PAN-AMERICAN HORTICULTURE- IV. 



•HE American Pomological Society 

 held its biennial sessions at the 

 Epworth Hotel, Buffalo, near the 

 Exposition grounds, on the 12th and 

 13th of September, and our visit that 

 month was timed for that occasion. Many 

 prominent members of our Association were 

 in attendance and thus came in touch 

 with the leading American horticulturists. 

 Through the instrumentality of Mr. A. W. 

 Taylor, the secretary, who has also been 

 made a government official, plans are being 

 made by the United States Department of 

 Agriculture for extended experiments in the 

 export of tender fruits in cold storage, and 

 therefore the writer was asked to give some 

 account of the work done in Canada in this 

 direction. 



He was followed by Mr. Geo. T. Powell, 

 of Briarcliff Manor, who emphasized the 

 the importance of sending forward only our 

 very best. " The foreign markets," said 

 he, "are no place on which to dump all 

 kinds of stuff." He pointed out the im- 

 portance of refrigeration, both at the pack- 

 ing house and in transportation, the im- 

 portance of knowing just at what stage of 

 ripeness fruit should be exported; the sizes 

 that would qualify a fruit for the export 

 trade; the quality of a fruit that would gain 

 for it a permanent market, and the proper 

 packages in which to put them up. 



Senator Dunlap, Illinois, had just returned 

 from England, and found not only the Eng- 

 lish but the French markets open for our 

 best fruits ; in winter time this latter market 

 is comparatively bare of really fine apples, 

 and he had seen them sold in March at 

 thirty cents each, and peaches as high as 

 $1.40 each ! As yet he had only heard of 

 one cold storage house in France. 



Mr. Charles Forster, New York, said the 

 annual increase in the export of apples was 

 verv great, and during the past twenty 



years the quantity exported had increased 

 from 81,000 lbs. to 2,000,000 barrels per 

 annum. In Liverpool they were sold most 

 rapidly ; in 1896 as many as 50,000 lbs. 

 per day had been disposed of in the public 

 auction room, two packages from each lot 

 being brought in, one of which was dumped 

 and one simply opened to show packing. 

 In this way fraudulent packing was at once 

 exposed. Last season 200,000 boxes of 

 Newtown pippins were sent to Scotland 

 form California, and netted the shipper Si. 00 

 per box, and this trade is constantly grow- 

 ing, and to encourage this kind of trade in the 

 case we need small cold storage compart- 

 ments to accommodate smaller consigments. 

 The first real experimental shipment of Bart- 

 lett pears from the United States is now 

 being forwarded from New York to London, 

 the results of which will be made public. 



Two vears ago Mr. Forster had tried a 

 private shipment at a loss, but two cars of 

 Duchess netted him about Si. 43 per half 

 bushel box. 



Our foreign markets are unlimited — Ger- 

 many wants our apples, China, Japan, 

 Siberia, Phillipine Islands and other oriental 

 countries want our fruits, and soon we will 

 have them open to us. 



Prof. Corbett, of Washington, commended 

 the use of tobacco dust, strewn about the 

 trees and over the roots to prevent attacks 

 of aphis. 



Prof. Craig, in treating of the University 

 Extension course — horticulture and agricul- 

 ture — pointed out that during the past twenty 

 years the number of farm products had been 

 multiplied by twenty ; and the number of 

 workers in proportion had been divided by 

 two ; wheat that once cost thirty hours a bush- 

 el now costs only about ten minutes ; corn 

 that once cost forty-one hours now costs 

 only eleven and a half. This shows how 

 important these branches are becoming, and 



