40+ 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



clean from blemishes, so that every apple 

 on a tree goes into the barrel. I intend top- 

 grafting a number of trees in my orchard 

 to the Blenheim." 



APPLES ABOUT WALKE;rT0N. 



The general report was that a fair quan- 

 tity of apples would be harvested, but that 

 the quality was below the average. The 

 Greenings were much spotted, and indeed 

 most varieties would cull out badly. Buy- 

 ers were offering $i.oo a barrel for the ap- 

 ples picked ready for packing. 



There are not many large apple orchards 

 in the vicinity, most of the apples being 

 grown by farmers in small orchard plots. 

 Perhaps the largest was that of Mr. Shaw, 

 of seventeen acres. " I have," said Mr. 

 Sherrington, " been buying apples hereabout 

 for nine years past and know the orchards 

 well. One year I paid out $44,000 for 

 22,000 barrels, which gives you a fair idea 

 of our apple crop in this section." 



CO-OPERATIVE ORCHARDING. 



" We have formed at Walkerton what we 

 call the Lake Huron Fruit Growers' Asso- 

 ciation," said Mr. Sherrington, " and I have 

 great confidence in its success. We meet 

 monthly for the discussion of methods, and 

 for business plans. In a business way our 

 scheme is to work together in buying pack- 

 ages and in shipping, leaving the details to 

 a manager, to sell at the shipping point at a 

 definite price f. o. b. Last year we put up 

 1,000 boxes of Duchess apples for export. 

 Now we are receiving orders frdm the 

 Northwest, and no doubt that will be our 

 best market." Here Mr. Sherrington pulled 

 from his pocket some letters, in which he 

 showed orders from Portage la Prairie and 

 other points for three carloads of the Lake 

 Huron brand of winter apples. 



" We have," continued he, " about forty 

 members of our association, and are having 

 applications for membership every day. 



Each member packs his own apples accord- 

 ing to the standard of the association ; his 

 own name goes on the packages ; and, if they 

 stand inspection they are shipped out under 

 the association brand, otherwise they are re- 

 jected entirely." 



OUR ERUIT EXPERIMENTER AT WAI^KERTON. 



In Mr. A. E. Sherrington we have se- 

 cured a painstaking careful experimenter, 

 whose work is much appreciated in the Lake 

 Huron district. This man has had a singu- 

 lar history, and his indomitable energy and 

 wonderful perseverance have combined to 

 enable him to overcome tremendous diffi- 

 culties and attain success in his vocation. 

 Born in a log house in Peel township in the 

 County of Wellington, of the second white 

 family that settled in that part, he says that 

 in his early years he often saw no white face 

 for six months at a time. It was a life of 

 toil, with little opportunity for school; just 

 a little in the winter months and then at 

 work as soon as the snow went off. At the 

 age of fourteen his father's death left the 

 boy in full charge of the farm, and he did 

 not shirk his duty or his responsibility, but 

 himself did all the work and shouldered the 

 whole management until he was twenty-six, 

 when he left home and struck out for him- 

 self. First he hired with a good farmer 

 near Berlin, then with another near Wood- 

 stock, when he rented a farm for himself 

 near the latter place and remained on it 

 three years. In 1883 he bought one hun- 

 dred acres near Walkerton, but having an 

 ambition for fruit farming he disposed of 

 the farm, and about twelve years ago he 

 bought seven acres near the town of Wal- 

 kerton, on which he now resides. Recently, 

 since he has taken up our experimental work 

 he has added three acres to his plot, making 

 about ten acres in all, which he keeps under 

 excellent cultivation. His apple orchard 

 is well pruned, cultivated, and thoroughly 

 sprayed, and his experimental plots of rasp- 



