NOTES AND COMMENTS, 



95 



So it appears that old Ben still has his 

 friends. 



BEN DAVIS FOR STOCK. 



"T HAVE great confidence in Ben Davis 

 A for top grafting upon," said Mr. 

 Shourds. " A Spy tree is apt to split at the 

 crotch, but Ben Davis is tough and does not 

 break down ; besides Spy, top grafted on 

 Ben Davis, bears fairly early. I have an 

 instance where I top grafted Spy on the 

 branches of a Ben Davis at three years after 

 planting, and at seven years it began fruit- 

 ing. I am planting twenty acres to Ben 

 Davis trees, and if I want Spy I will have 

 first-class stock upon which to top graft it." 



PHOENIX. 



THIS apple is grown to a considerable 

 extent in Northumberland County, 

 and some growers value it highly. Mr. 

 Solomon, of Brighton, who was packing at 

 Butler's storage, said he found it quite as 

 productive as Baldwin, as good a shipper 

 and seller ; but Mr. C. W. Crandall, of Col- 

 borne, thought it inferior to Baldwin, and 

 all owned it was not as gx)od a keeper, and 

 should be shipped before January or it would 

 discolor. The samples given us on January 

 20th however, were still bright in color and 

 in excellent condition. 



SIZE OF BOXES FOE FRUIT. 



WE are frequently asked to give the 

 proper size for the apple and pear 

 box for Ontario ; but really the question is 

 not very easy of answer, so many have been 

 the changes. We believe, however, that the 

 apple box adopted for 1903 by our meeting 

 at Walkerton is the most desirable in size, 

 and the one most likely to become the stand- 

 ard for Ontario, and we hope for Canada. 

 This box is 9 inches deep, 12 inches wide, 

 and 18 inches long, inside measurement. 



It is practically the California pear box, 

 with capacity for forty pounds of pears. 

 Now in the British market the 40 pound or 

 quarter barrel apple boxes are most in de- 



mand, and if we use a larger one, we ship at 

 a loss. This box is suitable for both pears 

 and apples ; but for tender varieties such as 

 Bartlett, one 5 x 12 x 18 inside would be 

 better, because only taking two layers of 

 fruit ; it would have a capacity of about 

 twenty-five pounds. 



For Cheeries, we use the nine pound 

 grape basket, but some have tried the 

 California pear box with success. It meas- 

 ures inside, length 16^ inches, width lo^s 

 inches, depth 2^ inches. This box takes 

 two layers of cherries, the one layer so 

 placed against the top that no stems show 

 when opened. The capacity is ten pounds. 



For Peaches, the California people use a 

 similar box to the pear box described above, 

 but depth inside about 4)^ inches; and 

 capacity twenty-two pounds. 



Measurements of Apple Box. — Mr. 

 George E. Fisher, of Burlington, who was 

 a member of our committee on boxes at 

 Walkerton, has been figuring out the con- 

 tents of our proposed box, and says that 

 although in number of cubic inches it is a 

 little too large to be equal ^ of our apple 

 barrel, yet in actual trial, owing to packing 

 material and number of spaces about the 

 sides, it is about as near correct as possible, 

 and Burlington growers are adopting the size 

 recommended above. He figures it out thus: 



•'A standard barrels contains 96 quarts or 

 6655 inches ; 9x12x18= 1944 inches; 6655 

 -^ 1944 = 3.423 or 3 2/5 boxes to barrel; ^ 

 of 6655=1664 or ]{ barrel; 18x12 = 216; 

 1664-^216 = 7.7 inches or less than 8 inches 

 depth. Therefore 18 x 12 x 7.7 = 1664 or j^ 

 barrel by measure. Four boxes iSx 12 x 8 

 does not fill a barrel because of the greater 

 number of large spaces about the sides of 

 the box. The size of the required box can- 

 not be determined by figures, but must be 

 ascertained by actual trial. 3 and 2/5 boxes, 

 9 X 12 X i8 are equal to a barrel in measure, 

 but it does not work out that way, and our 

 boxes are ordered 9 x 12 x i8 as recom- 

 mended by the Walkerton meeting. 



