192 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



THE EXPORT OF TENDER FRUITS. 



•E regret that the trial shipments 

 of tender fruits which have been 

 conducted for the last year by 

 the Department of Agriculture 

 at Ottawa are to be discontinued at the 

 present time. We are aware that the Paris 

 Exposition is important, but to us it is not 

 nearly as important as the extension of the 

 markets for our grapes, peaches, pears and 

 summer apples. Even the shippers at 

 Grimsby who have furnished the fruit for the 

 three years past are not confident enough in 

 present conditions to continue the work on 

 their own account, for while some shipments 

 have sold splendidly others have been spoiled 

 in transit, and the total result of the season 

 has always been loss. Fortunately for the 

 shippers the Department guaranteed them 

 the market price at home, a bare return 

 however for the time and expense of such 

 careful selection and packing. 



Just one thing is lacking, and, that grant- 

 ed, the fruit growers of the province would 

 begin exporting these fruits at their own 

 risk, viz. : a guarantee of safe cariiage with- 

 in certain limits of te^nperature. Hoping to 

 secure this for the public benefit we called a 

 meeting of growers who have been con- 

 cerned in previous shipments to discuss the 

 situation. The following resolution was 

 agreed upon and forwarded to the Hon. 

 Sidney Fisher, viz. : 



Resolved, that this committee desire to express 

 to the Minister of Agriculture, The Hon. Sydney 

 Fisher, their high appreciation of the efforts made 

 by his department in the way of experimental 

 shipments of fruit during the past three years ; 

 but they would exceedingly regret the discontinu- 

 ance of these efforts to introduce our fruits into 

 the English markets at the present time. They 

 would humbly request that the department would 



still further encourage the development of the ex- 

 port trade in tender fruits by guaranteeing safe 

 carriage of the same within certain degrees of 

 temperature, and in a compartment especially 

 prepared for the carriage of fruit only. 



They would further request a personal interview 

 with Mr. Grindley and with Mr. Robertson to con- 

 sider details of methods of operation. 



The following extract from the American 

 Agriculturist gives the experience of a writer 

 in cold storage of some of these fruits, and 

 may help us in determing the proper temper- 

 ature for the ocean transport. 



' ' Beginning with plums ; those varieties that 

 are more firm, not so juicy to begin with, and 

 ripen slowly, are the ones that keep the best. The 

 most desirable temperature for plums is 34 de- 

 grees. They will keep well for two or three weeks, 

 and then they begin to decay. They seem to de- 

 teriorate about the stone and go very quickly, so 

 that two or three weeks is as long as they should 

 be kept in cold storage. The mam object in stor- 

 ing fruit of this character is simply to keep them 

 long enough to avoid gluts in the market, and to 

 that end only can cold storage be used in 

 storing plums, peaches, cherries, etc. Peaches do 

 best at a temperature of about 38 degrees. There 

 is no fruit more tender and that should be more 

 carefully handled than the peach. 



" The temperature for pears is from 38 to 40 de- 

 grees for fall, and from 34 to 35 degrees for winter 

 pears. The varieties which have large cores 

 seem to keep best. The Vicar and Winter 

 Nelis keep in very good condition for two or three 

 months. There is a tendency in pears to decay 

 about the core while the outside may look well. 



"With most varieties of apples, the temperature 

 should be kept as nearly as possible at 32 degrees 

 in a dry atmosphere ; that is, an atmosphere that 

 is not moist enough to aid fungous growth. Some 

 varieties cannot be submitted to so low a tempera- 

 ture, and it is still an experiment as to just the ex- 

 act temperature for the different varieties. Jona- 

 thans, for instance', if stored in a temperature of 

 32 degrees, in nearly every case have tended to 

 produce what is known as scald. In picking ap 

 pies for cold storage, those fruits keep the best 

 that are not too ripe — they should be just a trifle 

 green. Use only perfect fruit, sorted properlj', 

 graded well and packed carefully." 



But the difficulty is to get a temperature 



guaranteed on ship board, or if guaranteed, 



to be honestly kept. 



