424 The Canadian Horticulturist. 



KEIFFER PEARS FOR THE ENGLISH MARKET. 



We note a question and answer in the Rural New York, regarding the 

 Keiffer pear, and as this pear is being widely planted in Ontario, the reply will 

 be of general interest, the question is : — 



Would it be advisable to ship Keiffer pears to England ? Would they carry across the 

 ocean all right if packed and shipped as soon as picked ? Could they be packed better than 

 to wrap each in paper and put them in bushel boxes ? I can get boxes for about 12 or 13 

 cents bound with hoop iron. Or would barrels be best ? What would it cost to send them ? 

 For how much would they, probably sell ? Can you recommend any reliable merchants in 

 England ? Is there any other market that would be better ? 



Reply by Otto G. Mayer <5r^ Co., Neiv York. 

 Some of the questions which G. W. F. asks are impossible to answer. If 

 he can ship Keiffer pears in boxes he describes, they will undoubtedly sell in 

 Liverpool, London and Glasgow ; but in view of the immmense quantity of 

 apples now being sold in these markets, it would be only guess-work to 

 name a probable price. The freight would not be heavy for one of those boxes. 

 The freight across the water would not be over 30 or 40 cents at present rates ; 

 maybe less. Of course, everything depends upon the condition in which the 

 fruit arrives. If it should arrive sound, it would meet with a ready sale ; but if 

 ripe when shipped it would arrive in bad order without doubt, and there would 

 be losses. Barrels would be undesirable packages, as they are too large for the 

 small dealers abroad to handle. Later in the season there is a large business 

 done in exporting California pears in such boxes. 



Reply by Keugon, Parsons er" Co., New York. 



Last season, as there was a heavy crop of pears and a poor market for them 

 here, I sent over some thirty odd lots from different shippers in various parts of 

 New York State, with the object of learning what could be done to relieve the 

 market here. These were chiefly Bartletts. My advice then was to pack the 

 pears green in kegs, and those shippers who followed that advice, and packed 

 green, did pretty well. The merchant to whom I sent them wrote me, suggest- 

 ing that, in the future, they should be packed in boxes similar to the California 

 boxes, which can be seen anywhere. I do not quite agree with this, as some 

 years previous I sent over some Clairgeau pears, and took a lot of trouble as 

 regards boxes, without any better result. The best package, to my mind, is a 

 bushel keg, and the pears should be packed green. As regards packing in 

 paper, I don't think that it makes any difference. I sent over, last October, 

 about fifty kegs of the Keiffer pears, and I received after deducting all expenses, 

 $1.20 per keg. The reason that I suggest kegs is that they are easier to get, 

 the fruit can be more easily packed in them, and they stand the handling better. 

 This year it is difificult to say what could be done with pears ; there have been 

 shipped 603,000 barrels of apples this season, as against 35,000 last season, with 

 the result that apples are selling very cheaply, which will of course reduce the 

 price of pears. 



