THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



17 



lead us to the conclusion, predicted in the col- 

 umns of The Canadian Horticulturist last 

 spring, that when fruit growers themselves fail 

 to agree, the tariff remains the same. 



Ontario Agricultural and E-xper'l Union 



The rec]uest of the Ontario Vegetable Growers' 

 Association to have the government grant to the 

 association of $600 increased to $1,000, is a 

 reasonable one. This association receives a 

 smaller grant than any other association of the 

 kind in the province. It has almost double the 

 membership of any other association. Its mem- 

 bership, also, is more representative than that 

 of other organizations. Branches of the asso- 

 ciation are to be found from Ottawa and King- 

 ston in the east, to Sarnia and Tecumseh in the 

 west. The vegetable industry is much more 

 important than that represented by the Ontario 

 Beekeepers' Association. The Beekeepers' As- 

 sociation receives a grant of $1,000 a year, and 

 it has a very small membership. Although not 

 much more than an infant, the Ontario Vegetable 

 Growers' Association already has done much to 

 awaken a greater interest in advanced methods 

 of culture in the production of vegetables. Its 

 future success will depend largely upon the 

 assistance the association receives from the On- 

 tario Government. The sum asked for is a 

 reasonable one and the granting of anything 

 smaller would not be in accord with the dignity 

 of the Ontario Department of Agriculture, which 

 has accomplished much valuable educational 

 work through organizations of this kind. 



Fruit growers in all parts of Canada will watch 

 with interest the progress of the large commercial 

 fruit company that has been organized in Nova 

 Scotia by Mr. Ralph S. Eaton, who is president 

 and manager, and others. The Hillcrest Or- 

 chards, I^imited, has been organized in the right 

 way. Being under corporate management, 

 with Mr. Eaton at its head, it promises success. 

 Mr. Eaton is a man who is familiar with the 

 technical as well as the practical phases of fruit 

 growing. He is, also, a business man of more 

 than ordinary capabilities. Under Mr. Eaton's 

 direction, the Hillcrest Orchards, Limited, is 

 likelv to be a paying investment. Failures of 

 previous attempts to form companies of this 

 kind have been due largely to lack of experience 

 on the part of the men in charge. 



The secretaries of all horticultural societies 

 will confer a great favor on our circulation de- 

 partment if they will kindly send in their sub- 

 scription lists for 1907 at the earliest possible 

 time after their annual meetings. This will 

 enable us to have all names correctly entered 

 on our mailing lists for the coming year, and in- 

 sure all the society menil^ers receiving every 

 issue of The Canadian Horticulturist through- 

 out the year. It often happens that when 

 names arc received one or two months after the 

 annual meetings, that back copies of The Horti- 

 culturist have been exhausted, and subscribers 

 are unable to receive the full year's issue. 



Those of our readers who desire a bound vol- 

 ume of The Horticulturist for 1906, can obtain 

 same at our office. Owing to the size of the 

 magazine having been enlarged for 1906, the 

 charges for binding will be a little higher than 

 formerly. Volumes for last year will be 

 bound for $1.2.5. No better horticultural work 

 of reference could be desired than a bound 

 volume of The Horticulturist. It is up-to-date, 

 newsy and makes a very valuable book when 

 bound for the year. Send in your back copies 

 for binding. 



It is a source of satisfaction to find goods,, 

 purchased from a firm not personally known, to 

 be as good or better than represented. Goods 

 advertised in the columns of this paper are sold 

 by firms that do business on the square. Readers 

 will do well in patronizing our advertisers. 



AT the recent meeting of the Ont. Agric. 

 and E.xp. Union, held in Guelph, a number 

 of subjects of interest to fruit and vege- 

 table growers were discussed. The ques- 

 tion of introducing vegetable tests in con- 

 nection with the work of the Union was the 

 subject of a brief talk by Prof. H. L. Hutt. In 

 the course of his remarks, he intimated that the 

 Union was willing to undertake work of that 

 nature, but that the time was not yet ripe. 

 He said that he required .3 or 4 years to carry on 

 work with vegetables at Guelph before it would 

 be wise to disseminate material for cooperative 

 work over the province. A committee was ap- 

 pointed to confer with a delegation of vegetable 

 growers from the Ont. Veg. Grs. Assn. The 

 result was not encouraging to the growers. 



Mr. J. Lockie Wilson 



Recently appointed Superintendent of Agricultural 

 and Horticultural Societies for (Ontario to Jill the posi- 

 tion made vacant by the resignation of H. B. Cowan, 

 editor of this paper. 



" W'c arc pleased to notice that The C.^naiil-vn 

 Hokticulturist is growing with each issue." — 

 A. G. Hull & Son, St. Catharines, Ont. 



A report of cooperative experiments on small 

 fruits was .presented by Professor Hutt. He 

 outUned the progress of the work from its begin- 

 ning to the ijresent day. Particulars were given 

 regarding the cultural directions sent out when 

 the plants and the varieties disseminated were 

 mentioned. 



"Our Commercial Fruit Interests," was the 

 subject of a valuable address by A. McNeill, 

 Chief, Fruit Division, Ottawa. He outlined the 

 various fruit-growing areas of the province and 

 mentioned the classes of fruits adapted for each. 

 The tender fruits are confined to the western 

 end of Lake Ontario. The particular industry 

 of that district is the growing of vegetables and 

 fruits for the early markets. It has at least 2 

 weeks the advantage of any other section of the 

 province in the point of time. The capacity 

 for production is unlimited. Local markets are 

 sometimes over-supplied. Distant markets can- 

 not get the material they require. Ottawa will 

 take 2 or 3 carloads of strawberries a day. 

 There is a splendid opportunity to open up a 

 good trade in other parts of this province and 

 in other pro\inces. The counties along the 

 north shore of Lake Ontario produce some of 

 the finest winter fruit that is grown in the world. 

 The cost of storage is so small comparatively 

 that there is little fear of gluts in the markets 

 for that class of fruit. Owing to altitude, there 

 are sections in the province, apparently in the 

 midst of a fruit-growing area, tl-.at cannot grow 

 fruits to perfection. On tlie whole, the future 

 for apples in Ont. is bright . 



A practical paper on the results of cooperative 

 experiments with fertilizers, was read by Prof. 

 R. Harcourt. He pointed out the value of 

 fertilizers, and the limits of their effectiveness. 

 A report on farm forestry for 1906 was read by 

 E. J. Zavitz. He emphasized the importance of 

 planting with trees, especially white pine, waste 

 farm lands, steep, gravelly hillsides and other 

 areas not adapted to the growing of farm crops. 

 While it is not generally considered remuner- 

 ative work, there is no investment that will 

 yield such large returns as will the wood lot if 

 properly managed. 



In connection with the subject of our fruit in- 

 terests, Robt. Thompson, of St. Catharines, spoke 

 on the possibilities of developing the markets 

 of the west. Two years ago. Prof. Reynolds 

 sent 2 experimental carloads of fruit from Ont. 

 to the west. That was the beginning of a won- 

 derful progress. This year, no less than 64 car 

 loads were sent from St. Catharines. While 

 Ont. growers must compete with B.C. in that 

 market, they have the advantage in quaUty. 

 The dealers of the west prefer Ont. grown fruit. 

 Mr. Thompson intimated that it will be 20 years 

 at least before Ont. is able to provide a sufficient 

 supply of fruit for the west. A. E. Sherrington, 

 of Walkerton, also took part in the discussion. 

 He dwelt more particularly on the question of 

 coopera.tion among fruit growers. He mentioned 

 many interesting features of the cooperative 

 movement. 



Judging' ExKibition Apples 



Editor, The Canadian Horticulturist, — 

 At the late fruit exhibition in Massey Hall, To- 

 ronto, there was a very large amount of dis- 

 cussion with reference to the merits of certain 

 apples shown as plate specimens. Among the 

 exhibits could be found some clean, smooth, 

 bright apples, almost perfect in every way but 

 only of normal size or perhaps slightly below. 

 In competition with these, there were frequently 

 some extraordinarily large apples, but somewhat 

 rough and lacking in color. Although the ques- 

 tion of quality, as judged by the palate, could 

 not in all cases be determined at that time, it 

 is to be presumed, as the result of almost uni- 

 versal experience, that the smaller apples would 

 have the finer flavor. The question involved 

 was to which should the prize go in case of com- 

 petition between two such lots of apples. In 

 some cases, it was asserted that the higher prize 

 went to the large apples rather than to the 

 smaller ones. 



The point I wish to raise is this: Is there any 

 agreement among fruit men generally as to the 

 value of size in plate specimens? Until we 

 have some such agreement and until this agree- 

 ment is expressed in the prize list, there will be 

 an unnecessary friction between exhibitors and 

 an unmerited criticism of the judges. 



In order to start a discussion on this subject, 

 I state my personal view of this case with the 

 hope that it may draw out the opinions of 

 others. I should be strongly in favor of follow- 

 ing the custom in vogue in England of regard- 

 ing any size above normal as a grave defect in a 

 dessert apple, and that, even for cooking pur- 

 poses, there should be only a moderate value 

 attached to size compared with the other qual- 

 ities of regularity, smoothness and high flavor. 

 I should, therefore be in favor of adding a note 

 in the prize list to the effect that judges be in- 

 structed by the Directors to regard abnormal 

 size as a serious defect in the dessert class. — 

 A. McNeill, Chief, Fruit Division, Ottawa. 



Before BuyInK Books, write for oiu" extensive 

 book catalog, which we will gladly send free to 

 all interested in horticultural works. It con 

 tains 16 pages and should be in the home of 

 every fruit grower, gardener, and amateur 

 florist. It is a good reference book. Send for 

 it now. — ^The Canadian Horticulturist, 506- 

 7-8 Manning Chambers, Toronto. 



