264 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



Floral EJdltlon. 



One of the strongest points in favor of the 

 "Lizzie" stands is the low initial cost. 



iiiands for the "Lizzies" were very 

 lieavy. "While tlie large trucks are 

 used first, there are days when all the 

 fruit received cannot be accommodated 

 by the large trucks, and many hun- 

 dred baskets are stacked on "Lizzie" 

 stands. 



The "Lizzie" stands find their heist 

 place ill re«€iving and storing small 

 lots of heterogeneous kinds and grades 

 (/f fruits, where it is not advisable to 

 pile them together. It is convenient in 

 finishing off \vihen loading cai"s, since 

 the space left in the centre of the car 

 for bracing purposes is not great 

 enough to allow the large trucks to 

 I liter, whereas there is amiple room to 

 shove in ithe "Lizzie" stands. More 

 fruit can be placed in a precooling 

 room on "Lizzie" stands than on the 

 large trucks. However, in adopting a 

 sjTstem of trucking for a new ware- 

 house proibaibly the initial cost of 

 equipment would stand more in this 

 system's favor than any other thing. 

 The cost oi equipment for handling a 

 carload of fruit with "Lizziie" trucks 

 would not exceed $25.00. Whereas 

 with the large trucks the investment 

 would amount to $270.00. Al>out the 

 same amount of lafcor is required to 

 handle fruit on these trucks as on the 

 large ones, since to load a car rapidly 

 it is necessary to have two truckers 

 moving fruit to the car. However, it 

 is to be noted that it is lighter work to 

 handle the "Lizzie" trucks, and it is 

 possible for one man to receive at the 

 door and truck the fruit into rooms 

 without assistance. 



It is necessary to advocate tlic large 

 use of these trucks with caution, since 

 they are not a success unless the bas- 

 kets used are very strong. As it is 

 necessary to make "two-^iles" and 

 "three-piles" of baskets on the stand.? 

 there is a tendency for the pile to 

 stait ereening, whereupon the bottom 

 baskets sag, spring or l)ulge, allowing 

 the ereening to increase, much to the 

 injury of the fruit in the bottom bas- 

 kets, if not the whole pile in case of a 

 toppling over of the stack. This diffi- 

 culty is not met wilh in using the largo 

 trucks, since piles have such a large 

 base tlaat the baskets bind or tie each 

 other in place like bricks in a wall, 

 giving no chance for the sagging or 

 •ereening to start. To meet this iliffi- 

 culty it is advisable to use only strong 

 ibaskets. In making the piles place 

 the baskets closely together so that the 

 weight of the baskets cover fully the 

 edges of the baskets underiieath. ilake 

 sure the lids of the baskets are fas- 



tened at the sides to prevent bulgint;. 



The "Lizzie" trucks are simple to 

 'build and may be constructed by an\ 

 local blacksmith. The stands are' made 

 from three one-dnch by four-inch 

 iboards mounted on two-inch by two- 

 dnch strips as raisers. These are made 

 to accommodate a three-qjile of six- 

 quart baskets or a two-pile of eleven- 

 qmrt baskets. The six-(iuart baskets 

 are customarily stacked ten high, mak- 

 ing thirty baskets for each stand, 

 while the eleven-quart baskets ar" 

 stacked eight high, making a load of 

 siixteen baskets. 



It is quite possible to adopt the 

 Grimsby .system of liandling f)asket 

 fruits to other phases of the fruit-«hip- 

 iping industry. Much time and labor 

 «ould be saved in many packing 

 houses, express platforms, shipping 

 warehouses and in wholesale ware- 

 houses by tlie adoption of an efficient 

 trucking system, choosing trucks that 

 ibe.st suit the needs of the situation. 



Pointers by an Experienced Pear Grower 



SPECIALIZING in pears has proved 

 profitable on the fruit farm of 

 E. E. Beaman & Son, of New- 

 castle, Durham County, Ont. The 

 pear orchard comprises ten acres, most- 

 ly Bai-tletts, but with about half an 

 acre of Wilmot, a native variety. While 

 Mr. Beaman has met with success, he 

 also has learned much from his years 

 of experience. The benefit of some of 

 this he gave to an editor of The Cana- 

 dian Horticulturist, Mdio visited liini 

 recently. 



In about seven acres of the orchard 

 the trees were set but sixteen feet ajiart. 

 This Mr. Beaman told us is too closo 

 for pear trees. If he were setting out 

 another orchard he would have his pear 

 trees thirty feet by twenty feet. V.itli 

 trees too close the air doesn't circulate. 

 As the trees become larger the diffi- 

 culty of spraying is increased, as the 

 nearly interlocking branches make it 

 difficult to get an outfit through; and 

 the crowding results in a high type of 

 tree difficult to spray. 



"From the standpoint -of fruit," 

 said Mr. Beaman, "more room is also 

 desirable. The greater amount of 

 sun and air makes for a better color 

 and size in the fruit. And the lower 

 headed tree made possible by this prac- 

 tice makes it much easier to harvest the 

 fruit. Of course, the term 'low-head- 

 ed' when applied to pear trees has a 

 different meaning than when apple 

 trees are spoken of. The pear tree 

 naturally has a central leader, and is 

 pruned on the pyramidal form, so that 

 when one speaks of low-headed pear 

 trees it must be understod as compar- 

 ative only." 



The orchard is all in sod. The grass 

 is cut and left on the ground as a 

 mulch. 



' ' The Pear Psylla has been the worst 

 pest in our orchard," said Mr. Bea- 

 man, "and we find it very difficult to 

 control. This year we are using 'Black 

 Leaf 40' on our trees, but we do 

 not yet know with what success. We 

 also have had some injury from the 

 green fruit worm. We \ise lime sul- 

 phur mainly in our orchard, although 

 some Bordeaux is used as well. When 

 spraying with the latter we use but 

 three pounds of copper sulphate to the 



A simple apple box press Ss of value to anyone 



who packs apples in boxes. Photo shows pre.ss 



holding top on box for naiUng. 



