494 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



more desirable, will not suffer by the general 

 decline because they are wanted by the trade 

 everywhere." 



THE APPLE MARKET STIFFENING. 



C>ONSIDERING the quantity of apples 

 ^ in our country, it is surprising how 

 stiff the prices hold for good stock. The 

 lowest market is usually in November and 

 early in December, because then everyone 

 is shipping, and inferior stock must be sold, 

 or it will spoil on hand. The foreign crop 

 is very light, and not only England but all 

 Europe is calling out for our apples. Add 

 to this the rapid opening of Manitoba and 

 the Northwest as a market for our fruit, and 

 we have most encouraging prospects for the 

 sale of our fruit products not only this year 

 but in future years. Several fruit men have 

 shipped their apples and Kieffer pears to 

 Winnipeg, and report even better results 

 than by exporting them to Great Britain. 

 Nor is this the .only new outlet. This year 

 for the first time, a line of steamers is run- 

 ning between Montreal and Capetown, S. 

 A., and the prospect is for a splendid apple 

 market in that country, and already a ship- 

 ment of boxed apples is on the way. 



There are a great many of the best apples 

 now being stored in cold storage in Mon- 

 treal, and other large centres, to be placed 

 on sale when the poor sort is disposed of. 

 And no doubt these will bring prices that 

 will compensate for the risk and trouble of 

 storage, unless the unusual quantity thus 

 stored should weigh down the market in 

 early spring, and the early apples from 

 Tasmania should come into close competi- 

 tion with our stored stock. 



BOXES FOR CHOICE APPLES. 



MR. J. B. THOMAS, of Covent Gar- 

 den, London, England, recently paid 

 a visit to Ontario, and was greatly taken 

 with our beautiful apples. He writes : 

 " Fruit buyers are clamoring for choice. 



gilt edge stock in boxes. But herein 

 also mistakes will arise if care is not used 

 to keep out all ordinary fruit. The buyers 

 of this class require a first-class article, 

 suitable for the English best class trade, 

 who can rely upon the contents where 

 the question of price is of little or no im- 

 portance. For those who, unfortunately, 

 do not control fancy fruit this year, I would 

 say, do not be tempted to try this new 

 method, as failure is with you before you 

 start. Boxes should measure inside — long, 

 2 J ins., deep, 9 ins., wide, 11 ins. Pack 

 with very thin tissue paper. 



" I believe more in small profits and quick 

 returns, on which basis I favor the trade 

 more before Christmas than after. I do 

 not consider now our English markets are 

 safe to reckon upon as being open after the 

 second week of March, leaving the public a 

 fortnight for consuming that supply ere the 

 arrivals come to hand from our Southern 

 Colonies — Australia and Tasmania." 



An English correspondent of the Sun 

 writes farther on the subject as follows : 



" It is in some cases only when we come 

 to the jobber or retailer and the middle-class 

 .consumer, that we meet the man who seri- 

 ously and reasonably prefers the box. Un- 

 less, then, a shipper carefully selects his 

 market (perhaps even his broker), when he 

 sends a consignment of apples in boxes, he 

 must be prepared to continue shipping, even 

 at a loss, until by sheer merit his package 

 forces recognition — until, in fact, the retail 

 demand makes itself felt, and is echoed 

 back along the line of trade, with the result 

 that even the brokers enter into competition 

 to secure his fruit in his package. That 

 will take time and care, and cannot be ac- 

 complished by the shipper who sends spas- 

 modic shipments in boxes here and there, 

 and gives up when prices do not at once 

 reimburse him for the extra outlay. 



" Above all, whether in markets which are 

 now favorable or adverse, nothing but prime, 



