November, 1922 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



205 



? 



canadian 

 Horticultural CouncilJ 



o 



Current Activities 



L. F. Burrows, Secretary-Treasarer 



NUMBER of questions which would, of 

 necessity, have to be dealt with by the 

 Council are being held for discussion at 

 i next annual meeting. In the meantime, how- 

 rtr, arrangements are being made for such 

 bastions to be discussed at the annual meetings 

 fthe various fruit, flower and vegetable growers' 

 shippers' associations throughout Canada, 

 order that the Council may have an expres- 

 1 of opinion from them in order to direct the 

 isions made. 



as it is now nearing the time when the annual 

 etings of the various fruit, flower and vege- 

 ble associations wUl be held, it is suggested 

 at tjuestions affecting the national interests of 

 horticultural industry be referred to the 

 Secretary of the Council at an early date, ra 

 ,rder that arrangements may be made to have 

 them discussed at such meetings and recom- 

 mendations made for consideration at the annual 

 meeting of the Council. 



Plant Registration 

 "SjThe report of the plant registration committee 

 has been received by the secretary. It is ap- 

 parent from the report that a great deal of time 

 has been given by the members to the work of 

 evolving a scheme of plant registration which is 

 altogether practicable, easily workable and pro- 

 vides a means of securing most speedily, the de- 

 sired result. The president of the Council has 

 decided to call a meeting of the directors, at an 

 early date, to consider the report in order that, 

 if it meets with their approval, it may be brought 

 into operation at the earliest possible date. De- 

 tailed information in connection with the report 

 will be given as soon as it receives tUe approval 

 of the directors. 



American Fruit Dumpmg 

 A great deal of dissatisfaction has been ex- 

 pressed by the fruit growers' and fruit growers' 

 associations throughout the Dominion during 

 the past season at the inactivity of the Dominion 

 Government in enforcing the anti-dumping law. 

 The markets of the Prairie Provinces have been 

 glutted all season largely by American fruit 

 which, it is claimed, is sold at less than the cost 

 of production. 



The retention of Canadian markets for Cana- 

 dian produce is of paramount importance to 

 every Canadian producer and particularly at 

 present to the producers of fruit. This is a 

 question, therefore, which should be given very 

 consi<lcrable thought in order that it may be 

 thoroughly discussed at the coming annual fruit 

 jrowcrs' meetings. Copies of the present Act 

 nay be had upon application to the Commis- 

 kioner of Customs, Ottawa. 



National SUndards for Judging 

 It has been suggested that the Council take 

 nder consideration the advisability of preparing 

 ad recommending iiatio;ial standards or score 

 cards to be used in the judging of fruits, flowers 

 Und vegetables at exhibitions throughout the 

 ' Dominion. There is undoubtedly a great need 

 for such sUndards and an endeavor will, there- 

 fore, be made to have suggestions in this con- 

 nection prepared in time for discussion at the 

 next annual meetings of the fruit, flower and 

 vegetable associatioiLS. 



Canned Goods for Family 



ACCORDING to a recent announcement, 

 certain nutrition specialists of Cornell 

 College of Agriculture are working on a 

 ■ ■ 1....1 ..t that will serve as a guide for the 

 ■Hied fruits and vegetables needed 

 I , , k - , 1 1 V of five well nourished for a year. 



The iiiidget recommends the use of tomatiKs 

 four times a week, green vegetables six times. 



starchy vegetables three times, and fruits ten 

 times a week. The quantities of food, such a 

 familv might well use are about 80 quarts of 

 tomatoes, 120 quarts*of green vegetables, 50 

 quarts of starchy vegetables, 220 quarts of fruits 

 and 40 quarts of conserve, jam and jellies. 



Because of the presence of anti-scorbutic and 

 water-soluble vitamines, the budget says, 

 tomatoes are provided in quantity. Tomatoes 

 are desirable for children throughout the year. 



The amount of vegetables stored, it continues, 

 such as cabbage or celery, affects the quantity of 

 green vegetables provided by the canning budget, 

 and the amount of fresh or dried fruits, such as 

 apples, used during the year, must also be con- 

 sidered in estimating the amount of fruit to be 

 canned. 



Fall Clean Up Campaign 



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



OLD experienced gardeners advise that the 

 gardens and grounds and orchards be 

 given a final clean up before winter comes 

 in order that diseases and insects may be pre- 

 vented in so far as possible from finding harbor 

 during the winter. 



The importance of the proper preparation of 

 the ground cannot be too strongly impressed 

 upon amateur gardeners because on this, pro- 

 bably more than on any other one factor does the 

 success of the planting depend. It is admitted 

 that the greater part of the losses in planting are 

 due to putting stock that has come out of well 

 cultivated nursery ground into that which has 

 had little or no preparation and then leaving it 

 to shift for itself. Such practice is discouraging 

 and expensive to the gardener, and unfair to the 

 nurseryman who supplies the stock. 



Such a clean up also aJTords the opportunity 

 of making a check of the tree and plant require- 

 ments. At such times, and when the matter is 

 fresh in mind, a list should be compiled which 

 may be further reviewed when plans are being 

 made during the winter months. Orders should 

 be placed at as early a date as possible so as to 

 assure the first spring delivery and to make 

 certain that the desired kinds and varieties are 

 obtained before the supply becomes exhausted. 



Experienced gardeners invariably plan their 

 spring work and list their trees and plant re- 

 quirements at this season of the year. This is 

 evidenced by the fact that the landscape depart- 

 ments of the nurseries are always busier in the 

 fall, largely with gardeners who desire to have 

 the matter of spring planting gone into and 

 settled while their requirertients are in mind. 

 This provides an opportunity of considerable 

 fall preparation of the ground in order that 

 everything may be in readiness to receive stock 

 when it arrives in the spring. 



Cyclopedia of Hardy Fruits 



THE "Cyclopedia of Hardy Fruits, ' by N. 

 P. Hedrick, recently published, is a com- 

 prehensive treatise on varieties of hardy 

 fruits. All of the hardy fruits grown in America 

 and all of their varieties commonly found in the 

 country are described. It is not a compilation, 

 for the author has had fruit in hand and plants 

 before his eyes in making nearly all of the 1200 

 descriptions. He has had opportunity to go to 

 original sources for names and historical data. 

 The author in this work has put forth his best 

 efforts to put systematicfpomology on a sohd 

 foundation. The book will be found indispens- 

 able to anyone growing hardy fruits, either for 

 the markets or for home use. Certainly, its dis- 

 cussions of the botany of fruits, of their classifica- 

 tion, description and nomenclature make it in- 

 dispensable to all students of pomology. 



Ways in which this cyclopedia is useful are : 



(1) To aid in the identification of varieties. 



(2) To guide in the choice of varieties. (3) To 

 sort the names now in use for varieties of hardy 

 fruits and assign them to the varieties to which 

 thcv belong (4) To tell when and where the 

 varieties originated. (5) To state in what regions 

 the varieties described grow best. (6) To show 

 the relative hardiness of varieties. (7) To set 

 forth the susceptibilities and immunities of these 

 hardy fruits to insect pests and fungous diseases. 



(8) By depicting choice products of the orchard, 

 to stimulate the desire to grow better fruits. 



(9) To indicate the uses of the fruits. (10) To 

 show in some measure their value for local, 

 general and foreign markets. ^ . „ 



The "Cyclopedia of Hardy Fruits contains 

 35 ■> pages and is well illustrated. It is published 

 bythe Macmillan Company of Canada, Toronto. 





i 



Vegetables by Weight 



THAT it was the intention of the Dominion 

 Department of Agriculture to do away al- 

 together with the gallon and other measures 

 when the new Root Vegetalilcs Act came into 

 force, h. F. Burrows, Assistant Fruit Commis- 

 sioner, told the Retail Grocers' Association at a 

 meeting in Ottawa, Oct. 27. The Act could not 

 be successfully operated when the system of 

 measures hitherto in force was forgotten and 

 people got used to ordering vegetables by the 

 pound, he said. 



In the answer to questions. Mr. Burrows de- 

 clared that farmers, hucksters and peddlers 

 could not be compelled to carry scales, but that 

 the consumers could detnand that the goods they 

 purchased be weighed. The department of 

 agriculture was trying to educate the whole- 

 salers to quote prices on all produce by weight. 

 A motion was passed requesting the department 

 of agriculture to issue cards which grocers could 

 display in their stores which would inform 



customers th.n ' I'l * be sold by 



weight. 



Frost Injury to Tomatoes 



SINCE somewhat more than half of the 

 United States tomato crop, exclusive of 

 those grown for canning, is grown in the 

 south and southwest and shipped to northern 

 markets in the winter and spring months, a good 

 part of the product in transit is in danger of 

 freezing Because of the constant danger of loss 

 from this cause, the United States DepartmeiU 

 of Agriculture has conducted investigations con- 

 cerning the freezing points of a number of com- 

 mercial varieties, both green and ripe, under . 

 various conditions. The results have just been 

 published in Department Bulletin 1099, Frost 

 Injury to Tomatoes," by R. B. Harvey and R. 

 C Wright. Although tomatoes grown in 

 Canada are not shipped during the freezing 

 months, excepting late fall, the results of these 

 investigations will interest growers m this 



country. . . , , , 



The tomato plant belongs to a class of annuals 

 that show very little adaptation to low tem- 

 pe-atures On exposure to low temperatures 

 thev becom» somewhat more difficult to freeze, 

 that is, the freezing point is lowered, but a<! soon 

 as ice formation occurs within the tissues the 

 cells are killed. The experiments conducted by 

 the department showed that the tomatoes them- 

 selves may be cooled below the ordinary freezing 

 temperature, which for the varieties tested is a 

 little above 30 degrees, and warmed up again 

 without injury, but when thev are in this under- 

 cooled condition a slight disturbance or jar will 

 cause them to freeze immediately. Very little 

 dilTerence was found in the freezing points of 

 different varieties, and little difference between 

 the green and ripe tomatoes. 



One of the practical facts brought out by the 

 experiments is that tomatoes with tough skms 

 best stand undercooling. A whole skin prevents 

 ice formed on the surface from inoculating the 

 interior and causing ice to form in the inside 

 tissue. For this reason, varieties that do not 

 have a tendency to crack will withstand frost 



