WESTERN NEW YORK FRUIT GROWERS. 



105 



Japan Plums. — Mr. Smith, of Geneva, 

 says that Burbank and Wickson are the 

 best. M. Willard says that Red June and 

 Burbank are his favorite, and that he is more 

 favorably impressed with Wickson than he 

 used to be. Red June matures from the 

 15th to the 20th of July. 



Mr. Willard says that the Windsor is the 

 most valuable sweet cherry ever introduced 

 in York State, being- a good bearer, fruit of 

 excellent quality, and a good shipper. 



Mr. Powell endorsed what he said, and 

 added that the tree was a strong, hardy, 

 vigforous grower. Montmorency was pro- 

 nounced the best sour cherry. 



Currants. — Since the enactment of the 

 June food law, currants have been improv- 

 ing in price. Now that other materials can- 

 not be legally used in the manufacture of 

 currant jellies and jams the prospect for 

 paying prices for this fruit is good. Presi- 

 dent Wilder and Fay's Prolific are said to 

 be the best red currants. 



Elwanger & Barry show a new seedling 

 pear, of excellent quality, almost equal to 

 the Seckel ; it is a winter pear, a seedling of 

 Winter Nelis, and about the size of the St. 

 Lawrence. 



Apples. — The prospect for profitable apple 

 growing in this State is good. When or- 

 chards are properly cultivated and fed, satis- 

 actory results are secured. Six counties in 

 one section of the State sold five million 

 dollars' worth of apples last year. It is esti- 

 mated that over one half of the orchards of the 

 State are not properly cultivated or fed, and 

 that many of these are an encumbrance on 

 the land ; it is conceded that to achieve the 

 best results, especially in dry seasons, that 

 there must be thorough cultivation. The 

 Baldwin is said to be the best commercial 

 apple g^rown in the State. Fraudulent pack- 

 ing is damag^ing the fruit market both at home 

 and abroad. California apples, uniform in 

 size, perfectly packed, arrived in perfect con- 



dition, and are bringing three times as much 

 in the best markets as home grown fruit. It 

 was stated that the same condition prevailed 

 in Canada, and I could not contradict it. 



Professor Roberts, speaking of the con- 

 ser\'ation of moisture in the soil, says, "the 

 farmer's cistern leaks on top ; to prevent this 

 give more and better tillage ; to conser\'e the 

 moisture in the soil is better than to irri- 

 g-ate." He says that lime, at the rate of 50 

 bushels to the acre on sandy land, makes it 

 more retentive of moisture. 



Professor \'an Deman says that there is a 

 greater lack of humus or vegetable matter 

 in the soil than of potash or any other ma- 

 terial, and that nitrog^en escapes from land 

 ploughed in the fall and left over winter 

 without a cover crop. 



The New York State Fruit Growers' Asso- 

 ciations are very enthusiastic over the Pan 

 American Exposition, to be held in Buffalo 

 in 1 901. They propose to have the finest 

 exhibit of fruit ever shown in America. 

 Committees have been appointed to carry 

 on the work, and a special grant of ten 

 thousand dollars is asked from the govern- 

 ment. 



The exhibit of apples, pears and grapes 

 was remarkably fine. Among- them was a 

 plate of beautiful Princess Louise apples 

 shown by one of our Directors, Mr. A. M. 

 Smith, of St. Catharines. 



An act has been passed in the State of 

 New York to define the size of fruit pack- 

 ages. The quart basket shall be 67-1/5 

 cubic inches, and similarly the exact measure- 

 ments of other baskets are specified. All 

 pints, quarts, etc., not up to the legal stand- 

 ard, must be marked plainly with the word 

 " short." This is a move in the right direc- 

 tion, for always it is found that in the end 

 " Honestv is the best Policv." 



W. M. Orr. 



Fruitland. 



