 safeguards." 



On Wednesday evening the meeting 

 was a very interesting one. The Mayor 

 of Waterloo welcomed us heartily to that 

 city, and the Waterloo Horticultural So- 

 ciety provided an excellent orchestra 

 which gave us some very high class selec 

 tions during the evening. Prof. Robert- 

 son gave a most interesting address on 

 • " The value of fruit as food for man " 

 which was illustrated by numerous charts. 

 The President's address called attention 

 to the success which had attended the 

 efforts of the executive in extending the 

 work and influence of our Association 

 during the past year. The membership, 



he said, has now reached a higher num- 

 ber than it had ever done before in our 

 history, the number being about 3500. 

 This far exceeds the membership of any 

 similar organization in the world. 



Prof. Taft of the Agricultural College, 

 Mich., gave a valuable address on '■ Or- 

 chard and Nursery Legislation," with 

 reference particularly to the best methods 

 of dealing with the San Jose scale. This 

 subject was taken up on Thursday, when 

 addresses were given. Dr. Fletcher stated 

 in his address that the San Jose scale in- 

 creases with wonderful rapidity, the de- 

 scendants of one female in one season 

 amounting to three thousand million. 

 His address was almost entirely devoted 

 to details regarding this insect, and in 

 the course of it he mentioned that there 

 is a parasite which might in time rid us 

 of this scale, but before that time came, 

 the fruit growers of Ontario might be 

 ruined by the pest. It is most important, 

 therefore, to wage a desperate battle with 

 it at once. He advised spraying in the 

 fall, after the leaves had fallen, with ker- 

 osene emulsion, and again in the spring 

 with a strong solution of whale-oil soap 

 and water, the trees to be first closely 

 pruned back. 



Mr. W. M. Orr gave an outline of the 

 work on inspection done under the direc- 

 tion of the Department of Agriculture 

 for Ontario, resulting in the discovery of 

 thirteen or fourteen orchards in different 

 parts of the province which are badly in- 

 fested, the result of the importation of 

 stock from a New Jersey nursery some 

 years ago. Mr. Orr also exhibited speci- 

 mens of the limbs and fruit affected by 

 the scale. 



Deputy Minister C. C. James read 

 before the Association Mr. Dryden's bill 

 intended to bring about the destruction 

 of affected trees found throughout the 

 province, which was fully endorsed by 

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