Septeinbsr, 1913. 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



215 



one size instead of in two sizes, as at 

 present. 



The market is, after all, the final court 

 of decision where any trade practice is 

 concerned. If our markets demand one 

 box rather than the other, that box in 

 spite of all other arguments is the one 

 we must eventually use. If our com- 

 petitors are using it and we are not, the 

 handicap is just that much greater. Our 

 market commissioners Ln the prairies 

 have reported consistently for the last 

 four years that the prairie and coast 



markets prefer the short box. This 

 market takes ninety-five per cent, of our 

 fruit. The Australian market, which 

 takes most of the balance, does not dis- 

 tinguish between boxes at present. Most 

 of the fruit they receive now comes in 

 the short box. The English market first 

 became accustomed to the long box and 

 at that time preferred it. At the present 

 time the best apples they are receiving 

 are coming in short boxes from Wash- 

 ington, and while there may be some 

 sentiment at present in favor of the long 



box, it is not, in my opinion, likely to 

 endure. 



To sum up, we may conclude the box 

 at present in use has in its favor law, 

 custom, and the favor of certain mar- 

 kets. The short box is commended to 

 us by reason of its uniformity with other 

 standard fruit packages, with conse- 

 quent convenience in manufacturing, 

 warehousing and in loading cars. It is 

 a more attractive package and possibly 

 a cheaper one and, above all, it has the 

 favor of the coast and prairie markets. 



Handling Tender Varieties of Apples in Quebec Province 



Rev. Father Leopold, La Trappe, Que., President Quebec Province Fruit Growers' Associatioik. 



Picking and packing apples in the 

 right way is a science. Ignorance in a 

 large measure accounts for the serious 

 loss that results from off condition of 

 apples on arrival, in transit or in stor- 

 age. 



When should we begin picking? As 

 a general rule the apple is ready to pick 

 when the seeds turn brown and the stem 

 separates with comparative ease from the 

 spur, but this rule is not definite. A 

 man must know from the general ap- 

 pearance of the apple when it is ready 

 to pick, and this he can only learn from 

 experience. In a way the color is the 

 best guide. For instance, in the case 

 of Wealthy, Fameuse and Mcintosh ap- 

 ples the color must be a mature one. 

 Duchess may be picked before it reaches 

 its full color, if we intend to export it. 

 But even in this case I would not recom- 

 mend at all picking Duchess too much 

 on the green side. 



An apple is generally ready to pick 

 when it is well ripe. This does not mean 

 that the apple should be ripe enough to 

 be eaten, but ripe enough to be shipped, 

 keep well and have a good taste. To 

 pick apples at this stage i.s very impor- 

 tant, .^s all apples on a tree do not 

 mature at the same time, like in the case 

 of Duchess, we generally make two or 

 three pickings. 



AVOID OVER-RIPENESS 



With red apples there is a growing 

 tendency on the part of some fruit grow- 

 ers, on account of the beauty of a bril- 

 liant red color, to allow apples to hang 

 too long on the tree. Disappointment is 

 many times the result of such a line of 

 conduct. Last fall many growers were 

 just glowing over the nice weather we 

 had, when there came a big wind storm 

 that made windfalls of half of their crop 

 of Fameuse apples. But this is only one 

 side of the matter. 



An apple that is allowed to remain 

 too long on the tree is beautiful in color, 

 tempting to taste, and as far as casual 

 observation goes is in perfect condition. 

 This is what fools many a grower. Such 

 apples are neither in a fit condition fo 



carry far or to hold up in cold storage. 

 Inability to judge the proper maturity 

 for picking brings back many complaints 

 from dealers. One year especially, after 

 a very dry and warm summer, we left 

 our Mcintosh and Fameuse too long on 

 our trees, and the falling down in our 

 cold storage plant was very noticeable. 

 An apple will keep just so long under 

 perfect conditions, and we should en- 

 deavor to know just when to pick at 

 least the two best varieties that we have 

 in our Province of Quebec — the Mcin- 

 tosh and Fameuse. 



The picking ,of our apples is done 

 every year by our Fathers and a few 

 good students of the Oka Agricultural 

 Institute, under the personal supervision 

 and guidance of one of the Fathers. No 

 matter how perfect may be the picking 

 equipment, good results can not be ob- 

 tained unless the fruit is handled very 

 carefully. There is no doubt at all that 

 a big percentage of the damage done to 



our tender ^•arieties of apples from broken 

 skins and punctures takes place before 

 the fruit reaches the packing house. So 

 we train our pickers and do not leave 

 every student who is able to climb a lad- 

 der or eat an apple, in our picking or 

 packing crew. 



EXPERT SUPERVISION 



The superintendent sees that the fruit, 

 is taken from the tree without breaking 

 off the fruit spurs, and that the apples 

 are carefully placed in baskets (made 

 especially for the purpose with osier by 

 one of our old Brothers.) These bas- 

 kets hold about one-half box of loose ap- 

 ples. We think it would be better to 

 line each basket vvith burlap. Apples 

 should l>e handled as carefully as eggs 

 for once bruised they do not keep long 

 and have a bad appearance. More ap- 

 ples are bruised in putting them into the 

 baskets, we believe, than in emptying 

 them into the boxes or sorting tables. 

 We always insist that our pickers put 



Sorting Apples in the Orchard at the Monastry at La Trappe, Que. This Table 

 is used now only for Barrel Packs. 



