250 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



Cold Storage Temperatures for keeping; 

 fruit have been carefully tested at Dartford, 

 England, and a few interesting- points de- 

 termined. Strawberries, currants and cher- 

 ries, were all put in three compartments, so 

 as to test the effect of temperatures between 

 26° and 40^ The best results seemed to 

 result from a temperature of about 30°, at 

 which point even strawberries were kept in 

 good condition for three weeks, and cherries 

 for a month, after which they began to wrin- 

 kle. To protect the fruit from the drying 

 currents of air a covering was necessary, 

 and paper and wool were tried. It was 

 found that the fruit packed in the latter ma- 

 terial were fresher and cleai^er than in paper. 



Export of Tender Fruit. — Our commit- 

 mittee has interviewed the Hon. Sidney 

 Fisher with considerable encouragement. 

 Mr. D. J. McKinnon, the chairman, reports 

 that they were most cordially received ; that 

 the minister was most anxious to meet our 

 wishes, and would endeavor to arrange with 

 the steamship companies to guarantee cer- 

 tain limits of temperature, say between 34° 

 and 38°, and failing in this to be liable for 

 the damage so caused ; that the fruits would 

 be most carefully inspected at Montreal, and 

 that two men who were well posted in Ca- 

 nadian fruit would be sent over to look after 

 our interests. 



Competition in High Grade Apples. — 

 Mr. A. S. Baker, of London, England, gave 

 an interesting address before the Eastern 

 New York Fruit Growers on the apple busi- 

 ness. He said that the English apple mark- 

 et was supplied by the United States, Cana- 

 da and Tasmania, and since the latter came 

 at a time when the market was practically 

 free of apples Canada and the United States 

 were the only competing shippers. These 

 American apples were the finest in the world, 

 but brought the poorest prices simply be- 

 cause of the slip shod methods of packing. 



They were not graded or sized, packed in 

 barrels, and often poor stock was faced with 

 first class ; when such could be sold, it was 

 dumped, and the whole sold at the price c^^ 

 seconds. This, he said, accounted for the 

 low prices our apples brought in the English 

 markets. The Tasmanian apples are ship- 

 ped nearly 14,000 miles, through the hot 

 climate of the equatorial region, and reach 

 London rather dried up. Their flavor is not 

 as good as the American apples. Yet they 

 sell for better prices in the London market 

 than the American apples. The Tasmanian 

 apples are not barreled, but put in boxes 22 

 inches long by 1 1 )4 inches wide, and 10^ 

 inches high, outside measurement. They 

 are carefully inspected and labeled, and sell 

 on the strength of the label in the London 

 market without inspection. Englishmen 

 have a great respect for associations, and 

 the stamp of a society or company would be 

 much more quickly recognized than that of 

 an individual. If shipped in boxes he ad- 

 vised putting a sheet of paper between each 

 layer of apples. As varieties for the London 

 market he recommended Baldwin, Ben 

 Davis, Newton Pippin, Northern Spy, Green- 

 ing, Russet and Jonathan. 



Apple Grading and Inspection Quebec 

 Fruit Growers. — The report of Committee 

 on Resolution of the Quebec Fruit Growers' 

 Association, with reference to the grading 

 and inspection of fruits, makes the following 

 recommendations : 



1 . That three grades for quality are suffi- 

 cient. 



2. That grade should be marked plainly 

 on outside of all packages for export. 



3. Grade marks to be uniform throughout 

 the Dominion, and such as can be easily 

 understood — 



XXX Highest quality. 

 XX Second 

 X Third 



4. Fruit packed in standard cases, viz., 



