348 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



BLACKBERRIES AT ( RAIGHURST. 



IT has generally been supposed that the 

 blackberry could not be successfully 

 grown much outside of the peach growing 

 sections. With the introduction of hardier 

 varieties, however, it seems that the area 

 over which this fruit may be grown may be 

 greatly extended. No better proof of this 

 could be furnished than the sight of such a 

 plantation as we saw last month at Mr. G. 

 C. Gaston's at Craighurst' in Simcoe county. 

 The crop on his Agawam and Eldorado 

 bushes was, without exception, the finest we 

 ever saw. 



JULY FRUIT CROP REPORT. 



A BULLETIN from the Fruit Division, 

 Ottawa, dated August 7th, gives the 

 following report on the ftuit crop : 



Weather conditions, on the whole, have 

 been favorable for July, and hence there is 

 no marked change since the June report. 



Winter apples will be a full crop in Nova 

 Scotia, medium to full crop in Southern 

 Ontario, Georgian Bay and Lake Ontario 

 districts. In Eastern Ontario and Quebec 

 the crop is light. 



Early apples are a medium to full crop 

 everywhere except in Quebec. 



Pears will be a light crop except in parts 

 of Southern Ontario and Nova Scotia. 



Plums are a medium to full crop in all 

 plum growing sections, with not more than 

 the usual amount of rot. 



Peaches promise well in Essex and the 

 Niagara peninsula. 



Grapes are a medium crop, except in Es- 

 sex and Kent, where they are almost a com- 

 plete failure. 



THE SCARCITY OF FRUIT IN EUROPE. 



ADDITIONAL evidence of the scar- 

 city of fruit in Europe is furnished 

 by a recent letter from Thos. Russell, fruit 

 broker, Glasgow^ to Mr. W. A. McKinnon, 

 chief of the Fruit Division, Ottawa. Mr. 



Russell says : " The apple crop in Eng- 

 land, Ireland and Scotland is a very poor 

 one, while on the continent there is also a 

 very light crop. So far as Glasgow is con- 

 cerned we shall have to depend entirely on 

 supplies of apples from America and Can- 

 ada. Pears and plums are also scarce in 

 England, and altogether there is every pros- 

 pect of a good demand for American and 

 Canadian apples, as there is practically 

 nothing else to come against them this sea- 

 son." 



APPLE PACKERS SHOULD BE NUMBERED. 



'^"^ HE Fruit Division, Ottawa, has re- 

 X ceived from a leading exporter a let- 

 ter suggesting that a slip be printed in large 

 letters and placed in the top of each pack>» 

 age of fruit, as follows : 



" You are requested to report any fault 



you may find in this package to 



Montreal, Canada. 



Packed by No " 



This suggestion is right in line with the 

 recommendation of the Fruit Division, that 

 each " boss packer " be given a number, and 

 that this number be stencilled on every 

 package of fruit put up by that packer. In 

 putting up apples in the orchard the num- 

 ber should be marked in pencil near the 

 chime of the barrel, and the branding done 

 later. Mr. McKinnon's forthcoming bul- 

 letin on the Export Apple Trade will deal 

 with this question, and the Fruit Division 

 will show at Toronto Exhibition a model 

 brand for apple barrels. 



The plan of placing a slip with the 

 packer's number in each package has been 

 largely used by tobacco and other dealers, 

 and has proved a safeguard to the whole- 

 saler or exporter. For instance- it has been 

 found in previous years by apple exporters 

 that barrels bearing their brand and marked 

 as put up by a certain boss packer, say No. 

 60, were in great demand, while goods simi- 

 larly branded, except that they were marked 



