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THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



others such as King, which is always popu- 

 lar, and Cabashea also. Gravenstein needs 

 no mention for popularity and when in good 

 color makes the top price. We had a case 

 of apples named Brockville Beauty, highly 

 colored but very small. It may be some of 

 the children of that variety, but my recollec- 

 tion is of a large fruit more of the Falla- 

 water size and form. 



Peaches did not arrive in order, but why ? 

 I observed the only few specimens discern- 

 able were Garfields, which were loosely 

 packed in tissue only, and one kind not 

 named from Mr. Woolverton, where tissue 

 was only used in a few specimens. In the 

 whole there was one perfect specimen and 

 that was not wrapped at all. Evidently the 

 double wrapping is not suitable for peaches, 

 nor do I think desirable in any fruit. What- 

 ever the packing may be it should allow a 

 perfect circulation of air around the fruit 

 itself. Samples in the Wilson case fillers 

 were good, but unless each filled its compart- 

 ment closely, the moving tends to bruise 

 any soft fruit. 



The first shipment came in cold storage 

 and was perfect, excepting peaches and soft 

 pears. The second lot was not in cold stor- 

 age and all peaches, pears and plums were 

 rotten, and the softer kinds of apples wasty 

 and unfit for market. 



My own judgment is that a compartment, 

 supplied with cool dry air by a fan, would be 

 more serviceable for fruits than the cold 

 storage as it is often supplied. Possibly if 

 the matter were followed out we would find 

 that the cold chamber is not held at an even 

 temperature during the voyage, or it may 

 be held at too low a temperature. This mat- 

 ter requires looking carefully after. I be- 

 lieve 43 to 45 would be cool enough for soft 

 fruits and certainly if the temperature goes 

 under 40 evil will ensue. 



But to return to the staple fruit, it pays 

 better to ship an apple that combines eating 

 and cooking uses than simply one, medium 



size, even samples of good form and gener- 

 ally attractive. To get a high price both the 

 eye and palate must be tickled./ 



It is better not to try and impress the 

 markets with the large number of varieties 

 we have by sending shipments mixed with 

 many kinds. More money is made by a few 

 choice kinds and consumers are not mystified 

 as to what to buy. It is a mistake to pack 

 with fresh excelsior as it heats when not in 

 cold storage, and generally too much of it is 

 used. If properly seasoned or kiln dried it 

 is one of the best materials we have for the 

 purpose, and when apples are wrapped solid- 

 ly in cases a very slight scattering of excel- 

 sior between layers is useful. Even when it 

 is used without wrapping samples, much less 

 will suffice than I observe shippers using. 

 The Russians use straw when packing apples 

 for winter use. Long single stalks are 

 placed under each layer above and along the 

 sides all through the package so that sam- 

 ples are separated by a few straws on all 

 sides, and some claim this system is perfect 

 although tedious. For those who have the 

 time and patience it may be worth trying. 



It would be a great convenience if shippers 

 would use stencils to mark the name of kind 

 and shipper's name on each package, as 

 labels are so easily torn off in transit. 



We are not receiving fruit enough to go 

 into the markets and make a perfect test of 

 what can be done in prices, as much of it is 

 used in keeping the exhibition tables attrac- 

 tive. But the small surplus we get is readily 

 sold at 8 shillings for the large cases and 5 

 shillings to 6 shillings for the small where 

 the fruit is in good order. I did sell some 

 fine Oldenburgs at 10 shillings and the deal- 

 ers in selling by the pound charged 8 pence. 

 Consumers readily, however, pay from 4 

 pence to 6 pence per pound. 



Freights are too high and pressure should 

 be brought to get a much better scale of 

 rates from forwarding companies. I believe 

 fruit pays the highest average freight ot.any 



