September, 1909 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



189 



often exchanged down into the bottom or 

 brood chamber and the queen does much 

 useless drone laying. 



FERTILIZING BLOSSOMS 



Bees are not only a means of money- 

 {making to the bee-keeper alone. There 

 ire many others who profit from the busy 



little workers so full of industry. Bees 

 are one of the principal agents of Nature 

 in fertilizing many of the blossoms which, 

 when properly set and ripened, go to sup- 

 ply us with food of different varieties. 



The orchard is perhaps among the most 

 important crops affected in this way. The 



experienced fruit-grower likes to see the 

 busy little gatherers at work among the 

 bloom, because he knows that unless the 

 blossoms are fertilized they cannot set. 

 While there are many other ways in which 

 the blossoms are fertilized, the bee is a 

 very active worker along that line. 



Marketing Early Grapes 



Two important factors enter into the 

 proper handling of any class of fruit 

 — the condition of the fruit when 

 [picked and the package. Carelessness 

 t and indifference in the matter of either 

 or both of these factors frequently result 

 in loss to the grower when he comes to 

 market the fruit. We will consider these 

 factors in regard to the handling of early 

 grapes. 



Unlike many other classes of fruit, 

 grapes will not ripen off the vines. The 

 fruit must be allowed to fully mature and 

 become properly colored before being 

 gathered. The importance of the first 

 factor then becomes apparent. Picking 

 the crop is equally important ; when the 

 fruit is being sold for commercial pur- 

 poses it is picked in the standard six- 

 quart basket, and seldom re-packed. As 

 stated, it must be picked when mature ; 

 consequently, it will be seen that the 

 grape is a more perishable product than 

 most other fruits which can be picked be- 

 fore fully ripened when required to ship 

 long distances. Picking should be careful- 

 ly supervised by some experienced person 

 who should instruct his help in the mat- 

 ter of removing the branches from the 

 vines, and placing them in the baskets 

 in such a way as to make a neat and at- 

 tractive looking package. 



When a high-class trade is being sup- 

 plied smaller and fancier packages are 

 employed and the fruit is generally re- 

 packed in a packing house in order to in- 

 sure a high-class article. In any case, 

 when a superior and inviting package 

 is desired, it is safer to re-pack the fruit, 

 being careful in the operation to remove 

 all green and broken berries. This in- 

 volves extra work but, in most instances, 

 it is work well expended. 



SELLING INDIVIDUALLY 



Many men can grow fine crops but 

 few can market their crops to best ad- 

 vantage. Those growers who are situ- 

 ated near a good market have an ad- 

 vantage over growers not so favorably 

 situated, as they can place their fruit 

 directly into the hands of the consumer 

 and thus secure all the profits to be re- 

 alized from the sale of their fruit. The 

 majority of growers, however, must sell 

 through some one else. With them it is 

 a question of reducing the number of 

 middlemen as much as possible, and o^ 



G. H. Carpenter, Fruitland, Ontario 



securing the right parties in each in- 

 stance. 



SELLING ON COMMISSION 



Selling through commission houses is, 

 at best, an unsatisfactory system of dis- 

 posing of fruit. These men, as a class, 

 fill an important place and many growers 

 have to resort to this means of selling 

 their fruit. There are individuals in this 

 class, however, who are in the business 

 because they feel they are dealing with 

 parties who are woefully susceptible to 

 the "skinning" process. In adopting this 

 system, therefore, it is well to keep close- 

 ly in touch with 

 market conditions, 

 and have your fruit 

 reach the market 

 in the most direct 

 way possible. 



SELLING TO LOCAL 

 BUYERS 



The local buyer 

 offers another 

 means of disposing 

 of fruit which isbut 

 little more satisfac- 

 tory in many ways 

 than the former 

 system. These sys- 

 tems suggest the 

 need of grading 

 this class of fruit. 

 When the fruit is 

 bought and sold in- 

 discriminately the price often is knocked 

 down because of the presence in a con- 

 signment of the inferior product of some 

 careless grower. The whole consignment 

 will sell for the price of the inferior 

 goods and the producer of a superior ar- 

 ticle will be the loser. He will receive no 

 compensation for the extra care employed 

 in the preparation of his fruit for market. 



NO VOICE IN SETTING PRICES 



An unsatisfactory feature about both 

 of these systems is the fact that the 

 grower has practically no voice in the 

 setitng of the price on his fruit. V.e 

 would think it mighty strange if a grocer 

 were to ask us what we would give him 

 for a pound of tea or a barrel of sugar, 

 or a butcher how much we would pay 

 for a quarter of beef. Such a practice is, 

 indeed, rare. And yet producers of fruit - 

 are so accustomed to having the prices 

 ,set on their goods, that it becomes a 



rhatter of habit for them to ask a pur- 

 chaser what he will give for this lot of 

 grapes or that consignment of peaches. 

 Is there any good reason why the grow- 

 er should not set the price on his goods 

 the same as is done in other lines of 

 business? Market gardeners and fruit 

 growers who have access to markets are 

 able to set their own prices largely and 

 there seems to me no good reason why 

 all growers should not follow the same 

 practice. 



THE CO-OPERATIVE SYSTEM 



Another system and probably the most 



Campbell's Early One of the Beat Varieties of its ScaaoD 



satisfactory one for all concerned is dis- 

 posing of fruit through co-operative fruit 

 associations. When a number of grow- 

 ers co-operate to sell their fruit, a more 

 uniform product is put up, a better mar- 

 ket usually is secured and more remun- 

 erative prices are obtained than when 

 growers work individually and possibly 

 cut one another as frequently is done. In 

 these associations, a manager is employed 

 whose duty it is to sec that all fruit comes 

 into the central station in good condition, 

 and is sent out properly packed and 

 marked according to the standard .set by 

 the association. This insures a uniformi- 

 ty of product. Quotation.s are sent out 

 through the country and the fruit is 

 placed through agents acting for the as- 

 sociation. These agents are conversant 

 with market conditions and, knowing the 

 quality of the fruit they are handling, 



(Continued on page toi) 



