FRUITS FOR THE ENGLISH MARKET. 



MUNDREDS of Canadian fruit 

 growers are only waiting for 

 encouragement to ship freely 

 of their finer fruits to the 

 British market ; but until our Steamship 

 Companies will guarantee us safe car- 

 riage, at temperatures under 40° Fah., 

 no body will risk to ship such perishable 

 goods. 



Today, Aug. 8th, we have received a 

 call from Mr. Shuttleworth, of the well- 

 known firm of Simons, Shuttleworth & 

 Co., of Liverpool ; and we called to- 

 gether several of our growers to meet 

 him. He responded to questions some- 

 what as follows : — 



Will it pay to ship Canadian tomatoes, 

 and in what packages ? — I think it will 

 pay. They are bemg grown in hot 

 houses, and also being imported quite 

 freely ; the English taste is being rapidly 

 educated to demand them, and they pay 

 from three to six cents per pound for 

 them in Convent Garden. Surely that 

 would pay, when you see them in 

 Canada at 25 cents a bushel. They 

 should be wrapped in thin, white or very 

 light colored tissue, showing the red 

 through it. 



What about plums ? — I do not think 

 it will pay as a rule to ship plums to our 

 markets ; it is like coals to Newcastle, 

 or peaches to Grimsby. It is the house 

 of the plum in England, and yet, there 

 are seasons such as last year when it 

 would pay you very well. 



What fruits may we ship to England 

 with a prospect of making money on them ? 

 — Apple?, pears and peaches. We al- 

 ready have the English apple market ; 

 and if rightly put up we have this apple 

 business largely in our own hands, for 

 Canadian apples are highly appreciated 

 in Great Britain. This year the English 

 crop is about a half average, but Canada 



has as many if not more than last year, 

 and a trifle better in quality. Last year 

 Canada shipped about $300,000, largely 

 east of Toronto. Nova Scotia shipped 

 only 82,000 bis. last year, but Mr. 

 Charles Nixon who has just returned 

 from a trip through the Annapolis Valley, 

 estimates the crop this year at 200,000 

 bis. The States report variously ; New 

 York will have a good crop, Arkansas 

 25 per cent of a full crop, California, 

 Oregon and Wincousin full crops. 



Would you advise the growers to ship 

 or to sell at home ? — I would never ship 

 an apple when I was offered anything 

 like $2 a bl. at home. On the whole, 

 it is often safer to ship on a poor 

 market report than a good one, because 

 the good report encourages to heavy 

 shipments from all parts. 



What apples do you advise us to grow 

 for export in Southern Ontario ? — The 

 Baldwin, Greening, Spy, King, Russet 

 and Snow if clean. The best apple you 

 have is the Spy, and is highly appre- 

 ciated in the English market. The Ben 

 Davis as grown in the West is a fine 

 apple, but as grown in Canada is not 

 equal to your Baldwin. 



Do you advise shipping in boxes or 

 barrels ? — For main crop in barrels, de- 

 cidedly. Boxes would multiply packages 

 endlessly, and lessen size of individual 

 sales People would take a box who 

 otherwise would take a barrel. Boxes 

 are all right for early apples, as Duchess, 

 going in cold storage, and, if you get 

 proper storage, should do well for 

 you. In barreling apples, use a screw 

 press, for it keeps a steady pressure 

 and this will cause a bruise that will 

 dry without rotting. 



Do you think we can ever succeed in 

 fnaking a market for our grapes in Great 

 Britain ? — It is very doubtful about 



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