446 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



the Fruit Marks Act. Mr. McNeill, Chief of 

 the Fruit Division, Ottawa, in reporting that 

 these men were convicted, says that present 

 demand points to bright prospects for a large 

 and permanent trade for fruit that can be ship- 

 ped through Georgian Bay ports to the North- 

 west and that it is not in the interests of the 

 fruit growers to have this trade jeopardized 

 by carelessness or fraud on the part of a few 

 packers. 



Fruit Notes 



It has not been definitely decided when the 

 Minister of Agriculture will call the Dominion 

 Conference of Fruit Growers, but presumably 

 it will be some time in February or early in 

 March. The delegates will be called from the 

 different provinces in about the following pro- 

 portions : Prince Edward Island, 2 ; Nova 

 Scotia, 4 ; New Brunswick, 2 ; Quebec, 4 ; On- 

 tario, 9 ; Manitoba, 1 ; Saskatchewan, 1 ; Al- 

 berta, 1 ; British Columbia, 4. In addition, it 

 is probable that there will be one fruit expert 

 representing the provincial government and 

 provinces interested. The secretaries of the 

 different provincial fruit growers' associations 

 have been notified, so that should there be any 

 subjects on which they would like to instruct 

 delegates they will have an opportunity of do- 

 ing so at their annual meetings. 



Mr. Maxwell Smith, Dominion Fruit Inspector 

 for the Province of British Columbia, writes 

 that a very large proportion of the apples ar- 

 riving from southern points up to date this sea- 

 son have been condemned for codling moth. 

 Scarcely a year passes but Ontario shippers 

 are induced to send apples to British Columbia, 

 and it very seldom happens that these apples 

 successfully pass the pest inspectors, which, of 

 course, entails a serious loss upon the shippers. 

 It is necessary, to enter British Columbia, that 

 the fruit be absolutely free from codling moth, 

 a condition that can scarcely be met in ordinary 

 years by Ontario fruit. 



Record time was made in the shipment of 

 fruit made recently by the St. Catharines For- 

 warding Co., which Mr. P. J. Carey accompa- 

 nied to Winnipeg. The trip from St. Catha- 

 rines to Winnipeg was made in four days and 

 20 hours. The shipment consisted of pears, 

 peaches, grapes, tomatoes and a few apples. 

 Mr. Carey reports that everything was in good 

 condition on arrival and encouraging sales 

 were made. It was the first shipment of 

 peaches for the season. They were somewhat 

 immature but sold readily at $1.25 a case. 

 With care and fair transportation facilities, it 

 is claimed the most tender fruits can be put 

 on the Winnipeg market and sold at a profit 

 in large quantities. Defective packing and 

 improper selection are said to be the chief 

 causes of the slow progress in bringing the 

 merits of Ontario fruits to the front. 



The blueberry crop in the neighborhood of 

 Kenora (Rat Portage) amounted this year to 

 about 155 tons, the price varying from 7 to 10 

 cents per pound.— (A. McNeill, Fruit Division, 

 Ottawa. 



Mrs. W. Keith, of Newmarket, who recently 

 l>urchased bulbs to the value of $1.12 from J. 

 A. Simmers, of Toronto, through seeing Mr. 

 Simmers' advertisement in The Horticulturist, 

 has been sent a handsome premium by The 

 Horticulturist. We give premiums to all our 

 readers who purchase from advertisers. 



The Tomato Situation 



The Grantham vegetable growers held a 

 special meeting on October 14 to take action 

 on the tomato situation for the season of 1906, 

 as some of the factories try to secure contracts 

 when paying the growers off at the end of the 

 season. A large number of growers were 

 present. 



The results of this season's work were con- 

 sidered and all were unanimous in agreeing to 

 stick together. A committee was appointed 

 to keep in touch with the situation and be pre- 

 pared to take any needed action. 



A Secret of High Prices 



E. H. WARTMAN, DOMINION FRUIT 

 INSPECTOR, MONTREAL. 



Canadian fruit growers should know a few 

 facts relating to the transportation of Califor- 

 nia plums via Montreal to Glasgow. I had the 

 pleasure of inspecting five standard three-box 

 crates California Tragedy plums out of a car 

 of 1,130 crates. Each plum was well wrapped 

 in soft paper, well graded as to size and quality, 

 three plums deep. After inspecting these five 

 crates to the bottom I decided they were in per- 

 fect condition. 



News of this kind to shippers serves as a 

 warning to those who have the very responsi- 

 ble position of looking after the temperatures 

 of these chambers aboard ocean liners. A 

 shipment went forward last season and landed 

 in such perfect condition that the fruit de- 

 manded lOd. or 20 cents per pound over the 

 counter. This fruit usually sells for one cent 

 per pound or 60 cents per bushel in California. 

 T\''hen we consider 20 cents per pound, or $12 

 per bushel on the other side, it is evident some 

 one must be reaping a great harvest. But the 

 little secret should be better known among our 

 growers. The fruit is picked' at the proper 

 time and most beautifully wrapped and packed. 

 It is placed in cool air and kept there to its 

 journey's end. All this may seem a lot of 

 trouble and expense, (but it is a most perfect 

 system, and he wlho practices it will be well re- 

 munerated. 



I like boxes very much, and think them a 

 better package for early apples than barrels. I 

 think too that the best winter apples should sell 

 to better advantage in boxes, but the old coun- 

 try trade seems prejudiced in favor of barrels. 

 — (R. A. Thomas, Barrie, Ont. 



I enjoy The Horticulturist very much and do 

 not wish to discontinue it — (Adam Brown, An- 

 nan, Ont. 



