286 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



December, 1911 



The Ontario Vegetable Growers' Convention 



Pretidtnt Dclworth 



THE best interests ol the vegetable 

 growers of Ontario are being pro- 

 moted in many ways by the On- 

 tario Vegetable Grow- 

 ers' Association. This 

 fact was made mani- 

 fest at the seventh an- 

 nual convention of the 

 association held Nov- 

 ember fifteenth, in 

 Toronto. The attend- 

 ance was much the 

 largest in the history 

 of the a s s o c i ation . 

 Growers were present 

 from almost all parts 

 of the province and from the province of 

 Quebec as well. As usual, however, 

 there was not as large an attendance of 

 market gardeners from around the city 

 of Toronto as there should have been. 

 The growers present were manifestly 

 there with a purpose. The discussions, 

 therefore, were to the point and instruc- 

 tive. Each year a gratifying increase 

 in the influence and importance of this 

 association is noticeable. 



Since tihe formation of the association 

 one of its most efficient officers and 

 workers has been the present president, 

 Thos. Delworth, of Weston. In his re- 

 marks as president, Mr. Delworth laid 

 emphasis on the importance of the use 

 of a system of irrigation in connection 

 with the growing of vegetables where 

 there is a suitable supply of water avail- 

 able. The necessity for eliminating the 

 middleman wherever practical was 

 pointed out. Mr. Delworth also advo- 

 cated tlhat the new government at 

 Ottawa should be urged to reintroduce 

 and pass the measure establishing stan- 

 dard weights by the bushel and by the 

 bag for vegetables that was introduced 

 in the last session of the Dominion Sen- 

 ate, but which did not receive its third 

 reading because of the dissolution. 



SECRETARY TREASURER'S REPORT 



The report of the secretary-treasurer, 

 J. Lockie Wilson, of Toronto, described 

 the savings tlhat had been effected by 

 several branches of the association 

 through cooperative buying and lines of 

 work the branches were carrying on suc- 

 cessfully. The need for a greater supply 

 of labor was touched on, it being stated 

 that in the vicinity of St. Thomas alone 

 one thousand more laborers than arc 

 available are needed. 



The success of the experiments con- 

 ducted in New Ontario under the direc- 

 tion of tihe association was mentioned. 

 The possibility and desirability of 

 specializing in potato growing in New 

 Ontario was urged. If this is done, 

 however, it will be necessary to secure 

 a readjustment of freight rates, as it 

 now costs mor^ to ship potatoes from 



.Mew Liskeard to Toronto, a distance of 

 three hundred and thirty-four miles, 

 than from St. John, N.B., to Toronto, 

 a distance of one thousand miles. 



ORGANIZATION 



The necessity for being Ijetter organ- 

 ized and the tjenefits that would follow 

 were described by C. W. Baker, of Tan-- 

 bling, Ont. Mr. Baker declared that 

 t!he association might increase its mem- 

 bership to five thousand if the present 

 members would take hold of the work 

 with the necessary enthusiasm . Th;it 

 the convention appreciated the points 

 that were made by Mr. Baker was 

 shown by the passing of a resolution ap- 

 pointing Mr. Baker to represent the as- 

 sociation this winter for several weeks 

 in the organization of new branches of 

 Uhe association. Mr. Baker's paper will 

 be published in an early issue of Thk 

 Canadian Horticulturist. 



tomato growing for export 



One of tihe best papers ever presented 

 at a convention of the association was 

 read by George Cooper, of Grimsby, 

 Ont., entitled "Tomato Growing for the 

 British Market." This report will be 

 published practically in full in The Can- 

 adian HoRTicti.TURisT. Mr. Cooper 

 dealt not only with the matter of ihe 

 varieties of tomatoes now grown, but 

 also with the varieties demanded by the 

 British consumer, the best methods of 

 shipping tomatoes, of distributing them 

 to tIhe Old Country markets, the me- 

 thods of handling tomatoes followed in 

 other countries, and many other points. 

 The paper was most comprehensive and 

 instructive. The conclusion reached was 

 that at present tomatoes cannot be ship- 

 ped with profit to the Old Country, but 

 there are great possibilities for increas- 

 ing the production of tomatoes in On- 

 tario, and no reason why in time, 

 through the adoption of proper and sys- 

 tematic metihods a profitable market can- 

 not be developed in Great Britain. To 

 accomplish all this, however, will be a 

 matter of years. 



SMALL FRUIT CULTURE 



An entertaining, instructive talk on 

 new methods in small fruit culture was 

 given by W. H. Kerr, of Ottawa. Mr. 

 Kerr dealt with the methods of growing 

 varieties of small fruit that he has found 

 most successful, and touched a little also 

 on the matter of varieties. 



WORK OF THE STATIONS 



The work being done at the Ottawa, 

 Guelph, and Jordan Harbor Experiment 

 Stations was described respectively bv 

 W. T. Macoun of Ottawa, H. H. 

 MacLennan of Guelph, and A. T. Logs- 

 dail of Jordan Harbor. Mr. Macoun 

 and Mr. MacLennan told the growers 

 present quite plainly that they were not 

 taking the interest in the work of the 

 stations that they should. Growers sel- 



dom visit them and almost never offer 

 suggestions concerning experiments 

 they would like to see tried and do not 

 do what they might to induce the local 

 and Dominion Governments to extend 

 the work being carried on in the interest 

 of vegetable growers. Mr. MacLennan 

 had samples of tomatoes and potatoes 

 with him whicfh he used to illustrate the 

 results of experimental work he had con- 

 ducted. He stated that the horticultural 

 department at Guelph was handicapped 

 through not having more greenhouses in 

 which to prosecute experimental work, 

 and that he realized Chat the most valu- 

 able experimental work that could be 

 carried on was in relation to the grow- 

 ing of crops under glass. 



The members of the association show- 

 ed that they realized that the criticism 

 to which they had been subjected was 

 justified by passing a resolution, moved 

 by Mr. Eraser, of Leamington, and 

 seconded by Mr. J. W. Rush, of Hum- 

 ber Bay, urging the Government to pro- 

 vide more greenhouse accommodation at 

 Guelplti. The directors were requested 

 to press this matter upon the Govern- 

 ment and to place themselves in touch 

 with the work being conducted at the 

 college. Further reference will be pub- 

 lished in The Canadian Horticulturist 

 to the reports of Messrs. Macoun and 

 Logsdail. Mr. Wm. Dreher spoke 

 briefly in regard to the work being done 

 at Macdonald College, Quebec, and by 

 the Quebec Vegetable Growers' .Associ- 

 ation. 



SEED POTATOES 



An address on the importance of pro- 

 per seed selection was delivered by Dr. 

 W. W. Tracey, Department of Agricul- 

 ture, Washington, D.C. , mention of 

 which will be made more fully in later 

 issues of The Canadian Horticultur- 

 ist. 



A paper entited "New Ontario as a 

 Place to Grow Seed Potatoes," was read 

 by Mr. T. G. Raynor ,of the Ontario 

 Department of .Agriculture. This will 

 be published in The Canadian Horti- 

 culturist in full. 



EVENING SESSION 



At the evening session a valuable ad- 

 dress, entitled "Marketing Problems,' 

 was given by Paul Work, of Cornell 

 L'niversity, Ithica, N.Y. This address 

 was illustrated by a large number of ex- 

 cellent steriopticon views. The views 

 showed packing houses, market garden- 

 ers' wagons loaded with vegetables, me- 

 thods of picking and packing vegetables 

 in the field, and other similar subjects. 

 This address, as w-ell as some of the il- 

 lustrations used, will be published in 

 The Canadian Horticulturist. Ad- 

 dresses were also given at this sessio 1 

 by Mr. C. C. J imes. Deputy Minister of 

 .Agriculture ,a»id by Hon. J. S. Duff, 

 Minister of Agriculture, Toronto. Mr. 



