IN THE ORCHARD. 



461 



tions attended well to the icing. With in- 

 crease of business, so that the icing of cars 

 becomes a regular instead of an occasional 

 duty, there is reason to expect that it will be 

 better attended to in future. The same is 

 true of despatch. A large volume of freight 

 business in perishable fruits is therefore 

 likely to correct present deficiencies in the 



transport system. But with the fruit 

 growers and shippers nothing less than co- 

 operation in packing and shipping will re- 

 move the defects iri that part of the under- 

 taking. There must be uniformity in pack- 

 ages, in grading, in quality of fruit, and 

 these cannot be secured by independent ac- 

 tion but only by cooperation. 



NOVA SCOTIA FRUIT GROWERS IN A BIG COMBINE 



DURING the past month items have ap- 

 peared in a number of leading pa- 

 pers announcing that the Annapolis Valley 

 Fruit Estates, Limited, has been formed in 

 Halifax to engage in fruit culture on a large 

 scale in the Cornwallis and Annapolis Val- 

 leys. In addition to apples, srnall fruits will 

 be cultivated as well as pKDtatoes and otner 

 vegetables. The company will also erect a 

 canning and vinegar plant, and a barrel and 

 box factory for the manufacture of fruit 

 packages. 



Desiring to gain as much information as 

 possible about this enterprise for its readers, 

 The Horticulturist wrote to a number of 

 leading Nova Scotia fruit growers asking 

 for particulars^ and to Hon. D. Mackeen, of 

 Halifax, who was reported to be financially 

 interested. Some interesting replies have 

 been received. A letter from Hon. Mr. 

 Mackeen reads as follows : 



" I am not interested to 'any particular ex- 

 tent, personally, in the coinpan}' to which 

 you refer. As far as I understand, how- 

 ever, this company owns some 3,000 acres 

 of more or less highly cultivated land in one 

 of the most fruitful apple growing districts 

 in the Annapolis Valley. I am told that the 

 capital required for fully developing this 

 property into a fruit growing concern has 

 already been raised. 



" At present, I understand, the company 

 has over 20,000 apple trees, and it is pro- 

 posed to put out 30,000 new trees on the 

 property. It is estimated that the present 



yield from the property will be about 20,000 

 barrels, and this is only a very small propor- 

 tion of the company's expected product from 

 the estates." 



FRUIT GROWERS NOT SANGUINE). 



Two well known Nova Scotia fruit grow- 

 ers heard from do not appear to be very 

 sanguine in regard to the success of the en- 

 terprise. The first one heard from, Mr. S. 

 C. Parker, secretary of the Nova Scotia Fruit 

 Growers' Association, wrote as follows : 



" I would scarcely call this a cooperative 

 scheme, rather a speculation enterprise han- 

 dled by a professional promoter. The mat- 

 ter stands thus : A. H. Fair, an insurance 

 agent, has secured options holding for 12 

 months on a block of country about two 

 miles square, containing some 30 farms (op- 

 tions were secured on all save four or five, 

 who held out) . The purchase money is some- 

 thing like $250,000; the other $100,000 of 

 capital is for plant and improvement. I 

 presume the promoter proposes to make a 

 stock company, and bond the concern to 

 raise the required capital. This is one of 

 the best farming sections in the valley, situ- 

 ated two miles from Berwick, directly under 

 the North mountain, running two miles east 

 and west, bounded hs roads on three sides. 

 Taking last year's crop as a basis a very 

 glittering prospectus could be made. The 

 promoter says they shipped 16,000 barrels 

 of apples last year, which would.net $2 per 

 barrel. The block probably grows 1,000 

 tons of hay annually, perhaps 20,000 bushels 



