6o 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



March, 1909 



The Canadian Horliculturisl 



Publuhed by The Horticultural 

 Publishing Company, Limited 



PETBRBORO AND TORONTO 



The Only Horticultural Magazine 

 in the Dominion 



Official Oroan of British Columbia, Ontario, Qus- 



BBC, Nbw Brunswick and Princb Edward Isi^no 



Fruit Growers' Association* 



H. Bronson Cowan, 

 Manasins Editor and Business Manager 

 A. B. Cdttino, B.S.A., Horticultural Editor 

 W. O. Rook. Advertising Manager 



1. The Canadian Horticalturist is published on 

 the 2Sth day of the month precadinK date of 

 issue. 



2. Subscription price In Canada and Great Brit- 

 ain 60 cents a year, two years $1.00. For United 

 States and local subscriptions in Peterboro, (not 

 called for at Post Office) 26 cents extra a year, 

 including postage. 



3. Remittances should be made by Post Office 

 or Money Express Order, or Registered Letter. 

 Postage Stamps accepted for amounts less than 

 $1.00. 



4. Change of Address— When a change of ad- 

 dress is ordered, both the old and the new ad- 

 dresses must be given. 



5. Advertising Kates quoted on application. 

 Copy received up to the 18th. Address all ad- 

 vertising correspondence and copy to our Ad- 

 vertising Manager, 72 Queen street west. Tor- 

 onto. 



6. Articles and Illustrations for publication 

 will be thankfully received by the editor. 



CIRCULATION STATEMENT 



Since the subscription price of The Canadian 

 Horticulturist was reduced from SI. 00 to 60 cents 

 a year, the circulation has grown rapidly. The 

 following is a sworn statement of the net paid 

 circulation of The Canadian Horticulturist for 

 the year ending with Dec, 1907. The figures giv- 

 en are exclusive of samples and spoiled copies, 

 and of papers sent to advertisers. Some months, 

 including the sample copies, from 10.000 to 12,000 

 copies of The Canadian Horticulturist are mailed 

 to people known to be Interested In the grow- 

 ing of fruit, flowers or vegetables. 

 Circulation Statement 



January, 11*09. . 

 February, 1909 . 



.9,4S6 

 .9,310 



January ,-1908 7,650 



February, 1908 7,824 



March, 1908 8,056 



April, 1908 8,250 



May,1908 8,573 



June, 1908 8,840 



July,1908 9,015 



August, 1908 9.070 



September, 1908 9,121 



October. 1908 9,215 



November, 1908 9,323 



December, 1908 9,400 



Total for the year, 104,337 



Average each iHue in 1907, 6,627 



Average each issue in 1908. 8,695 



(Increased circulation in one year over 2,000) 



Sworn datalled statements will b* mailed upon 

 application. 



Our Protective Policy 



We want the readers of The Canadian Horti- 

 culturist to feel that they can deal with oor 

 advertisers with our assurance of the advertisers' 

 reliability. We try to admit to our column* 

 only the most reliable advertisers. Should any 

 subscriber, therefore, have good cause to be 

 dissatisfied with the treatment he receives from 

 any of our advertisers, we will look Into the 

 matter and investigate the circumstances fully. 

 Should we &na reason, even In the slightest 

 degree, we will discontinue immediately the pub- 

 lication of their advertisements in The Horti- 

 culturist. Should the circumstances warrant, 

 we will expose them through the columns of 

 the paper. Thus, we will not only protect onr 

 readers, but our reputable advertisers as well. 

 All that is necessary to entitle you to the bene- 

 fits of this Protective Policy is that you include 

 In all your letters to advertisers the words, 

 "I saw your ad. in The Canadian Horticultur- 

 ist." Complaints should be made to us as soon 

 as possible after reason for dissatisfaction has 

 been found. 

 Communications should be addressed: 



TUB CANADIAN HOETI0ULTUEI8T, 

 Toronto Office: PETEEBOEO, ONTAEIO. 



72 Queen street weal 



BIOLOGICAL DIVISION NEEDED 



Under the heading, "Should Not Separate 

 Work," on another page of this issue, ap- 

 pears a letter from Prof. John Craig, of Cor- 

 nell University, that criticizes our editorial 

 remarks on the work in biology at Ottawa. 

 The professor agrees with the changes that 

 we proposed, with the exception of the one 

 that would place the new division under 

 the direct control of the Minister of Agri- 

 culture, instead of the Director of the Ex- 

 perimental Farm. Even if a separation were 

 made the laboratories could be located at 

 the farm, where facilities for the investiga- 

 tion of insects and fungous diseases of the 

 greenhouse, orchard and farm are all that 

 can be desired. The main advantage in 

 separation lies in the directness of approach 

 to the minister. As it is now, the head of 

 an investigation department confers with 

 the director, and the director with the min- 

 ister. As a result, the head has two persons 

 to convince as to the necessity or wisdom of 

 any given line of procedure, and the natural 

 outcome is that delays are frequent, vexa- 

 tious and tedious. 



Furthermore, there would be a great ad- 

 vantage in having a biological division that 

 would, in virtue of its greater initiative free- 

 dom, better serve the divisions of Dairy and 

 Fruit and Seed. It is conceded by many 

 persons that the officers of these divisions, 

 who have travelled extensively over the 

 Dominion, are even more conversant with 

 the needs of the people reached through 

 their respective divisions than the director 

 himself. As these divisions are at present 

 constituted, they are more than purely ad- 

 ministrative departments. Their work is 

 partly of an investigational nature (some- 

 times overlapping and siipplementing that 

 of the Farm), relating to problems that 

 arise for solution in carrying out the meas- 

 ures of the Government. 



This system of organisation of the expert 

 forces of the Depirtment of Agriculture 

 has worked well at Washington, and no 

 country in the world is doing so much val- 

 uable work in agriculture as the United 

 States. A separation of the biological divi- 

 sion from the Central Experimental Farm 

 would be in the interests of the agricultural 

 progress of Canada. 



QUEEN VICTORIA PARK 



Elsewhere in this issue appears a letter, 

 signed "A Citizen," that refers to editorials 

 about the management of Queen Victoria 

 Park, Niagara Falls, Ont., that have ap- 

 peared in recent issues of The Canadian 

 Horticulturist. Our correspondent im- 

 plies that our editorials have b^en inspired 

 by an ex-employee of the park and that we 

 are not personally acquainted with condi- 

 tions at the park. Last summer an editorial 

 representative of The Can.adian Horticul- 

 turist visited Queen Victoria Park. He was 

 furnished information about the manage- 

 ment of the park by one of the foremost 

 citizens of the United States, a man who 

 has visited the park every summer for 

 years, who is in no way interested in its 

 management and who knows the situation 

 there as few do. Further investigation by 

 our representative on the spot convinced us 

 that it was necessary that the attention of 

 the government and of the public should 

 be drawn to the matter in order that im- 

 provement might be effected. 



Since our editorials have appeared, one of 

 the employees, whose appointment we felt 

 had not been neecssary, has been dis- 

 charged, thus eflecting a measure of im- 



provement. One of the more important 

 positions was created on Mr. Wilson's re- 

 commendation but Mr. Wilson, although 

 he was the superintendent, was not consult- 

 ed in regard to who should be appointed to 

 fill that position, although it is one of the 

 most important positions in the park. The 

 man appointed to the position lacks the 

 training and ability that the position 

 requires. 



The fact that the park last summer did 

 not reveal to the casual observer the result 

 of the incompetence of the management 

 was because the main work of preparation 

 had been accomplished by the former park 

 officials. The present year will show a mark- 

 ed impairment of the appearance and value 

 of the park unless the work of improvement 

 that has been started since the publication 

 of our first editorial is pressed vigorously. 



THE CONTROL OF NURSERIES 



Last month, we directed attention to a 

 defect in the bill respecting the control of 

 nursery stock that the Ontario Fruit Grow- 

 ers' Association desires to have made law 

 by the Ontario Legislature. As stated on 

 page 39, the association had in view, when 

 drawing up the bill, the control of nursery- 

 men who are careless or dishonest or both. 

 Not only is it against this class that some 

 protection is needed, but also against irres- 

 ponsible dealers and agents, against whom 

 fruit growers have the greatest grievance. 

 These are not covered by the proposed bill 

 to an effective extent. 



According to the wording of the proposed 

 bill any men of this class could apply foi 

 a license and take up their stand for one 

 year in one place and, after getting in their 

 fine work, clear out and start business in 

 some other part of the country under some 

 other name. How much bsttor off will the 

 fruit grower be, who places his order with 

 this class of dealer because his prices are a 

 few cents cheaper than those of the bona- 

 fide nurserymen, than he is at the present 

 time? Dealers of this kind are allowed by 

 the bill as it now stands to take out a li- 

 cense and no bond or guarantee is required 

 to say that they are responsible for damages 

 should any arise. 



The bill shovild b; changsd so as to in- 

 clude this class of men. As it stands, it is 

 going to be a great injustice to the bona- 

 fide and reliable nursery concerns. Neither 

 will it protect the fruit grower against that 

 class of men against whom he has the most 

 complaint. Irresponsible dealers and agents 

 harm both the reliable nurserymen and the 

 fruit growers. They should be stamped out. 



It was also stated in our editorial last 

 month that the nurserymen will have to 

 charge more for their stock when this bill 

 becomes law. Prices must inevitably be 

 higher as the bill will necessitate each of 

 the larger and reliable firms providing fox 

 unavoidable losses due to errors made by 

 employees. These losses will have to be met 

 by setting by an insurance fund. 



OUR EXHIBITS AT ROYAL SHOW 



There has been a misunderstanding in the 

 minds of most of our fruit growers in respect 

 to the manner of judging fruit at the Royal 

 Horticultural Society's Shows in London, 

 England. During the past two years, Bri- 

 tish Columbia was widely advertized for her 

 good fortune in winning gold medals for 

 general collections of fruit and she deserved 

 the credit. The impression, however, that 

 British Columbia won her gold medals by 

 defeating the other provinces and colonies 

 was unfair to them. 



As is pointed out in an article elsewhere 

 in this issue, there is no competition be-, 

 tween provinces or colonies. Each one 



