420 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



neers, are plantini;' fewer varieties of more 

 desirable qualities and now claim to have 

 reached the commercial stage. 



The principal tested commercial \arieties 

 might be summed up as follows : Apples — 

 Gravenstein, Wealthy, Fameuse, King and 

 Mcintosh Red as fall and earl\- winter 

 varieties; Canada IJaldwin, Spy, W'inesap, 

 Hubbardston, Nonesuch, Jonathan, Spitzen- 

 burg, Yellow Newtown Pippin and Cox's 

 Orange as winter varieties. The last three 

 varieties are highly recommended, but have 

 not yet been well tried. Pears — Bartlett, 

 Howell, Flemish Beauty and Buerre dc 

 Anjou. 



Imperial Gage. Columbian, ]]radshaw, 



^'ellow \i%g and Pond's Seedling are among 

 the popular varieties of plums planted, while 

 the Italian prune is a great favorite in the 

 l)rune line. In the peach area the Crawford 

 gives greatest satisfaction. It is a greatly 

 disputed cjuestion as to what are the best 

 varieties to plant. The best growers, how- 

 ever, advocate a comparatively few num- 

 ber of varieties. Three or four, or at most 

 five, are enough. Then those interested in 

 the fruit industry of the Okanagan valley 

 can direct all their efforts towards making 

 these varieties prominent and in a few 

 years win a proud name for this valley 

 whose fruit industry is yet only in its in- 

 fancy. 



COLD STORAGE FOR ONTARIO FRUITS 



PROF. J. B. REVNOI.DS, 



T-iE question of cold storage in relation 

 to the fruit industry is very import- 

 ant. Both the warehousing and transpor- 

 tation are of immense consequence to the 

 fruit grower. There are in Ontario, as well 

 as in the other provinces in Canada, many 

 cold storage warehouses which are not pat- 

 ronized by the fruit growers as they should 

 be. These warehouses, if patronized, would 

 enable the grower to refuse low prices for 

 his apples and other fruits, and to hold them 

 for better prices next week, or next month, 

 or next year. It usually happens with the 

 enterprising fruit grower who takes advant- 

 age of storage facilities that the cost of 

 storage is paid many times over by the dif- 

 ference between autumn and spring prices. 

 The actual eft'ect of cold storage on pro- 

 duce is to delay the process of ripening in 

 the first place, and retard decay after ma- 

 turity. For instance, if a peach is to be 

 shipped to a distant point, it must be picked 

 from the tree in advance of dead ripeness, 

 cooled as quickly as possible to 40 degrees 

 F. or preferably as low as 31 degrees F., 

 and held at the low temperature until it 



O. A. C, GUELPH, ONT. 



reaches the market. That peach, if left on 

 the tree a day longer, might have been dead 

 ripe, and in the course of nature after ripe- 

 ness is reached decay sets in, and in a warm 

 atmosphere proceeds very rapidly. But 

 the amount of ripening that takes place in 

 one day on the tree would require four to 

 five days, or more, in cold storage, during 

 which time the fruit is being carried to mar- 

 ket. Then the molds, fungi, and bacteria 

 that cause decay work very slowly at low 

 temperatures. At the same time, if that 

 hypothetical peach is picked before it has 

 attained full size and some color, it will 

 never attain the same quality in storage as 

 it would have done if left longer on the tree. 

 For storage or shipping, therefore, the pick- 

 ing of tender fruits is a matter requiring 

 careful and trained judgment. A grower 

 of cantaloups in Georgia has found that for 

 best results he must go over his vines every 

 eight hours. 



Cold storage in transportation, however, 

 is even more, important, as it ex- 

 tends almost inimitably the bounds of 

 the market. The British market is 



