54 REPORT OF THE SCOTTISH COMMISSION 



2. Fruit 



The Fruit Division administers the Fruit Marks Acts, which have 

 done much to keep up the reputation of Canadian fruit. It endeavours 

 to prevent the spread of infection in orchards, sees to the removal 

 of diseased trees, gives instruction in connection with the grading 

 and packing of fruit, publishes a monthly report of the fruit crop, 

 compiled from information forwarded by more than five thousand 

 correspondents, and concerns itself generally with the development 

 of fruit culture, on scientific lines. 



3. Cold Storage 



The Government gives bonuses to creameries for the erection of 

 cold stores. These bonuses, which are under the control of the 

 Cold Storage Division, usually amount to 100 dollars, and are only 

 given provided the cold store is erected according to plans and 

 specifications supplied by the Dairy and Cold Storage Commissioner. 

 The result of this grant has been apparent in the increasing number 

 of cold stores erected throughout the Dominion. But cold storage 

 at the creameries was only the beginning of the movement. The 

 next step was an iced car service, and iced cars are now the order 

 of the day. The Government, in the case of butter cars, guarantees 

 to the Railway Company two-thirds of the earnings on a minimum 

 car, plus four dollars for icing. In the case of cheese cars, the 

 Government pays five dollars for icing per car on a limited number 

 of cars per week. A similar sum is paid for icing cars for the ship- 

 ment of apples consigned to Montreal and Quebec for export. But 

 the object of the Government was not yet attained. It had helped 

 the farmer to manufacture dairy products and grow fruit. It had 

 helped him to carry his products to the port of shipment. It had 

 still to see that they were transported in good condition to the 

 markets of the world, and so the Department of Agriculture was in- 

 strumental in establishing a splendid system of cold storage on ships 

 crossing the Atlantic, and recently many thermographs have been 

 used for the purpose of registering the variations of temperature 

 from day to day on board steamships. On the arrival of a steamer 

 in Britain, an inspector removes the charts and mails them at once 

 to Canada. They are photographed, and copies sent to the Montreal 

 Board of Trade, to the shipping agents, and to the engineers of the 

 ship concerned. In this way something approximating perfection 

 in cold storage will be attained. In 1907 the provision of cold 

 storage facilities was carried a step further by the Cold Storage Act 

 of that year, under which subsidies are payable by the government, 

 towards the construction and equipment of public cold storage 

 warehouses in Canada for the preservation of perishable food 

 products, to an extent not exceeding 30 per cent, of their total cost. 



4. Extension of Markets 



The Extension of Markets Division has a twofold duty to perform. 

 It has to see that all perishable produce is properly handled and 



