January, 1909 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



15 



length in the editorial columns of this issue 

 of The Canadian Horticulturist. 



A BUSY man's garden 



A talk on "A Busy Man's Garden," was 

 given by Mr. R. B. Whyte, Ottawa, who re- 

 marked that a garden was a part of the 

 home and, therefore, should be so arranged 

 in summer that the owner could live for a 

 large part of the time out-of-doors. Conse- 

 quently, a certain amount of privacy was 

 needed. It should not be open to the public. 

 It should be a place where a person could 

 grow that in which he was most interested. 

 Some grow vegetables, others fruit and 

 others flowers. To be complete, more or 

 less of the three should tie included. 



How can a garden be made to fill these 

 conditions? In the first place, a point very 

 much overlooked was that of having wide, 

 roomy paths, which must be soft to the 

 feet and dry, clean, and easily kept clean. 

 Secondly, there must be pleasant resting 

 places here and there. It is important to 

 have summer-houses in suitable and proper 

 places, where a person could sit down and 

 read, or pass the time in any way he wish- 

 ed. Thirdly, time being limited, it is im- 

 portant to have labor-saving tools and to 

 always have them sharp and ready for use. 

 The things worth growing in such a garden 

 are the best of vegetables and fruits, but 

 it does not pay to grow turnips or potatoes. 

 The great interest of the garden is the 

 flower department. Grow such flowers as 

 will give a continuity of bloom all summer 

 and up to the time of frost. They should 

 be grown in masses, as this gives an idea 

 of the mass of color and beauty. They 

 should be grown for quantity, garden dec- 

 oration and cutting. For best results spring 

 and summer bulbs are required, also bed- 

 ding plants', annuals, perennials and climTj- 

 ers. For early flowers. Dutch bulbs are 

 necessary. In May the first perennials 

 come into bloom, and June, which is the 

 great flower month, is the month for the 

 iris, rose and peony; in this month, too, 

 the first annuals come. 



"One of the great problems in a garden," 

 remarked Mr. Whyte, "is to have no waste 

 ground; things should be coming up all the 

 time." He spoke of the pleasure he exper- 

 ienced when in England last spring in vis- 

 iting some peony gardens and seeing the 

 wonderful improvement that had taken 

 place in the last two or three years in the 

 size and color of peonies. He said that 25 

 years from now everybody would be grow- 

 ing peonies. 



miscellaneous 



A "valuable paper on "Young Trees vs. 

 Old Trees," was read by Prof. G. Reynaud. 

 It is published in full on page 3 of this 

 issue. An address on "The Antiquity of 

 Certain of Our Cultivated Fruits," was 

 given by Prof. F. C. Harrison, of Macdonald 

 College. "Insectivorous Birds," was dealt 

 with by Dr. John Britrtain, of Macdonald 

 College. "From the Garden of Eden to the 

 Gardens of St. Anne's," was the subject of 

 a pleasing address by Dr. J. W. Robertson. 

 These will be referred to at greater length 

 in subsequent issues. Those present at the 

 convention expressed themselves highly 

 pleased with the success of the meetings 

 and with the reception afforded them by the 

 staff of the college. 



An index to Volume XXXI of The Cana- 

 dian HORTICULTURI.ST has been prepared. 

 [Copies will be sent to all readeis that re- 

 Iquest them. 



There is money for you in securing new 

 Isubscriptions for The Canadian Horticui.- 

 ITURIST. Write for our terms to agents. 



Western Market for Fruit 



(Continued from page 1) 



Representatives of western firms have this 

 year bought very largely in Ontario on the 

 f.o.b. plan, subject to inspection by the 

 buyer at shipping point. This method has 

 g-iven entire satisfaction both to buyer and 

 seller. As evidence of the fact that the 

 western consumer desires fruit of first qual- 

 ity and that a suitable article can be pro- 

 cured in Ontario, we may say that the Nor- 

 folk County and Forest Co-operative Asso- 

 ciations have sold 14,000 and 5,000 barrels 

 respectively, in this way this season. Prices 

 secured were very satisfactory. In this con- 

 nection, the fact is worthy of note that the 

 westerner is a free buyer and is more will- 

 ing to pay a g-ood price for an article which 

 suits him than is any other class of cus- 

 tomers within our reach. 



MUST PACK HONESTLY 



As further evidence of the wisdom of care- 

 ful grading and honest branding, the fol- 

 lowing is quoted from a communication 

 dated November 3rd, 1908, received from a 

 Winnipeg firm : "We had three cars from 

 the Georgetown Fruit Growers' Associa- 

 tion. The first car made them very little 

 money ; the second improved quite a lit- 

 tle, the buyers getting next to the brand, 

 and the third car sold to good advantage. 

 It was fifty per cent. No. 2, and is going 

 to net them back $2.35. We are using this 

 to show what it means to the shipper to 

 have stuff properly graded, packed and 

 branded. We have other shippers who have 

 marked their stuff No. 1, and whose apples 

 will average them only from $1.00 to $1.50 

 a barrel. This is my best explanation re- 

 garding packing, grading and branding." 



TRANSPORTATION AND RATES 



Other problems whjch relate themselves 

 to this subject are those connected with 

 transportation rates, express and freight 

 service and the customs tariff. In point of 

 time Ontario is nearer Winnipeg than are 

 California, Washington, Oregon and British 

 Columbia. The new route of the C.P.R. places 

 Winnipeg within thirty-six hours of Toronto 

 by express. British Columbia shipments 

 reach the same market in three days. The 

 same rate of charges is paid in either case, 

 .$2.00 per 100 pounds in carload lots, and 

 $2.40 in part car lots 



By freight, the average time from Ontario 

 points to Winnipeg is five and three-quar- 

 ter days, while from Oregon and British 

 Columbia the time required is from six to 

 eight days. The freight rate from points in 

 Ontario to Winnipeg on fresh fruit in boxes, 

 baskets or barrels and also on vegetables 

 when shipped as part carload of fresh fruit 

 is 66 cents a cwt. To Brandon the rate is 86 

 cents, and to Regina 126 cents. On 

 straight car loads of apples in either boxes 

 or barrels, the following rates apply from 

 Ontario points to the west : To Winnipeg, 

 55 cents ; Brandon, 68 cents ; and I\egina, 

 83 cents. The foregoing tariffs are for all- 

 rail shipments. 



By lake and rail, the following rates ap- 

 ply : To Winnipeg, 48 cents, and to Bran- 

 don, 61 cents. From points in British 

 Columbia to Regina, Brandon and Winni- 

 peg, I am informed that a flat rate of 100 

 cents a cwt. applies. From points in Wash- 

 ington and Oregon along the O. R. & N. 

 the rate to Regina is 124 cents. From these 

 points to Winnipeg there is a competitive 

 rate of 118 cents. 

 I Our western competitors for the markets 

 of the prairie provinces enjoy no advantages 

 ^i^in the way of transportation facilities. The 

 R. ventilated' or "blower" express cars are in 



common use here as well as there, and are 

 very satisfactory. It is felt, however, that 

 the rates charged on Ontario shipments are 

 rather out of proportion to those asked of 

 British Columbia shippers. For shipment 

 by freight of summer and early fall fruits, 

 including early apples, refrigerator cars are 

 used. Excellent results have been secured 

 by re-cooling this class of goods. For long 

 distance shipments in warm weather this 

 operation is coming to be regarded as es- 

 sential. Mr. Robert Thompson, manager of 

 the St. Catharines Cold Storage and For- 

 warding Co., states that peaches handled in 

 this way can be laid down in Winni- 

 peg in good condition, and at a mod- 

 erate cost. Large quantities of fruit go for- 

 ward during favorable weather in the fall 

 in ordinary box cars. After Nov. 1st, how- 

 ever, there is danger of frost, and refriger- 

 ator cars are again resorted to. A suffici- 

 ent supply of these is not available at this 

 season, however, and as a consequence 

 heavy losses often occur. From a circular 

 issued by the C. P. R. to shippers and con- 

 signees, I quote the following regarding 

 the handling of green apples, via lake and 

 rail from eastern Canada to Manitoba, Sas- 

 katchewan and Alberta : "The Canadian 

 classification provides for the carriage of 

 green apples at owner's risk of freezing and 

 prepayment of charges between Nov. 1st 

 and April 30th. 



"Notice is hereby given to connecting 

 steamer lines, shippers and consignees that 

 the railway companies will not assume re- 

 sponsibility for damage to green apples 

 by frost, delivered to them at the above 

 ports (Duluth, Fort William, Port Arthur, 

 and West Superior) at the head of the lakes, 

 on and after Nov. 1st, nor will the railways 

 guarantee to furnish refrigerator equipment 

 for all such traffic, it being impossible to 

 do this owing to the practice of confining 

 the shipment to a short period late in the 

 season. Railways will, however, as far as 

 possible, supply refrigerator cars and per- 

 mit the owners of such apples to equip these 

 cars with their own means of heating. 

 When box cars are used, the owners will 

 also be permitted to line and place stoves 

 or other means of heating in them, provid- 

 ing that in so equipping the cars with heat- 

 ing apparatus, damage will not be caused 

 to cars. The railway company will also 

 furnish free transportation for attendants 

 accompanying cars for the purpose of look- 

 ing after the heating and will return such 

 attendants to the starting point free of 

 charge." 



As a matter of fact, a shortage of cars 

 usually exists by the all-rail route as well. 

 It is, of course, practically impossible to 

 equip a box car with heating equipment 

 sufficiently to render shipment in cold 

 weather reasonably safe. Refrigerator cars 

 themselves are not safe in severe weather, 

 and it will be one of the problems of the 

 future to devise methods of avoiding frost 

 injury to late fruit intended for distant 

 markets. 



Mr. A. C. Macpherson points out that at 

 the present time the export trade is receiv- 

 ing favors in the way of relief in icing and 

 cold storage charges from the Dominion 

 (Government, and that inter-provincial trade 

 would also seem to merit similar encourage- 

 ment. 



THE TARIFF 



Following is a statement of the customs 

 tariff at present in force on fresh fruits en- 

 tering Canada from the United States: 

 Bananas, plaintain, pineapple, etc., free; 

 oranges, lemons and limes, free; blackber- 

 ries, gooseberries, cherries, strawberries, 

 and currants, the weight of the package to 



