THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



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Cross section of the Western 24 pint Ilallock 



crate. The separators rest on the sides of the 



crate instead of on the fruit. 



badly in western markets when com- 

 pared witfh other packages. In eastern 

 markets a crate which will arrive in an 

 attractive condition with boxes even 

 full of sound berries will sell for a 

 higher figure than a crate that has the 

 appearance of having been pulled out 

 of the scrap heap and whose fruit is 

 crushed or is not filling the boxes. 



Some growers who have previously 

 used the 24-quart package have given 

 it up, and this season a great many in 

 the Niagara District are going to sup- 

 plant it with a better article. In re- 

 placing the package the grower should 

 look to the demands of his markets. 

 The Ontario strawberry grower has 

 markets demanding two distinct types 

 of packages — the western and the east- 

 ern markets. 



Western Markets. 



The largest part of the strawberries 

 used in the prairie provinces are 

 shipped from Hood River, Oregon, and 

 Spokane, Washington, in the 24-Full 

 Pint Hallock Crate. This package is 

 well adapted to long-distance ship- 

 ments and admirably suits western mar- 

 keting conditions. In tests made dur- 

 ing the past season by the Department, 

 the Pint Hallock crate proved superior 

 to the 4-5-quart Hallock crate — espe- 

 cially since it always ships full where 

 the deeper boxes shake down and ap- 

 pear slack, and netted greater returns. 

 The 24 Pint Hallock crate from Hood 

 River sells for from three dollars to 

 four dollars wholesale in Winnipeg, 

 and in the Department's test the pint 

 crate averaged ten cents more than did 

 the Ontario crate, although it required 

 hut about half the amount of berries 

 for filling. 



There , is a large opening for Ontario 



stjja'ivH^i'H'es in western markets, as 



■'."Hbod River aijd British Columbia ber- 



••ries have a sligh.tly earlier season and 



"are scarce in pVairie markets when On- 



,>tarios are at tkfiv height. However, 



*fhere is little usfi'.working for this trade 



.- Unless the b&rsries are packed so as to 



T«?kdily copi^ete with those from Hood 



River, and to do this the 24-Pint Hal- 

 lock crate must be used. 



The 24-Pint Hallock crate is well 

 shown ill the illustration. Each box 

 has its bottom raised so as to protect 

 the top of the lower boxes when 

 dividers are not used. In some cases 

 dividers or separatoi-s are used, in 

 which ease they rest on shoulders or 

 rabbits in the sides of the crate instead 

 of on the underneath fruit. The cost 

 of this crate ranges from fifteen to 

 twenty-one cents. 



It is general practice in western 

 strawberry districts to pack the ber- 

 ries, taking them to a field packing shed 

 for this operation. Berries of only one 

 degree of ripeness are included, and 

 the tops are faced off. This manner of 

 packing is imperative since packing in 

 the field by the pickers is certain to 

 result in ripe berries getting in the 

 boxes, which spells disaster to the whole 

 package when shipped long distances 



Western United States Standard deep pint Hal- 

 lock crate and boxes. 



The Department's investigations in 

 eastern markets would not warrant the 

 use of the Hallock crate. Neither is it 

 probable that the pint box will ever be 

 used for Ontario berries in eastern mar- 

 kets. The deeper boxes carry satisfac- 

 torily for these shipments, and the con- 

 sumer prefers the boxes they have been 

 accustomed to — as a rule they look 

 askance at the raised bottoms of the 

 Hallock boxes and call them "false 

 bottoms." 



The 24-quart crate, after the American 

 type, would be most satisfactory for 

 these shipments. The 32-quart crate 

 used in New Brunswick, or the 27-quart 

 crate used somewhat in the Burlington 

 district would also be recommended, 

 providing- the separators have strips 

 thick enough to prevent the weight of 

 the upper boxes from mashing the ber- 

 ries underneath when the lower boxes 

 are properly fiUed. (Note the thick- 



Floral EdlUon. 



ness if the strips on the separators of 

 the .American crate.) What is to be 

 desirH for eastern markets in the place 

 of thi- present 24-quart Ontario crate is 

 one that is strong, well ventilated, not 

 easily pilfered, convenient for handling 

 and one in which the boxes can be filled 

 without mashing. Growers should de- 

 cide upon having a better package at 

 once and insist upon securing such a 

 package by ordering early enough in 

 the winter or spring so that the fac- 

 tories can meet their specification.s 



otherwise, the manufacturers will make 

 no chaiif^e in their package, and when 

 the rush of the berry season is on ail 

 that will be found in stock will be the 

 old, flimsy 24-qnart crate, with the 

 same veneer separators that are practi- 

 cally worthless as a protection to the 

 berries in the bottom tiers. 



Tomato Blight 



D. H. Jones, O.A.C., Guelph, Ont. 



It would appear from experiments 

 and oljservations, conducted at Guelph 

 and elsewhere, that the disease of to- 

 matoes called "Tomato Blight" is not 

 of a parasitic nature, either insect, 

 fungous or bacterial. It resembles in 

 many respects the Brown Rot of So- 

 ianaceae, particularly in the browning 

 of the vascular bundes. So far as we 

 can determine, it appears as a physio- 

 logical trouble in the plant tissue, in- 

 duced by some factor in the soil, pos- 

 .sibly an injurious chemical reaction, 

 which enters the plant system through 

 the roots. It occurs in "tomato plants 

 grown under cover, and is liable to 

 cause heavy losses. It has been found 

 only to a very limited extent in the 

 field. 



Steaming the di.seased soil has, in a 

 limited number of experiments, proved 

 beneficial. Whether treatment of the 

 soil with chemicals will prove equally 

 effective we cannot say from our own 

 experience, as we have not tried it. 



Thin your fruit from the first year 

 of bearing, and you are more likely to 

 have annual crops. 



Cross sections of the Ontario 24 quart crate and 

 the Vestern 24 pint Hallock crate. The pint 

 crate ti ;d for ten cents more than the quart 

 crate in the Winnipeg market. 



