1 



Packing Fruit for Export 



W. W. Moore, Chief, Markets Division, Department of Agriculture, Ottawa 



IN this article I intend to deal witli the 

 general deniaiHls and preferences of the 

 markets abroad to which Canadian fruit 

 is shipped. The apple is the most important 

 factor in our exports of fruit. It constitutes 

 about 95 per cent of our sales abroad. I will 

 deal first, therefore, with some features of 

 oiir rxport trade in this fruit. 



THE KXl'OKT APPLE TR.\DE 



In 18S4-5 Canada exported aliout 240,000 

 barrels of apples; in 1892-3 slightly over one 

 million barrels, and in 18<)(i-7, l,G6't,470 bar- 

 rels, a total not since surpassed. In 1911-12. 

 however, when exports fell short of the 

 above total by 305 barrels the total value 

 was $5,104,107, as compared with $2,502,968 

 in 1896-7, or more than double the value for 

 practically the same quantity of fruit. The 

 crop of 1911, therefore, holds the record for 

 value of apples exported and the enterprise 

 of Canadian apple shippers Is demonstrated 

 by the fact that in that season shipments 

 were made to twenty-eight different coun- 

 tries, of which the United Kingdom, Ger- 

 many, Newfoundland, United States and 

 South Africa were the largest customers in 

 the order named. 



KEEPING IN TOtlCH 



It is advisable to push tlie sale of Cana- 

 dian apples over as wide an area as possible 

 as there is a great advantage in having com- 

 mercial connections in many diflferent coun- 

 tries for a product that depends so much on 

 the local supply in the various markets to 

 which we export. It should be remembered 

 that the sale of apples abroad depends not 

 only upon the quality of ttie fruit, means of 

 transportation and mutual confidence be- 

 tween buyer and seller, but also upon gain- 

 ing the favor of the consumers, and this can 

 be done only by giving them the opportunity 

 to sample the fruit and thus determine their 

 good qualities by actual test. Under these 

 circumstances it is desirable that as many 

 as possible of the twenty-eight markets re- 

 ferred to, should receive some shipments 

 every year, so that close relations may be 

 retained and the reputation of Canadian 

 ao'^les kept constantly before as many cus- 

 tomers as possible. 



COMPETITION GP.OWING KEENER 



In the past ten years there has been prac- 

 tically no increase in the quantity of apples 

 imported yearly into the United Kingdom 

 where the main demand foi Canadian apples 

 is found. It is obvious, therefore, that this 

 country can only secure a larger proportion 

 of that market at the expense of our compe- 

 titors. In order to achieve this result it is 

 imperative that better fruit must be grown 

 and greater care and skill developed in both 

 barrel and box packing. Consumers are get- 

 ting more critical every year and it is the 

 inferior grades of apples that cause sales to 

 drag and prices for all grades to decline. It 

 should always be remembered by fruit grow- 

 ers and packers "that two good apples are 

 worth more than two gooa apples with two 

 poor ones thrown in," 



DEM.\ND FOR BOXED .\PPLES 



In Great Britain the demand for boxed 

 apples is increasing in the high class trade, 

 which is catered to almost exclusively at 

 present by the product of the Western 

 States which reaches the market entirely in 

 boxes, packed in faultless style. The size: 

 most in demand during the greater part of 

 the season are those packing from one hun- 

 dred and thirty to two hundred apples in a 

 l)Ox. In Liverpool. Manchester and Glas- 

 irow there is usually a good demand for well 

 colored varieties of early apples packed in 

 boxes. In the past these soft varieties have 

 usually been shipped from Canada in bar- 

 rels and the weight of the upper layer? (jften 



led to the bruizing of the apples lielow mak- 

 ing the package "slack" and reducing the 

 selling value. In the early part of the sea- 

 son the London market is generally well 

 supplied with home-grown apples from the 

 great apple-producing countries near by. 



INKM'E.NCE OF THE PANAMA CANAL 



Canadian apple growers should take note 

 of the fact that the Panama Canal, now 

 about completed, will very seriously in- 

 crease the competition from growers in the 

 western states. At present the railroad 

 freight rate on apples in refrigerator cars 

 from Oregon shipping potnts to Eastern 

 markets is about sixty-two cents a box, but 

 when shipped by water via the Panama 

 Canal apples will be carried in cold storage 

 for less than half that rate, probably twen- 

 ty-five cents a box. It is expected that 

 steamers equipped with refrigerated cham- 

 I>ers will ply between ports on the Pacific 

 coast and Liverpool, Hamt)urg and other 

 European ports so that the rate to foreign 

 markets will at least be cut in two. It is 

 claimed that if the canal rates were avail- 

 able this season it would mean a saving in 

 freight rates to apple growers in the Hood 

 River section alone of at least $240,000. In 

 order to meet the situation Canadian apples 

 packed in boxes both for domestic and ex- 

 port trade will have to be finer in quality 

 and more scientifically packed than has 

 Ijeen the case in the oasv, if remunerative 

 prices are to be obtained. 



THE EXPORT PEAR TRADE 



Last season was a remarkably good one 

 for exporters of pears. English and French 

 crops were almost a total failure, and sup- 

 plies from these sources were consequently 

 very light. Unfortunately a considerable 

 proportion of the Bartlett pears shipped 

 from Canada were packed in barrels, an en- 

 tirely unsuitable package for this variety. 

 The greater weight in a barrel of pears, as 

 compared with apples, is apt to lead to less 

 care in handling in transit and the conse- 

 quent bruizing of the fruit. Even with care- 

 ful handling the heavy weight of the upper 

 layers on the bottom ones flatten the latter 

 and leave room for the balance of the fruit 

 to move about in the barrel each time it is 

 handled. Some three hundred barrels of 

 Bartlett pears shipped by a well known 

 Canadian apple shipper were condemned 

 and destroyed in Liverpool last season. If 

 these pears, which were a good quality, had 

 been wrapped and packed in half boxes they 

 would likely have arrived in good condition 

 and realized a good price. It is essential 

 that pears shipped abroad should arrive in 

 a hard green condition so that they will 

 Stand up until they reach rne ultimate con- 

 sumer. Pears arriving in a ripe condition 

 may be utterly thrown away if weather and 

 market conditions are unfavorable. It- is 

 also necessary that pears should be properly 

 graded and only fruit of thw same size pack- 

 ed together. 



COLD STORAGE NECESSARY 



Cold storage is a very important factor in 

 the shipment of pears, especially the Bart- 

 lett and other early varieties. Whenever 

 possible this class of fruit should be pre- 

 cooled at the initial point of shipment and 

 refrigerator cars and ocean cold storage 

 should be taken advantage of for every ship- 

 ment. The diflference in condition on arrival 

 in Great Britain between pears that had 

 been pre-cooled and shipped in iced cars 

 and steamship cold storage and those lack- 

 ing some or all of these advantages was 

 clearly demonstrated to the writer during a 

 visit there last autumn, as shipments from 

 the United States received under the former 

 conditions arrived in excellent shape, while 

 a large proportion of the other consign- 



2% 



ments were landed in a damaged condition 

 and were often a total loss. 



Some of the pears received in Lon<! 

 from Canada last season had only the ' 

 layer in each box wrapped. This is a v( i . 

 foolish practice; either all the pears should 

 be wrapped or none, as buyers will not i* - 

 the pride of wrapped fruit for boxes wli 

 contain largely unwrapped t'-uit. 



PEACHES FOR EXPORT 



The principal market for inipoi : 

 nea;hes in Great Britain ts found in I.^ 

 don. There is a demand t;iere for a limi: 

 quantity at fair prices. Experience li..- 

 shown that Canadian peaches can be landnl 

 in first-class condition provided proper c, 

 is exercised in picking and preparing th 

 for shipment. Each peach must be wr. 

 ped and single layer cases with wood w 

 lining should be used. If pre-cooling 

 fore shipment is possible .lie peaches n 

 be allowed to get reasonably mature bef 

 picking and thus ii^prove tneir quality ;. 

 appearance. 



COST OF PACKAGE AND MATERIAL 



Packing peaches for export entails c 

 siderable expense and good prices must 

 obtained if the business is to be profita! 

 When the trial shipment« of peaches 

 Great Britain were made by this Dep; 

 ment in 1910 it was found that the total cc , 

 of the package and packing material was ten 

 cents a single layer case holding about 

 twenty Elberta peaches. 



THIS season's OTJTLOOK UNCERTAIN 



Owing to the general European war 

 which at the time of writing Is in its initial 

 stage, the outlook for this season's export 

 fruit trade is very incertaln. The contin- 

 ental market will be lost, but thanks to the 

 protection of the British fleet it is possible 

 that shipping between Canada and the 

 Lfnited Kingdom will be uninterrupted with 

 freight and insurance rates not far from nor- 

 mal. There will undoubtedly be consider- 

 able unemployment in Great Britain, there- 

 by diminishing the purchasing power of the 

 bulk of the people, and fruit being more or 

 less of a lu.xury will be one of the food pro- 

 ducts most quickly aflfecte<i. The duration 

 of the titanic struggle will be the all-impor- 

 tant factor, but this we cannot foresee. 



Fruit Crop Prospects 



There is very little change in prospects t 

 the apple crop since last month. The avv 

 age over the whole Dominion for eariy 

 apples is 79 per cent, for all fall apples T'i 

 per cent, and for winter apples 75 per ce- 

 giving a total crop of 77 per cent. This 

 an increase of 28 per cent over the total ere <■ 

 of 1913. 



The apple crop promises to be generallv 

 clean, a feature of great importance. Tl 

 has been largely brought aDout by more i 

 fective spraying, assisted tjy dry weather. 

 There are some sections of Canada where 

 anple scab is usually prevalent, and even in 

 these the situation is not at all unfavoraWle. 



With the exception of the southern por- 

 tions of Ontario, fall varieties promise a 

 slightly lower yield than rne earlier sort*, 

 though this diflference is not greatly mark 

 in any particular district. Orchards um! 

 cultivation are in better condition than thf 

 which have not been so treated. This fe,-. 

 ure emphasizes the importance, in a seasor. 

 such as the present, of the conservation oi 

 moisture. 



PEARS 



There has been no decided change in the 

 pear crop. Prospects in southern Ontario 

 point to a yield a shade above medium. 

 Bartletts are generally light with Duchess 

 and Winter Nelis more productive than 



