ONTARIO GRAPES IX BRITISH MARKETS. 



25 



ONTARIO ROGERS GRAPES IN MANCHESTER. 



l^yAILURE having attended the prev- 

 ious efforts made to introduce our 

 Canadian grapes into the British 

 markets, owing to the varieties 

 selected for the experiment, the Board 

 of Control of Fruit Experiment Stations 

 of Ontario, acting under instructions 

 received from the Minister of Agri- 

 culture for the Province, instructed the 

 secretary, Mr. L. Woolverton, to make an 

 experimental shipment of black and red 

 Rogers to B, W. Potter & Co., Manchester, 

 England. 



The Concord and Niagara grapes were 

 not onlv distasteful to the British palate 

 when compared with Hamburg, Chasselas, 

 Tokay, or even Almeria grapes ; but they 

 were also unsatisfactory shippers, being 

 easily crushed, easily loosened from the 

 stems and subject to mould. The several 

 carloads of these former kinds which were 

 placed upon the British market created a 

 strong prejudice against Canadian grapes 

 and led dealers to strongly discourage any 

 further attempts to introduce them. 



The writer was perfectly confident that 

 certain varieties of Rogers' Hybrids, such as 

 Lindle}-, Agawam, Wilder and Salem had 

 both the keeping qualities and the excellent 

 flavor which would ensure an ever increas- 

 ing demand if once introduced. He there- 

 fore made up 515 cases, chiefly Lindley, 

 labelling them all Rogers' Red or Rogers' 

 Black as the case might be, for simplicity's 

 sake. The cases were the same size as the 

 pear cases, about 5 inches deep, 2 feet long 

 and I foot broad. Four veneer baskets 

 with wire handles, holding about 4}^ lbs. of 

 grapes each, were placed in each of these 

 cases, and into these the grapes were carefully 

 packed about October ist. Each case there- 

 fore contained from j 8 to 20 lbs. of grapes, 

 and having been allowed to stand about a 



week before packing, the stems were well 

 dried and in condition to resist mould. The 

 steamer Manchester Port, on which cold 

 storage space had been engaged for the con- 

 signment, w^as taken for service to Africa 

 and consequently the fruit did not leave 

 Montreal until November 5th. 



Now, while the returns from this venture 

 have not been a financial gain, owing to the 

 strong prejudice against their introduction, 

 the accompanj'ing reports from the consig- 

 nees, from Peter Byrne, Ontario Government 

 agent at Liverpool, and from the British 

 press, combine to show that we have scored 

 a real success, which, if persistently fol- 

 lowed up will be a great financial gain to 

 Canadian grape growers. 



COPV OF LETTER FROM MESSRS. B. W. POTTER A CO., 

 MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, REGARDING CONSIGN- 



MENT OF GRAPES. 



Sir: 



Manchester, Dec. 2nd, 1S99. 



We confirm our letter of the 27th ult., and now 

 beg to report fully re grapes ex "Trader." The 

 fruit sold in lots at an average price, taking the 

 bad crates with the good ones, and as all the 

 marks had faulty baskets, it was impossible to 

 discriminate. If we had to choose the varieties 

 we should say that Rogers' 1 5 and 44 carried the 

 best. In some cases the baskets had been 

 filled too full and the top bunches being crushed 

 sp>oiled the look of all. The black variety would 

 as a rule take the best, if in good condition. The 

 cases should be marked plainly "Black, or Red, 

 etc. *' We do not consider the paper over the top 

 of the basket an improvement. 



The fruit did not appear to deteriorate in our 

 cold air stores (kept at 8 degrees above freezing 

 p)oint) and in the open air market two or three 

 days did not hurt any of those in good condition 

 to start with. Some shopkeepers say they do not 

 not keep in the shop, but we feel sure that if the 

 grap>es are emptied out of the baskets and any 

 bruised ones cut off they will keep for some days 

 and improve. 



As we said in our last letter, the flavor suits 

 some people, but others do not like it at all. The 

 former, however, are quite numerous enough to 

 make the sale, now they are knovs-n, quite easy at 

 a price that would certainly rise as sellers gained 

 confidence, and we think that even when other 

 grapes are at their cheapest you could realise a 

 piying price. Hawkers and shopkeepers who 

 would only pay from a sovereign to thirty shill- 

 ings a score crates last week had paid up to sixty 



