November, 1914. 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



273 



Fruit Packages and Government Regulations' 



p. J. Carey, Dominion Fruit Division, Toronto, Ont. 



SECTION 326 of the Inspection and 

 Sales Act allows in addition to the 

 two specified sizes any size of berry 

 box, providing- that the word "short" 

 be s'amped on the side of the box. This 

 has been shown to be very unsatisfactory to 

 all concerned inasmuch as it has encourag- 

 ed placing on the market many different 

 sizes. R has also been shown that any de- 

 signation stamped on the side of a pack- 

 ai;r means nothing to the consumer gener- 

 ally and only gives an opportunity to the 

 unscrupulous dealer or grower to take un- 

 due advantage of the consumer. 



It seems advisable then that two sizes and 

 '.wo sizes only be allowed by law, full size 

 and half size. The present sizes are four- 

 fifths of a quart and two-fifths of a quart. 

 The wholesale men say that the sizes should 

 be a full quart and a pint. The growers say 

 that the four-fifths and two-fifths sizes are 

 good enough for them. 



B.4SKETS 



The law as it stands specifies four sizes 

 of basket, viz., fifteen quarts, eleven quarts, 

 six quarts, and two and two-fifths quarts, 

 bu/*: it also provides that any sue may be 

 used if capacity of basket is stamped on 

 the basket. As in the case of berry boxes.but 

 to a greater extent, this has resulted in the 

 placing on the market of all sizes of bas- 

 kets. The stamping on the side of bas- 

 kets is often very indistinct, and in any 

 case means nothing to the consumer, who 

 is entirely at sea as to what constitutes 

 the lawful size. The fifteen quart size and 

 the two and two-fifth size are very little 

 used, the eleven quart and the six quart 

 sizes fill the bill for the great bulk of bas- 

 ket fruit. The wholesale trade seems 

 unanimous in recommending that the sizes 

 between the six quart and the eleven quart 

 be eliminated and a number are in favor 

 of the smaller baskets being made one- 

 half of the full size, that is five and one- 

 half quarts. 



It would seem desirable then that the_ two 

 baskets for general use should be either 

 eleven quarts and six quarts or eleven 

 quarts and five and one-half quarts. In the 

 case of large peaches, three tiers cannot 

 be placed in an eleVen quart baske't, and 

 some growers are using a nine-quart size, 

 placing in two tiers. I submit that in all 

 fairness to growers, dealers and consumers, 

 if a special basket is allowed to hold three 

 tiers of large peaches it should be of such 

 a size as to still hold eleven quarts. Uni- 

 formity in sizes of packages should be a 

 matter of first consideration. 



STRENGTH OF PACKAGE 



Many of the baskets on the market are 

 very frail and poorly made, resulting in 

 great losses to growers and handlers of 

 fruit. It is desirable that the attention of 

 manufacturers should be called to this and 

 something recommended as to strength of 

 package and number of nails used in mak- 

 ing same. 



PROPER FILLING OP BASKETS 



Many complaints have been made by 

 the trade generally of the practice of under- 

 filling the baskets. It is not an uncommon 

 occurrence to see baskets not more than 

 two-thirds full. This is becoming a serious 

 source of ^nnovance as well as loss to both 

 the dealer and consumer. Inspectors have 

 done what they could to discourage this 

 practice, but of course hive no jurisdic- 

 tion to deal with the matter in the way of 

 prosecutions. It is agreed bv all branches 

 of the trade that ther e should be some en- 

 •A statement submitted at the recent Dominion 

 Fruit Conference in Grimsby, Ont. 



actment by law in order to bring about 

 the necessary improvement along the line 

 of better filling of fruit packages. It seems 

 desirable that a clause should be inserted 

 in the -Act requiring that all packages of 

 fruit offered for sale should be properly 

 and well filled, and in cases where there 

 was evidence of slack filling of packages 

 Inspectors would have the right to weigh or 

 measure the contents of such packages in 

 order to ascertain whether there was a 

 violation. It is believed that the moral 

 effect of such a law being in force would 

 go a long way in correcting the trouble, 

 and prosecutions would be few in number. 



THE APPLE BOX 



The Canadian apple box lOin. by llin. 

 by 20in., and the Western apple box have 

 been well tried out side by side, both in the 

 matter of packing and marketing, and there 

 seems to be but little choice in the two 

 boxes. Either one will fill the bill 



PEAR BOXES 



.'\s the pear boxes used for export are only 

 carriers and fruit does not reach the con- 

 sumer in the original package, and as spe- 

 cial boxes are used by the different shippers 

 in order to insure the safe carrying- of 

 fruit, it would be difficult to fix a uniform 

 pear box for both export and domestic 

 trade, but it is desirable that a uniform pear 

 box for domestic markets should be fixed 

 by law. Whatever size of pear box is 

 adopted the length and width should be the 

 same as the apple box. 



PEACH PACKAGES 



Every attempt that has been made on 

 the Toronto market at least to displace the 

 basket by the introduction of any other 

 style of peach package has failed, perhaps 

 not on account of the superiority of the 

 baskets, but because the dealer seems sus- 

 picious of any new package. So far, it 

 seems to have been a costly experiment for 

 the man who attempts to introduce a new 

 fruit package. 



Canadian Apples in South Africa 



W. J. Egan, Canadian Trade Commissioner, Cape Town, S.A. 



The Canadian apple is looked for in 

 South Africa from early October to De- 

 cember 15, at the latest. After that date 

 the South .'\fricam fruit is on the market 

 in large quantities. 



The good reputation held by Canadian 

 apples in this market received a decided 

 setback last year owing to the arrival at 

 this port of some badly graded Ben Davis 

 apples, and a particularly poor lot of Gold- 

 en Russets. It is unfortunate that these 

 apples should be allowed space on a service 

 that, owing to the time limit of the market, 

 is limited to a capacity of fifteen thousand 

 barrels at the most, and particularly when 

 all that could be sent of the better fruit 

 would find a ready market at top prices. 



An inspection of the Canada-Cape steam- 

 ers on arrival last year showed that all 

 Canadian fruit sent on consignment was 

 good fruit, well graded, properly packed, 

 and made good prices. The fruit which 

 was the cause of the trouble was purchased 

 in Canada by South African dealers. The 

 fruit did not sell well, with the result that 

 the anticipated profit on the good name of 

 Canadian apples was not realized, and it 

 helped to keep down the bidding on the 

 better fruit. 



The apple which will meet with a good 

 sale in South Africa is a hardy, well col- 

 ored red apple, medium size, in one and 

 two grades. Number three grade should 

 not be shipped. The fruit must of course 



ONE DAY SERVICE 



We will ship your parcel -vrithln one 



day of the time we receive your order. 



WE PAY DELIVERY CHARGES 



on every article catalogued, to your 

 nearest Post Offlco. A post card will 

 bring our big catalogue to you free. 



Robert SIMPSON Limited 



TORONTO 



FOR PROFIT 



Plant our Top Notch FRUIT. SHADE 

 and ORNAMENTAL TREES th{s 

 Fall. EVERGREENS, SHRUBS. 

 ROSES, VINES, BUSHES. Ask 

 for Price List {No Agents) at Central 

 Nurseries. 



A. G. HULL & SONS 

 St, Catharines - Ontario 



Gravity " design 



THIS WASHER 

 MUST PAY 

 FOR ITSELF 



A MAN tried to sell me a horse once. He said it 

 was a fine horse and had nothing the matter with 

 it. I wanted a fine horse, but, 1 didn't know 

 anything about horses much. 

 And I didn't know the man 

 very well either. 



So I told him I wanted to 

 try the horse for a month. 

 He said "All right, but pay 

 me first, and I II give you 

 back your money if the 

 korse isn't alright." 



Well, Ididn^tUkethat. I ^ 

 was afraid the horse wasn't 

 "alright" and that I might 

 have to whistle for my mon- 

 ey if I once parted with it. 

 So I didn't buy the horse, 

 although I wanted it badly. 

 Now this set me thinking. I 



You see I make Washing 

 Machines— the "1900 Grav- 

 ity" Washer. 



And I said to myself, lota 

 of people may think .bout g"" fraates, co^vemf net. 

 my wishing Machine as I ""','" " f"" i°P."""l 

 thought about the horse, «"* »""'* '""^ lho„uih 



J u . .L _ 1. work. Do not overtook tha 



and about the man who , , ,, , , 

 owned it. detachable tub feature. 



But I'd never know, because they wouldn't write and 

 tell me. You see, I sell my Washing Machines by 

 mail. 1 have sold over half a million that way. So, 

 thought I, it is only fair enough to let people try my 

 Washing Machines for a month, before they pay for ' 

 them, just as I wanted to try the horse. 



Now, I know what our "1900 Gravity" Washer will 

 do. I know it will wosh the clothes, without wearing 

 or tearing them, in less than half the time they can b< 

 washed by band or by any other machine. 



I know it will wash a tub full of very dirty clothe* 

 in Six minutes. I know no other machine ever in- 

 vented can do that without wearing the clothes. Our 

 "1900 Gravity" Washer does the work so easy thata 

 child can run it almost aa well as a strong woman, and 

 it don't wear the clothes, fray the edges nor break but- 

 tons, the way all other machines do. 



It just drives soapy water clear through the fibres of 

 the clothes like a force pump might. 



So, said i to myself, I will do with my "1900 

 Gravity" Washer what I wanted the man to do with the 

 horse. Only I won't wait for people to ask me. I'll 

 offer first, and I'll make good the offer every time. 



l,rt me send you a "1900 Gravity" Washer on a 

 month's free trial. I'll pay the freight out of my own 

 pocket, and if you don't want the machine after you've 

 used it a month, i I'll take it back and pay the 

 freight, too. Surely that is fair enough, isn't it. 



Doesn't it prove that the "1900 Gravity" Washer 

 must be all that I say it is ? 



And yuu can pay me out of what it saves for you. 

 It will save its whole cost in a few months in wear and 

 tear on the clothes alone. And then it wilt save 50 to 

 75 cents a week over that on washwoman's wages. If 

 you keep the machine after the month's trial, I'll let 

 you pay for it out of what it saves you. If it saves you 

 60 cents a week, send me 50c a week till paid for. I'll 

 lake that cheerfully, ami I'll wait for my money until 

 the machine ittelf earns the balance. 



Drop me a line to-day* and let me send you a book 

 about the "1900 Gravity" Washer that washes clothe* 

 in six minutes. 



Addrees me personally: 

 B. T. MORRIS, Mffr.. 1900 Washer Co.. 

 557 Yonge Street. Toronto, Ont. 

 Factory: 79-81 Portland St.. Toronto, Ont. 



