CANADIAN PEARS IN THE BRITISH MARKET 



MR. W. H. COARD, Dept. of Agricul- 

 ture, Ottawa, writes as follows: 

 From the reports of the Government agents 

 at Glasgow (Scotland) it would appear that 

 our Canadian pears are at last receiving 

 that appreciation which they deserve. The 

 earlier shipment of Clapp's Favorites and 

 Bartletts were not altogether successful ; in- 

 deed, it can be taken for granted that 

 Clapp's Favorite cannot be successfully 

 shipped and should not be planted as an 

 export pear. The Bartlett, under favorable 

 conditions, does better, but cannot be de- 

 pended upon, nor is the market likely to be 

 so good at this season of the year; but our 

 later shipment of Duchess, Sheldon, Anjous, 

 and even Kieffer, have been quite successful. 

 None of the varieties, however, are likely to 

 equal either in profit to the grower or satis- 

 faction to the buyer the Duchess. This 

 pear combines in a rare degree excellent 

 shipping qualities and good table charac- 

 teristics, and the reports, especially from 

 Glasgow, this year have been most encourag- 

 ing. 



Mr. John Brown, Dominion Government 

 agent at Glasgow, has reported a dealer as 

 stating that " after keeping the Duchess for 

 fully ten days he found this pear to ripen 

 nicely, adding, "I am well pleased with the 

 way these pears have turned out, and am 

 looking forward to getting some of the next 

 shipments." Mr. Brown adds, " another 

 party, who had fifty cases, kept them in an 

 ordinary cellar for over a fortnight — from 

 October 31st to November 15th — and was 

 delighted with the way the fruit came up. 

 He expressed the opinion that they were 

 very much better than the late varieties of 

 French pears that he had been getting." 



One large Glasgow dealer recently pur- 

 chased over 300 cases of Duchess pears at 



from go to 96 cents, and after keeping them 

 for a couple of w6eks sold every case at 

 from 120 to 132 cents each. These pears 

 were beginning to color splendidly. Another 

 dealer in the same city, after keeping 

 twenty cases for ten days, in a warm banana 

 house, disposed of them at from $1.32 to 

 $1.44 each, and the buyers were well satis- 

 fied with the bargain. In fact, the entire 

 shipment was a complete success, and 

 should stimulate emulation amongst pear 

 growers on this side. 



One noticeable feature was the appearance 

 of the pears in the cases, those wrapped 

 separately in paper showing up to much 

 better advantage than those packed without 

 wrapper in the case. . Mr. MacKinnon 

 desires to express the opinion that the less 

 " Excelsior ' there is used in packing pears 

 the better, a little at top, bottom and sides 

 of the case being quite sufficient. " I am 

 certain," the gentleman adds, " that the next 

 arrival of Canadian pears in the old country 

 will realise better prices than the last, be- 

 cause buyers were dubious about the fruit 

 turning out all right." 



Exporters will do well to remember that 

 the large Duchess pears would have done 

 better had they been more matured. After 

 being kept a short time the prices realised 

 tor them increased by from 36 to 48 cents 

 per case of 20 pounds. This has reference 

 to the large Duchess only, the small Duchess 

 not ripening up nearly so satistactorily. 



Taken as a whole, this report is very 

 satisfactory, and, looking at the large mar- 

 ket in the United Kingdom for fruit all the 

 year round, future consignments from Can- 

 ada, if they maintain the quality of that 

 under notice, will meet a ready sale, and 

 will fetch higher prices than those quoted 

 here. 



