178 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



July, 1916. 



The Outlook for Fruit 



Dr. A. J. Grant, Thedford, Ont., President, Ontario Fruit Growers' Association 



TO say that all fruit-growers are pessi- 

 mists, would be an extreme statement, 

 but my association of several years 

 with the fruit business has led me to the 

 conclusion that too many growers are pessi- 

 mists for the general good of the industry. 

 Whoever heard of a manufacturer or a 

 business man, in the ordinary sense of the 

 term, burning up his time and energy in de- 

 preciating the value of his 'own product, 

 and yet the spectacle of fruit-growers, not 

 only talking down their own product, but 

 rushing into print to depreciate Its value, 

 has been painfully common during the past 

 few years. 



We are producing oommodities, which 

 should be, and are, among the staple articles 

 of diet in most households. The fact that 

 all fruits are more or less perishable intro- 

 duces many problems, which it is up to the 

 producer to solve. Would it not be more 

 rational to devote our energy, as business 

 men as well as fruit-growers, to the proper 

 solution of these difficulties rather than 

 singing "blue ruin from the housetops" in- 

 to the ears of the very people who are 

 reaching out every year for a supply of our 

 products. 



Not a Phenomenal Crop. 



The approaching season should be a good 

 one for the growers, but the stage has been 

 prepared in the minds of the public for a 

 "session of over production and low prices — 

 very good medicine for the consumer but 

 migthty poor solace for the grower, who is 

 depending upon the proceeds of his fruit to 

 buy shoes for the children, and pay some 

 of the other sundry expenses which must be 

 met in the course of life's journey. 



From present appearances we will be 

 blessed this year with a good crop of fruit, 

 from strawberries clear through to winter 

 apples, but there is no reason to believe that 

 the crop will be phenomenally large in any 

 line, as nature's thinning has already been 

 very much in evidence with at least several 

 of our standard fruits. The weather during 

 the time of fertilization has been anything 

 but favorable to this most necessary pro- 

 cess, so that "setting" has not been at all 

 in proportion to the amount of blossom. 



In the case of apples the weather has 

 provided tiie most favorable possible condi- 

 tions for the growth of fungus diseases, so 

 that the fellow who has clean apples this 

 year will be the one who has been on the 

 job persistently and often with the spray- 

 ing outftt, working hard to produce market- 

 able fruit. I mention these factors simply 

 to offset the idea that has already become 

 too prevalent, that every old tree, in every- 

 body's back yard, is going to be loaded to 

 the breaking point with high-class fruit. I 

 am fully satisfied that the producer of ap- 

 ples, who is properly caring for his orchard 

 this season, and who is wise enough to have 

 a proper selling connection, will make some 

 money, but I am not so sanguine about what 

 will happen the grower who has been 

 neglecting his trees. 



Call for Co-oDeration. 



Large producers of fruit are usually pretty 

 fair business men, and in my experience, 

 most of them in Ontario have done well 

 and are continuing to make money. The 

 salvation of the smaller grower is undoubt- 

 edly to join with a number of his neighbors 

 and form an a.ssociation so that the com- 

 bined output will permit of the employment 

 of a busine.«« manager to run the associa- 

 tion and market the fruit. Leit me empha- 

 size the importance of a business manager 



in every sense of the term. Many of our 

 aftsociatlons are falling down because of the 

 fact that the manager Ls either not a thor- 

 ough business man who knows the trade 

 and has selling connections, or is handi- 

 capped by the petty interference of mem- 

 bers at every turn until his usefulness as a 

 manager is utterly destroyed. Of course, it 

 follows that a capable manager who can 

 make a success of the business must be 

 pajid well for his services. Another stum- 

 bling block In many of our associations is 

 that the members fail to realize the fact 

 that a good man cannot and will not work 

 for a mere pittance, and the fellow who is 

 willing to do it will usually prove to be in- 

 capable. This is common logic which ap- 

 plies to business in. every i>ath of life. As 

 growers, we have a great deal to learn about 

 the art of selling. 



Aim to Satisfy. 



I might say that the strongest element 

 in the success of the successful manufac- 

 turer or wholesaler is his ability to satisfy 

 his customers and keep them coming. This 

 is bis con.'vtant aim, and commands most of 

 his attention. An article might be con- 

 structed of the best material, in the best 

 l>ossible way, and yet if it did not meet the 

 demands of an exacting public the energy 

 and cost of production would be lost. It 

 must be a "good seller." How much time 

 do we fruitgrowers consume in studying and 

 acquainting ourselves with the likes and 

 dislikes of the consuming public? How much 

 thought do we give to the manner in which 

 they like their fniit brought to the door? 

 How seriously do we consider the impres- 

 sion which our imckage of fruit is going to 

 make uix)n the consumer after he has paid 

 some real money for it? These are the 

 questions which should be the burning ones 

 in the minds of fruitgrowers who are anxi- 

 ous to establish permanent trade connec- 

 tions and thereby a sure outlet at fair prices. 



Peo'ile are becoming more discriminat- 

 ing all the time. Quality at fair prices is 

 in constant demand. Inferior fruit is a 

 menace to any market; the people don't 

 want it, and the interests of the prower 

 would be much better served if such stuff 

 were never put up and nothing but first- 

 class goods offered. Let us continually have 

 the consumer before us and endeavor to 

 make the impression so favorable that he 

 will want more of the same brand of fruit. 



People Have Money to Buy With. 



m spite of the fact that our country is at 

 war, we are enjoying a great period of pros- 

 perity. Thousands of people in our cities 

 and towns are living better than they ever 

 lived before; there is an abundance of 

 money In circulation and many people will 

 consume large quantities of fruit this year 

 who have heretofore not been dn a position 

 to do so. This element in itself will enor- 

 mously increase the home consumption of 

 fruits of all kinds and should more than 

 compensate for the restricted export facili- 

 ties which promise to face the apple trade. 

 Many industries have been waxing fat upon 

 the outflow of money which is bound to go 

 on as a result of the war. Let the fruit- 

 grower take some comfort in the fact that 

 the tide will turn his way when he puts his 

 luscious berries and fruits on the market. 

 Nothing is more appetizing or tempting than 

 good fruit — let us see to it that nothing but 

 the real good fruit gets on the market. 



As fruit-growers we discuss the improve- 

 ment of our marketing facilities, transpor- 

 tation evils and methods of distribution — 



and these are vital questione which will 

 stand a great deal of improvement, but the 

 ghastly fact remains that none of us are 

 trying hard enough to satiBfy the consumer 

 and make him come back for more. We 

 can increase the home consumption of fruits 

 enormously if we strive to please the eye 

 as well as tickle the palate, never forgetting 

 that the consumer muiit have a square deal 

 in every i>articular and full value for his 

 money. "The tendency to "just put. a few 

 nice ones on top'" is one of the frailties of 

 human nature, and is not by any means lim 

 ited to fruit-growers "Put a few nice one.-^ 

 in the bottom" is a safer maxim and should 

 be preached to every berry picker and fruit 

 packer in the country. I have frequentl.- 

 watched packers, especially of apples ami 

 peaches, who had no financial interest in tli'- 

 fruit and yet would over-face, deliberately, 

 in order to finish off a nice-looking package, 

 never thinking of what the impression of 

 the purchaser would be when he opened the 

 package. 



For the coming sea-son: market only 

 choice fruit, carefully graded and packed, 

 u.sing every possible care to get It to your 

 market in good condition. Use good reli- 

 able trade connections in selling and you 

 should show a substantial balance on the 

 right side. The demand for good fruit will 

 be very large. 



Tests of Dust Sprayers 



p. W. Hodgetts. Department of Agriculture 

 Toronto 



The Ontario Department of Agriculture 

 has purchased and is operating two power 

 dusters this season. The larger outfit, pur- 

 chased from the Niagara Spray Company, 

 has been working in the Niagara district 

 under Prof. L. Caesar, with apples and ten- 

 der fruits, and the smaller machine, bough; 

 from the Dust Sprayer Mfg. Co., of St. 

 Louis, is being tised entirely in our leased 

 apple orchards at Thedford, Paris and Well- 

 ington. 



Two dustings have been applied on the 

 apples with great satisfaction in as far as 

 speed and covering power are concerned 

 None of our men are experts as yet in the 

 use of the duster, but we find that the dust 

 can be applied at least four times asf fast as 

 the liquid, with much comfort to the oper- 

 ators. Two men and one horse would take 

 the place of three men and a team using the 

 liquid. Nothing can be said as yet as to the 

 effectiveness of the dust on scab and insects. 

 If present weather conditions continue, we 

 should easily find out by harvest time the 

 value of this new method. 



Conditions of the Seed Market 



G. Le Lacheur, .Seed Division, Ottawa 



Owing to the accumulation of large stock."^ 

 of field root and vegetable seed supplies 

 previous to the outbreak of war there wa.^ 

 not much difficulty in supplying demands 

 for most kinds of seed this spring, but un- 

 le.ss much more seed than usual is grown 

 in North America this year the situation 

 may be serious In the spring of 1917. It is 

 impossible to estimate to what extent seed 

 growers in France who have been quite 

 ready to take contracts may be able to 

 make delivery. 



Previous to the war a bonus of subven- 

 tion was offered to growers to encourage 

 the production of these seeds in Canada and 

 when it became apparent that European 

 supplies might be cut off or greatly cur- 

 tailed, further efforts were made to stimu- 

 late home production. Farmers and gar- 

 deners were advised to save parent stock 



