450 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



are called A No. i, and those 3 inches 

 upwards are called X A No. i, or Extra. 

 These are then wrapped in manilla tissue 

 paper, which can be purchased at about 

 20 cents a thousand squares, ten inches by 

 ten'. The wrapping costs from 2 to 3 cents a 

 bushel. As fast as wrapped they are passed 

 over to the packers, who pack them in 

 bushel boxes. The apples are placed in 

 rows — 4 layers deep, 4 wide and 8 long, 

 except the very largest. We use either 

 excelsior or sphagnum for packing material ; 

 the latter is a little mussy, otherwise it is 

 excellent ; while the excelsior is clean and 

 attractive, but not so good a preservative. 



Now these cases of red apples, uniform 

 in size in each package, and of the finest 

 varieties of Canadian apples cannot fail to 

 command a ready sale at the tip top price in 

 any market of the world, and when once 

 known must result in sales f. o. b. in Canada, 

 instead ot the present disastrous method of 

 consigning in barrels to auction rooms in 

 Liverpool, London or Glasgow. 



OUR PEACHES. 



While lower prices have been realized in 

 our Ontario markets for peaches than we 

 had expected, considering the general 

 advance in value of other fruit products, 

 yet peach growing is generally conceded to 

 be one of the most profitable branches of 

 fruit growing. There was, it is true, but 

 little money in the early clingstone varieties, 

 peaches that are of little value for any pur- 

 pose, and which come in our markets when 

 much better kinds are coming in from the 

 American side ; but when the Triumph and 

 the Yellow St. John came along there was 

 a better price and much satisfaction. The 

 first Early Crawfords, our finest variety, 

 sold at splendid prices, but this most excel- 

 lent variety has been overplanted in Ontario, 

 considering its extremely perishable nature, 

 and has caused a glut in the markets, at 



the height of Crawford season, that was 

 quite discouraging. 



One carload of beautiful golden Craw- 

 fords from Grimsby, shipped on Saturday, 

 was sacrificed on Monday at 10 cents a 

 basket, a woeful waste. But soon the 

 California shipments ceased, and late Craw- 

 ford, Elberta, Stevens Rareripe, Crosby, 

 Longhurst, Smock, and other late varieties, 

 when graded to size, brought from 30 cents 

 to 60 cents a basket, and this price is quite 

 satisfactory with an abundant crop. 



Our great hope for the future, however, 

 is in the export trade, and we hope this year 

 to pass out of the experimental into the 

 business era. The first peaches we tried to 

 export were the Early Crawford, for we 

 considered it our best peach ; but the cold 

 storage system was not sufficiently perfected 

 to carry such a tender variety. Last year 

 we tried a few Elbertas, and this year, under 

 the direction of the Provincial Minister of 

 Agriculture, we forwarded twenty-five Wil- 

 son cases of Elberta, and several cases of 

 early and late Crawford, Smock, Stevens, 

 Rareripe, Willett, Centennial and Longhurst. 

 Fine peaches are high priced in England, 

 because they must all be ripened under 

 glass ; therefore, should we succeed in this 

 venture the peach trade will enter upon an 

 entirely new era. We have eyery confidence 

 now in reaching the English market with 

 our fruit in good condition, since Mr. 

 Hanrahan's patent method of refrigeration 

 is being applied by the Ontario Department 

 of Agriculture both to the railway and 

 steamboat storage. 



In grading the peach for foreign shipment 

 we have adopted 23^ inches as No. i, and 

 2)^ as A No. I ; smaller than 2}^ inches 

 we sell at home. Indeed, we ought to cut 

 down every tree that grows little peaches, 

 or else so thin the crop that none of the 

 small size would be produced, for they do 

 not pay in any market. 



