tie (anadiQn i{ortic(ilt(irist 



Volume XXVIII 



JULY, 1905 



Number 7 



HOW TO PACK AND WHERE TO MARKET EARLY APPLES^ 



J. F. SCRIVER, FRUIT INSPECTOR, HEMMINGFORD, QUE. 



I HAVE been in a good position the last 

 three years to study this question. I have 

 ■seen the apples on their way to market, the 

 way they were packed, the condition they 

 were in, and have also received reports of the 

 condition in which they were landed in the 

 Old Country and in Winnipeg. I have 

 also seen most of the returns and am possi- 

 bly better able to decide the best way to 

 pack and the best markets than most grow- 

 ers or buyers. 



By early apples I mean Duchess, Weal- 

 thy, Alexander and St. Lawrence, and 

 would also say a few words on the Fameuse. 

 These are the only early apples that can be 

 handled with any profit. ]\Iore than half 

 the Duchess raised in Quebec go to waste 

 every year. You will say that this is be- 

 cause there are too many raised. I agree 

 with you there, but I also say that, if you 

 know how to handle them, three years out 

 of four, there is a profitable market for them. 

 Last year was an unfortunate year for the 

 exporters of apples, especially the early 

 varieties. The exceedingly large crop of 

 apples in England and the continent kept 

 prices very low. Even with these draw- 

 backs good Duchess, properly put up, 

 brought fair prices in Glasgow. 



Glasgow is the best market in Great 

 Britain for our early apples. The trouble 

 with most of the Duchess shipped last sea- 



son was that they were immature and too 

 small and green. In exporting you must 

 allow them to become full grown, and fairly 

 colored, being careful, however, to pick 

 them before they are too ripe. If your 

 apples are a good size and fairly well col- 

 ored, I would certainly advise you to put 

 them up in boxes. If not real No. i, put 

 them up in barrels, as it never pays to put 

 up poor fruit in boxes. Ship in refrigera- 

 tor cars, and cold storage on ships. 



If you pack in barrels use the eight hoop 

 barrel ; pack barrels thoroughly while fill- 

 ing and do not use too much pressure. 

 Everything I said in regard to packing and 

 shipping Duchess apples to the Old Coun- 

 try applies to shipping to W^innipeg. Win- 

 nipeg is a better market for small green 

 stock than the Old Country. The first 

 Duchess shipped to Winnipeg brought $2.50 

 to $2.75 net, but the market became over- 

 loaded and the Duchess brought very low 

 prices. I heard of one box which netted 16 

 cents. The large shipments to the west 

 were caused bv low prices in the Old Coun- 

 try, which are not likely to occur again for 

 some' years. Last year Winnipeg buyers 

 did not receive half the Duchess they 

 wanted. 



The barrel is the best package to use for 

 the shipment of apples to the west, although 

 some shippers have secured good returns 



.A.n address delivered at the last annual meeting of the Quebec Pomological and Fruit Growing Society. 



247 



