FRUn REPORTS FROM OUR DIRLCTORS. 



77 



have been comparatively clean and well de- 

 veloped. 



The Fruit Marks Act. 



It is gratifying to note that a respect for the 

 Fruit Marks Act is becoming more and more 

 manifest, and its requirements have been well 

 observed this fall. But while the farmers are 

 accepting the Act and approving its claims and 

 purposes, they are, with a few exceptions, not 

 applying themselves to the requirements of 

 their orchards to turn the Act to good account. 

 Those few exceptions, however, when the or- 

 chard has been properly cared for, are sure in 

 time to exemplify the influences of the school- 

 master in the community. A few farmers I 

 know of have made their orchards pay this fall, 

 and their example and experience must gradu- 

 ally work upon their neighbors. If not, then 

 our labor is all in vain. 



The London Society. 



In horticultural work the success of the Lon- 

 don society has been most marked. At the 

 "Western Fair, held in that city in September, 

 the special floral display made by that society 

 was one of the greatest attractions in the horti- 

 cultural building. All the annuals shown in 

 that splendid exhibit were grown from seed dis- 

 tributed by the society, and the flowers were 

 contributed by the members gratuitously. The 

 general admiration of the public seemed to be a 

 sufficient reward for the labor expended. 



In the city of Stratford they have also a live 

 and active society, which I regret to say is not 

 in affiliation with usl They are doing excellent 

 work in giving prizes for the best kept lawn 

 and the best flower and vegetable garden. In 

 the latter part of August they held a flower 

 show, which was a splendid success, and left 

 them a considerable surplus in cash after pay- 

 ing prizes and all expenses. 



The Mitchell Horticultural Society. 



In my own town, Mitchell, we have a society 

 with a membership of aibout one hundred. Of 

 course I consider it the best and most enthu- 

 siastic in the province. Any meeting held un- 

 der its auspices is sure to have a crowded house. 

 Last spring we distributed nearly thirty dollars' 

 worth of plants and gladioli bulbs, and this fall 

 at out sixty dollars' worth of Parrot tulips and 

 mixed hyacinths. The work is showing itself 

 very conspicuous throughout the town, in school 

 grounds, church grounds, and especially about 

 the homes. The infection, in fact, is being 

 caught by many of the farmers, and the result 

 is telling in the surroundings of many of the 

 best farm homes. 



Essex, Kent and Lambton. 



(Division No. 12.) 



Represented by J. L. Hilborn, Leamington. 



In the district which I represent there are a 

 number of horticultural societies, and they are 

 doing a very good work, but there is not as 

 much interest manifested in them as there 

 should be. 



The greatest difficulty appears to be that 

 many fruit growers and horticulturists are not 

 sufficiently alive to the advantages to be gained 

 by diligently attending meetings and co-operat- 

 ing for the advancement of our calling. 



The Transportation Grievance. 



One of the most importance meetings held in 

 this district was called at Kingsville in March 

 for the purpose of discussing transportation 

 grievance. There was a large gathering tX. 

 fruit shippers, Mr. M. K. Cowan, M. P., occu- 

 pied the chair and displayed considerable inter- 

 est in the welfare of the shippers. The express 

 companies were represented by their road 

 agents, also by Mr. Sparling, superintendent of 

 the Canadian company. As a result of this 

 meeting we get much better service this season, 

 but undoubtedly the express rate on fruit is 

 more than it should be, especially to certain 

 points. 



The Mersea Agricultural Society hold their 

 fall fair at Leamington and manifest consider- 

 able interest in the fruit department, and an- 

 nually have a fine display of fruits, in which 

 much interest is taken and considerable infor- 

 mation is gained by the different exhibitors, and 

 the public generally, in regard to the best varie- 

 ties to grow, and in the proper naming of odd 

 and new varieties. I have for several years 

 assisted in the judging of this department and 

 correcting names where wrong. 



The Fruit Crop. 



The fruit crop of 1903 was a bountiful one, 

 but prices as a rule were rather low. Straw- 

 berries were an immense crop, especially in 

 Lambton county. Plums were a great crop 

 everywhere, and so cheap that some of them 

 were never gathered, as there seemed to be no 

 sale for them. It appears to be that there 

 should be sale for so good a fruit as the plum if 

 properly canned or jammed and put upon the 

 proper market. Perhaps there is room for the 

 O. F. G. A. to do some good work along this line 

 of investigating this matter and encouraging can- 

 ners to handle more plums when they become 

 so cheap, and thereby prevent a total glut in our 

 markets. 



Peaches as a rule were a heavy crop, the ex- 

 ception being when varieties that are suscepti- 

 ble to the curl leaf were not properly sprayed, 

 and Crawford varieties that were growing on 

 soils too sandy to be well adapted for them. 

 Owing to so much wet weather during the 

 ripening period of peaches and plums there was 

 considerable waste from rot. The flavor and 

 keeping quality of peaches especially was 

 much affected by the same cause. 



Apples yielded well, but the fruit was much 

 affected by the ravages of scab and codling 

 moth. There should be much more attention 

 given to the spraying of our apple orchards. 

 Much good work is being done by the Farmers' 

 Institute in the way of impressing growers with 

 the importance of more thorough pruning and 

 spraying of their orchards, but there is still 

 room for much missionary work along those 

 lines. 



