February, 1922. 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



29 



Eastern Ontario Apple Men Meet 



THAT interest in the apple industry o£ 

 Eastern Ontario is rapidly reviving 

 was abundantly evidenced by the 

 atendance at the tenth annual meeting of 

 the Northumberland and Durham Apple 

 Growers' Association, held at Brighton, 

 Ont., on Jan. 18. Nearly 300 persons were 

 present, and the great majority were 

 actual producers. The few addresses were 

 of a very practical nature, being particular- 

 ly well adapted to conditions in the neigh- 

 borhood. 



Benefits of Cold Storage. 

 A. Fulton, supervisor of the Ontario 

 Government cold storage plant at Brighton, 

 described the beneffts the growers might 

 derive from this affair, among other points 

 .stating that if prpducers could see their 

 way clear to utilizing this storage during 

 the months of June and July for tender 

 fruits the concern would soon be on a self- 

 supporting basis. Mr. Fulton stated that 

 although the full capacity of the plant had 

 been taken up practically since the opening 

 in September last, the bulk of the apples 

 stored were of the lower grades, whereas. 



would be well repaid in financial returns 

 received. 



Mr. Ross dealt with the other side of the 

 question, giving the results of different 

 tests with various sprays. One point of 

 particular interest to apple producers in 

 this part of the province brought out by 

 this speaker, and in the discussion follow- 

 ing his address, was the fact that dusting 

 "should not be considered as a substitute 

 for liquid spraying, but merely as a valu- 

 able adjunct to it." Dusting, he said, 

 helped the large grower to get over his 

 plantation when it could not be accom- 

 plished with liquid spray, but in nearly all 

 cases he advised the latter where at all 

 possible. 



M. B. Davis, Central Experimental Farm, 

 Ottawa, discussed pruning and fertilizing, 

 The meeting was ably presided over by 

 President Brock Scripture, assisted by 

 Secretary Harry Sirett. 



. Officers Elected. ' 



Ofiicers and directors of the past year 

 were re-elected as follows: Pres., R. B. 

 Scripture, Brighton; vice-pres., A. A. Col- 



A Power Spt^aying Outfit Is Needed on Every Commercial Fruit Farm. 

 Uecause of the abnormally early spring lafit year, spraying was neglected in many orchards, 

 and pests of all kinds had opportunity for lncreasln(f more than usual. Orchardists will 



' require to be on the job early and effectively this coming .season. 



I 



In his opinion, growers could not afford to 

 store anything but Nos. 1 and 2 fruit while 

 there was any of this quality on hand. 

 Judging by the discussion following Mr. 

 Fulton's address, local producers are more 

 than satisfied by this experiment of the pro- 

 vincial government, and although the con- 

 cern has been in operation but a few 

 months, the season has been extended to 

 such an extent by its use that thousands of 

 dollars have been made out of fruit and 

 vegetables which under ordinary conditions 

 would have gone to waste. 



More Spraying Advocated. 

 Prr>f. L. Caesar of the Ontario Agricul- 

 tural College and W. A. Ross of the Vine- 

 land Experimental Station briefly discussed 

 spraying and spray materials. Prof. 

 Caesar while convinced that interest In 

 fruit growing, and particularly apples, was 

 rapidly being restored after the war-time 

 depression, claimed that the growers were 

 still "falling down in their efforts to pro- 

 duce good, clean fruit." To accomplish this 

 end he urged more frequent and universal 

 spraying, and stated that those doing so 



will, Newcastle; sec.treas., Harry Sirrett, 

 Brighton; directors, W. H. Gibson, New- 

 castle; W. J. Gragg, Bowmanville; C. R. 

 Lovekin, Newcastle; E. H. Martin, Port 

 Hope; 3. G. White. Colbourne; A. M. Mack- 

 lara, Brighton; W. Montgomery, Brighton; 

 P. C. Dempsey, Trenton. 



inspectors made such inspections. He ad- 

 mitted, in reply to a question by Mr. Baxter, 

 that they had not demanded a certified copy 

 of the inspector's report. 



Fruit Commissioner Baxter stated, that 

 every now and then some dealers try to 

 beat down prices to the growers by making 

 unwarranted claims for rebates on the 

 ground of defects in the fruit. Last sum- 

 mer a dealer in Winnipeg faulted a car 

 which had heen shipped by the Niagara 

 Peninsular Growers, Ltd., and claimed that 

 the fruit had been condemned by the fruit 

 inspector. The N. P. G., Ltd., reported the 

 case to the Fruit Branch, which, on investi- 

 gating it, found that the car had not been 

 faulted by the fruit inspector, but had been 

 passed by him. Where claims of this kind 

 are made, it was suggested that if any 

 doubt exists as to their accuracy the facts 

 should ibe submitted to the Fruit Branch, 

 Ottawa, -for investigation. T. J. Mahony, 

 general manager of the N. P. G., Ltd., ad- 

 vocated the inspection of fruit at the ship- 

 ping point. He pointed out that were this 

 done very few dealers would dare to make 

 fraudulent claims for rebate and when they 

 did the fruit growers would he protected by 

 having the inspector's certificates. 



Unwarranted Claims 



THE methods adopted by some fruit 

 dealers to secure unwarranted rebates 

 in the prices they agree to pay for fruit 

 or unduly high prices for fruit they sell, 

 wore revealed at the meeting of the Ontario 

 Experimental Union, held in Guelph. Jan. 

 10th to 12th. W. C. Good, M.P., of Paris, re- 

 ferred to a difficulty some farmers in his 

 section had had in the adjustment of 

 prices over a oar of Nova Scotia fruit 

 .which had been purchased, and which was 

 very defective. The shipper claimed the 

 fruit had been inspected by the Dominion 

 fruit Inspector and was according to grade 

 when shipped. Mr. Good asked Dominion 

 PYult Commissioner C. W. Baxter, it the 



Apple Blister Canker 



INVESTIGATIONS conducted by the New 

 York Agricultural Experiment Station 

 at Geneva show that an outbreak of 

 blister canker in apple orchards is always 

 possible, especially following a protracted 

 period of dry weather in the spring. The 

 organism causing the disease Is nearly 

 always present in the orchard or in near- 

 by woodlots, and since apple trees are 

 most susceptible to attack in the spring 

 when new growth starts any condition of 

 the soil or weather which retards growth 

 favors the development of blister canker. 

 Early cultivation to preserve soil moisture 

 is, therefore, especially desirable. 



The disease gains entrance into the 

 wood through some injury to the tree, us- 

 ually a pruning wound, hence it is impor- 

 tant that all such wounds be covered in 

 some way. For this purpose a coating of 

 common shellac followed by coal tar gave 

 the best protection and withstood weath- 

 ering better than any of the other wound 

 dressings which were tried. 



The immediate removal of all hlister 

 cankered branches is probably the best 

 control measure as such practice retards 

 the spread of the disease in the orchard. 

 It should be remembered, however, that In 

 removing a diseased branch the cut should 

 be made as far away from the canker as 

 possible because the disease extends In all 

 directions through the wood and unless all 

 diseased wood is removed a new canker 

 will form. 



"Paradichlor" for Borers 



THE so-called peach-tree borer has con- 

 stituted one of the principal draw- 

 ibaeks to the successful cultivation of 

 the peach for 150 years, and only within 

 five years have effective and practical 

 means of control been discovered. The 

 para-dichlorobenzene treatment developed 

 by E. B. Blakeslee of the bureau of ento- 

 mology, United States Department of Agri- 

 culture, is described In Farmers' Bulletin 

 1246, "The Peach Borer; How to Prevent 

 or Lessen Its Ravages," by Dr. A. L. Qualn- 

 tance, entomologist in charge of fruit 

 Insect Investigations. The bulletin treats 

 jrlefiy of the life and habits of the Insect; 

 .if fho "worming" method of destroying I he 

 (Continued on page 32.) 



