July, 1907 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



17» 



British Columbia Fruit Growers' Association 



"W. J. Brandrith, Secretary-Trwasvirer 



THE British Columbia Fruit Growers' 

 Association was organized on Feb. 1, 

 1889, the officers elected being: J. M. 

 Browning, C. P. R. Land Commissioner, 

 president ; Thos. Cunningham, 1st vice-president : 

 C. W. Henry, 2nd vice-president; and A. H 

 B. Magowan, secretary-treasurer. The object 

 of the organization was to encourage the cultiva- 

 tion of choice fruits, flowers and vegetables. 

 This was done by means of competitive exhibi- 

 tions held alternately at Vancouver, New 

 Westminster and Victoria and by the reading 

 of papers and the delivery of addresses at 

 quarterly meetings. Later, the flower and 

 vegetable parts were dropped, and the market- 

 ing of fruit included in the objects of the associa- 

 tion. 



To encourage the cultivation of choice frui'.s, 



Mr. James Johnstone 

 President. Britisli Columbia Fruit Growers' Association 



addresses are given by practical men at meetings 

 held yearly in the principal fruit growing centres. 

 Last year 21 of these meetings were held, in 

 addition to the regular annual and quarterly 

 meetings. At these meetings, practical deinon- 

 strations in the best methods of planting, prun- 

 ing and spraying fruit trees are given; proper 



methods of packing fruit for market are shown. 

 The association furnishes its members with pure 

 spraying material at cost, importing sulphate 

 of copper direct from England, it having been 

 found that the commercial article on sale in 

 British Columbia contained too much sulphate 

 of iron. Tissue paper for wrapping apples, 

 pears, peaches and tomatoes is also furnished 

 at cost. Bradstrects is also furnished for the 

 members. 



Eight or nine years ago, some people claimed 

 that British Columbia fruit would not carry 

 safely across the prairies. In order to prove 

 that this was not true, the association pur- 

 chased a carload of mixed fruits and shipped them 

 to A^'innipeg. The car was on the road seven 

 days, but notwithstanding this, there was not 

 a loss of three per cent. The following year, 

 three cars were sent to different parts of Manitoba 

 and Saskatchewan with the same result. This 

 settled the question satisfactorily. Cherries 

 and plums have been shipped at distance of 

 1,800 miles, yet arrived at their destination in 

 good condition. 



The association keeps a watchful eye on ex- 

 press and freight rates and the manner in 

 which the fruit is handled. It has been the 

 cause during the last seven years of the lowering 

 of freight rates, and fruit is now handled by the 

 express companies and railways in a more 

 satisfactory manner than formerly. 



For .several years small exhibits of fruit were 

 sent to exhibitions in Manitoba and the prairie 

 provinces for the purpose of advertising British 

 Columbia fruit. They proved excellent ad- 

 vertisements. 



Until about four years ago the efforts of the 

 association were confined to Vancouver Island, 

 the lower mainland, and the Okanagan Valley. 

 Now, the Kootenays, east and west, the valley 

 of the Columbia, the Thompson, the Nicola and 

 the Lillooet vallevs have to be considered, 

 and application for expert a.ssistance has been 

 received from Bella Coola, 400 miles up the 

 coast. It has been said that the association 

 has outHved its usefulness. This is a great 

 mistake, as the area capable of producing fruit 

 is constantly being increased through increased 

 knowledge of the hitherto unknown sections of 

 the province. So will the work of the association 

 increase. Because we have been successful in 

 winning gold medals is no reason for letting up 

 now ; this, instead, should be an encouragement 

 to try for things still greater. 



A Comparison of MetKods 



M. Durrell, Grand ForKs, BritisK Colviinbia 



BROADLY speaking, there is little differ- 

 ence Ix'twcen the methods adopted by the 

 best horticulturists in the provinces of 

 Ontario and British Columbia as the -gen- 

 eral principles that form the basis of a successful 

 horticultural practice apjily in both cases. 

 There are, however, differences of condition in 

 climate and soil and so on which have led to 

 greater stress loeing laid on some matters in 

 British Columbia than in Ontario which can be 

 pointed out. For example, while some of the 

 Ontario problems arc concerned with the drain- 

 age of soils and securing a suitable mechanical 

 condition, here things are reversed. It is ex- 

 tremely rare throughout this province to find a 

 retentive or compact subsoil or a top soil suflfi- 

 ciently clayey in character to bake. Conse- 

 quently, our problems are more those of irriga- 

 tion tlian drainage. As the conservation of 

 moisture is a matter of extreme importance, 

 general attention has l:ieen directed to projxT 

 methods of cultivation. On the whole, a more 

 systematic and clean cultivation is practised 

 «i British Columbia than in Ontario. 



The industry in this province is of such recent 

 origin compared with Ontario, and there are so 

 many people going into fruit growing proper as 

 differentiated from mixed farming, that the 

 desire to become acquainted with the most 

 modern methods is perhaps more universal. 

 As a result there is a general keenness to ascer- 

 tain the exact values of varieties, the real im- 

 portance of thinning, and acquire any knowl- 

 edge along the lines of intensive horticulture. 

 A large percentage of the fruit grown consists 

 of apples both for the North-west and English 

 markets. Being practically free from the worst 

 fungous and insect pests, it has not been difficidt 

 to produce a clean and highly attractive character 

 of fruit. 



Considerably more attention has been paid 

 by us here than by our Ontario friends to the 

 question of packages and packing. The box is 

 the universal package. A careful system of 

 grading is gratlually teing followed which re- 

 sults in the buyer knowing exactly what he is 

 getting and the seller obtaining a corresponding 



price. In orchard work the tendency is strongly 

 towards low-heading of trees. 



During the past year or two immense tracts 

 of land have been subdivided into 10 and 20 

 acre plots for fruit work. The acreage now in 

 fruit throughout the province is about 45,000, 

 compared with 20,000 two years ago, so that it 

 is natural to surmise that, when so many- 

 hundreds of people are going into fruit growing; 

 as a sole means of livelihood, there will follow 

 a keen desire to acquire the best methods. 



Dealing "WitK Insect E,nemies 



Rev. G. W. Taylor, British Columbia. 



All insects are not enemies of the fruit grower. 

 Fully 50% of them are beneficial. Only an ex- 

 pert, however, can tell in every case whether an 

 insect is a friend or an enemy. A prominent 

 fruit grower in British Columbia observed a sus- 

 picious looking insect on an apple tree and he 

 sent it to me for identification. It was a syr- 

 phus fly, and is among the best friends that a 

 fruit grower can have, because its larvae feed 

 almost entirely upon plant lice. 



In another case, a gentleman, who thought hs 

 knew what he was doing, protected adult beetltes 

 that were injurious, and at the same time he was 

 fighting the larva: of the same in the ground. 

 He was fighting the young and at the same time 

 preserving the old of the same species. 



The first duty of the fruit grower with regard 



r 



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HARROWS 



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