NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



397 



mands of the trade. Ontario is a wonder- 

 ful fruit producing country, and it did not 

 take many years for it to produce more 

 peaches, plums and grapes than its own 

 markets could take. This year these fruits 

 have reached the lowest prices upon record, 

 and in many instances the grower has re- 

 ceived back less than cost, and has found it 

 better to let his fruit waste than gather it. 

 Fortunately just at this point the cold stor- 

 age facilities on the ocean and the almost 

 unlimited markets of the great northwest 

 are affording an outlet at annually advanc- 

 ing prices. It will henceforth pay our 

 fruit growers to plant only such fruits in 

 quantity as will carry well to distant mar- 

 kets, and to plant sparingly of many old 

 but tender favorites, such as early apples, 

 early peaches and tender fleshed plums, and, 

 where possible, to top graft old orchards of 

 such fruits to sorts better suited to our 

 changing conditions. 



FEWEE VARIETIES. 



MOST of our orchards are filled with 

 all the varieties that were offered by 

 the agent who sold the trees ; they were not 

 planted with an expert knowledge of what 

 the markets required, and consist of so 

 many kinds that in making up shipments 

 for export it is now found almost impossi- 

 ble to make up straight car lots of any sin- 

 gle variety. Herein lies a great mistake, 

 for even when neighbors combine to make 

 shipments they find it necessary to mix the 

 kinds and the returns are considerably less- 

 ened in consequence. 



FRUIT GROWING NORTHWARD. 



AN important meeting of our fruit ex- 

 periment station board was held on 

 Wednesday of the last week of the Indus- 

 trial Fair in the Farmers' Institute tent. 

 Suggestions were received from the experi- 

 menters and also from the executive of the 



Ontario Fruit Growers' Association regard- 

 ing the best means of extending the work. 

 A proposal to have a testing station at 

 Powassan brought out a discussion of the 

 advisability of encouraging fruit growing 

 in the sections of country lying north of the 

 Georgian Bay and known as New Ontario. 

 If it were wise to do this it is claimed that 

 the station should be placed farther north, 

 at such a place as New Liskeard, for exam- 

 ple, which is situated on the line of the rail- 

 way and in the centre of a large and grow- 

 ing settlement of people from Old Ontario. 

 Some thought it foolish to encourage the 

 planting of fruit trees of any kind in a 

 country where the conditions were not fa- 

 vorable to the best success ; but, on the other 

 hand, it was pointed out that there were 

 varieties which would succeed, and a test- 

 ing station could soon find these out and 

 thus save the farmers a great many dollars 

 which would otherwise be wasted in buy- 

 ing varieties at random from travelling 

 agents. 



Finally it was decided to appoint Mr. G. 

 C. Creelman and Mr. L. Woolverton a 

 committee to investigate the matter and re- 

 port at the next meeting of the board. 



Mr. Thos. Southworth, Director of Colo- 

 nization, says of the Temiskaming section: 

 " I found things in the Temiskaming coun- 

 try in good shape. The towns of New 

 Liskeard and Haileybury are growing very 

 fast. The latter was at a standstill for 

 several years, but owing to the building of 

 the government railway through that point 

 business is brisk. I counted from 30 to 40 

 new frame buildings in course of erection 

 when I was there." 



A HORTICULTURAL BUILDING NEEDED AT 

 THE INDUSTRIAL. 



AT the meeting of the Board of Control 

 above mentioned, complaint was 

 made by the secretary that the exhibit of 

 the fruit stations was not distinct enough 



