2IO 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



October, igo8 



Sir Thos. G. Shaughnessy's Young Orchard, Summerland, British Columbia 



1907, the Kelowna, British Cokinibia, 

 Fruit Growers' association, won the lirst 

 prize gold medal, for the best display of 

 fresh fruit, and Monsherger & Hope, of 

 Grand P'orks, B. C, won second prize. 



In two other competitions — best five 

 Ijoxes of apples, five varieties, and best 

 box of commercial apples — T. G. Earl, 

 Lytton, B. C, won third prizes. In 

 these competitions, British Columbia 



was pitted against the choicest produc- 

 tions of Oregon and Washington. 



ACREAGE FIT FOR FRUIT 



It has been estimated that in southern 

 British Columbia, there are over 1,000,- 

 000 acres of land fit for fruit growing, 

 while in the great northern interior from 

 3,000,000 to 4,000,000 more acn\s 

 will be found available for fruit. Apples, 

 plums, pears and cherries are grown 

 with great success on the Skeena River, 

 and it is believed that this will proxe 

 true of most of the valleys of the nortli- 

 ern portion of the province. 



In 1901, there were 7,430 acres in 

 fruit, with 51 grand total of 650,000 fruit 

 trees. In 1906, the fruit land of the 

 province increased from 29,000 acres, 

 with 1,700,000 trees, to 49,000 acres, 

 with 2,700,000 trees. In the million tree 

 increase there is included fruit bushes, 

 some 41 ,000 ornamental trees, 41 ,000 rose 

 bushes, 22,000 plants and 17,000 shrubs, 

 but the figures do not include the trees 

 sent out from nurseries within the pro- 

 vince, which, it is thought, \\;Duld equal 

 the total of the latter figures. In the 

 last four }ears, the increase in exports, 

 according to returns from the express 

 and railway companies, was 2,400 tons, 

 the total amounting to 11,882 tons. 



Strawberries in British Columbia 



THP] first question of interest to be- 

 ginners in strawberry growing, 

 is, "what variety shall I plant?" 

 If you cannot determine from your 

 neighbor's experience what variety is 

 best suited for your soil and climate, the 

 only thing is to experiment until you 

 find out. Always remember, when se- 

 lecting from catalogues, that this phrase 

 might well be tacked on to the end of the 

 glowing description of any strawberry, 

 "If it happens to be suited to your soil 

 and climate." I prefer the hill system of 

 cultivation, rows at least three feet apart 

 and plants sixteen inches in the row. 

 ]5efore planting, -I cut about half of the 

 roots off with a pair of shears, and all 

 dead or faded-looking leaves. In plant- 

 ing, press the soil firmly round the plant. 

 I use a small, wooden dibble, sixteen 

 inches long, so that it serves for a meas- 

 ure for planting. All blossoms and run- 

 ners should be cut, say, once a week, 

 and the hoc .ind culli\ator kept going 

 all spring and summer. The weeds 

 should be kept ck)wn in the fall. Pick- 

 ing them into a bucket is a good way. 



No mulch is nccessar\ in winter on the 

 coast. Cultivate early in spring. Run 

 the tool shallow and keep it away from 

 the plants to avoid tearing up the small 

 roots that lie near th^ surface. I pre- 



George Evcry-Clayton, Burnaby Lake 



fer to keep weeds down by picking them 

 when fruiting time draws near. We lay 

 down straw to keep the fruit clean. This 

 is done when the blossom is about all 

 out and the fruit partly set. About two 

 tons of straw to an acre is applied. 



PICKING 



The pickers should not touch the 

 fruit at all, but take it by the stem, and 

 cut the stem about half an inch from the 

 fruit with the thumb nail, and place in 

 box. We provide our pickers with trays 

 that hold six boxes. When these are 

 full, the picker brings the tray up to the 

 packing shed, or tent, and places the 

 boxes on a table in front ot the packer 

 (usually the boss, or some responsible 

 person) who looks them over and calls 

 the picker's attention to any unripe, 

 over-ripe, mashed, rotten or bird-pecked 

 berries, that he may see. If carelessness 

 continues, the picker's services are dis- 

 pensed with. When a quantity of small 

 and mis-shapen berries .seem to justify it, 

 they are picked into separate boxes, and 

 sold as No. 2's. 



MARKETING 



If conditions are favorable, the man 

 with only a few berries may dispose of 

 them satisfactorily by retailing to private 

 customers. There is, however, in my 



opinion, only one way for the man with 

 a quantity to sell them, and that is 

 through a reliable commission man. 

 Having once found him, stick to him, 

 and leave the selling to him, devoting all 

 your own energies to seeing that the 

 fruit is well picked, carefully and at- 

 tractively packed, and conveyed to your 

 commission man's store with the least' 

 posible shaking and jarring. I venture 

 to say that he will save you time, trou- 

 ble, possibility of bad debts, and make 

 his own commission into the bargain. 

 Send him badly-picked, and carelessly- 

 packed berries, and berries that have 

 been driven over a rough road at ten 

 miles an hour, and you will say that the 

 commission man is no good. 



As soon as the crop is off, we mow all 

 the leaves off the plants and burn them 

 and the straw right on the patch, and 

 cultivate as usual. We usually take two 

 or three crops off before plowing. 



Growers of cranberries are asked l( 

 contribute articles for publication. 



Readers of The Canadian Horticii-- 

 TiRiST in the Maritime Provinces, are 

 requested to send articles on fruit, flow 1 1 

 and vegetable culture for publication. 

 Photographs also will be welcome. 



