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THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



November, 191 4 



Mr. O. E. Mcintosh, of Forest, Ont., 

 told of having seen eighteen carloads of 

 peaches in Detroit at one time while 

 across the river in Windsor there 

 were none. In Detroit they sold for 

 $1 .30 a bushel and in Windsor for $2.25 

 for three baskets. Some growers who 

 had paid twenty-five cents a bushel duty 

 to get their fruit into Detroit later paid 

 forty cents a bushel duty to get the fruit 

 back into Windsor, and saved money by 

 doing so. 



SALE PEICB OF APPIjES 



Mr. Elmer Lick, of Oshawa, said that 

 he had received reliable information the 

 day before that some Duchess apples had 

 been sold a few days previously in Bran- 

 don for $1.75 a bushel. This, he con- 

 sidered, meant an unfair profit for the 

 retailer in Brandon. 



A western dealer who was present, 

 challenged this conclusion. He pointed 

 out that Duchess apples were selling in 

 Ontario for $2.25 a barrel, freight came 

 to $1.10 a barrel, jobbers' charge to 50 

 cents; total charge, $3.85. Apples at 

 $1.75 a bushel equalled about $4.85 a 

 barrel. This left an apparent profit of 

 about $1 a barrel. Out of this, how- 

 ever, the retailer would have to pay his 

 operating expenses, which would leave 

 him a considerably smaller profit than 

 appeared. 



Mr. Pritchard, of Paris, said that he 

 had been a retailer for several years and 

 was now a retailer. He had had all the ex- 

 perience he wanted as a retailer. He 

 would rather hoe potatoes all the year 

 around. One difficulty was that growers 

 do not know what it costs them to pro- 

 duce a barrel of apples on an average, 

 say, for five years. 



R. M. Winslow, of British Columbia, 

 said that they had investigated the cost 

 of production in British Columbia, and 

 had placed it at between 75 cents and 

 80 cents a packed box. 



Mr. J. G. H. Pattison, of Winona, 

 said that the present methods of gather- 

 ing crop information are very inaccurate, 

 not even the Government reports being 

 as accurate as they should be. He 

 thought that trained men should be en- 

 gaged to go through the chief fruit dis- 

 tricts to gain this information. 



Prof. T. G. Bunting, Macdonald Col- 

 Icg^i Que., agreed with Senator Smith 

 that the local dealers are kept properly 

 posted as to the prices of fruit, but he 

 thought that some means should be de- 

 vised of getting that information to the 

 public. The public gains the impression 

 from their local dealers that the crop is 

 small and prices high, and stop buying. 

 If they knew the real conditions they 

 would insist on obtaining a supply at 

 reasonable prices. He thought it would 

 be a good idea if accurate information 

 could be published in the daily papers for 

 the guidance of the public. 



Prof. J. W. Crow, O.A.C., Guelph, 

 pwinted out that the cost of production 

 has nothing to do with the selling price 

 of the fruit. We require a better sys- 

 tem of market reporting and of crop re- 

 porting. It had been suggested that the 

 Federal Government should endeavor to 

 gather this information. 



Much of the criticism aimed against 

 the retailer, he said, was unfair. This 

 was because we do not know what it 

 costs him to conduct his business. There 

 are very few retailers that are getting 

 wealthy. We know that many fail. One 

 of the reasons for the high cost of doing 



The Apple: Our National Dish 



What do you say to a concerted effort 

 being made by the fruit interests of 

 Canada to have "The Apple" made the 

 recognized "National Dish" of Canada? 

 The Englishman is noted for his "Roast 

 Beef." the Irishman for his love of "Pota. 

 toes," the Scotchman for his partiality to 

 "Oatmeal"' and the United Stateser for 

 his "Pork and Beans.'' Canadians are as 

 yet without a national dish. 



The consumption of apples might be 

 greatly Increased were they to be adver- 

 tised in the "1001" ways they would be, 

 both at home and abroad, were they to 

 become known as the national fruit of 

 Canada. They are now produced In all 

 parts ol Canada, even the prairies, and 

 are thus n-tional In habits of growth. 

 This suggestion was first made In The 

 Canadian Horticulturist two years ago by 

 Mrs Edwin Peart, of Freeman. Ont. Let 

 us hear from our readers as to what they 

 think of It- 



business is the cost of duplication. All 

 the retailers have to maintain delivery 

 rigs, which drive back and forth over the 

 same ground, entailing much unneces- 

 sary expense. Growers should also con- 

 sider the factor of advertising. Grocers 

 handle most of the leading breakfast 

 foods with little or no profit. This is 

 because they are so well advertised the 

 public demands them and the grocer has 

 to carry them in stock. Fruit growers 

 may be able to obtain a suggestion from 

 this condition. 



Mr. H. B. Cowan, of The Canadian 

 Horticulturist, pointed out that there was 

 another factor to be considered. In 

 towns and cities land values are very 

 high. The owners of land often demand 

 enormous rentals from the people who 

 want to use it. A commission dealer 

 with a large warehouse might have to 

 pay a rental of $4,000 or $5,000 a year. 

 In addition, he would have to pay high 

 wages to his employees to enable them 

 to pay their rentals. Thus such a dealer 

 would have to sell 4,000 to 5,000 barrels 

 of apples and make a so-called clear 

 profit of one dollar a barrel on each be- 

 fore he would even be able to pay his 

 rent, to say nothing of the wages of his 

 employees or a salary for himself. Too 

 large a proportion of this money went 

 to the landowners, who merely owned 

 the land and charged monopoly prices for 

 its use without having any material risks 



or work ing as do the fruit growers and 

 retailers. 



In closing the di.scussion, Dominion 

 Fruit Commissioner D. Johnson promis- 

 ed that the Government would investi- 

 gate the points raised during the discu.s- 

 sion. Later resolutions were adopted 

 endorsing Mr. Thompson's suggestions 

 regarding trial shipments of fruit and 

 trade commissioners. 



Orchard Notes 



Orchard trees may l)e mulched this 

 month. Place the straw or manure out 

 about as far as the branches go. and 

 leave at least three inches bare at the 

 base of the tree, so mice will not work 

 on the tree. Put on about four inches 

 thick. 



Throw a few shovelfuls of earth 

 against the young apple and plum trees 

 before the ground freezes. This will 

 help to keep mice away from the trunks. 



Save a few cuttings of grapes for 

 planting next year. Cut the wood into 

 pieces having two to three buds, and 

 place in sand or sawdust in a cellar un- 

 til spring, when they may be planted out 

 in nursery rows. 



Grapes in northern sections should be 

 pruned and laid on the ground ready to 

 cover with earth for the winter. 



Cut and burn all dead or dying trees 

 on the place, as they will spread disease 

 or insects to other trees. 



Lay down raspberries and blackber- 

 ries and cover them with enough dirt 

 to hold them close to the ground all win- 

 ter. This should be done when there 

 is no frost in tht canes. 



Barrel Packing 



It is advisable for young packers to 

 take off the head of a barrel of their tail- 

 ing ocasionally and note the number of 

 apples which have been touched by the 

 head at the pressed end. If it should 

 appear that a number of apples have not 

 been touched by the head, and others are 

 severely pressed, then they may rest 

 assured that they have made a poor job 

 of the tail. The aim should be to have 

 equal pressure upon every apple in the 

 last row. 



It is not of material importance wheth- 

 er the stem end or the blow end is placed 

 up. It injures the apple somewhat less 

 to have the blow end up, but the apples 

 can be placed in a better position by hav- 

 ing the stem end up. All stems showing 

 either' on the head or tail should be re- 

 moved with a stemmer. Do not attempt 

 this work with a knife. This operation 

 is frequently neglected and long stem? 

 are pressed into the flesh of the apple, 

 giving entrance to disease germs. 



Heads out from heavy paper or light 

 pulp board are very desirable on both 



