HINTS TO ONTAEIO FEUIT SHIPPEES 



THE TASMANIAN APPLES— SOME SPECIAL VARIETIES — NONE 

 EQUAL TO CANADIAN — LESSONS TO BE LEARNED IN PACKING 



A LETTER FROM 



A. McD. ALLAN 



SUPT. OF FRUIT EXHIBIT FOR THE DOMINION AT WOLVERHAMPTON, ENG. 



PROBABLY the most striking charac- 

 teristic of the Tasmanian apple is the 

 similarity of all the varieties, and the fact 

 that all are alike firm in flesh, but devoid of 

 juice and possessed of but little flavor. 

 Doubtless the absence of juice accounts to 

 a large extent for the fact of their carrying 

 so well to distant markets. Some dealers 

 inform me that it is a rare thing to find 

 decayed or partially decayed specimens 

 among the best kinds, especially in the 

 early shipments. But in the second quality 

 sometimes nearly half the contents of a box 

 is worthless. 



The box is made from hardwood and con- 

 tains from thirty-eight to forty pounds of 

 fruit, each sample wrapped in tissue, or 

 soft light brown paper. There does not 

 appear to be much, if any fungus spotting 

 in them, but they wilt and become wrinkled 

 in the skin and dry in flesh. Excepting a 

 slight blush upon the cheek there is an 

 absence of high color. They are of the 

 pippin family, the yellow kinds with a slight 

 blush being considered the best for dessert, 

 and the hard, green kinds for cooking only. 

 The highest quality variety is named " New 

 York," size and color about equal to a good 

 medium sized Yellow Bellflower, core large 

 and open like that variety, but "calyx closed 

 and set in deep, smooth basin, stem short 

 and thick, set in a smooth, open, deep 

 basin. This variety has a fine aroma which 

 would lead one to expect fine flavor, but it 

 is quite disappointing in this respect. This 

 and several other kinds are of the Ribston 

 form, or rather between that and Chenango, 



while another class of varieties is flatter and 

 does not average so large or heavy. 



Storman Pippin, which is said to be the 

 best of this latter class, is a fair representa- 

 tive of them all in form and color, and re- 

 sembles New York in all but form. New 

 York brings the highest price, from ten to 

 to twelve shillings ; Storman Pippin 8 to 

 ten shillings ; other named kinds, five to 

 seven shillings. Tasmanians are now all in 

 the market and will soon be in consumption 

 just as French strawberries and cherries 

 arrive. Canada has nothing to fear from 

 Tasmanian apples, even if they come in 

 direct competition. But we can learn a 

 lesson in careful selecting and packing. I 

 am convinced that it will pay our shippers 

 to send all first-class samples in boxes, 

 wrapping each specimen in tissue, and to 

 send forward in cold storage, even if freight 

 rate should be much higher in that way. 



The shipper who does this, taking great 

 care to select absolutely choice specimens, 

 to adopt and register with a neat, appropri- 

 ate brand, stencil the correct name of fruit 

 and its grade as well as the name of shipper 

 upon every box, will make a fancy price in 

 any market here and create a demand for 

 all that Canada can send in future years. 



Many dealers complain of the bad pack- 

 ing, and indeed it would be hard to regain 

 confidence in barrel packing, as the trade 

 everywhere express strongly against it, 

 although some do admit a change for the 

 better lately. But even these strongly ad- 

 vise the use of the box. 



