The Canadian Horticulturi^ 



Vol. XXXIV 



JULY, 1911 



No. 



Suggestions for the Ontario Horticultural Exhibition 



T. G. Bunting, B. S. A., C. E. F., Ottawa, Ont. 



THE Ontario Horticultural Exhibi- 

 tion, which is held in Toronto 

 every fall, is probably without ex- 

 ception the finest of its kind in 

 America. The Spokane Apple Show may 

 rival it in extent and magnitude of the 

 display of apples, because it devotes it- 

 self to the display of the apple alone ; 

 but for quality and variety of exhibits 

 the Toronto Show stands alone. The 

 Horticultural Exhibition has grown and 

 increased in attractiveness from year to 

 year until last year there was a finer 

 and better display than ever. Still there 

 is room for the innovation of special 

 features which would add greatly to the 

 interest taken in the exhibition. 



In October, 1909 at the First New Eng- 

 land Apple Show, held at Boston, there 

 were two features that were attractive 

 and educational. There was in operation 

 a small yet complete cidef mill, and the 

 product of the apple in this form was sold 

 to the visitors. This not only provided 

 an attractive exhibit but also a source 

 of revenue. Next to the Horticultural 

 Hall there was a first class restaurant, 

 which most of the fruit growers in at- 

 tendance chose to make their dining head- 

 quarters. The management of the res- 

 taurant made a specialty of the apple 

 as an article of diet during the week of 

 the exhibition. Their pies were not the 

 kind usully served in the hotels and res- 

 laurants, and, I believe, in too many of 

 the homes of the apple growers them- 

 selves. ,/ instead, they were the kind 

 "mother used to make" — the big, deep, 

 juicy and luscious kind that always meant 

 a second helping if father wasn't there. 

 To lend variety to the apple you could 

 secure a most beautifully baked apple, 

 probably one of the most delicious forms 

 in which an apple can be served, yet how 

 seldom do our appetites make the ac- 

 quaintance of any kind of a baked apple 

 to say nothing of a properly baked one. 



Even these two forms did not nearly 

 begin to exhaust the cook's modes ot 

 preparing the apple, for we had served 

 to us apple sauce, prepared and served 

 in different ways, apple butter, and jel- 

 lies. The very best of high colored 

 apples, such as Mcintosh, Wealthy and 

 Spy, were always on the table. Pure, 

 fresh apple cider was usually served in- 

 stead of milk, tea or coffee, because as 



a beverage it offered a very desirable 

 change. Twelve or fifteen forms of the 

 apple were always on the menu card. 



To me it seems that this should be- 

 come a very strong feature of the Toronto 

 Exhibition, because the apple holds a 

 pre-eminent place among the fruits, flow- 

 ers and vegetables. A large booth pro- 

 perly decorated and with appropriate 

 placards displayed, and in the hands of 

 competent persons, whose business it 

 would b- to prepare and sirve in all ts 

 different forms and uses the "I-ving ot 

 Fruits," would add a great interest and 

 enthusiasm to the exhibition, and in it- 

 self would be an education to the thou- 

 sands of people who pass through the 

 arena and admire the beautiful yet "for- 



IT IS THE BEST 



The Canadian Horticulturist is 

 the best publication for the money I 

 ever saw, and I have subscribed for 

 and read all the prominent agri- 

 cultural and horticultural publica- 

 tions in Canada and the United 

 States for the past forty years. It 

 is "certainly an ideal horticultural 

 paper. — K. J. Mackenzie, Picton, 

 N. S. 



bidden fruit." It is always impossible 

 to obtain for eating purposes, even with 

 money, anything that looks like an apple 

 within the arena or within several blocks 

 of it. 



"EAISIN DAY" 



Some months ago 1 received through 

 the mail an invitation to attend "Raisin 

 Day" at Fresno, California. Accompany- 

 ing the invitation was a little pamphlet, 

 neatly gotten up, giving facts concerning 

 the raisin, its growth, marketing, food 

 value and also nearly a hundred differ- 

 ent recipes for preparing the raisin for 

 the table. These little pamphlets, which 

 were sent broadcast over the country, 

 must have had an influence on some, at 

 least, of their readers in causing them to 

 take an added interest in the raisin as an 

 article of diet, and it is needless to pre- 

 sume that the pamphlet fulfilled its mis- 

 sion by tending to increase the consump- 

 tion of raisins. 



Why should not the Ontario Fruit 

 Growers' Association, in connection with 



157 



the exhibition, prepare a pamphlet set- 

 ting forth the advantages that the apple 

 has as a breakfast food over the orange, 

 grape fruit, and other fruits, and, in fact, 

 its advantages as a food to be served on 

 the table three times a day. The public 

 in general do not know the difference 

 between most of the standard varieties 

 of apples. Information in regard to the 

 eating, baking, cooking and keeping 

 qualities could be given in such a man- 

 ner that it would be appreciated by those 

 into whose hands the pamphlet fell. 



All the known recipes for making pies, 

 apple sauce, baking apples, apple but- 

 ter, and jellies should be given. In fact, 

 such a pamphlet or booklet should give 

 all the information that would help to 

 stimulate and increase the consumption 

 of the apple, and in particular the Cana- 

 dian apples. It should be distributed 

 freely from the exhibition hall and from 

 the booth where, during the day and even- 

 ing, visitors could obtain the apple in all 

 its forms frc-n the fresh fruit to cider 

 and jellies. 



After such a practical and appetizing 

 demonstration of this nature the Toronto 

 housewife or her daughter might be 

 expected on going home to call up the 

 fruit store and cancel her order for 

 oranges and bananas and order instead 

 a dozen each' of Mcintosh Reds and R. 

 I. Greening apples, the former for eat- 

 ing fresh and the latter for baking. What 

 would be the effect if a thousand homes 

 in Toronto switched over from oranges 

 and bananas, which are used so plenfi- 

 fully, to Canadian apples and pears? 



Another feature that could properly 

 be added is one that was taken up last 

 fall at the First Canadian Apple Show 

 for the finest and most attractive display 

 of apples in the store windows during 

 the week of the exhibition. In Toronto 

 during the exhibition we see lots of at- 

 tractive fruit store windows, with fine 

 fruit displayed, but sad to say, nearly 

 always it is foreign fruit. For every 

 box of foreign fruits consumed in our 

 markets there is that much less of our 

 own consumed. 



It is not higher duties on foreign fruit 

 that we want ; but our own fruit to meet 

 competition fairly on our home markets. 

 In order that it may meet it successfully 

 wc must put it up just as attractively or 



