3o6 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



GOOD MARKETS AT HOME IF ONLY 

 ACCESSIBLE 



IT is astonishing what quantities of fruit 

 can be sold right at home, in our own 

 Ontario, if only some scheme of easier distri- 

 bution were in operation. Our province is 

 full of villages where no fruit is offered, and 

 yet where not only the villages, but the 

 farmers about, would be most eager to pur- 

 chase it. May we not hope that the exten- 

 sion of the electric trolley, and perhaps the 

 automobile freight wagon will by and by 

 help us to reach all these country sections 

 and wonderfully help the commercial fruit 

 grower to dispose of his fruit crop to ad- 

 vantage, without the great risk of loss at- 

 tending distant shipments. 



" I have a special method of my own of 

 selling my Red Astrachans," said Mr. Wil- 

 loughby, of Beamsville ; "I have an ac- 

 quaintance with the retail trade in some of 

 the northern towns, and I send my teams 

 direct to the stores with them, and get the 

 very best price for them, with no expenses 

 for freight and commission to be subtracted. 

 In the year 1896 for example, I sold 1,000 

 baskets of Astrachan apples in this way, a 

 large part of which averaged me 50 cents a 

 basket, and that is better than you can do 

 by exporting them." 



CHANCES FOR EXPORT OF FRUIT 



MR. JOSEPH CHEAL, F. R. H. S., of 

 Crawley, Sussex, England, a horti- 

 cultural author and practical expert in 

 gardening and fruit growing, called on us 

 the 2nd of July. He expressed himself as 

 particularly interested in the conditions 

 for commercial fruit growing afforded 

 by our country. Unfortunately for Eng- 

 lish fruit growers, much better rates were 

 allowed for carriage of Canadian fruit, on 

 the English railways, than for that which is 

 home grown, but in spite of this discourage- 

 ment there are many large commercial or- 

 chards in Great Britain. The present sea- 



son is a most depressing one to the English 

 fruit growers, for most unfavorable weather 

 has prevailed, and supplies of apples, pears 

 and plums will be very short. 



Mr. Alexander McNeill, of Ottawa, who 

 came in company with Mr. Cheal, reports 

 failures of our fruit crop in several import- 

 ant parts of Ontario. There are scarcely 

 any peaches in Essex, for the orchards were 

 all cleaned out in the winter of 1898, and 

 the newly set trees are not yet in bearing. 

 Thousands of acres however, are being 

 planted to peaches in Essex, so that in a 

 year or two there will be immense quanti- 

 ties produced. The apple is very poor in 

 quality in many parts of Northern Ontario, 

 owing to prevalence of apple scab, which 

 has been developed by excessive wet weath- 

 er. Both leaves and fruit are blackened by 

 this fungus in some places. 



Mr. C. W. VanDuzer said, " I doubt the 

 wisdom of trying to export fruit under the 

 present conditions of transportation ; the risk 

 of loss is too great as things are, and I 

 think I can do best at home." 



"The Dominion Government," said Mr. 

 McKinnon, " should buy fruit for experi- 

 mental shipments, and have a packing house 

 where the grading and packing should be 

 done after the most approved fashion, and 

 the work should be carried on until the 

 most complete success is attained. If the 

 Department of Agriculture, with all its 

 means and influence, is afraid to undertake 

 the risk, how can private shippers be ex- 

 pected to enter upon this business. I 

 should like to know, said he, how it is that 

 the temperature is not more quickly brought 

 down in cold storage after the steamer 

 leaves port. One of the thermographs 

 showed that it was three days after sailing 

 before the temperature was reduced to 

 40° F. ! " 



"Well," said Alex. McNeill, "this is 

 work which I, as acting chief of the fruit 

 division, will undertake to look after this 



