98 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



April, 1907 



St. John gives regular communication with 

 foreign markets. The question of over-pro- 

 duction was a receding one ; discriminating 

 buyers were to be found everywhere, buy- 

 ers who wanted the best and were willing to 

 pay for it, and such conditions were most en- 

 couraging. One of their most pressing needs 

 was a more practical knowledge of grading and 

 packing fruit by the most modern and ex- 

 peditious methods. Practical lessons given 

 by capable men at exhibitions and association 

 meetings would do much towards educating 

 the fruit grower in that most important part 

 of his work. He suggested that the Minister 

 ■of Agri. should be requested to include fruit 

 •amongst the crops of which statistics were re- 

 <iuired. In conclusion he asked them as pro- 

 ducers to do their part and do it well, when he 

 was sure that they would find fruit growing 

 not the least profitable part of their farm work 

 Mr. McNeill, of the Fruit Division, Ottawa, 

 said that he was glad to find that fruit grow- 

 ing, particularly apples, was on the increase 

 injthe province. There was ample room for 

 other fruit, however, especially small fruit; 

 but to his mind apple growing would produce 

 the largest returns of any. Fruit growers 

 themselves might do a great deal to induce 

 other farmers to embark in the industry, and 

 by increasing the production they would be 

 able to enlarge their markets. The individual 

 who had not been reared "in the shade of the 

 old apple tree" had missed the best part of 

 •his bringing up. The chief point to be con- 

 •sidered was, could a market be found for the 

 •crop? His answer to that was, most undoubt- 

 edly there could, and if properly managed all 

 the produce could not be sold, and sold to 

 -advantage. In some parts of Ont. people 

 'Complained that they were sick of the business; 

 they could not sell their produce, so had to 

 feed it to the hogs. This was the substance 



of several reports received by his Dept. These 

 people, however, were chiefly the small grow- 

 ers who had but limited opportunities of dis- 

 posing of their produce, and so waited for 

 buyers. Large growers did not find this the 

 case, as they found a ready market. When a 

 dealer knew where he could rely on finding a 

 good supply of saleable friut, he never failed 

 to go there. The more apples produced, the 

 better the market and the better the price. 

 The English market was always open and could 

 never be overstocked; in fact, if the Canadian 

 growers laid themselves out to do so, they 

 could capture that market. There were too 

 many varieties grown in Eng. and dealers could 

 never dei)end on obtaining a further supply of 

 any particular variety, whilst in Canada they 

 were devoting their attention chiefly to cer- 

 tain sjiecified varieties. As to making apple 

 growing pay, there could be no manner of 

 doubt on that point. In an acre of land, valued 

 on the average at $60, an outlay of $10 would 

 find the trees, and with $3 more for the cost of 

 planting, there was a total expenditure of $73. 

 The care of the trees for the next 4 years would 

 cost $10 a year, but this might be offset by 

 the value of the h)y-crops grown between the 

 rows. But, anyway, the outlay for the 4 yrs. 

 would not exceed $40, and with $10 more for 

 fertilizer would total up to $123; but to be on 

 the safe side, say $150. At the age of 4 yrs. 

 the trees would begin to bear a little, and from 

 that time on the orchard would pay for itself. 

 If this was continued till the tenth year, the 

 trees would then be in full profit. 



The average return an acre, Mr. McNeill 

 claimed, according to the published reports re- 

 ceived by his division, was about 80 bbls., and 

 that at the moderate price of $1 a bbl. showed 

 rather more than a reasonable profit on an 

 outlay of $150. At 10 yrs. of age, a tree should 

 be worth $10, and therefore the 50 trees which 



a 1 acre orchard should contain, would be 

 worth $50U, and this should be a pretty strong 

 argument in favor of the orchard. No one 

 starting apple growing as a commercial pur- 

 suit should plant less than 5 acres, as the 

 labor involved was not justified if only growing 

 apples on a small scale. With reference to 

 the crop grown between the trees, some sorts 

 were liable to damage the trees, and care should 

 be exercised in this respect. Dairying was, 

 perhaps, the best supplementary branch of 

 farming to take up with fruit culture. 



If anyone was contemplating going into 

 orcharding with the idea of shirking the spray- 

 ing part of the business, then his advice was 

 most emphatic, "Don't." Spraying was, if 

 possible, of even more importance than cul- 

 tivating; spraying was the one thing that might 

 not be neglected. By following a simple routine 

 of spraying, a grower could not fail to have 

 successful results. Use poisoned Bordeaux 

 mixture 3 or 4 times a year Spray once be- 

 fore the blossoms open, but be careful not to 

 spray when the orchard is in bloom. Spray 

 again just after the blossoms fall, and then 

 once more when the little apples were about the 

 size of green peas. By these means, 9-10 of 

 the insects which are detrimental to the orchard 

 will be destroyed. The apple scab and the 

 codling moth were 2 of the worst enemies, but 

 if these were destroyed then about 90% of the 

 other pests would go with them. 



The speaker urged on his hearers the import- 

 ance of careful grading and packing of the 

 fruit, which often has much to do with the 

 satisfactory sale of the fruit. In conclusion 

 he said that there was no necessity for any one 

 to be discouraged; any inteUigent man could 

 become a successful orchardist, as by buying 

 a good book on the subject and carefully and 

 thoroughly mastering the ad\-ice given, he 

 would find his knowledge growing faster than 



