EDITORIAL. 



Tf[e Gn^dian fjorticfiltdrist 



TKe Only Horticultural Magazine in 

 tKe Dominion. 



H. liiioNsoN Cowan, Editor and Business Manager. 



1. The Canadian HorUcuU.urlst is published the first of 

 each inoEith. 



2. Subscription Price $1.00 per yc.nr, strictly in advances 

 entitliiij; the subsirribcr to meinberi>hip in the Kruit Growers 

 Association uf Ontario and all its privileges, including a copy of it, 

 report. For all countries except Canada, United States and Great 

 Britain add 50c for postage. 



3. Kemittances should be made by I'ost Office or Money 

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 amounts less than $1.00. Receipts will be acknowledged on the 

 address label, whith shows the date to which subscription is paid. 



4. DIscontiiiuauceB— Kesponsible subscribers will continue 

 to receive 'I'lie Horticulturist until the publishers are notified by 

 letter to discontinue, when all arrearages must be paid. Societies 

 should send in their revised lists in Jinuaiy : othei wise it will be- 

 taken for granted all will contii.ue members. 



6. ClianKe of Aiklress— When a change of address is or- 

 dered, both the old and the new addresses must be given. 



6. Advertislnc Kates quoted on application. Circulatien 

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 wanted in towns and cities. 



7. Articles and Illustrations for publication will be 

 thankfully received by the editor. 



8. All C^ommunicatlons should be addressed': 



THE C.\N.\I)I.\N HORTICULTURIST, 



TORONTO, CANADA 



That its readers will succeed in keeping all 

 tiheir New Year resolutions and tliereby make 

 1905 the happiest year they have ever known, i.s 

 the hearty wish of The Canadian Horticulturist. 



THE FRUIT DIVISION. 



The great majority of fruit growers are 

 unanimous that the Dominion Fruit Division 

 should be continued as a separate division and 

 not anialsaniated with the dairy division. The 

 Prince Edward Lsland Fruit Growers' Associa- 

 tion, at its annual convention last month, 

 unanimously carried a resolution condemning 

 the proposal to place the fruit division under 

 the control of the chief of the dairy division. 

 Ontario fruit growers are opposed to the pro- 

 posed move as is evidenced by the interviews 

 with leading growers published in this issue. 

 As it has only lately become known that such 

 action was under consideration, fruit growers 

 generally have not had time to give expression 

 to their views. Enough growers, however, 

 have been heard fro'm to show there will be bit- 

 ter opposition to any action which is likely to 

 curtail the work of the Fruit Division. Should 

 the two divisions be united, fruit growers have 

 expressed a determination to immediately en- 

 deavor to have the divisions separated again at 

 the earliest possible moment. 



This feeling is not the result of any objection 

 to Mr. J. A. Ruddick, the chief of the Dairy 

 Division. The fact is very few growers are 



actiuainteil with Mr. Ituddick or his work. The 

 general feeling is that the fruit interests are of 

 sufficient importance to require a division of 

 their own and that the head of that division 

 should not be forced to consult with the head 

 of another division, but that he should be 

 subordinate only to the Hon. Sydney Fisher, 

 Minister of Agricultui-e. 



AN UNSATISFACTORY METHOD. 



l^id any i>erson ever know of a wholesale 

 merchant forwarding supplies to retail firms 

 with a retjuest that they sell the goods to the 

 best advantage and, after deducting the cus- 

 tomary commission, return the balance of the 

 proceeds to him ? Has a business man been 

 heard of who was willing to ship his season's 

 stock of goods hundreds of miles to ibe sold by 

 utter strangers with the right to make their 

 own returns ? Such a person would not be 

 called a busine.ss man. 



Fruit growers are an intelligent class of men 

 tuid yet this is what hundreds of them do every 

 year. While the weakness of this method has 

 long been apparent the matter has never been 

 brought home more forcibly than during the 

 past six weeks. The statement was made by 

 Mr. Robert Thompson, of St. Catharines, at the 

 recent Ontario Fruit Growers' convention, that 

 while in Winnipeg last fall he found cases 

 where the commission men had reported to 

 Ontario growers that their fruit had sold for 

 considerably less than had actually been the 

 case. Not having any proof to the contrary 

 the growers had been forced to accept payment 

 on the basis of the prices quoted by the com- 

 mission men. 



Following this has coine the aiuiouncement 

 from Boston that a coterie in England has 

 systematically banded together for several 

 years to secure the product of Canadian and 

 United States apple growers for little or noth- 

 ing. l<^ruit sold at public auctions is bought 

 in by these parties and resold at inuch higher 

 prices. The growers who consigned the fruit 

 receive their returns on the basis of the prices 

 realized for the fruit at the public auctions. 

 It is necessary that stejis shall be taken to pre- 

 vent fraud of this kind. In England the Cana- 

 dian Commissioner should take this matter up. 

 Our Canadian commercial agents should also 

 watch to .see that the interests of Canadian 

 growers are safeguarded. In Canada it has 

 been suggested that commission merchaiits 

 should be placed under Dominion regulations. 

 The Canadian Horticulturist would like to re- 

 ceive suggestions from growers as to what they 

 believe should be done. 



THE VEGETABLE GROWERS. 



What are the hundreds of vegetable growers 

 in Canada doing ? Have they a Dominion or- 

 ganization or provincial associations of any 

 kind. If not, why not ? If they have what are 

 they doing ? 



There is no department in The Horticulturist 

 for which it is tnore difficult to obtain live, in- 



