52 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



March, 1908 



A.pples THat Bring Dig Prices 



How to Grow and Market Apples to 

 Sell for $3.37)^ a Box," was the 

 subject of an address delivered by 

 Mr.W.F. Cash, of Underwood, Wash., at a 

 meeting of fruit growers in British Col- 

 umbia, at which a representative of The 

 Canadian Horticulturist was present. 

 The system used by the growers in the 

 Hood River district of Oregon, was 

 described as follows : 



"We do not expect to grow high-class 

 fruit on every tree. In the growing of 

 stock, it is as necessary to select the 

 scions from good bearing trees as it is 



branches. Men follow with short ladders 

 and remove the balance of the fruit. 



"Most of our apples are packed in the 

 orchard under the supervision of expert 

 foremen. No packer is allowed to work 

 by himself until he has packed for one 

 season tuider an expert packer. Great 

 care is taken not to bruise the fruit. We 

 insist that the apples be handled in- 

 dividually when being delivered to the 

 packer. Each apple is wiped clean and 

 wrapped in paper. The boxes used are 

 the standard size box, and a box one 

 inch shorter and broader. The use of 



A Plant for Boiling Lime-Sulphur Wash Operated on Cooperative Plan 



necessary to select good parents in 

 animal breeding. All that we expect 

 from the nurseries is trees true to name. 

 Some of the trees will be found to be 

 better producers than the others. It is 

 from these that we grow our own stock, 

 a practice that is becoming common in 

 the Hood River district. Our soil is of 

 volcanic ash and sand, but we have 

 found that, with the application of water, 

 it will produce wonderful crops. 



"We are confining ourselves to the 

 growing of only a few varieties. By 

 making a success of a few, the district 

 becomes noted for those varieties, The 

 varieties mostly grown are Spitzenburg, 

 Newtown Pippin, Baldwin, Jonathan 

 and the much-despised Ben Davis, which 

 does well and commands as high a price 

 as some other varieties. 



"Several years ago we adopted the 

 practice of low-heading our trees. It 

 has many advantages over the old sys- 

 tem. It enables us to have women and 

 children pick the fruit from the lower 



the two sizes enables us to pack the 

 apples in the box best suited to the size 

 of apple. Between each layer is placed 

 a sheet of cardboard, unless the top 

 layer is too high. We have found that 

 apples packed on their sides do not ship 

 as well as those packed on their ends; 

 the sides seem to bruise easier. 



' ' Last year our fruit was shipped to the 

 Eastern States, and a large shipment 

 was made to Russia. The prices paid 

 in our district were $1.90 a box for 

 Baldwins, Ben Davis and Jonathan; 

 $2.75 for Newtown Pippin ; and $3,373^ 

 for Spitzenburg. A few boxes of Winter 

 Banana sold for $8.00 a box. These 

 prices were received F.O.B. cars. 



"We estimate the cost of care and 

 labor from the time the fruit sets until 

 it is packed, to be fifty cents a box. The 

 reputation of Hood River apples is so 

 high that representatives come from 

 points all over the world to buy fruit." 

 — W.G.R. 



Operating a Boiler Plant 



Joseph Twaddle, Fruitland, Ont. 



Our lime-sulphur boiling plant is 

 operated and managed by an associa- 

 tion of seven members, as follows: 

 R. H. Dewar, W. M. Orr and Son, Fred. 

 Carpenter, Fred. Dewitt, Jos. Tweddle, 

 Geo. Millen and C. W. Dewitt. 



Each member paid in $12.78 in stock 

 to pay for the building of the plant. It 

 is located in the orchard of the writer. 

 It costs seventy- five cents a barrel to 

 make the wash. This includes cost of 

 material, fees for use of engine and wages 

 of men operating. Each member is 

 charged the same price for the mixture. 



We engage one man with a threshing 

 engine to run the plant. From a creek 

 he pumps the water through the in- 

 spirator up into the upper boiling tank, 

 which the water enters quite warm, then 

 steam is turned on and brought to 

 a boiling point. This tank holds four 

 barrels, as also do the two lower tanks. 

 Sixty pounds of fresh lime are thrown 

 into one of the boiling tanks. Then 

 fifty-six pounds of flour of sulphur are 

 made into a paste with a little hot 

 water. 



This is added to the lime in the boiling 

 tank and one barrel of boiling water is 

 run in from the tank above. Then 

 steam is turned on and the mixture is 

 boiled vigorously for the greater part 

 of an hour, when the tank is filled with 

 boiling water from the upper tank. 

 Rapid boiling is continued for the bal- 

 ance of the hour, when the batch of four 

 barrels, or 1 60 gallons, is finished, making 

 fifteen pounds of lime and 14 pounds of 

 sulphur to each barrel. No salt is used. 



This operation is repeated in the 

 same way with the other tank. In this 

 way forty to fifty barrels are boiled per 

 day. 



This next spring we will spray over 

 one half a mile square of solid orchard 

 and vineyard, and will defy San Jose or 

 any other scale to dare to set foot on 

 an}' part thereof. 



Low-headed fruit trees are best. A 

 better shaped head is secured and the 

 fruit can be picked easier. — A. J. Dry- 

 den, Carlton, Ont. 



Pruning Currants. — If planted 

 enough apart, not much pruning 

 be required until the fourth year, 

 the bush spread, prune out when 

 limbs come so close together that thej 

 prevent the sun shining and the air cir- 

 culating freely. All the limbs which 

 grow down close to the ground should be 

 removed, as the fruit should not be 

 allowed to touch the ground. This 

 pruning should be done before the leaves 

 open in the spring. — Wm. Fleming, 

 Owen Sound. , 



