April, 1907 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



97 



Evidence of CHief of tHe Fruit Division 



SPEAKING on the Early Apple Trade, be- 

 fore the select committee on Agri. and Col- 

 onization of the House of Commons, Mr. 

 Alexander McNeill, chief of the fruit divi- 

 sion, pointed out that the percentage of the early 

 apples to the whole Canadian trade with Britain 

 in this commodity fell last year to less than 

 2%. This was a great drop from nearly 4}^% 

 in the years 1904-05. Asked as to the reason 

 of this, the speaker said that it was because the 

 growers and dealers thought that they could 

 not compete with the British growers, particu- 

 larly when there was a good crop on the other 

 side. It was also due to a peculiarity of human 

 nature that made men averse to adopting 

 changes. Then too there was a lack of con- 

 fidence in the British market. 



Mr. McNeill was questioned as to what accom- 

 modation had been afforded for shipping frtiit 

 at low temperatures, and answered that iced 

 cars had been provided and also arrangements 

 made for cool compartments on the ocean-going 

 steamers. 



"What guarantee has the shipper of the 

 temperature at which these compartments are 

 kept?" asked Mr. Armstrong of Lambton. 



"There are the reports of the commercial 



inspectors on the other side of the water as to 



the condition of the fruit upon arrival and the 



thermograph records," answered Mr. McNeill. 



Mr. E. D. Smith, of Winona, asked if these 



r 



BISSELL'S 



Extension Inlhrow 



ORCHARD 



Extension Outtlirow 



HARROWS 



Reversible • 



Built in sizes for I or 2 horses. Immense capac- 

 ity for hard work and thorough cultivation. 



ADDRESS 



T. E. BISSELL, Dept. N, ELORA, ONT. 



Mention Thr ranadlao MortUiultniiBt wlifrn wrltini,' 



cars and compartments were kept at as low a 

 temperature as they should be, to which Mr. 

 McNeill replied that some apples were shipped to 

 Montreal in ordinary cars and tests had shown 

 the centre of some of the bbls. to go as high as 

 70 to 8o deg. These were placed in the cool 

 compartnients on the steamer alongside the bbls. 

 that had come in the cool cars, to the great 

 detriment of the latter. 



"Do none of the shippers send their apples in 

 boxes?'' asked Mr. Smith. 



"I am sorry to say that the fruit growers have 

 not got into the way of shipping in boxes to any 

 large extent," was the reply. 



Further discussion on the cold storage ques- 

 tion brought out the statement from the speaker 

 that .shippers should learn to cool their fruit 

 before putting it on the cars. It should be 

 delivered at the steamer at as low a tempera- 

 ture as possible. Mr. McNeill expressed him- 

 self positively in favor of boxes for the early 

 apple trade. "Some tests made at Washing- 

 ton," he said, "showed that it takes nearly a 

 week to cool the centre of a barrel of apples from 

 75 degrees to 33 degrees. To do the same with 

 boxes requires only two days." 



Mr. Smith suggested that steamers should be 

 provided with machinery for cooling fruit, and 

 was informed that that would be possible if the 

 shippers were willing to pay double freight 

 rates. 



"But they pay 60% more than ordinary rates 

 as it is," replied Mr. Smith. 



Mr. McNeill pointed out that it would be 

 cheaper to cool the fruit at home before starting 

 it on its journey. He emphasized this as a very 

 important point. This, a member pointed out, 

 would involve the necessity of the farmer having 

 cold storage right at hand. Mr. McNeill in 

 reply pointed to the system that is in use at St. 

 Catharines. He thought that there are several 

 points in Southern Ont. where similar cooHng 

 stations might be established. He added that 

 the (juestion of cold storage buildings was a 

 technical one, coming under the personal super- 

 vision of Mr. Ruddick, and said he believed that 

 Mr. Ruddick will develop a cheap form of cold 

 storage that can be used by groups of fruit 

 growers. 



Two important points were then touched on: 

 1st, that the condition of the fruit at the time 

 it was picked determined in a great degree its 

 keeping qualities, especially in the early varieties 

 of apples, and 2nd, that the secret of success in 

 shipping fruit was to cool it at the start and 

 follow it up with cool transportation facilities 

 all the way to the market. 



Mr. McNeill called attention to the fact that 

 early fruit needs more care in picking than the 



later varieties. Unlike them it cannot be picked 

 all at once. The fruit that is ready for shipping 

 has to be selected first and the rest allowed to get 

 into the right condition. Attention was called 

 to the fact that in regard to a steady supply of 

 early apples, Canada is very fortunately situated. 

 Early in Aug. apples can be shipped from Essex 

 Co. In the latter part of Aug. they are ready 

 along the north shore of Lake Ontario. In the 

 beginning of Sept. they can l)e shipped from 

 the lower part of the St. Lawrence valley, and 

 from the valley of the St. John River late in 

 Sept. This gave a steady supply and if the 

 trade were properly handled would bring the 

 apples into favor with the importers. 



Turning to another matter Dr. Sinclair asked 

 if the Gravenstein family of apples were failing 

 in Ontario. Mr. McNeill replied in the affirma- 

 tive, stating that he thought that the difficulty 

 might be overcome if the growers learned to 

 top-graft the variety on a hardy .stock. 



A GREAT WASTE I 



Mr. McNeill quoted figures to show that the 

 total production of apples last year was iti 

 the neighborhood of 12,000,000 bbls., and that 

 the exports from the whole of the Dominion- 

 during the same period were but 1,500,000 bbls. 

 Supposing that 1,000,000 bbls. were evaporated- 

 and two or three million bbls. rhore used at 

 home there would be still a large quantity to be 

 accounted for. 



"They are fed to domestic auimals," said 

 one of the committee. 



"I should consider that wasted," said Mr, 

 McNeill. 



The most natural and profitable outlet for 

 this fruit, he averred, was the manufacture of it 

 into jams and jelHes, and evaporated fruit. Irs 

 this, Canada might take a lesson from the U.S. 

 Canada's exports of evaporated apples last 

 year, he stated, were 3,500,000 lbs., equal in 

 value to $212,000. Apples in bbls. exported 

 amounted to 4,000,000 bbls. The U.S. ex- 

 ported a Uttle over 4,000,000 bbls. of green 

 fruit and 27,852,830 lbs. of evaporated apples; 



"Where do they find a market for it?" was 

 asked. 



"In Europe; a large proportion of it going to 

 Germany," replied Mr. McNeill. 



"But the German market is closed to us, is 

 it not?" questioned one M.P. 



"Yes." 



Mr. McNeill then told his audience that in the 

 best commercial opinion a good market could be 

 found for Canadian cider in Gt. Britain. The 

 expert cider manufacturers of that country 

 could find a valuable use for it for blending with 

 the home variety Before the fruit now going to 

 waste can be utilized he claimed that there will 

 have to be a greater diffusion of knowledge 

 among the growers.^ 



Ne'W Druns'wicK Fruit Growers* Association 



THE annual meeting of the N.B. Fruit Grow- 

 ers' Assn. was held at Fredericton. There 

 was an exhibition of apples grown by the 

 members which was fairly representative 

 of the principal varieties grown in the district. 

 The task of judging these was entrusted to 

 Prof. Sears, the horticulturist of the Agri. Col- 

 lege at Truro, N.S., and Mr. A. McNeill, of the 

 Fruit Dept. at Ottawa. 



Pres. J. C. Oilman, of Kingsclear, N.B., said 

 that, as a whole, the N.B. growers had fared 

 as well last year as those of other provinces. 

 Small fruit growers had found strawberries to 

 be their most reliable crop, and with the good 

 prices obtainable, much encouragement was 

 afforded them to increase their output. Other 

 small fruits had been variable, and the apple 

 crop turned out somewhat uneven. Insects 

 were numerous and active, giving much trouble. 

 The conference of fruit growers at Ottawa had 

 brought together representatives of the fruit 

 growing interests in the various provinces. 



Amongst the mo,st important work accomp- 

 lished was the establishment of 4 grades of 

 apples, the law to define the different grades. 

 This would give one system of grading, one sys- 

 tem of marking, and with a standard barrel 

 and bo.x make it possible for a buyer to know 

 what to expect both in quality and quantity. 

 Under these circumstances Canadian fruit 

 should soon get the reputation its merits war- 

 rant in the markets of the world. It was for 

 the growers of N.B. to ask themselves what 

 they could do towards supplying the ever- 

 increasing demand for good fruit. How were 

 they situated with regard to production, cost 

 of' package, facilities for handling and trans- 

 portation? There were within less than lOO 

 miles of St. John thousands of acres of land 

 well adapted to fruit growing, and the Gov- 

 ernment was giving valuable aid in various 

 directions. The Federal Government pro- 

 poses to aid cold storage. Local markets 

 were not fully supplied, and even if they were. 



