The Canadian Horticultun^ 



Vol. XXXII 



JANUARY, 1909 



No. 



The Western Provinces as an Outlet for Ontario Fruit' 



J. W. Crow, Ontario Agricultural College, Guclph" 



ACCURATE or even approximate- 

 ly correct figures on the quanti- 

 ties of fruit shipped to the western 

 provinces year by year are difficult to 

 obtain. Transportation companies and 

 shippers are in possession of the only 

 sources of information on matters of this 

 kind, and these are not often open to 

 public inspection. 



I am indebted to Mr. Charles F. 

 Roland, Development and Industrial 

 Commissioner for the City of Winnipeg, 

 for the following estimate of the total 

 quantities of fruit received in that city 

 from all points during 1907. Fruit from 

 Ontario and from the central United 

 States is usually distributed throughout 

 the prairie provinces from Winnipeg, 

 and is included in this estimate. These 

 figures do not include, however, large 

 quantities which enter these provinces 

 from British Columbia,, Washington, 

 Idaho, Oregon and California, and which 

 are distributed from Regina, Brandon and 

 other points west of Winnipeg. 



"Fruit received in Winnipeg in car 

 lots from all points during 1907 : 48 cars 

 of strawberries, 430 cars of tomatoes, 

 680 cars of peaches, pears and small 

 fruits other than strawberries, over 60b 

 cars of oranges, and upwards of 1,000 

 cars of apples. Large as these receipts 

 may appear, one can judge that the re- 

 ceipts will be even double in a very few 

 years, as the population of Winnipeg 

 has grown from 67,000 in 190410 118,- 

 250 in 1908. I am informed that over 

 .seventy per cent, of these receipts was 

 consumed locally." 



IMPORTS TO WINNIPEG 



The proportions of fruit received from 

 different points and handled in Winni- 

 peg, are estimated by the McNaughton 

 Fruit and Produce Exchange as follows : 

 California, Oregon and other north-west- 

 ern states, fifty per cent. ; Ontario, 

 thirty-five per cent. ; British Columbia, 

 fifteen per cent. 



Mr. A. Mallinson, who has this season 

 bought very largely in Ontario for west- 

 ern firms, estimates the total quantities 

 of fruit shipped to the west from On- 

 tario this year as follows: "83,500 bar- 



•An address delivered at the convention of the 

 Ontario Fruit Growers' Association held last 

 November. 



rels of apples, including a few boxes, es- 

 timated at three boxes per barrel ; 220 

 car loads of grapes, estirnating 2,400 six- 

 quart baskets as one car load ; 73 car 

 loads of tomatoes, pears and canta- 

 loupes. Included in the last item would, 

 in some cases, be a few baskets of plums. 

 -A few peaches went for%Yard also." 



SHIPMENTS HAVE INCREASED 



Mr. A. Gifford informs me that fully 

 twenty per cent, can be added to the 

 above estimate of total shipments. Mr. 

 Mallinson states further that shipments 

 of fruit from Ontario to Winnipeg have 

 increased fifty per cent, during the last 

 five years, and fully 100 per cent, in the 

 last ten years. 



From a communication received from 

 Mr. A. McNeill, Chief of the Fruit Divis- 



Thc Most Practical 



I am much pleased with The 

 Canadian Horticulturist. I think 

 that it is the most practical paper 

 of the kind printed. Being a fruit- 

 grower and also an inspector of 

 orchards for the British Columbia 

 Government, I take several fruit 

 papers, but The Canadian Hor- 

 ticulturist is the best of all. — J. 

 A. Coatham, New Westminster 

 Co., B. C. 



ion, Ottawa, I quote the following : 

 "With reference to the apple trade of 

 1907, the North-west Transportation Co. 

 handled 100,253 barrels ; the C. P. R. 

 handled 18,720 barrels; other boats 

 handled about 10,000 barrels; a total of 

 128,973 barrels; the G. T. R. and Amer- 

 ican lines, not known, probably half the 

 C. P. R." 



ONTARIO FRUIT IN WEST 



These figures show that a large and 

 growing market for fruit exists in the 

 prairie provinces. They show also that 

 large quantities of fruit are annually be- 

 ing marketed there. They fail to show, 

 however, anything regarding the kind 

 or quality of fruit most in demand in 

 that market, and on this point a great 

 many westerners have most decided opin- 



ions. The writer had the pleasure(?) of 

 interviewing large numbers of people at 

 Winnipeg Fair this year regarding On- 

 tario fruit methods. The opinions ob- 

 tained regarding the grading and brand- 

 ing would have delighted the heart of a 

 British Columbia or Oregon shipper, but 

 they surely operated to humble an On- 

 tarian's pride in the quality of our goods 

 and in the honesty of certain of our citi- 

 zens. A very large number of western 

 people know from experience on 

 the old homestead in Ontario, 

 of the quality of fruit pro- 

 duced here. They will tell you emphati- 

 cally, however, that since residing in the 

 west they have too often been unable to 

 secure value for money invested in fruit 

 from the home province. They will tell 

 you that in order to get what they pay 

 for, they are compelled to purchase 

 the honestly marked and attractive pack- 

 ages from British Columbia, Oregon and 

 other western points. This condition of 

 affairs, it must be admitted, is not uni- 

 versal, but it is far too common. It is 

 unfortunate that we have in Ontario 

 careless, ignorant, or dishonest growers 

 and shippers, as our hitherto enviable 

 reputation has suffered severely at their 

 hands. 



a western handicap 



One hears, too, of wilful unscrupulous- 

 ness at the other end of the line and it 

 must be said in fairness to Ontario men 

 that not all of the fault lies at the latter's 

 door. In some cases, if we can believe 

 all one hears, western receivers have en- 

 couraged misbranding of goods by such 

 advice as this: "Send on your No. is 

 if you have any; if you have none, send 

 on your No. 2S, and either change the 

 brand yourself or leave it to us to make 

 No. I stock out of it." This is not in- 

 tended as an arraignment of all fruit 

 shippers and handlers and the honest 

 men in the business (fortunately they are 

 in the majority) will not take it as such. 

 There can be no good reason, however, 

 for trying to hide the real state of affairs 

 and one learns with pleasure of a very 

 radical change which has taken place this 

 season in the methods of transacting 

 business. 



(Continued on Page J&) 



