RASPBERRIES BOOMING. 



^ KlHIS Journal has often advised 



its readers not to be fickle 



minded, and discouraged with 



growing a fruit because of one 



or two years' failure in crop or prices. 



Many fruit growers were disheartened 



over apples, and dug out trees they had 



been nursing into bearing for years, to 



find in 1898 that Grade Ai apples were 



about the best crop they could have. 



Now a similar thing is happening 

 with raspberries. For several years the 

 price has been depressed until 1898 

 there was little, if anything, left after 

 paying expenses, and many large fields 

 of bushes were rooted out. Now we 

 find indications of a strong advance in 

 the value of this fruit. Already canning 

 factories, which last year paid 3 and 3^ 

 cents for the crop are offering 4 cents ; 

 and no doubt will have to advance still 

 more to secure their supplies. 



One outlet for raspberries is to Great 

 Britain in the form of pulp — which is 

 put up without sugar or water, in tins 

 weighing about ten pounds. At our St. 

 Catharines meeting Mr. C. C. James 

 spoke on the subject and gave a great 

 deal of interesting information which he 

 has since published in the form of a 

 special bulletin, in which he shows that 

 raspberry pulp is a regular article of 

 commerce in Great Britain, which will 

 pay the shipper fairly at ^25 per ton ; 

 but will give excellent returns, when as 

 sometimes happens it reaches ^40 or 

 £S° per ton. All this will be seen in 

 our report for 1898, soon to be pub- 

 lished. From a recent letter from Mr. 

 Watson of the Imperial Institute to Mr. 

 James, he says : 



" I am keeping track of the raspberry 

 pulp trade. I learn that the Australian 

 crop has again been practically a failure. 



One broker states that they are asking 

 £aS to ;£$o per ton, and others that 

 the Australians will have none to ex- 

 port. It is still too early to attempt to 

 foretell the course of events, as every- 

 thing must depend upon the English 

 and Dutch crops. Speaking guardedly, 

 I should think that the prospect for 

 fairly high prices is on the cards, and 

 Canadian raspberry packers should 

 watch the market I have not yet had 

 any blueberries from you, but it may 

 interest you to hear that a considerable 

 lot of canned wild raspberries from New 

 Brunswick shipped to a broker here 

 turned out satisfactory and realized good 

 prices. 



LIKEWISE PEACHES AND PEARS. 



" Peaches and pears are goods which 

 Canadian packers should turn particular 

 attention to. I hear constantly of an 

 ever-growing demand, and even if Can- 

 ada cannot offer the extra choice vari- 

 eties which Californian firms, like the 

 San Jose, have obtained such a market 

 for, there is a good market for sound, 

 well flavored fruit of good appearance, 

 provided that the syrup is what s 

 wanted and the standard is maintained. 



"The new pack California fruit is 

 now here, but if the damage now re- 

 ported has really occurred in the Atlan- 

 tic States, and the cold has destroyed 

 the trees and next season's crop, deal- 

 ers look to high prices next autumn and 

 winter. Most of the eastern United 

 States pack is consumed locally. It is 

 much larger than the Pacific, and if 

 here is a shortage, California will not 

 have much for this market. If your in- 

 formation confirms the damage, it would 

 be a favorable time for Canadian canned 

 pears and peaches to obtain a footing in 

 this market. 



190 



