136 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



June, 1911 



to buyers. Buying apples in the Annapo- 

 lis Valley, however, is a precarious pro- 

 position. The man who can make money 

 buying apples from the Nova Scotia 

 growers must be brighter than they are, 

 and that class of men are scarce. The 

 grower knows too much about the busi- 

 ness ; he is receiving daily quotations 

 from foreign markets, he knows how to 

 pack and market his own product, for he 

 has been doing this for years, so if he 

 cannot get his price ,he handles his own 

 stuff. Only a few men of the many who 

 have bought apples in the Valley have 

 amassed wealth, more have been finan- 

 cially ruined than those who have got 

 out with a whole skin. Buying apples 

 here is no get-rich-quick game. One On- 

 tario man who entered the field in 1909, 

 is reported to have left $30,000 behind 

 him when he pulled out. 



CO-OPERATION OF THE GROWERS 



Cooperation has been talked for years, 

 and attempts were made some years ago 

 to organize the whole district on a com- 

 prehensive scale. This scheme though 

 good in theory, failed through being too 

 large, and attended with too much initial 

 expense. Three years ago the first suc- 

 cessful attempt was made at Berwick. 

 Twelve men organized the Berwick Fruit 

 Company', Limited, incorporating under 

 the Nova Scotia Joint Stock Companies 

 Act. The idea expressed by the organiz- 

 ers was to commence on a small scale, 

 put up a good pack, gain the confidence 

 of the market, sell for cash f.o.b. cars, 

 or if sales were not quick ship on consign- 

 ment to good houses. The organization 

 was a success from the beginning. The 

 first year this concern handled 7,000 bar- 

 rels, getting better prices than the aver- 

 age grower and earning enough in com- 

 missions, etc., to practically pay working 

 expenses. In 1908 some more good men 

 were taken in and the output was about 

 15,000 barrels; more members came in, 



and in iQog, 22,000 barrels passed 

 through the packers hands, netting some 

 $45,000. 



The Berwick Fruit Company, in its 

 first year's operations, consigned about 

 one half of its output; a uniform and 

 square deal have gained for their brand a 

 reputation that will sell thousand barrel 

 lots by cable just as readily as by personal 

 interview. Last year the output was 

 practically all sold f.o.b. cars at the 

 warehouse ; and cash or draft attached 

 to Bill of Lading are the usual terms. 



The company sells over a wide range ; 

 three cars of Gravensteins were sold in the 

 Canadian West, going as far as Moose 

 Jaw. Five cars to South .Africa buyers 

 at $4.50 per barrel, was a satisfactory 

 deal for both buyer and seller/, and a fea- 

 ture of the business is that both these ex- 

 tremes want more of the same stuff. In- 

 spired by the success of the pioneer com- 

 pany, others are being formed. A gen- 

 eral cooperation act of the Nova Scotia 

 Legislature makes the process of organi- 

 zation easy and inexpensive. Five co- 

 ojjerative companies operated last year, 

 handling about one-tenth of the crop. This 

 year ten are at work, all owning their 

 own packing houses and controlling 

 probably 25 per cent, of this year's crop. 



As a means of getting nearer together 

 a central organization has been formed, 

 composed of representatives of all the 

 tributary companies. This central or- 

 ganization has a board of directors, and 

 general manager, and we look forward to 

 a not distant day, when the central com- 

 pany will sell and buy for all the sub- 

 sidiary companies. This central com- 

 pany in 1909 chartered three steamers, 

 and shipped 25,000 barrels to London in 

 their own ships, saving fifteen cents per 

 barrel freight to shippers and incidentally 

 making $1500 clear money, which is 

 laid aside for the rainy day which is lia- 

 ble to come some time. 



The day of small things in the apple 

 business has passed, and the prospect 

 now is that in a few years cooperative 

 associations will practically control the 

 output of millions of barrels from the 

 famed Annapolis Valley. 



Practical Experience in Fruit 

 Growing 



AlexMder Smilb, Eafitid, Oat. 



I go over my orchards every .spring 

 and prune regularly. We then have no 

 large limbs to cut off, as I think a little 

 each year is much better than to miss 

 two or three years and then give a severe 

 pruning. 



I have generally had root crops of 

 .some kind or beans in the orchard. VV» 

 would not advise sowing barley or oats 

 in an orchard unless one wished a sickly 

 light colored foliage on their trees. 



.As we work a large farm we do not 

 need to sow clover to plow under, as 

 we usually have plenty of good farm- 

 yard manure. I believe in cultivating 

 an orchard early in the spring to start 

 the trees off quickly, but would plow 

 early in the fall, as late cultivation will 

 start a growth of wood that would b? 

 injurious to the trees. Plow or disk the 

 orchard the last thing in the fall, as it 

 will be found a great help in the hurry 

 of spring work and help with the early 

 cultivation of the orchard. 



DOTTBLE PROFIT FROM BEES 



As an apiarist, I find that we obtain 

 double profit from our bees. We pro- 

 duce tons and tons of honey each year. 

 Aside from this, the bees are invaluable 

 to our orchard and alsike clover. They 

 are double croppers. Through their 

 work in pollinizing the blossoms they 

 ensure us a good set of fruit and an 

 abundant crop of alsike seed. All 

 scientists are agreed that bees and in- 

 sects are much more efficient agents of 

 pollination than the wind ; and of the 



Gathering the Strawberry Crop on a Farm near Streetsville, Ont. 

 Notice the building provided to etielter the berries when picked. 



