1 68 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



later a letter fully explaining all the minis- 

 ter's reasons for the proposed change. The 

 reasons to me, however, seemed mere ex- 

 cuses, and I think the press should not de- 

 sist in its protest. 



Mr. J. C. Oilman, Fredericton, N. B. : As 

 a member ot the New Brunswick Fruit 

 Growers' Association I believe the fruit in- 

 terests will not be served to the best advant- 

 age by ibeing under the control of the dairy 

 comimissioncr. Our fruit interests should 

 have the best thought of some competent 

 man instead of being served second handed. 



Mr. George MacAlpine, Lower Gage- 

 town, N. B. ; In my opinion the fruit in- 

 dustry is only in the first stage of its growth, 

 and its grcAving importance entitles it to as 

 prominent a place as any other indust.'y in 

 the Dominion. I am in favor of havinp^ ir 

 stand on its own merits and not be subjec: 

 to any other branch of agricultural work. 



PRINCE EDWAiyD ISLAND. 



Mr. P. N. Pate, O'Leary Station, P.E.I. : 

 I am very much in favor of the fruit con> 

 missioncr being independent of other a^^;'!.- 

 icultural work. In our small province I 

 notice nnich more interest is being taken in 

 fruit raising and many more orchards are 

 'being planted yearly. 



QUEBEC SPEAKS UP. 

 Mr. O. M. Derby, Clarenceville, One. . 

 In view of the fact that our fruit industry 

 (has attained such proportions, and seems 



destined to become one of our most import- 

 ant departments of agriculture, I consider 

 it advisable we should have a separate com- 

 missioner for that division. 



W. D. A. Ross, Secretary Fruit Grow- 

 ers' Association, Chatham, Ont. : The 

 fruit interests ought to be worthy of a 

 division by themselves. If the same assistance 

 is given to the fruit interests of the Domin- 

 ion as has been extended to the dairy inter- 

 ests it n:ay become just as important a divi- 

 sion. It has been kept too much in the 

 background. This matter should be pushed. 



" Fruit Growers sidetracked," is the way 

 in wbich Mr. W. C. Webster, of Stoney 

 Creek, Ont., speaks of the matter. He goes 

 on to say : "We very much regret that the 

 Department of Agriculture has seen nt to 

 unite the fruit growing industry with the 

 dairy department. This lias come as a great 

 surprise to the fruit growers of this pro- 

 vince. They have been looking to the Min- 

 ister of Agriculture to acceed to the unani- 

 mous request of the associations throughout 

 the Dominion to put the management of the 

 fruit bureau on an independent footing. 

 The industry is of sufficient imp>ortance to 

 have as a head a man who has an intimate 

 knowledge of all the details of fruit grow- 

 ing. It is just as important to have a head 

 of this bureau as to have a minister of agri- 

 culture. We feel as fruit representatives 

 that we have been treated very unfairly and 

 unjustly." 



More Fruit Might Be Grown. — Fruit 

 growers in the Niagara district are begin- 

 ning to realize that heavy, clay soil, when 

 well drained, is the best for pears, plums 

 and grapes. There are thousands of acres 

 of this soil in the Niagara district well 

 adapted for fruit growing, which are now 

 only worth about $25 per acre. ]\Iuch of 

 this land in a few years will almost certainly 

 be under cultivation for fruit. — (W. H. 

 Bunting. St. Catharines, Ont. 



The Best Export Pear in this district is 

 the Duchess on dwarf stalks. I planted 

 1,030 last spring. The Duchess is a fall 

 pear, and ranks ahead of the Anjou and 

 Beurre Bosc. The Bartlett is the leading 

 rummer variety, and of winter varieties the 

 Josephine de Malines and Easter Beurre. 

 This latter will keep until April, and has a 

 flavor similar to that of the Duchess, but is 

 very coarse in texture. — (A. W. Peart. Bur- 

 lington, Ont. 



