October, 1922 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



209 



Canadian 

 [Horticultural Council I 



Can All You Can Can 



L. F. Burrows, Secretary-Treasurer, C.H.C. 



THIS year we have in the fruit districts of 

 Canada, a bountiful crop of peaches, pears 

 and plums, and by every rule of bygone 

 years the next crop will be light. The thrifty 

 housewife should therefore can this year an 

 abundant supply which will carry her over for 

 two years. In any case the food is cheap and 

 plentiful and now is the time to make good use 

 of what is available. There is really no e-xcuse 

 for any housewife who omits the canning of 

 fruit from her fall program. The following 

 suggestions for canning, given by Mrs. Jean 

 Muldrew, are the result of many years testing 

 and are therefore most practical. The Council 

 recently gave them wide publicity through the 

 press from coast to coast: 



The equipment may be elaborate or very 

 simple. That common in use in households is 

 the wash boiler with a rack to keep the jars from 

 touching the bottom of the boiler. 



The one-period cold-pack method is most 

 effective, decreases the work, is easily managed, 

 and may be safely tried by any one. Many 

 persons still can by the intermittent method 

 which requires one hour's boiling on three suc- 

 cessive days, but for almost all purposes the one- 

 period method serves equally well. AH canning 

 needs great care and cleanliness, but by follow- 

 ing the instructions given by those who have 

 given years of study and experimenting there is 

 very little chance for failure. 



Explanation of Terms 



"Scalding" means pouring very hot water over 

 the fruit to loosen the skin and eliminate objec- 

 tionable acids. 



"Blanching," means steaming or boiling in 

 water. The fruit is placed in a cheese cloth bag, 

 or a wire basket. 



"Cold-dip" means to chill quickly by dipping 



!ito cold water. This assists in removing the 



kin, and setting the coloring matter, giving the 



ruit a better color as well as making the fruit 



more easily handled in packing into the jars. 



Containers. ^Any jars with sound tops which 

 fit, using new rubbers. The kind of jar does not 

 matter so long as it can be made air tight. AH 

 jars used in canning should be put into a boiler 

 in cold water, which should then be brought to a 

 boil and boiled at least five minutes. The rub- 

 bers and tops should stand in scalding water 

 until required. 



Directions for Canning 



Select firm Canadian fruit, not over-ripe, re- 

 move any bruises or decayed parts, and grade so 

 that the contents of the jars shall be of uniform 

 size. Blanch or scald the required time, chill by 

 cold-dipping and pack into the jars to within a 

 half inch of the top. Fill within one quarter inch 

 of the top with boiling syrup. 



Place a new rubber on the jar, and so adjust 

 the top and the ring that it shall not be quite 

 tight. If rings are used, screw tightly then 

 loosen a little. If perfect seal jars are used do 

 not push down the side wire. 



Place the jars on a rack in the boiler with 

 water to come up near the top of the jars. Count 

 the time of sterilization from the time the water 

 begins to boil. See that the boiler lid is tight 

 fitting. When they are suflTiciently sterilized, 

 remove from the boiling water, screw the tops on 

 tightly, or seal the perfect seal tightly, wipe off 

 the outside and set away. 



Syrup Formula 



Thin Syrup — 1% cup sugar, 1 cup water, boil. 

 To thicken further, boil 2 or 3 minutes. 



Medium Thick Syrup — Same proportions 

 boiled 5 minutes. 



Thick Syrop — Same proportions boiled from 

 ■< to 12 minutes or until soft ball stage. 



Note — Stir tmtil you can see that all the sugar 

 1 . dissiilvcd. ritul no longer. 



Time Table 



Apples — Blanch K min., sterilize 30 rains. 



Fruit Juices— Boil in open kettle 20 mins. 

 with sugar as required. 



Grapes and Plums — Do not blanch, sterilize 

 16 mins. 



Peaches — Blanch yi min., sterilize 16 mins. 



Pears — Blanch yi min., sterilize 20 mins. 



Quinces — Blanch yi min., sterilize 60 mins. 



Tomatoes — Blanch yi min., sterilize 22 mins. 



Tomato Juice — Sterilize 20 mins. 



Some Recipes 



Peaches — Blanch, cold-dip, remove stones, 

 pack in jars, cover with syrup as thick as de- 

 sired; adjust the covers and sterilize 16 mins. 



Pears^Remove the skin, cut in halves or in 

 quarters as desired, or they may be canned whole 

 with the stems on. To avoid discolorization, 

 pare with a silver knife and drop into cold water 

 until all are ready for canning. Pack into jars, 

 add tliin syrup, and sterilize 20 minutes. The 

 addition of lemon or cloves takes away the flat 

 taste of the sweet fruit. 



Grape Jelly — -Pick over, wash and remove 

 stems from Canadian grapes before placing in 

 preserving kettle. Heat to boiling point, mash, 

 then boil 30 minutes. Place in a double thick- 

 ness cheese-cloth bag and allow juice to drop 

 through. Measure juice and boil 5 minutes. 

 Add an equal measure of heated sugar, boil 

 three minutes then skim and pour into glasses. 



Pear Chips^S lb. Canadian pears, y^ lb. pre- 

 served ginger, yi tablespoon ground ginger, 

 4 lbs, sugar, 4 lemons. Select pears which are 

 firm and not overripe. Remove stems, wipe, 

 quarter and core; then chip into small pieces 

 (but do not remove skins). Add sugar and 

 ginger and let stand overnight. In the morning 

 add lemons cut in small pieces, reject seeds, and 

 cook slowly three hours or until thick. Put into 

 marmalade-glasses and cover with paraffin. 



Damson Plum Jam — -4 lbs. Canadian Damson 

 plums, 4 lbs. sugar. Wash the fruit, place in a 

 kettle with a little water and cook until soft 

 enough to remove the pits. If desired remove 

 the pits. Heat the sugar before adding to the 

 hot fruit bring again to a boil and boil three 

 minutes. Put into glasses and cover with 

 paraffin. 



New Nursery Stock 



L. F. Burrows, Secretary, C. H. Council 



AFTER a careful perusal of the Fruit Statis- 

 tics of Canada, published each year by 

 the bureau of statistics in co-operation 

 with the Dominion Fruit Branch, one can reach 

 no other conclusion than that the fruit growers 

 of Canada heed but little the advise of the 

 various horticulturists regarding the best varie- 

 ties to plant. Each year the nurseries report 

 sales in commercial quantities of varieties of 

 nursery stocks absolutely unsuitable to the dis- 

 tricts in which they are planted, or, in fact, to 

 any district in the Dominion. Enormous quan- 

 tities of varieties, on which the yield is light and 

 the quality of the fruit poor, are sold. And this, 

 in spite of the fact that information is obtain- 

 able for the asking regarding the most suitable 

 varieties for any part of the Dominion. 



As long as growers continue to disregard the 

 first factor in successful fruit culture — the plant- 

 ing of proper varieties — so long will our market- 

 ing problems continue. The fact is al.so clearly 

 shown in the above statistics that the unsuitable 

 varieties, almost without exception, are sold for 

 more than the best varieties. The grower, there- 

 fore, not only increases his overhead excessively 

 with his original purchase, but in many cases, 

 consideraljly more replacements are required 

 than is the case with standard varieties. 



Those who contemplate planting fruit trees 

 are advised, therefore, to consult the nearest 

 horticulturist— i.e., the district horticulturist, 

 agricultural representative, provincial horti- 

 culturist or department of horticulture at the 

 agricultural college — before placing their orders. 



Copies of the statistical report above referred 

 to may be obtained free upon application to the 



Fruit Commissioner, Department of Agriculture. 

 Ottawa, Ont., or to the Secretary, Canadian 

 Horticultural Council, Ottawa. 



Plant Registration 



THE plant registration committee of the 

 Council met in Toronto on Tuesday, 

 Sept. 5. A definite plan of procedure for 

 bringing plant registration into effect was pro- 

 posed and tentatively agreed upon. A further 

 meeting of the committee will, however, take 

 place in the near future for the purpose of de- 

 finitely drafting a report to be presented to the 

 Council. The committee have received con- 

 siderable encouragement from outside sources, 

 and feel satisfied that within a short time 

 Canada will have the honor of providing the 

 first national plant registration scheme. " 



Insect and Pest Act 



THE nurserymen's section together with the 

 florists' and gardeners' section of the 

 Council were most cordially received by 

 *the destructive insect and pest act advisory 

 board in the office of the Dominion Entomologist 

 on Friday, Sept. 15, and suggested certain amend- 

 ments to the proposed Insect and Pest Act re- 

 gulations. The following were in attendance: — 

 L. F. Burrows, secretary of the Council; Maj. 

 John Connon, Hamilton; E. B. Luke, Montreal; 

 S. E. Davidson, Fonthill, Ont.; Chas. R. Pegan, 

 Fenwick, Ont.; F. J. McKenna, Montreal; S. A. 

 Frost, Toronto; C. J. Hay, Brockville; W. T. 

 Macoun, Ottawa; W. W. Gammage, London. 



The chief amendments considered were to 

 section 6, wherein additional points of entry 

 were requested at Halifax and Niagara Falls and 

 to .section 7 so that inspection of nursery stock 

 may be made at the warehouse of the importer 

 rather than at the port of entry. Considerable 

 discussion took place, and the delegation left, 

 feeling that a fuller understanding of the pro- 

 blems of both the Insect and Pest Act Advisory 

 Board and the nurserymen had resulted, and 

 that the board would be most sympathetic in 

 their" consideration of the proposed amendments. 



Potato Growers' Association 



A potato growers' association has recently 

 been organized at Aneroid, Sask., with Everitt 

 Baker as secretary. This association will be re- 

 presented on the Council by W. F. Broadstock, 

 secretary of the Edmonton Potato Growers' 

 Association. 



New Celery Disease 



A CROWN rot or root rot of celery is causing 

 serious loss in some Ohio celery fields, ac- 

 cording to plant pathologists at the Ohio 

 Experiment Station. The affected plants fail to 

 develop, usually have a bleached appearance, 

 brown and rotting root tips, and in badly dis- 

 eased plants, a dry rot or decay of the inner 

 tissues of the crown. The fungus which causes 

 the disease belongs to the same class as those 

 which cause cabbage yellows and tomato wilt, 

 diseases dreaded by gardeners because of the 

 great difficulties of eradication and control. 



The development of an easy-blanching disease- 

 resistent strain seems possible, but until this is 

 accomplished, the pathologists state, much can 

 be done to prevent spread of the disease in in- 

 fected fields by carefully collecting and burning 

 diseased plants and refuse material. The fact 

 that diseased seed beds were found to be the 

 most prolific source of infection suggests that 

 great care be taken to develop young plants in 

 disease free soil. 



A new variety of the Rose potato, called the 

 Early Norther Rose, was planted in the Charles- 

 ton section of South Carolina last spring. It re- 

 sembles the Spaulding Rose, but is a little longer 

 and thicker than that variety. The average 

 yield was 80-90 bbls. per acre- 



