EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Reckless Fruit Sales 



THE only justification for the present 

 reckless method of shipping our 

 choice fruits on consignment, to be sold at 

 whatever prices the buyers choose to offer, 

 is their perishable nature. While we were 

 negotiating a sale our fruit was rotting, and 

 we were forced to take any offer rather than 

 lose it all. But this method of sale has been 

 taken advantage of by the buyers, until it 

 has become ruinous to the grower. In 

 some cases they agree not to bid against 

 each other, but rather that one one should 

 buy and divide up, in which case there is 

 little hope of getting value for our fancy 

 stock, no matter with what care we pack. 

 How shall this be remedied ? The only way 

 is by the making of sales at the point of 

 shipment, or at some storage house where 

 the fruit can be held for the grower until 

 sold. 



Cold Storage Stations Will 

 Help Sales 



^l OW here is the chief advantage of the 

 ^ cold storage stations to the fruit 

 grower. By storing at a proper tempera- 

 ture he can hold his fruit long enough to 

 make sale for it, and thus have something to 

 say about its value. Apples may be stored 

 for almost a year, if need be, and therefore 

 there is little more excuse for shipping them 

 on commission than there is groceries or 

 dry goods. With pears almost the same 

 thing is true, and with peaches and pears to 

 a lesser degree. 



Of course it is foolish to store No. 2 

 stock. The less expense one puts upon it 

 the better, and the sooner it is converted 

 into money the better. But with No. i. or 

 fancy stock, the case is quite different. It 

 is worth the added expense of storage and 

 of seeking suitable purchasers. 



Cold storage houses, built on the most ap- 

 proved plan, have sprung up all through the 



section from Rochester to Buffalo, says the 

 Rural New Yorker. It is not unusual to 

 find a town with 300 or 400 inhabitants with 

 a cold storage house holding from 40,000 lo 

 50,000 barrels. This is one of the greatest 

 blessings to the grower. It relieves the 

 market from the influx of fruit early in the 

 season, and prolongs the period when the 

 fruit can be put on the market. By the aid 

 of refrigerator cars it can be sent to parts 

 of our country and at seasons never possi- 

 ble to reach before. The men who control 

 these depots are searching out sections 

 where they can place the fruit, and though 

 they do it for their own profit, the benefit is 

 received by the grower as well. 



Germany a Good Apple Market 



FOR some years past a few Ontario ap- 

 ple growers have been shipping to 

 Hamburg and with considerable encourage- 

 n:ent. This season the results have been 

 more than usually satisfactory, Baldwins, 

 Russets, Greenings, Ben Davis and Spys 

 selling at from 20 to 28 shillings, with strong 

 demand. 



The first car load of apples from this con- 

 tinent to Germany went forward in 1896. 

 It is stated that almost half as many apples 

 have gone to Germany in the year 1903 as 

 during the whole of the years previous. 

 From 1896 to 1903 a total of 489,000 barrels 

 went to Hamburg. 



Layin|( Out an Apple Orchard 



NOW that plans are being made for 

 spring planting of orchards, it is 

 well to consider details and have everything 

 in readiness. Mr. W. C. Abbott, of Hud- 

 son Heights, Que., writes : 



Sir : If you had to plant in the spring an 

 apple orchard of 1,000 apple trees, how would 

 you proceed in order to have the work done in 

 the best and most expeditious manner possible ? 



If the ground has been either summer fal- 

 lowed, or cultivated with corn or potatoes 



