340 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



and plums, as well as for all soft fruits, the 

 cases must be ventilated. 



Each case must bear the name of the 

 grower, with the names of the varieties of 

 fruit in it — a case may have more than one 

 variety if necessary. 



For the English exhibitions, which open 

 September I, five samples of all our earliest 

 apples and pears are required. Early 

 apples and pears are also desired for St. 

 Louis, and for bottling for the great Bel- 

 gian exhibition which will be held next year. 



The selection of specimens of fruit for 

 exhibition purposes cannot be done too care- 

 fully. Only perfect specimens, typical of 

 the variety, should be selected — not neces- 

 sarily very large. The greatest care is re- 

 quired to see that no fruit is packed for ex- 

 hibit bearing any defects due to disease or 

 the presence of insects. Apple scab, 

 blotches, unevenness, indentations, or marks 

 made by branches rubbing the apples, worm 

 holes, etc., even the absence of the stalk con- 

 stitutes a blemish to be avoided. 



The proper handling of fruits for exhibi- 

 tion is important, especially as the sfightest 

 bruise interferes with their preservation in 

 cold storage. Apples ripen rapidly after 

 being gathered. Only the shortest possi- 

 ble time, therefore, should elapse be'tween 

 the picking and the placing in cold storage. 

 For the best results, the fruit should be ripe 

 but not what is termed " dead ripe." Tests 

 made in cold storage show that fruit that 

 has not been fully grown is easily damaged 

 by scald and some kinds are liable to shrivel. 



The influence of paper wrappers on the 

 keeping qualities of apples has been fully 

 proven. Double wrap every specimen in 

 tissue and manilla paper. Each package 

 should be plainly marked on the outside 

 with the name and address of the grower, 

 and the name of the fruit it contains. This 

 is very important to enable those in charge 

 of fhe exhibit to determine what the pack- 

 age contains without opening it. The 

 apples should be packed firmly in the pack- 

 age with a light layer of excelsior at the bot- 



The New Chief of the Fruit Division. 



The promotion of Mr. Alex. McNeill, senior fruit inspector and 

 vice-pre ident of the Ontario F'ruit Growers' Association, to the 

 position of chief of the fruit division of the Dominion Department of 

 Agriculture, to fill the vacancy caused by the appointment to 

 another office of the former chief, Mr. A. W. MacKinnon, appears 

 to have given general satisfaction. Widely known throughout 

 C nada as an institute speaker, and being generally popular, Mr. 

 McNeill, who has a thorough grasp of the fruit situation in Can- 

 ada, should fill this important office with credit to hio'.self and the 

 industry he represents. The retiring chief, Mr. MacKinnon, has 

 been a most energetic and capable official and the loss of his ser- - 

 vices to the fruit inte-ests of Canada will be a no inconsiderable one. 

 The new chief, Mr. Alex. McNeill, was born on a fruit farm in 

 Middlesex county and spent several years of his life there. He 

 spent one year on one of the largest and best fruit farms in Central 

 lintario, on which he first developed a fondness for the fruit busi- 

 ness. When a young man he held the position of science master in 

 the Windsor Collegiate for 12 years, but finally bought a fruit farm 

 of 50 acres and planted it all in fruit. After leaving the col'egiate- 

 he moved onto this farm, and was on it until three years ago, when 

 he was appointed on the staff of the Fruit Division at its organiz.i- 

 tion in 1901. 



tom and top to prevent bruises. 



It is expected that fruit growers in the 

 several provinces will aid the Department 

 of Agriculture to make the fruit exhibit 

 from Canada a complete success in every 

 particular. It is needless to say that suc- 

 cess will depend on the hearty cooperation 

 of every one who grows any kind of fruit. 

 Concerted and strenuous eflfort will be 

 necessary on our part if Canada is to main- 

 tain the position she claims of producing 

 the finest apples, etc., in the world. Boxes, 

 wrapping paper and cardboard divisions 

 will be supplied to contributors free of 

 charge on application. 



