216 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



Floral Bdltion. 



Commercial thimbleberry plantations in Ontario are not numerous. This one is owned by 

 Robt. W. Riggs, Arkona, Ont., one of the largest fruit growers in Lambton County. 



matui'ing later in the season also bene- 

 fit from a close study of picking needs. 

 Innnaturity or over-maturity should 

 be avoided, as the fruit will not hold 

 up if kept on the market long. All 

 apples are best picked when "hard 

 ripe" — fully developed in size and 

 color with the seeds colored a light 

 brown. 



Picking should be done carefull.y, so 

 that bruises are i^w. Lift and twist 

 the apple from the spur and do not pull 

 it off. Pulling often pulls out the stem 

 and hastens decay or pulls the spur off 

 so that future crops are picked at the 

 same time. Do not grasp the apple 

 tightly, as this may bruise it. Use the 

 whole hand and grasp just firmly 

 enough to pick. Various picking de- 

 vices, such as baskets, pails or sacks, 

 are available. In general, baskets or 

 pails are better than sacks, as there is 

 less danger of bruises from swinging 



against the ladder or tree. The best 

 type of device is a basket or pail lined 

 with burlap or canvas to prevent bruis- 

 ing, and with a swinging bottom which 

 can be opened to empty the fruit 

 gently. This eliminates much of the 

 bruising which comes from pouring the 

 apples from a basket or pail. The re- 

 ceptacle should not hold more than a 

 half bushel and smaller sizes often 

 secure greater freedom from bruises. 

 Picking by hand is much better than 

 with patented devices on the end of 

 poles, it is far better to use a' good 

 ladder to get up to the apples than to 

 bother with a pole and picker. 



After picking, the apples should be 

 taken immediately to a cool, well venti- 

 lated cellar or shed where grading and 

 packing can be done conveniently. 

 Leaving the fruit in piles in the or- 

 chard ripens them too rapidly and 

 often causes shrivelling or early decay. 



Raspberry Packing for the West 



Edwin Smith, 



IN previous years trials Iiave been 

 made with the shipment of pre- 

 cooled raspberries by refrigerated 

 freight from Grimsby, Ont., to Winni- 

 peg without success. Failure may be 

 attributed to an unsuitable package 

 (the 24 four-fifth-quart crate) and to 

 the length of time in transit. This led to 

 the Dominion Cold Storage Division 

 making a test of precoole<l raspberries 

 by refrigerated express in July, 1916, 

 which was very successful. The suc- 

 cess of this shipment as well as that 

 of a refrigerator freight shipment to 

 Sault Ste. Marie in 1016, was founded 

 upon the condition of the berries this 

 past season and upon the use of the 24 

 in. shallow pint crate as much as it Avas 

 upon the use of the express method of 

 despatch. 



Grimsby, Ont. 



The price of raspberries in "Winnipeg 

 ranging between three and four dollars 

 per 24 in. pint crate during the entire 

 season and the chief competitive 

 sources of raspberries being Puyallup, 

 Wa.sh., and Mission City, B. C, and 

 having their raspberry seasons usually 

 earlier than the Niagara Peninsula, are 

 facts that point toward increased ef- 

 forts in placing Ontario ra.spberries in 

 western markets. These efforts will be 

 futile if as much attention is not de- 

 voted to the proper packing of the 

 berries as to their refrigeration and 

 despatch. 



Ordinarily raspbei-ries do not re- 

 iceive much attention in packing be- 

 cause of the simplicity of the opera- 

 tion, it being done by the pickers in the 

 field. Their packing is neglected on 



this account. Good packing of rasp- 

 berries re(iuire.s, first, good fruit, 

 second, strong, attractive ixickages 

 that are suitable containers, third, fre- 

 ((uent pickings very carefully done, at 

 which time the boxes are well filled, 

 fourth, an inspection of the boxes be- 

 fore placing them in the crates, with a 

 checking .system \vherel)y careles> 

 pickers may be "jacked-up." 



The 24 in. shallow pint crate is tht 

 most attractive and thoroughly suit- 

 able package that can be used. It con- 

 tains a fair amount of berries but the 

 l)oxes being but 1^/4 in. deep and held 

 in the crate by sustained decks in two 

 tiers only, carry them with a small 

 amount of jainniing or mashing. The 

 boxes hold a full pint, so that the 

 "false bottoms" are not really false 

 if the consumer knows that a pint is 

 being purchased instead of a quart. 

 Comparing the quantity held with that 

 of the Ontario 24 four-fifth quart crate, 

 in actual practice three four-fifth 

 quart boxes would fill five pints. The 

 gross weight of the filled crate is 23 

 pounds. About 100 crates could li- 

 efficiently loaded in the ordinary rf 

 frigierated, express car, — pointing to 

 the need of a lower carload weight 

 minimum (at present 20,000 lbs.). The 

 cost of the shalloAV pint is 17c. com- 

 plete in British Columbia ; 26c. made 

 up and laid down in Ontario in carload 

 lots. 



All efforts at western shipments will 

 fail without careful picking, removing 

 the berries from the bushes without 

 injury to the flesh. Berries used in our 

 1916 demonstration were fairly satis- 

 factory as far as careful picking wh*- 

 concerned, but growers fell down bad I 

 in not filling the lK)xeB well, which sola 

 for 25c. less per crate than they other- 

 wise would have sold. Raspberries 

 settle heavily and boxes must be filled 

 above the level full before leaving the 

 fields, else in driving to the precooliii}= 

 plant they will settle so that from r 

 quarter of an inch to the whole deptl 

 on one side of the box will show, giv 

 ing the consumer the feeling that he i: 

 being robbed both on the top and or 

 the bottom of the boxes, whereupor 

 buying will fall off. 



Frequent pickings are essential tha 

 stock Avill not contain over-ripe an( 

 dried-up berries, neither of whid 

 should be allowed in westei-n ship 

 ments. AVithout watching the berrie 

 as they come from different pickers th< 

 help gets slack and works carelessly 

 When it is found that a picker is in 

 juring fruit by pinching or clutehinf 

 with finger nails the remedy is obviou 

 and must be applied firmly. 



The hope of the future for Ontari 

 fruit growers lies along the line of es 

 tended cooperation. — Prof. Crow. 



