CO-OPEEATION IN THE FEUIT INDUSTEY 



SUMMARY OF ADDRESS DELIVERED BY W. A. MacKINNON, CHIEF 

 OF THE FRUIT DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 

 OTTAWA. BEFORE THE MEAFORD FRUIT GROWERS' ASSOCIATION. 



T 



I. ORCHARD MANAGEMENT, 



O be really effective, co-operation 

 should begin with the planting of 

 the orchard, or rather with the se-' 

 lection of varieties. The group of growers 

 who are united for the purpose of making a 

 profit out of the product of their orchards 

 should agree in advance to plant only a few 

 of the very best commercial varieties which 

 succeed well in the soil and climate which is 

 at their disposal. 



The Cultivation of the orchard should 

 be uniform and thorough, the object being 

 to apply such methods as will yield the best 

 results. It will not do if some of the grow- 

 ers are careless or haphazard while others 

 are giving their orchards every possible 

 chance to do good work for them. 



Pruning also is a matter of the first im- 

 portance, and should be thoroughly attended 

 to from the start — all the orchards being 

 pruned on the same scientific principles. 



Spraying must be carefully done and by 



experienced hands, or it will only lead to dis- 

 couragement. A group of growers could 

 well afford to possess a power spraying out- 

 fit amongst them, and to make it the busi- 

 ness of a couple of men each year to spray 

 all their orchards in succession. 



The object of co-operative orchard man- 

 agement should be to secure from all the 

 members a high average quality of fruit, and 

 to minimize the percentage of " culls," 

 which will be a drag upon the commercial 

 operations to follow. We have assumed 

 that the members are just beginning to plant, 

 but co-operation can attain at least part of 

 its good results in the case of old orchards. 

 These may be top-grafted to profitable varie- 

 ties, may be gradually pruned into shape, 

 and kept clear of insects and fungus dis- 

 eases, while they may be brought under cul- 

 tivation if the circumstances warrant such 

 a step. In many old orchards the fir it 

 thing to be done is to remove one tree out of 

 every six or eight in order to admit suffi- 

 cient light and air to those that remain. 



