NOVA SCOTIA FRUIT GROWERS. 



THE Thirty-fourth annual meeting 

 of the Nova Scotia Fruit Growers' 

 Association was held in Wolfville, 

 on January 26th, 27th and 28th. 

 The attendance was good throughout 

 the meeting, and the papers and dis- 

 cussions were of unusual interest. Of 

 course the San Jose scale was the sub- 

 ject of paramount interest to all, and 

 President Bigelow voiced the sentiments 

 of the meeting when he said in his 

 opening address ; " The San ]os6 scale 

 has invaded fruit trees in all parts of 

 this continent, and is the most destruc- 

 tive and difficult to destroy of any insect 

 pest. It is not yet known to be in 

 Nova Scotia, and you will be called 

 upon to recommend strong legislation 

 to prevent its appearance here. The 

 man who plants an imported nursery 

 tree in Nova Scotia this year is his own 

 worst enemy, and should be dreaded 

 and despised by fruit growers generally." 



The general opinion was that every- 

 thing should be done to delay, as far 

 as possible, the day when we shall be 

 called upon to fight this dreaded pest 

 in our orchards, since methods of com- 

 batting it are certain to improve with 

 each year. 



The matter was referred to a com- 

 mittee, with instructions to draft a bill 

 which should give to orchardists the 

 best protection possible. 



The subject of next importance was 

 our apple trade with Great Britain. 

 An entire session was devoted to this 

 discussion, and many interesting and 

 important facts were given by the dif- 

 ferent speakers. 



Mr. John E. Starr, who was appointed 

 by the Dominion Government to inves- 

 tigate this subject, said that in his 

 opinion it was of vital importance to 



the fruit growers to secure better ven- 

 tilation for the apples while crossing 

 the ocean, a large part of the damage 

 which they sustain being due to lack 

 of attention to this point. He said that 

 he knew from personal observation that 

 apples shipped last October, and well 

 ventilated during the passage, arrived 

 in prime condition ; while later ship- 

 ments, which should have been in even 

 better condition, but which were closely 

 packed on account of greater demand 

 for room, were seriously damaged by 

 heating in the ship's hold. Graven- 

 steins, when subjected to such treat- 

 ment, are scarcely to be recognized, 

 having lost their characteristic flavor 

 and being dull and unattractive in 

 color. 



A radical change in this matter of 

 storing apples in vessels is needed. 

 Whereas now all the skill of the steve- 

 dore is employed to pack the largest 

 number of barrels in the smallest pos- 

 sible space, the object should be to so 

 distribute the apples that a sufficient 

 number of air passages should be left 

 to admit of adequate ventilation. This 

 would necessitate the use of lumber to 

 hold the barrels in place, but this could 

 be disposed of on the other side for as 

 much as it cost. Dependence should 

 not be placed entirely on the full- 

 mouthed ventilators now used to force 

 air into the ship's hold. They are 

 quite effective when the ship is running 

 against the wind, or even when there 

 is a calm. But in the event of the ship 

 running directly with the wind, there is 

 not the slightest movement of air in the 

 cargo. 



Some system of exhaust fans should 

 be provided for such emergencies. In 

 years of large crops the danger of this 

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