THE FRUIT SHIPMENTS TO THE WEST 



The trial shipments of fruit being- made by 

 the St. Catharines Cold Storage and Forwarding 

 Co. are not, as some seem to suppose, being as- 

 sisted by the Ontario government. Shipments 

 made this year receive no aid and are the re- 

 sult of the enterprise and push of the company. 

 One year ago when the Government sent Prof. 

 Reynolds to the Niagara district to secure two 

 eaiioads of fruit to be forwarded to Winnipeg, 

 the members and growers of the St. Catharines 

 Cold Storage Co. volunteered to load a car and 

 forward it on commission free of any expense to 

 the Government, while Prof. Reynolds had to 

 guarantee a fixed price for the bulk of the fruit 

 sent in the other car. Owing to the guarantee 

 this car cost the Government over one hundred 

 dollars, while the St. Catharines car was sold at 

 ptii-es satisfactory to most of the shippers. 



During the winter and early summer the 

 growers at St. Catharines held several meetings 

 and at last decided to arrange with some of the 

 commission houses in Winnipeg to handle their 

 fruit. A committee of four growers was 

 named to assist the directors of the company 

 to load two cars a week under the direction of 

 the committee. 



About 25 growers agreed to pack an^ ship 

 their share, so that the cars would have enough 

 fruit on the shipping days. Arrangements 

 were made with The Ottawa Fruit Exchange, 

 Winnipeg, to sell the fruit and to send state- 

 ments to each shipper and also to send a copy 

 of the whole to the storage company. A portion 

 of each car was to be packed and put up in 

 special packages, and the remainder in 

 the regular shipping baskets. The com- 

 mittee has a copy of all details of the fruit and 

 shippers in each car, giving- the grade of fruit, 

 ripeness and style of packing and packages 

 used. To this will be attached the copy of sales 

 and condition of car on arrival. Mr. Moore, 

 Chief of Markets Division under the Dominion 

 Government, has been placing thermographs in 

 most of the cars, and the records of the tempera- . 

 tures during the trip will also be attached to the 

 statements. 



Good results are looked forward to from 

 these records. At date of information 16 cars 

 have gone forward. Shipments have increased 



to three cars per week, and two carloads have 

 been sold to go as far west as Calgary, and other 

 sales will follow. 



Some of the results have been disappointing 

 and others very satisfactory. The largest ship- 

 pers appear to be sanguine that the venture will 

 he very successful on the whole and that they 

 will be able to locate the weak points which 

 have caused low prices in some shipments and 

 to some growers. 



The railway commission induced the railway 

 companies to give transportation to anyone the 

 growers might choose to accompany a few cars 

 to test the efficiency of the several makes of 

 refrigerator cars. Inspector Carey, of the 

 Fruit Division, was chosen to accompany the 

 first, a G. T. R. refrigerator, on September 8, 

 and Mr. A. D. Broderick accompanied the one 

 sent on September 15. Mr. Broderick goes out 

 solely in the interest of growers, receiving noth- 

 ing for his expenses or time, but it is felt by the 

 growers that the Ontario Fruit Growers' Asso- 

 ciation or the Ontario government should bear 

 his expenses. 



Later in the season ventilated cars will be 

 tried. The sending to the west of such large 

 quantities of fruit will help to stiffen prices here 

 and prevent gluts and over-shipments to our 

 own markets. 



A report from The Ottawa Fruit and Produce 

 Exchange, of Winnipeg, of the car which 

 reached there September 20 states that the fruit 

 was in great demand and sales made as follows: 

 Pears, 12-quart basket 65 cents, trays 95 cents, 

 and boxes $2.30 ; tomatoes, 40 to 50 cents ; 

 peaches, 70 cents ; grapes, 30 to 43 cents. The 

 report also says that the cars are arriving in 

 much better condition than they did earlier in 

 the season. 



The Canadian Horticulturist is becoming an 

 important publication and must be a great help 

 to fruit growers and lovers of flowers.^(Mr. 

 Thomas Kerfoot, Minesing, Ont. 



Congratulations on the greatly improved con- 

 dition of The Horticulturist. It is ■v>ery notice- 

 able. — (J. Thos. Murphy, Simcoe, Ont. 



i E9| II E9^^ /Tulips, Hyacinths, Crocus, Narcissus, i 

 < ^^\^ ^Hb^^^ ( Snowdrops, Lilies, Etc. \ 



I HOUSE PLANTS, SHRUBS, PERENNIALS < 



$ Now is the time to order. You will find our prices the best. See our catalogue be- < 

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The WEBSTER FLORAL COMPANY, limited 



Florists, Xlk.serymex and Seedmen 



HAMILTON, CANADA 



Money Given Free to People who buy Goods from Advertiser.s in this Issue. 

 See Notice in Advertising Columns. 



