THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



21 



Nova Scotia Fruit Growers' Convention 



THE 43rd annual meeting of the N.S. Fruit 

 Grs. Assn. was held at Wolfville on Dec. 

 12, 13 and 11. There was a good attend- 

 ance. While the meeting cannot be re- 

 garded as one of the most important in the history 

 of the Assn., it was quite a successful one. 

 Owing to the good work done at the Dominion 

 Conference of Fruit Growers at Ottawa last 

 March, several questions which usually occupy 

 considerable time, such as the grading, pack- 

 ing and marketing of fniit, did not receive the 

 usual attention. 



The address of the president, Mr. John Don- 

 aldson, was full of practical information. In 

 it he said that there was an abundant show of 

 blossoms in the orchards last spring, but cool, 

 wet weather prevented good poUeiiation. A 

 favorable summer was followed by an ideal 

 autumn, but a gale in October blew off a large 

 amount of fruit. The crop was below medium, 

 but the apples were comparatively free of spot 

 with the exception of Gravensteitis, which were 

 badly aflected, there being only a small pro- 

 portion of No. I's. The advantage of having 

 this refuse fruit utilized by the canning and 

 evaporating factories, which used a large 

 amtjunt this 3'ear, was referred to by the pres- 

 ident among other things. 



An interesting address on "Orchard Manage- 

 ment," by W. T. Macoun, C.E., Ottawa, followed 

 the president's address. A report of it will 

 appear in our next issue. 



The afternoon of the 2nd day was all de- 

 voted to spraying, it being felt that this was 

 the most important subject that could be 

 discussed in view of the fact that the Graven- 

 steins had been almost ruined by spot this 

 year. Prof. F. C. Seais, Horticulturist. Agric'l 

 College, Truro, had charge of this subject, and 

 subdivided it into nozzles, pumps, hose, fungi- 

 cides, lime, insecticides, preparation of the 

 mixture and api)lication of same, so that the 

 whole subject was thoroughly covered. The 

 plan adopted was to have several fruit growers 

 speak on each branch of the subject. The 

 Vermorel nozzle, or a modification of it, was 

 considered the best. It was shown that it 

 was very important to change the disc in the 

 nozzle frequently', as the aperture soon wid- 

 ened by friction, and a coarser spray was the 

 result. The general opinion was that 3 nozzles 

 were as many as could be economically used on 

 each line of hose even on a power pump, while 

 2 or even 1 was sufficient on a hand pump. No 

 one pump was considered the best. It was 

 generally thought that 34-'nch hose was better 

 than J^-inch, being considerably lighter and 

 just as efTective. The complaint was made 

 that hose did not last long enough. A special 

 5 ply hose was referred to by Mr, Black, Wolf- 

 ville, as being the most durable, and while 

 a little more expensive, it was much more 

 satisfactory than the hose usually bought. The 

 variability of lime was referred to, and it was 

 shown that it was important to use good lime. 

 As a rule 4 lbs. to the bbl. was sufficient, though 

 more could be used if necessary. 



Some arsenate of lead had been used in N.S. 

 this year. There was a discussion on the rel- 

 ative merits of it and Paris green as insecti- 

 cides. Some had found it difficult to mix, 

 while others were favorably impressed with it 

 owir.g to its adhesiveness, and the good results 

 obtained. As a poison had to be used with 

 each application of Bordeaux mixture, it was 

 thought that the adhesiveness of the arsenate 

 of lead did not offset the danger from using a 

 poison of its color in consideration of the gen- 

 eral carelessness of fruit growers in leaving 

 j poisons about. 



Dr. las. Fletcher, Entomologist and Botanist, 



Dom. Exp. Farms, who was on the program to 



1 speak on "Insects and Insecticides," was 



' called on vvhen the discussion had reached the 



1 point of the pro])er time for spraying, a fruit 



i grower claiming that he had very satisfactory 



results from only spraying once, and that 



when the trees were in full blootn. Dr. Fletcher 



took a very decided stand on this subject, 

 showing that insects, especially honey bees, 

 which visited the flowers, were killed by the 

 poison; that in Ont. it was considered so im- 

 portant not to spray at that time, that a law- 

 was in force which prohibited fruit growers 

 from doing so. Not only were bees killed by 

 the ]Joison, but the crop was lessened by the 

 Paris green injuring the pistil of the flowers, 

 thus preventing fruit from setting. He rec- 

 ommended 4 sprayings with Bordeaux mix- 

 ture, 2 before the flowers opened, and 2 after. 

 All insects could not be controlled by 1 spray- 

 ing, as they were active at different seasons of 

 the year. The one spraying would control 

 the black spot. Thoroughness in spraying 

 was of the utmost importance. It is an ex- 

 pensive operation and, if not properly done, 

 money was thrown away. Speaking of the 

 San Jose scale, he congratulated the fruit 

 growers on not having it In procuring nurs- 

 ery stock, he advised getting trees from Ont. 

 rather than the U.S., if good trees could not 

 be obtained in N.S., as the Ont. nvtrseries had 

 their stock thoroughly inspected and fumigated 

 according to law. "Practically all the insects 

 affecting trees in N.S.," said Dr. Fletcher, "can 

 be controlled by spraying." - - -_ '_ .'^i 



In concluding, he stated that at many of 

 the meetings he had the pleasure of attending 

 during the last 2 years, many of the important 

 subjects which had come up for discussion at 

 the present meeting, as for instance, "collar 

 rot," had been keenly discussed. He urged 

 the members to keep accurate notes as to all 

 the conditions of soil, weather, location and 

 particularly to methods of cultivation in 

 orchards where trees died from this mysterious 

 injury, so that actual data taken at the time 

 might be available foi comparison and dis- 

 cussion at the next meeting, thereby arriving 

 at something definite. 



Considerable discussion took (jlace on the 

 No. 2 apple, as defined in the amended Fruit 

 Marks Act. Mr. G. PI. Vroom, Dom. Fruit 

 Insp., explained the view taken by the inspect- 

 ors in regard to this grade. The point not 

 clearly understood by the fruit growers was 

 as to what was meant by "material waste." 

 From Mr. Vroom's statement, it is understood 

 that 80% of a No. 2 grade, providing thev are 

 of medium size, may be spotted, providing 

 the spots are not large enough or numerous 

 enough to cause "material wa,ste." A fruit 

 grower should be able to form a fair opinion 

 of what would cause material waste. A ques- 

 tion was asked as to whether any apples of a 

 "fancy" grade had been exported from N.S. 

 this yeaT. The statement was made that 800 

 hbls. had been exported, it being understood 

 that the man who exported them wns S. B. 

 Chute, Berwick, N.S. A large proportion of 

 this fancy grade went to South Africa. 



The fruit growers of N.S. are very anxious 

 to have a fruit exp. sta. in the AnnajioUs val- 

 ley. The matter was discussed at some length, 

 ar. It has been for many years, and a resolution 

 urging the estalilishing of such a station will 

 be sent to the Dominion and Provincial gov- 

 ernments and to the members of parliament. 



A move was made at this meeting to make 

 some town the headquarters of the Assn., 

 where it would meet every year, but this prop- 

 osition was voted down. It was thought 

 that more good could be done by moving 

 arotmd. It is probable that the meeting next 

 year will be at Berwick. 



The exhibition of fruit, though not large, 

 was of good quality It was iudged bv Prof. 

 F. C. Sears and Mr. W. T. Macoim. 



The officers elected for next year are: Pres., 

 John Donaldson, Wolfville; vice-p., G. C. Mil- 

 ler, Middleton; sec, S. C. Parker, Berwick — 

 the same offiicers as last vear. Mr. Donaldson 

 was highly complimented for the manner in 

 which he filled the office during the past year. 



A popular meeting was held on the evening 

 of Dec. 13, when addresses were given by 



Lieutenant-Governor Fraser, Judge Longley- 

 Dr. Fletcher, Prof. Cumraing, and Mr. Camp, 

 bell, the local member. The addresses were 

 more than of usual interest, and delighted the 

 large audience assembled. — W. T M. 



Ontario's SicK Little Ones 



The 31st year of the Hospital for Sick Chil- 

 dren in Ont. work has just closed. It is some- 

 thing to be proud of, and the results, both in 

 its in and outdoor department, compare most 

 favorably with that of any of the large hos- 

 pitals on either this or the other side of the 

 Atlantic Ocean. 



The hospital is not a local institution, but 

 provincial. The sick child from any place in 

 Ont. who can't aflord to pay, has the same 

 privileges as the child living in Toronto, and is 

 treated free. 



The hospital had last year in its beds and 

 cots 858 patients, 331 being from 231 places 

 outside of Toronto. The cost is 1.37 cts per 

 patient a day, and there were 138 sick little 

 ones a day in the hospital. Since its founda- 

 tion the hospital has treated 12,120 children. 

 About 8,500 of these were unable to pay, and 

 were treated free. 



Next year the hospital will supply i^repared 

 food for infant feeding at cost. .This will 

 enable mothers at a trifling cost to feed babies 

 properly, and so decrease the great mortality 

 amongst children. Babies under 2 years are 

 now received, so that mal-nutrition cases and 

 those of the digestive organs will be treated. 



The I,akeside Home for I,ittle Children, To- 

 ronto Island, is the summer home of the mother 

 hospital. It is open from May till Oct. every 

 year, and during this period nearly 300 chil- 

 dren are benefited by their residence, On- 

 tario's breezes (the Home receives them from 

 all sides) do much for the little ones who are 

 able to be moved from the main building in 

 the city. About 80 children sleep every night 

 in the open on the balconies of the Home. 



A dollar sent to the Hc^spit'al for Sick Chil- 

 dren is $1 sent on an errand of mercy and nnbil- 

 ity— for sweet mercy is nobility's true badge. 

 Please send contributions to J, Ross Robert- 

 son, chairman, or to Douglas Davidson, sec- 

 treas. of the Hosjiital for Sick Children, Col- 

 lege Street, Toronto. 



Encourage tKe Apple 



The farmer in the east is naturally looking 

 with some envy upon the bumper grain crops 

 which the farmer in the west gets by merely 

 tickling the soil. He hears of men going out 

 upon the prairie, taking up land, running up a 

 shack, putting in a crop, and then banking good 

 hard money at the end of the year. But if he 

 would look up at his apple trees instead of far 

 away at distant fields, he might be better em- 

 ployed. 



The patient, old, gnarled apple tree is bearing 

 gold for hifn every golden autumn, and yet he 

 lets a great share of it waste upon the ground, or, 

 worse still, deteriorate by improper handling. 

 If he would turn his golden apple into golden 

 dollars he would forget to envy the western 

 novice with his goldeti grain. — Montreal Star. 



In this issue, W. H. Brand, of Jordan Station, 

 Ont., draws attention to 3 articles for which he 

 is Canadian agent. He was at the Ont. Hort. 

 Exh. with a "Wallace" sprayer that appeared 

 to be as near perfection as one could desire. 

 "Target Brand" scale destroyer is becoming 

 well established in Ont, Before long, our fruit 

 growers will find it hard to do without it. 

 Kewanee Air Pressure Water Works Systems 

 enable every rural resident to have a full water- 

 works service and fire protection the same as in 

 the citv, with a valuable feature in addition, viz., 

 either hard or soft water can be used. See Mr. 

 Brand's advt, on another page. 



The annual meeting of the N.B. Fruit Gro. 

 Assn. will be held at Fredericton on Feb, 14, 



