262 



EDITORIAL. 



Jqe (anadian florticditdrist 



The Leading Horticulturist Magazine in the 

 Dominion. 



1. The Canadian Horticulturist is published the first of 

 each month. 



!8» Subscription Price Si. 00 per year, strictly in advance; 

 entitling the subscriber to membership in the Fruit Growers 

 Association of Ontario and all its privileges, including a copy of its 

 report and a share in its annual distribution of plants and trees. 

 For all countries except Canada, United States and Great Britain 

 add 50c for postage. 



3. Remittances should be made by Postoffice or Money 

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 amounts less than $1.00. Receipts will be acknowledged on the 

 address label which shows the date to which subscription is paid. 



4. Discontinuances — Responsible subscribers will continue 

 to receive The Horticulturist until the publishers are notified by letter 

 to discontinue when all arrearages must be paid. Societies should 

 send in their revised lists in January : otherwise it will be taken for 

 granted all will coutinue members. 



5. Cliange of Address — When a change ofaddress is ordered 

 both the old and the new addresses must be given. 



6. Advertising Rates quoted on application. Circulation 

 5,500 . Copy received up to the 24th. Responsible representatives 

 wanted in Towns and Cities. 



7. Articles and Illustrations for publication will be thank- 

 fully received by the editor. 



8« All Communications should be addressed : 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST, 



TORONTO, CANADA 



TRANSPORTATION OF FRUIT. 



Probably no class of the community who may 

 have occasion to use the railroad and transpor- 

 tation companies of the country in the ordinary 

 course of their business with the public, have 

 a greater claim upon these public carriers for 

 consideration and. assistance in their efforts to 

 satisfy their customers, than the fruit growers 

 of Ontario. From the very inception of his 

 effort to engage in the production of fruit, the 

 grower is beset on every side with difficulties 

 and o^bstacles that might well appal the most 

 courageous and energetic. If " Hope deferred 

 maketh the heart sick," under any circumstan- 

 ces it is certainly true in the fruit industry. 



After having run the gauntlet of unsuitable 

 soil and atmospheric conditions, and the liability 

 to 'have had worthless varieties foisted on him 

 by the unscrupulous "tree agent"; after hav- 

 ing battled with the myriad fungous diseases 

 and insect pests, and escaped the early and late 

 frosts, he secures a good crop of fruit, the ex- 

 pressman or freig^it handler in a very short 

 time often reduces the results of his care and 

 efforts to a more or less damaged and demoral- 

 ized condition. Even should his fruit pass 

 through this ordeal in a fairly satisfactory, man- 

 ner it is liable to be delRyed in transit for hours 

 or even days, until finally It reaches its desti- 

 nation in a rotten and worthless condition. 



For this so-called special service the patient 

 and long-suffering fruit grower is charged the 



highest rates possible. Surely the time is ripe 

 for some relief in this respect. It is to be 

 hoped the presentation of the facts and condi- 

 tions of this trade to the proper authorities, as 

 has been done, is all that will be required to 

 secure a substantial improvement in the service 

 and in the handling of this rapidly increasing 

 business. A tariff of charges is needed that 

 will commend itself to the public as being at 

 once reasonable and in accordance with the 

 principles of justice and equity. Now our fruit 

 growers have put their hand to the plow they 

 must not turn back. 



THE FRUIT INSPECTION ACT. 



It is interesting sometimes to " see ourselves 

 as other see us." The United iStates Consul in 

 Edinburgh reports to his government that the 

 system of fruit inspection adopted in Canada, 

 and subsequently renewed at British ports, has 

 served as a guarantee to British buyers, of 

 Canadian fruit. Canadian apple imports as a 

 result, he says, are gaining a very strong posi- 

 tion in Scotch markets, and in some cases dis- 

 place United States supplies. 



Coming from such a source this statement is 

 a strong endorsement of both the wisdom and 

 efficacy of our fruit inspection act. The views 

 of the two British apple buyers expressed in 

 this issue of The Horticulturist further empha- 

 size this belief. Already this act has resulted 

 in much good to the Canadian fruit trade. It 

 does not seem unreasonable to expect that, 

 after it has been in operation a little longer and 

 its workings are still better understood on both 

 sides of the Atlantic, its benefits will become 

 even more apparent. As for our cousins to the 

 south it will probably be a long time before they 

 will adopt such a law. Action by individual 

 states will not be effective, and it will be a diffi- 

 cult matter to induce congress to deal with the 

 situation. 



Unknown seven years ago in Ontario, the San 

 Jose scale is now one of the worst enemies that 

 the fruit growers have to contend with. When 

 it crossed the Niagara frontier the entomolo- 

 gists, knowing its evil reputation, at once 

 raised the alarm, ibut the majority of the grow- 

 ers made light of their fears and made no at- 

 tempt to keep the scale from their orchards. 

 The result is that to-day so serious have been 

 the ravages of the scale, thousands of what 

 would have been fine bearing trees are worth- 

 less. Many once valuable orchards are being 

 torn up by the owners. The excellent work of 

 the Ontario department of agriculture in trac- 

 ing and destroying infected stock sent out by 

 nurseries, appointing inspectors to assist in the 

 control and eradication of the disease, and in 

 meeting part of the cost of spraying material 

 has undoubtedly been of great value to the 

 fruit gro\Ters of the province. It is encourag- 

 ing to hear that the fruit growers are now thor- 

 oughly alive to the seriousness of the situation 

 and that there has been a great increase in the 

 amount of spraying done to check the spread 

 of the scale. 



