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THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



May, 1907 



The Canadian norticuliurist 



Published by The Horticultural 

 Publishing Company^, Limited 



The Only" Horticultural Magazine 

 in the Dominion 



QMcial Orean of British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec 



and Prince Edward Island Fruit Growers* 



Associations and of the Ontario VeE- 



etable Growers* Association 



H. Bronson Cowan, 



Managing Editor and Business Manager 



A. B. Cutting, B.S.A., Horticultural Editor 



W. G. Rook, Advertising Manager 



Garrett Wall, Circulation Manager 



GREAT BRITAIN 

 Frank Fletcher, 135 Henrietta Street, Old Trafford, 

 Manchester, Eng., Advertising and Circulation Manager 



1. The Canadian Horticulturist is published on 

 the 25th day of the month preceding date of issue. 



2. Subscription Price in Canada and Great Britain 50 

 cents a year, three years $1.20. For United States and 

 local subscriptions in Toronto. 25c. extra a year is charged 

 for postage. Foreign subscriptions, $1 .00 a year, in- 

 cluding postage. 



3. Remittances should be made by Post Oflfice or 

 Money Express Order, or Registered Letter. Postage 

 Stamps accepted for amounts less than $1 .00. 



4. Discontinuances — Responsible subscribers will con- 

 tinue to receive The Horticulturist imtil the publishers 

 are notified by letter to discontinue, when all arrearages 

 must be paid. 



5. Change of Address — ^When a change of address is 

 ordered, both the old and the new addresses must be 

 given. 



6. Advertising Rates quoted on application. Sworn 

 circulation 6,500. Copy received up to the 18th. Re- 

 sponsible representatives wanted in towns and cities, 



7. Articles and Illustrations for publication will be 

 thankfully received by the editor. 



Our Protective Policy 



We want the readers of The Canadian Horticul- 

 turist to feel that they can deal with our advertisers 

 with our assurance of the advertisers* reliability. We 

 try to admit to our columns only the most reliable ad- 

 vertisers. Should any subscriber, therefore, have good 

 cause to be dissatisfied with the treatment he receives 

 from any of our advertisers, we will look into the matter 

 and investigate the circumstances fully. Should we 

 find reason to believe that any of our advertisers are un- 

 reliable, even in the slightest degree, we will discontinue 

 immediately the publication of their advertisements in 

 The Horticulturist. Should the circumstances war- 

 rant we will expose them through the columns of tlie 

 paper. Thus, we will not only protect our readers, but 

 our reputable advertisers as well. All that is necessary 

 to entitle you to the benefits of this Protective Policy is 

 that you include in all your letters to advertisers the 

 words "T saw your ad. in The Canadian Horticultur 

 1ST.'* Complaints should be sent to us as soon as possi- 

 ble after reason for dissatisfaction has been found. 



Communications should be addressed: 

 THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST, 



S06-7-8 Manning Chambers, 



TORONTO, CANADA 



FRUIT mSPECTION 



In a letter to The Canadian Horticulturist 

 recently, Mr. J. A. Ruddick, Commissioner of 

 Dairying and Cold Storage, including fruit, takes 

 exception to an editorial that appeared in oui 

 April issue in which we stated that the Minister 

 of Agriculture at Ottawa had seen fit to dispense 

 with, temporarily, the services of two of the fruit 

 inspectors. Mr. Ruddick writes: 



"A number of inspectors have always beet, 

 employed temporarily dtuing the apple season. 

 These men are laid off during the period of the 

 ' year when there is absolutely nothing for 

 them to do. The staff of fruit inspectors is 

 not being reduced, but, on the contrary, has 

 been increased dining the past year." 

 In reply we beg leave to say: First, that the 

 number of inspectors is not nearly large enough 

 to watch the fruit interests of the Dominion; 

 second, that when the men were laid off this 

 winter, there was something for them to do ; and 

 third, that the increase in the staff during the 

 past year to the extent of one man is commend- 

 able, but not nearly sufficient. The percentage 

 of export apples seen by the fruit inspectors is 

 infinitesimal. 'fHundreds of thousands of bar- 

 rels leave the coimtry unseen and iminspected. 

 During the past winter, practically all the in- 

 spectors in Ontario were employed within a 



radius of fifteen miles. 'Tis true, that the 

 larger percentage of stored apples in the prov- 

 ince was there, but in other districts there were 

 stored apples also. During the winter, some 

 30,000 barrels were stored west of Toronto, not 

 including the city. When the inspector em- 

 ployed in that district was laid off, there were 

 at least 10,000 barrels west of Toronto still to be 

 inspected. Does this not indicate that there 

 was something for him to do? Had all the lots 

 of export apples stored in Ontario last winter 

 been only partially inspected, a staff of at least 

 twenty inspectors should have been employed. 

 Instead of that, the present small number was 

 decreased by two. 



Now that this question has been referred to, 

 we desire to state that while the inspection of 

 fruit has accomplished splendid results, and 

 while the provisions of the Fruit Marks Act 

 have been enforced in a most commendable man- 

 ner by the Dominion Department of Agriculture, 

 yet there has been a feeling for some time that a 

 decided extension of the work is required. The 

 inspectors are doing good work, but they cannot 

 begin to cope with the situation. The perma- 

 nent staff should be greatly enlarged. Additional 

 inspectors are needed in the west. Requests' 

 have been made frequently for a special inspector 

 for the Niagara District. The cooperative 

 movement in Ontario has reached the stage 

 where one inspector might be detailed with ad- 

 vantage to oversee the packing done by these 

 associations, and to assist them in securing a 

 uniform pack. They have requested that this 

 should be done More assistance is needed at 

 Montreal and in the Maritime Provinces. In 

 slack times these inspectors, or many of them, 

 might be utilized to attend meetings and assist 

 otherwise in encouraging the cooperative hand- 

 ling of fruit. Some of this work has been done 

 this year with most beneficial results. It would 

 be better that some of these rnen should be com- 

 paratively idle for a few months of the year, 

 than that the inspection of fruit should not be 

 performed thoroughly when shipping is in 

 progress. 



The salaries paid the inspectors, in most cases, 

 are inadequate. It is a wonder that the depart- 

 ment has been able to retain sucli an excellent 

 staff of inspectors. Unless a decided increase 

 is given soon, some of the best men will leave 

 the service and it will be a most difficult matter, 

 if not impossible, to refill their places at the pre- 

 vailing rate of remuneration. 



Mr. Ruddick concludes his letter to us, 

 by saying: 



"Your mention of the attempt to evade the 

 Fruit Marks Act by re-marking the apples in 

 a foreign country, outside the jurisdiction of 

 the Fruit Marks Act, is not a very good argu- 

 ment in favor of increasing the staff of in- 

 spectors. It seems to me that the fact that 

 the exporters were obliged to attempt this 

 * sort of thing is very good proof of the close 

 ' inspection which prevented improper marking 

 ^of the packages in Canada." 



We admit that the incident referred to is proof 

 that the inspection, where the exporter impli- 

 cated was in the habit of doing most of his pack- 

 ing, was thorough, but that does not prove that 

 it is equally thorough elsewhere. The fact is, 

 that the exporter referred to has broken the law 

 time after time, and in such a flagrant manner 

 that the department of late has made his work 

 the object of unusually close supervision. There 

 are other exporters, however, who are breaking 

 the law constantly. Were these men watched 

 as carefully, they too might find it necessary to 

 attempt to conduct their fraudulent practices 

 elsewhere. We know of exporters who have 

 instructed their packers to pack dishonestly 

 because they have known that for eveiy barrel 

 on which they might be detected and fined there 

 would be hundreds of barrels that would leave 

 the country without being inspected. A.s long 

 as this continues to be the case, reason will re- 

 main for the belief that our system of fruit in- 

 spectionfis not as thorough as it should be, and 

 that the staff of inspectors instead of being re- 



duced temporarily should be increased perma- 

 nently. It is probable that were the work of in- 

 spection under the control of a fruit commis- 

 sioner, it would be conducted more thoroughly. 



ATTORNEY- GENERAL SHOULD ACT 



Definite charges have been made, by the 

 Toronto News, against the Canadian Canners, 

 Limited, of Hamilton, to the effect that it oper- 

 ates in restraint of trade and that it should be 

 proceeded against as a combine by the Attorney- 

 General for Ontario. The News has stated 

 repeatedly that this company, through its 

 control of the majority of the fruit and vegetable 

 canning factories in Ontario, shuts out the inde- 

 pendent canner from doing business with the 

 wholesale houses; that it gives the wholesaler a 

 discount or rebate of five per cent, as a reward 

 for refusing to handle goods made by the inde- 

 pendents, and that it arbitrarily lowers or raises 

 the price, to suit its desires — whether to crush 

 its competitors or to make half a million dollars 

 by its mere fiat on prices. 



This means, if these charges are true, that the 

 thousands of fruit and vegetable growers in On- 

 tario, who grow for canning factories, are at the 

 mercy of this company, and that they are not 

 receiving fair prices for their products. This 

 condition has been suspected often bv the grow- 

 ers, who have complained bitterly of the manner 

 in which they have been treated in the matter 

 of prices. The matter is so serious, we feel that 

 the Ontario fruit and vegetable growers' associa- 

 tions should deal with it immediately bv re- 

 questing Hon. Mr. Foy to conduct an investiga- 

 tion of the charges that have been made. 



THE BONUS FOR SPRAYING 



The bonus offered by the government of On- 

 tario to fruit growers for the purchase of power 

 sprayers will do much to benefit the industry 

 in that province. Not only will it lessen the 

 cost of orchard operations and help control the 

 spread of orchard pests, but indirectly it will 

 teach the growers the value of cooperation, 

 which is just as important. 



In Ontario the necessity for thorough spraying 

 is becoming recognized generally. This is due 

 in no small measure to the excellent educational 

 work that has been accomplished by the Ontario 

 Department of Agriculture. The department 

 for some vears has borne part of the cost of 

 furnishing spraying material, and in some sec- 

 tions has operated spraving machines of its own. 

 This latest move, therefore, is only the culmina- 

 tion of its previous pioneer work. Through the 

 action of the department the growers are to be 

 helped to helo themselves, and that is the liest 

 forin of as.sistance. Hon. Nelson Montcith, 

 Minister of Agriculture for Ontario, deserves 

 credit for the action he has tal?en. A similar 

 move might be made with advantage by the 

 Departments of Agriculture in one or two of the 

 other provinces, notably Nova Scotia. 



THE SAN JOSE SCALE SITUATION 



The fact that fruit growers in Ontario are will- 

 ing now to admit the presence of San Jose scale 

 in their orchards and throughout their vicinity, 

 is the best proof of how serious is the situation. 

 As long as the growers would blind themselves 

 to the fact and refuse to admit it for fear that they 

 would injure the value of their property, it was 

 impossible for the government or any person else 

 to do anything to bring about an improvement, 

 as none are so blind as those who will not see. 



Now, however, the situation is changed. The 

 growers in a number of sections are awake to the 

 fact that if their orchards are to be saved, im- 

 mediate action must be taken and the work be 

 followed up persistently. The San Jose Scale 

 Act should be revised. The government should 

 have greater power to act and it should not 

 hesitate to use that power As in many other 

 matters of a similar nature, it has been proven 

 that it is useless to leave such a law to be en- 



