FEEDING THE ORCHARD. 



99 



J. Andrews, W. H. Bunting, Robt. Thomp- 

 son, E. D. Smith, Murray Pettit, T. H. P. 

 Carpenter, W. F. W. Fisher. 



This committee met at Grimsby on Wed- 

 nesday, the 20th of February, 1901, having- 

 invited representatives of the local societies 

 at St. Catharines, Winona, Stoney Creek 

 and Burlington to meet with them. 



After careful consideration the following 

 resolutions were carried unanimously, — 



1. That, in the opinion of this committee, 

 legislation should be enacted prescribing 

 certain standard sizes of fruit baskets for 

 use in the home markets and that all baskets 

 of other sizes be branded indelibly with the 

 minimum capacity in quarts. 



2. That this meeting would recommend 

 that the following be aflopted as the stand- 

 ard sizes of baskets used in Canada, — 



No. I — Capacity, 15 or more imperial 

 quarts. 



.No. 2 — Capacity, 11 imperial quarts, 

 depth 5^' inches. 



No. 3 — Capacity, 6;3 imperial quarts, 

 depth 458 inches. 



No. 4 — Capacity, 2| imperial quarts, depth 

 4 inches. 



No. 5 — Berry box, i Winchester quart. 



No. 6 — Berry box, i Winchester pint. 



3. That the branding with the minimum 

 capacity of baskets and berry boxes not of 

 standard sizes be made compulsory in the 

 case of imported as well as Canadian fruit. 



4. That the Bill regulating the size of the 

 apple barrel, to hold 96 imperial quarts, 

 should be made effective from June i, 

 1902. 



FEEDING THE ORCHARD. 



jfJ^HEN an orchard, of apple or pear 

 trees, begins to bear fruit, the land 

 ^ should be enriched at least once 

 in two years. It is a mistaken idea to sup- 

 pose fruit will grow to full size unless the 

 trees are well fed, and to grow fruit at the 

 present time requires a constant watchful- 

 ness from the first opening of the spring to 

 the closing of the autumn. In regions 

 where the canker worm is found the trees 

 should be protected by a strip of tarred 

 paper as soon as a warm day in spring ap- 

 pears, unless this enemy is to be destroyed 

 by spraying the trees after the worm hatches 

 out. The tent caterpillar makes its appear- 

 ance as soon as the leaves begin to grow, 

 and should be attended to by spraying the 

 trees or by using a light pole with a rag 

 wound round the end of it, saturated with 

 kerosene, and drawn through every nest 



as soon as the worms are all hatched. Do 

 not let them get large before employing 

 some means of killing them. Following 

 the tent caterpiller and canker worm is the 

 codling moth, which, unless destroyed, will 

 lay eggs on almost every apple and pear, 

 producing the worms so destructive to the 

 fruit. 



The peach should not be overlooked by 

 those who have land adapted to its growth. 

 A light loamy soil with a northern exposure 

 seems to do best for this fruit, and while 

 the tree should be kept growing, it should 

 not be forced so as to make an excessive 

 growth. A tree that makes a large growth 

 is so full of vigor that after the leaves drop in 

 the autumn, if a few warm days come, the 

 blossom buds start so much that the first 

 cold weather kills them. — American Agri- 

 culturisL 



