Niagara Fruit Growers Held Interesting Meetings 



IB 



■^H-i HE Niagara Peninsula Fruit Grow 



l^^l ers' Association held meeting's at 



I^H. Grimsby and St. Catharines early in 



I^H^ March. A number of practical and 



IHpie addresses were delivered by Mr. J. 



p^i. Hale of South Glastonbury, Conn., Mr. 



'■: W. G. Farnsworth, Waterville, Ohio, Mr. 



;j W. T. Macoun, Ottawa, Prof. H. L. Hutt, 



j Guelph, and others. The sessions were 



' presided over by the president, Mr. W. H. 



Bunting-, St. Catharines. In a few opening 



remarks, he congratulated the growers on 



being united as a body from Hamilton to 



the Niagara River. By united effort, the 



ssociation would be in a position to deal 



ith questions that are beyond the power 



f the individual. Mr. Bunting referred tg 



he rapid strides that fruit growing is mak- 



iig and pointed out the fact that while 



luch progress already has been made, the 



udus'ry now is entering upon a new era 



t prosperity. 



PEACH CULTURE 



Mr. Hale gave the benefit of his long ex- 

 crience in the production and marketing 

 ! peaches. Mr. Hale owns and operates 

 .irge orchards in Connecticut and Georgia 

 •ind is known as the "Peach King" of the 

 United States. He said that an essential 

 factor in peach culture is early cultivation 

 and it should be kept up until the bend- 

 ing boughs prevent further work. The 

 ground should then be covered with a cover 

 crop but grass and weeds are better than 

 nothing. "Peach trees should be headed 

 low," said Mr. Hale. "When planted, they 

 hould be cut back ao within 10 or 12 inch- 

 , of the ground. Much labor is saved by 

 iiis method. Work in the orchard neces- 

 itates going oyer the trees once or twice 

 lor pruning, twice for spraying, once or 

 twice for thinning and two or three times 

 for harvesting. This time and labor is 

 lessened greatly by having the tree low. 

 It is just as easy, if you know how, to cul- 

 tivate low-headed trees as high-headed ones. 

 Furthermore, it is not so necessary to cul- 

 tivate as closely to a low-headed tree as 

 to one that is headed high because the 

 I ee itself shades the ground and prevents 

 .ss of moisture and the growth of weeds 

 near the trunks." Mr. Hale starts his trees 

 with a plain stick a foot long:. When bran- 

 'hes start, the lower ones ara. rubbed off. 

 ich spring afterwards, the branches are 

 lunned and the outer ones headed-in. Mr. 

 Hale advised summer pruning on trees that 

 are less than three years old and that are 

 rowing strong and vigorously. This should 

 done late in June or the first part of 

 July and it will throw the trees into fruiting. 

 Thinning the fruit on cne trees was 

 trongly advocated. The fruit should be 

 ft not closer than si.\ inches apart. More 

 -lulk and better peaches will be secured. 

 V The season for Elbertas can be extended 

 : t 10 days or so by thinning. Mr. Flale re- 

 ilj commended orchardists, who grow Elber- 

 ■i tas extensively, to divide their orchards 

 iito three parts and to thin one lot to eight 

 iiches apart, another to six inches and to 

 lave the balance unthinned. 

 Peaches should be left on the trees until 

 "11 grown and matured before harvest- 

 !«•. A full developed peach will carry as 

 ell as a green one and be worth much 

 ore. All the peaches on a tree should not 

 '' picked at once. The tree should be 

 ■ ne over three of four times to secure the 

 iiit at the proper stage for shipment, 

 iandle the peaches tenderly. Have the 

 iskets smooth on the inside and not too 

 arge. Use spring wagons. Employ wo- 

 lattn for grading and packing as they can 



1'" 



be depended upon more than men. Have 

 every package the same from top to bot- 

 tom. In the words of Mr. Hale, "Have 

 the peaches right and make the people 

 pay for it." 



Mr. Hale plants his permanent trees 20 

 feet apart. Between these rows are plant- 

 ed early bearing peaches and these are left 

 until two crops are taken from them ; they 

 are then removed. In regard to peach yel- 

 lows, Mr. Hale advised pulling the tree the 

 moment the disease is discovered as there 

 is no other remedy. As a fertilizer for 

 peaches, Mr. Hale uses 1,200 to 1,500 

 pounds of raw ground bone and 400 to 600 

 of muriate of potash per acre, with cover 

 crops in addition. On parts of the orchard 

 that need it, nitrate of soda is applied dur- 

 ing the growing season. 



White peaches are favored by Mr. Hale 

 as they are better flavored than yellow ones 

 and bring more money in his markets. If 

 the Canadian market does not want white 

 peaches, the consumers should be educated 

 to appreciate them. Among the best of 

 the white peaches is the Belle of Georgia. 

 It is very productive and a good shipper 

 and has been found hardy in the north. 



"White peaches will not sell in this coun- 

 try," said Mr. E. D. Smith of Winona. 

 "The growers must plant the kinds that the 

 people want. The demand may change, 

 but just now, the eye governs the taste. 

 Yellow peaches are wanted, both for using 

 in the fresh state and for canning. In my 

 jam factory, I have 43 cases of white peach- 

 es still on hand from last season and have 

 sold over 11,000 cases of yellow ones." Mr. 

 Hale advised the association to advertise 

 the value of white peaches so as to make 

 consumers acquainted with them. Among 

 the varieties recommended by Mr. Smith 

 were Yellow St. John, Fitzgerald, Smock, 

 Longhurst and Crosby. The two latter 

 will give a crop every year, and if thinned 

 regularly to five inches apart, they will 

 yield fruit of good size. 



SPR.WING FOR .SCALE 



Spraying for San Jose Scale was a live 

 question at all the meetings. Mr. Earns- 

 worth referred to what is being done in 

 Ohio. He said that thousands of trees in 

 that state have been ruined by the use of 

 crude petroleum. The best material for 

 combatting scale is the lime-sulphur wash. 

 This mixture not only kills the scale, but 

 it also destroys all fungi on the trees, which, 

 in itself will pay for the expense of appli- 

 cation. Best results have been secured 

 by not using salt in the mixture, as was 

 first advised. 



When speaking of the seriousness of the 

 pest, Mr. Farnsworth pointed out that 

 scale produces three or four broods in a 

 season, 300 to 500 insects in a brood. A 

 little calculation will show the immense 

 increase in numbers that occurs in a very 

 short time. 



The tank used for boiling by Mr. Farns- 

 worth is elevated eight feet. A working 

 pressure of about 100 pounds is used when 

 spraying. Spraying should be practiced 

 every year thoroughly whether scale is pre- 

 sent or not. The mixture invigorates the 

 tree. Mr. Farnsworh stated his opinion to 

 be that only lime and sulphur can be used 

 with safety on peach trees. Boiling should 

 be done properly. When boiled to the green 

 stage the mixture is injured. The coffee 

 color is proper. 



Mr. Hale said that while oils are valuable 

 for killing scale, the lime-sulphur wash is 

 the better for all purposes. It acts both 

 as a fungicide and as an insecticide. He 



has had best results by using- oil one year, 

 and lime-sulphur the next. In some experi- 

 ments conducted by Mr. Hale with home 

 made miscible oils excellent results have 

 been secured at comparatively small cost. 

 While the San Jose scale is troublesome, 

 it is a blessing in the opinion of Mr. Hale. 

 It makes growers look after their orchards 

 and it will put the careless men out of 

 the business. A further report of the dis- 

 cussion on San Jose scale will appear in 

 our next issue. 



BETTER FRUITS 



At one of the sessions, Prof. H. L. Hutt 

 spoke on better fruits. He said that the 

 money in fruit growing is made out of At 

 fruits. Too much inferior fruit is produced. 

 There is plenty of room for a high grade 

 product. British Columbia is catering to 

 a fancy market and puts up only the best. 

 To have money-making fruits, we must 

 have varieties that are adapted to the lo- 

 calities, productive and with shipping quali- 

 ties. Professor Hutt said growers should 

 not spoil the market for good fruit by 

 growing poor varieties early in the season, 

 as, for example, the Champion g-rape. Or- 

 chard and vineyard management must be 

 of the best. There must be good drain- 

 age, cultivation, fertilization of the soil, 

 pruning, thinning of fruit, spraying and so 

 forth. The professor referred to the value 

 of propagating from bearing trees instead 

 of from young trees, which induces wood 

 growth at the expense of fruitfulness. 



BEST STRAINS ARE REQUIRED 



This question of individuality in trees 

 and of propagating from the best was dealt 

 with at greater length by Mr. Macoun. 

 "The time is come," said he, "when grow- 

 ers and nurserymen must give more atten- 

 tion to the best strains of the best varieties 

 of fruits. Each bud has an individuality of 

 its own. As an example of this, we have 

 the well-known fact that there are many 

 different strains of the Fameuse apple. This 

 variety has been propagated so long that 

 its varying strains have been developed and 

 increased. Only the best strains of this or 

 any other variety should be propagated 

 from." 



At the Central Experimental Farm, over 

 4,000 tree fruits have been tested. In the 

 case of the Mcintosh Red, the largest 

 yielding tree gave 485 gallons in a 10- 

 year test and the least productive, 197. The 

 differences in these trees is nearly two and 

 one-half times, which means about $96 

 an acre in one year. The heaviest yield- 

 ing McMahon White gave in eight years, 

 611 gallons and the smallest, 163, a differ- 

 ence of $74.46 an acre in a year. Many 

 other instances were cited by Mr. Macoun 

 who advised our nurserymen, growers and 

 experiment stations to unite together on 

 this matter and to do something. 



Many other subjects were dealt with and 

 discussed at the convention. Mr. Farns- 

 worth discussed care of soils, the strawberry 

 and other topics. Mr. Hale discussed, 

 among other things; the business end of 

 peach growing. Reports of these discus- 

 sions will be published in a later issue. The 

 convention closed wih a banquet tendered 

 to the speakers and visitors. 



Wm. Cooper & Nephews, of Toronto, 

 have appointed Mr. Robt. Thompson, of 

 St. Catharines, sole agent for VI and V2 

 Fluids, for the St. Catharines district, and 

 Messrs. E. G. Prior & Co., of Victoria, 

 Vancouver, Nelson and Kamloops, sole 

 agents for Vi and V2 Fluids for British 

 Columbia. 



