102 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



April, 1913 



The Canadian Horticulturist iffi@@ssisgi^@s^E@ss®^S| 



PublUhad hr Th* Horticultaral 

 Publiahinc Companr. Limited 



PBrTKRBORO, ONTA.R.IO 



iS 



EDITORIAL 



ag-€ment of the- leadinjf fruit experiment 

 stations in the fruit districts of the Tni- 

 tcd States, 



The Only Horticultural Magazine 

 in the Dominion 



OrrioiAL Orqan of the Ontario and Qubbkc 

 Fruit Growrrs' Associations 



B. BaoNBON OowAN, MsnatrlnB Director 



OHIOAGO lira'RESENTATIVE : 

 W. H. etookwell, 629 People's Ga« Building. 



1. The Oanjadlan Hortioulturiet is nubli^lied on 

 the 26th day of the motntb. preceding date of 

 issuo. 



2. Subecription price in Canada and (Jreat 

 Britain, 60 cents a vcar; two years, $1.00. For 

 United States and local subacriptions in Peter- 

 boro (not called for at the Poet Office), 26 cents 

 extra a year. Including postage. 



J. Remittances should be made by Po«t Office 

 <ir Express Money Order, or Registered Ijetter. 

 Postage Stamps aocepted for amount leas than 

 -•«1.00. 



4. The Law is that subscribers to newsipapere 

 are held responsible until all arrearases are 

 paid and their paper ordered to be discontinued. 



5. Change of Address— When a change of ad- 

 dress is ordered, both the old and the new ad- 

 dresses must be given. 



6. Advertising rates, $1.25 an inch. Copy re- 

 ceived up to the 18th. Address all advertising 

 correspondence and copy to our Advertising 

 Manager, Peterboro, Ont. 



7. Articles and Illustrations for publication 

 will be thankfully received by the Editor. 



CIRCULATION STATEMENT 

 The following is a sworn statement of the net 

 paid circulation of The Canadian Horticulturist 

 for the year endine with December, 1912. The 

 figures given are exclusive of samples and srpoiled 

 copies. Most months, including the sample oop- 

 ie.s, from 11.000 to 12,000 copies of The Canadian 

 Horticulturist are mailed to people known to 

 be interested in the growing of fruits, flowers 

 or vegetables. 



Ja.nuarv, 1912 ....9,988 



February, 1912 10.437 



March, 1912 10,877 



April, 1912 11.788 



May, 1912 12,m 



June, 1912 10.946 



July. 1912 10,936 



August. 1912 U,148 



Sopt,ember, 1912 10,997 



October, 1912 10,971 



November, 1912 114i62 



December. 1912 11,144 



132,566 

 Average each issue In 1907, 6,627 

 " " " 1908, 8,695 

 " /' 1909, 8.970 



1910, 9,067 



" '• 1911, 9,541 



' 1912, 11,057 



March, 1913 II,I06 



Sworn detailed statements vrill be mailed 

 uipon application. 



OUR GUARANTEE 



We guarantee that every advertiser in this issue 

 is reliable. We are able to do this because the 

 advertising columns of The Cana/dian Horticul- 

 turist are as carefully edited as the reading 

 columns, and because to protect our readers we 

 turn away all unscrupulous advertisers. Should 

 any advertiser herein deal dishonestly with an.v 

 subscriber, we will make good the amount of 

 your loss, provided su«h transaction occurs with- 

 in one month from daAe of this issue, that it is 

 reported to us within a week of its occurrence, 

 and that we find the facts to be as stated. It 

 is a condition of this contract that in writing to 

 advertisers you state: "I saw your advertisement 

 in The Canadian Horticulturist." 



Rogues shall not ply their trade at the exipense 

 of our Bulwcribers, who are our friends, through 

 the medium of these columns; but we shall not 

 attempt to adjust trifling disputes between sub- 

 scribers and honourable businees men who ad- 

 vertise, nor pay the debts of honest bankrupts. 

 Communications should be addressed 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST, 



PETBRBORO. ONT. 



^iSii^iS^^^^^^^^^^ A NOT UNEXPECTED RESULT 

 THE JORDAN HARBOR STATION 



In a defence of the Jordan Harbor Ex- 

 periment Station, which was under dis- 

 cussion recently in the Ontario Leg^isla- 

 ture. Hon. J. S. Duff, Minister of Agri- 

 culture for Ontario, according to reix>rts 

 in the public press, explained that one 

 reason why better work had not been ac- 

 complished at the Station was because soon 

 after the statioe had been started it was 

 found that the soil was unsuitable for small 

 fruits. This, if the Minister was correctly- 

 reported, can hardly be considered a satis- 

 factory explanation. 



The land used by the station was donat- 

 ed to the Governmeint by Mr. M. F. Ritten- 

 house in 1906. Before the Government ac- 

 cepted this land it was examined by offi- 

 cers of the Department of Agriculture and 

 of the AR-ricuItural Colleg^e, who reported 

 on its suitability for the purposes for which 

 it was intended. The Govennment was 

 fully aware of the work that it was pur- 

 posed should be undertaken at the new 

 station. If the soil was not suitable its 

 acceptance for the purpose should either 

 have been declined then or arrang^ements 

 made for the purchase of additional land 

 adjoining- better adapted for experimental 

 purposes. 



When it was annotmced that the Gov- 

 ernment had decided to establish an ex- 

 periment station at Jordan Harbor keen 

 interest was taken in the proposal by the 

 fruit growers of the pro-vince, more especi- 

 ally those of the Niagara District. This 

 led The Canadian Horticulturist to send 

 one of its editors, a graduate in horticul- 

 ture of the Ontario Agriculture College, 

 to Jordan Harbor to inspect the soil of the 

 proposed station. In the July. 1906, issue 

 of The Canadian Horticulturist, the in- 

 troductory article dealt with the soil con- 

 ditions at the proposed station, as did the 

 leading editorial. In both the article amd 

 editorial it was shown that while other- 

 wise well suited to its purpose, the soil 

 of the proposed station had two defects : 

 It lacked the protection of the mountain, 

 only two miles and a half away, and it also 

 lacked a sufficient quantity of light soil 

 to be ideal for experimental work with 

 peaches and other tender fruits. It was 

 pointed out that this defect could be over- 

 come by the purchase of some suitable 

 land across the road, on which the Gov- 

 ernment had been given an option on rea- 

 sonable terms. This option, althoug-h the 

 need of the land was fully recognized at 

 the time or the option would never have 

 been given, has mever been taken up by 

 the Government. We fail to see, therefore, 

 after seven years have passed, why the 

 Government should advance as an excuse 

 for the fact that the station has not ac- 

 complished more, that the station soil is 

 not suitable. 



We have no desire to criticise the Gov- 

 ernment unduly in this mat-ter. but its 

 utter failure to deal with the station in the 

 broad, sympathetic manner that the fruit 

 growers have hoped for and which the De- 

 partment of Agriculture has extended to 

 other branches of its work, has resulted 

 in several years of larg-ely wasted e-fforts 

 at the station. Nothing will remedy these 

 conditions until the Government complete- 

 ly reverses its policy and treats the sta- 

 tion with the same generosity and fore- 

 sight that is characteristic of the man- 



The practical failure of the National 

 Land Fruit and Packing Company, which 

 was launched some two years ae'o with a 

 blare of trumpets, was not entirely unex- 

 pected by those in close touch with the 

 fruit interests of Ontario. In discussing 

 the undertaking of the company in the 

 May issue of The Canadian Horticulturis-t 

 in 1911. we pointed out editorially that 

 <ounting the time lost by the employees of 

 the company going to and from their work 

 and from unfavorable weather it was a saf*" 

 estimate that the fanners could care for 

 their orchards for one-half the money it 

 cost the proposed company where close 

 supervision of the work in the orchards 

 was undertaken. 



The project had many commendable 

 features and in various ways has had bene- 

 ficial results in the province. Many fruit 

 growers have been led to appreciate their 

 orchards more fully and to take better care 

 of them. The main cause of the failure of 

 the project appears to have been the fact 

 that an effort was made to accomplish too 

 much at once. The great majority of suc- 

 cessful business enterprises have grown 

 out of small beginnings. In this case an 

 effort was made by men lacking sufficient 

 knowlege of the underlying principles of 

 the industry concerned, to launch a large 

 enterprise without sufficient preliminary 

 experience. Had the promoters been con- 

 tent to operate a few orchards for a year 

 or two before embarking on the larger en- 

 terprise their prospects for success would 

 have been greatly improved. 



It appears that an effort may be made 

 to continue the enterprise. While many 

 wiO doubt its ultimate success there are 

 few, if any. who would not like to see it 

 succeed if for no other reason than to 

 avoid the loss that will otherwise be sus- 

 tained by the many investors who were 

 led to investe their money in the expec- 

 tation of receiving liberal dividends 

 thereon . 



USE MORE TACT 



April is the month when most of our 

 horticultural societies begin their summer 

 acti-vities. The officers of societies as a 

 rule realize the importance of obtaining 

 the sympathetic support of the editors of 

 their local papers. Many, however, fail 

 utterly to do so. In some cases this may 

 be due -fco a defect in the make-up of the 

 local editors, but in the majority of cases 

 we believe that it will be found to be due 

 to a failure on the part of the officers of 

 the society to clearly understand how best 

 to set about the work in hand. 



Most societies make the same mistakes. 

 In the first place they are apt to find fault 

 with their local editors for not taking a 

 deeper interest in horticultural improve- 

 ment. Thereby they overlook the fact that 

 many other classes in the community ane 

 constantly pressing their claims for recog- 

 nition upon the editor whose time and 

 space in every case are limited. Other 

 societies sometimes prepare reports for 

 the local papers, but send these in for 

 publication too late in the day for them to 

 receive the attention or setting required. 

 Other societies prepare their articles more 

 for consumption by horticultural enthus- 

 iasts, losing sight of the fact that the local 

 papers cater to what is commonly { aUed 

 "The Man on the Street." 



