The Canadian Horticulturist. 377 



" We notice that some of our Western Canadian growers have been induced 

 to ship their fruit to England, to try the new Government fad of cold storage. 

 They will get nothing in return for these goods, and will be lucky if they don't 

 have to send money to pay freight. 



" The fact is that Canada grows no fruit fit to e.xport across the Atlantic 

 but apples, and not a great many of them are fit. Our plums, peaches, grapes 

 and pears are all inferior to foreign growth, they do not look as well, and don't 

 keep as well. Instead of foolishly investing money in hunting foreign markets, 

 the Government would do some service to assist our growers in acclimating and 

 securing fruit that will compete in our home markets with the foreign kinds. 

 Some of our growers have done nobly in this effort. Such men as the Woolver- 

 tons, A. M. Smith, E. C Beman, and scores of others deserve the utmost credit, 

 but it is a deplorable fact that we have grown in Canada a great quantity of fruit 

 that is of little value. California, New York State, and even the Southern States, 

 are crowding our growers with superior fruit, in spite of war tariff. 



"And while we are speaking, why does it cost nearly as much to bring 

 peaches, etc., from the Western Peninsula of Canada to Montreal as from Cali- 

 fornia, and why must our growers submit to heated ovens in the shape of express 

 cars that ruin the fruit, and rough handling that is positively barbarous ? We 

 have spoken fairly, Montreal and Toronto are the best markets in the world for 

 any Canadian fruit, including apples, etc. We want you to demand a reform 

 in the transportation of fruit ; it is a positive disgrace, eating out the life of your 

 profits ; the commission men are doing their utmost here for you, but goods 

 arrive bruised and rotten, with outrageous express and freight charges on them." 



[Still we can see only good resulting from this trial shipment of tender fruit. 

 If it prove a loss, it will not be a heavy one, and we will have learned from 

 actual trial what is otherwise only guessed at. When California peaches and 

 pears can be placed in the English markets with profit, we are inclined to try 

 Canadian peaches and pears, for the quality of our fruit is superior to California, 

 even if inferior in appearance. — En.] 



Propagating Gooseberries. 



751. Sir, — Please tell me the best means of propagating gooseberries. 



JoH.v Reip, Sk., Everett. 



Gooseberries may be propagated either by cuttings or by layers. Cuttings 

 may be made in the autumn and buried until planting time in early spring. 



k 



