452 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



spector McNeill giving- a demonstration 

 of grading and packing apples. After show- 

 ing what apples should grade No. i and 

 what No. 2, Mr. McNeill, with Mr. Robert 

 Thompson's assistance, packed a barrel of 

 apples for export; he then showed several 

 box packages and advised their use for fancy 

 fruit. In 1901, he said, California shipped 

 200,000 boxes of apples, and even British 

 Columbia were larger shippers of boxed ap- 

 ples than Ontario. The California people 

 use a smaller box than we are using in On- 

 tario ; ours when filled weighs about 55 

 pounds and theirs only about 40 pounds. It 

 measures outside 20 x 12)^ x 9^, and inside 

 18)^x11^x8}^. It takes about four of 

 them to a barrel. " We have too long been 

 trying experiments in introducing new pack- 

 ages. Why not just accept California boxes, 

 that are already known in the British mar- 

 ket," said Mr. McNeill. 



Mr. Geo. E. Fisher objected, because the 

 Ontario bushel box is a better box and 

 stronger. Besides it has a great advantage 

 when calculating cold storage space, because 

 being practically 1x1x2 feet, it measures 

 just about two cubic feet ; while the pear half 

 case is the same superficies and measures 

 only one cubic foot. 



" I think," said Mr. A. H. Pettit, who was 

 showing his new apple grader, that the Cali- 

 fornia box is too weak, the sides are too 

 thin, and for long shipments are not to be 

 compared to our Ontario apple box." 



" I am a little disappointed in my first re- 

 turns for winter apples in boxes," said 

 the writer, " for, while barrels of Kings are 

 reported selling at from $5.00 to $6.00 a 

 barrel in Great Britain, my boxes are only 

 selling at from $1.00 to $1.50, and there are 

 scarcely three boxes to a barrel !" 



MIGHT EXPORT PEACHES 



DEPUTY MINISTER JAMES, of the 

 Ontario Agricultural Department, is 

 of the opinion that with proper export facili- 



ties a big trade in peaches could be built up 

 between Canada and Great Britain, such as 

 now exists between the Old Country and the 

 United States. He did not think that speed 

 was such a factor as proper cold storage ac- 

 commodation. In many districts of Canada, 

 such as the Niagara and Essex fruit belts, 

 magnificent peaches were grown which would 

 find a ready sale in England at good prices 

 if they could be got there in really good con- 

 dition. Mr. James remarked that the United 

 States peach export trade had been to a large 

 extent fostered and built up by Government 

 efforts. 



As a sample of the prices which obtain for 

 this luscious fruit in England it may be men- 

 tioned that a citizen of the Republic recently 

 remarked to The Mail and Empire that he 

 got the shock of his life at a London (Eng- 

 land) restaurant. After lunch, he casually 

 ordered half a dozen peaches, forgetting how 

 far from Peachland he was. The shock came 

 when he had to put up half a crown (60 

 cents) each for them. 



MR. R. L. HUGGARD AT LINDSAY FAIR 



IT would be a good thing if we fruit 

 growers could oftener exchange visits 

 at fairs, but our fruit harvest makes it very 

 difficult. Mr. R. L. Huggard wriies the 

 Sun of the fruit at the Lindsay Fair as 

 follows : 



In fruit, the exhibit was exceedingly fine, 

 notwithstanding the cold, rainy spring. 

 Lindsay vicinity must be a splendid fruit 

 section, as many sorts, such as Kings, 

 Greenings and some others, especially 

 Fameuse and Wealthy, were superior to 

 the same varieties shown at the Industrial. 

 The same applies to pears — Bartletts, Clapps* 

 Favorite, and Flemish Beauty, with several 

 other kinds equally good. Quite an exhibit 

 was also made in plums, both of native and 

 foreign varieties. There was, too, a plate 

 of beautiful Fitzgerald peaches. I after- 

 wards saw some of the fruit on the trees in 



