TKe Dominion Government's Cold Storage Proposition 



THE proposal of the Hon. Sydney Fisher, 

 Minister of Agriculture at Ottawa, to assist 

 in the establishment of cold storage 

 warehouses for plants and other tender 

 products, will be welcomed by the fruit 

 growers of Canada. \\'hile it may not be 

 acceptable in all details, it is a big step 

 in the direction of what is needed. One or 2 

 private schemes have been presented to the 

 government with requests for assistance, but 

 they were thought to tend towards a mon- 

 opoly of the business. The proposition of the 

 minister is framed with a view towards elim- 

 ination of a danger of this kind. The main 

 features of the proposal, as outlined by Mr. 

 Fisher in the House, are as follows: 



Contracts with individuals or companies 

 who may wish to establish cold storage ware- 

 houses, shall be entered into only for such places 

 as, in the opinion of the minister, may fairly 

 justify the investment or the establishment of 

 .such an enterprise. The scale of the invest- 

 ment also shall be such as is justified in the 

 •opinion of the minister; that is to say, in some 

 places, a cold storage warehouse which would 

 • cost $30,000 may be justified, where one of 

 $100,000 would not. The contract would also 

 indicate the conditions on which the aid would 

 he granted. The 1st condition would be a 

 -control of the rates by the government, which 

 are to be charged for the accommodation of 

 the public. The 2nd condition would be that 

 the temperature be maintained at a degree 

 necessary for the proper preservation of the 

 articles intended to be placed in the chamber. 



The assistance is proposed to be given in 

 this form; That on the completion of a build- 

 ing approved by the minister, a bonus of 10 % 

 on the investment shall immediately be paid, 

 and that in succeeding years after a short term, 

 which has not yet been definitely determined, 

 an additional 20% of the whole investment 

 shall be paid. The minister is inclined to pro- 

 pose payments after the initial 10% as follows: 

 At the end of the 1st year's ojieration, 5%, 

 and at the end of each successive year, a simi- 

 lar amount, until a total of 30% of the whole 

 cost has been paid. The minister stated that 

 it was not the intention to grant a bonus to 

 . any cold storage plant now in operation. It is 

 proposed to provide for official inspection and 

 supervision and the keeping of the buildings. 



There are some features of the proposal that 

 are debatable. In the House, some members 

 criticized the [jroposition. It was pointed out 

 that it would be better to allow the individual 

 to erect cold storage buildings where, in his 

 judgment, it was required, and not to leave 

 the choice of location to the minister. It was 

 -suggested, also, that the total amoimt of the 

 bonus be paid on completion of the building, 

 and not extended over a period of years. K. 

 D. Smith, of Wentworth Co., Ont., was of the 

 opinion that the bonus should be given in one 

 lump sum. Various letters have been re- 

 ceived by The Canadian Horticulturist 

 from fruit growers and dealers regarding this 

 • question. Some of them are herewith published : 

 This one was received from R. J. Graham, of 

 Belleville, Ont,; "We have mechanical cold 

 ■storage that will hold 20,000 bbls. It cost about 

 $30,000, including site and railway siding, fitted 

 with I.inde British machinery. We have, also, 

 ice cold storage which we built prior to the 

 mechanical storage. For some things, ice is 

 quite good enough and is very much cheaper 

 than mechanical, but for carrying apples late in 

 the season it is a total failure, for the ice gradu- 

 ally melts and as the season advances the tem- 

 perature gradually rises in an ice storage unless 

 fitted with mechanical devices and ice salted. 

 For apples that are coming in store in Nov. 

 and going out before middle of March, ordinary 

 fruit houses such as they have in this locality is 

 quite good enough. I understand that the ob- 

 ject of the propcsed assistance to cold storage 



construction is to have facilities for taking care 

 of fruit early in the season when weather is un- 

 favorable and this can only be done through 

 mechanical storage. It has been demonstrated 

 that such storages will pay when used exclu- 

 sively for apples. There are perhaps 30 such 

 storages in New York state located where the 

 apples can be placed in storage the day they are 

 gathered, which is of vital importance where 

 the fruit is intended to be carried any consid- 

 erable length of time. 



"Unquestionably millions of dollars' worth of 

 apples have been destroyed, wasted and lost to 

 the country b)' not having such facilities avail- 

 able where the apples are grown. With the 

 present improper railway equipment and diffi- 

 culty in securing cars, large losses are made 

 which cannot be avoided. If the assistance pro- 

 posed will result in the establishment of a num- 

 ber of mechanical cold storages in the sections 

 where apples are grown it will be certainly bene- 

 ficial to the country and especially to the own- 

 ers of the fruit. The only thing about this pro- 

 posal that seems unfair is establishment of stor- 

 ages in the vicinity of those already built. It 

 would seem to me that if these storages are 

 assisted by the government, then those already 

 established should be compensated in the same 

 proportion where they do similar service in the 

 apple growing districts." 



The opinion of F. S. Wallbridge, of Belleville, 

 is as follows: "In most of the apple growing 

 sections, cold storage warehouses for apjiles are 

 not an absolute necessity. If the assistance 

 proposed were given to frost-proof storage build- 

 ings for storage purposes, and let the coopera- 

 tive assns. put in any apparatus they may see 

 fit, either mechanical refrigeration or ice storage, 

 or even ventilation, I think it would be best. In 

 most of the apple sections, there are not a great 

 many summer apples grown and a very small 

 compartment of the building would answer for 

 cooling any early varieties that the assns. might 

 have. In my opinion it certainly would be 

 more helpful to the apple growers to get assist- 

 ance in building frost -proof storage buildings 

 than being assisted in putting up cold storage 

 plants which they only require to a very limited 

 extent, as the late fall and winter apples do not 

 require any other storage than the frost-proof 

 storage, and those apples are grown to a much 

 larger extent than the earlier varieties. The 

 trouble that most of our assns. find is in getting 

 a reasonable priced storage to hold their winter 

 varieties until prices are sufficiently high in 

 European markets to warrant sale of them. At 

 the present time such a small price is being 

 offered in the Eurojjean markets for such varie- 

 ties as Ben Davis that those apples naturally 

 have to be held until there is a market for them 

 in the latter part of the winter or the early spring. 

 I trust that the Hon. Mr. Fisher means to ex- 

 tend the assistance to assns. that intend putting 

 up frost-proof storages." 



J. D. Biggar, Grimsby: "I am of the opinion 

 that the government would be justified in assist- 

 ing in the erection of cold storage warehouses 

 where they would be of sufficient benefit to the 

 community. I also appreciate the benefit de- 

 rived from its action in assisting in improving 

 cold storage transportation facilities." 



Elmer Lick, Oshawa: "I can see decided ad- 

 vantages in the .scheme. The apple grower 

 needs to have his fruit cooled before shipment 

 during Aug. and generally most of Sept. I have 

 never yet known fall apples which were packed 

 at a temperature around 60 or below, to land in 

 the British market in bad shape, that is if they 

 were shipped at once after packing. Our softer 

 winter apples, as well as the fall varieties, need 

 cooling before packing, or immediately after- 

 wards. If the present proposals provide, in 

 some of the best apple sections, a means of doing 

 this at reasonable cost, either by ice or mechan- 

 ical means, a very good purpose will be served. 



20 



"Usually there is little trouble in keeping our 

 later winter varieties through medium of air 

 ventilation. The fact must be remembered, 

 however, that the sooner an apple is cooled to 

 freezing point the longer it will keep. That is 

 a very important advantage of ice or mechanical 

 cold storage. The only question in connection 

 with this matter that bothers me is: Where will 

 the business come from to make it pay? Apples 

 will furnish business for 3 to 5 months. Will there 

 be other business enough to keep down expenses 

 to a reasonable basis? This is a very inviting 

 field for theory, and one rather difficult to prac- 

 tically say how it will work out." 



Daniel Johnson, Forest; "Mr. Fisher's cold 

 storage porposals, appear to be a step in the 

 right direction. Ont. fruit growers and farmers 

 have long felt the want of something in that 

 line. It is to be hoped that the government 

 will next season see its way clear to go much 

 further in assisting them. It would perhaps 

 have been better if the government had under- 

 taken the establishment of these warehouses on 

 its own account, and to regulate the rates in the 

 interests of the country." 



THe Seedless Apple 



Frances Wayland Glen, Brooklyn, N.Y. 



The report of the committee of the Ont. 

 F.G.A. Convention, held in Toronto, referring 

 to the Spencer Seedless Apple, gave me much 

 pleasure. It is time that quack horticiOi urists, 

 like quack politicians, were sent to the rear to 

 remain. The great jjrogress made in horticul- 

 ture during the past years has been from 

 growing varieties, not species. The seedless 

 orange, probably, is a cross of two species, and 

 what we call the navel is a deformity. It is the 

 only seedless fruit that is of any value. 



God has set a limit to the propagation of 

 deformed fruits or animals. This fact clearly 

 indicates that the wise horticulturist W'ill follow 

 God's plan and not Mr. Spencer's. It is unjust 

 to those who have rendered such beneficent 

 services to humanity in the crossing of varieties 

 to have some quack notion like the seedless 

 apple overshadow the results of their patient 

 labor. Permit me to return thanks to Professor 

 Craig of Cornell University for his letter in the 

 Nov. issue of The Canadian Horticulturist. 



Dairying and Fruit Gro-wing 



A large number of the dairy farmers in the 

 vicinity of Colborne and Belleville, Ont,, are 

 going in for fruit growing on an extensive scale, 

 and appear to find it a profitable side-line in 

 connection with their dairy operations. While 

 driving through this section recently a represent- 

 ative of The Canadian Horticulturist was 

 surprised to find how extensively the farmers 

 of that section have set out orchards during 

 the past couple of years. It seems that recently 

 large profits have been made on apples in that 

 section, with the result that there has been a 

 regular boom, the reaction of which will be felt 

 by some farmers who, it was noticed, have set 

 out their orchards in very unfavorable locations. 



"This is the greatest, apple section in the 

 province," said Reeve Alyea, of Colborne, to 

 our representative. "In Colborne alone," he 

 continued, "we have 16 apple-packing ware- 

 houses, the smallest of which holds about 7,000 

 bbls., and the largest 20,000. A new cement 

 warehouse is being built which, when completed, 

 will hold 30,000 bbls. Our farmers let their 

 hogs run in the orchards, where they eat wind- 

 falls and wormy apples. In this way, too, the 

 orchard is manured. 



"Over 1,000 acres were planted with apples 

 this year. Some dairy farmers and others in 

 the vicinity of Colborne have sold the apples in 

 their orchards this year for from $450 to as 

 high as $1,200, the buyer to do the picking and 

 packing, and the grower the hauling." 



