The Fruit Exhibits at the Canadian National Exhibition, Toronto 



The most creditable feature was the educational exhibit of the Ontario Departinent of Agriculture which is to be seen in the foreground in the form of a square. 



Most of the general exhibits were disappointing, owing to peculiarities of the season. iA few vases of tlowers would have 



enlivened the tables. Further comments are published on page 262. 



TKe Plum Glut TKis Year and Its Causes 



THE handling of the plum crop of 

 the present season has meant a 

 heavy loss to a great many deal- 

 ers and shippers, especially those who 

 bought crops on an extensive scale. 

 There are several reasons why this has 

 been the case. 



In the first place, the dealers paid 

 too nmch to the grower. When the 

 fruit came to be put on the market, by 

 the lime it reached the consumer the 

 price was altogether too high for the 

 retail market. While we, as growers, 

 are in the business for what there is in 

 it, I think that it will be quite gener- 

 ally admitted that the price paid this 

 year was too high, especially for the 

 shipper to realize anything on the deal. 

 The average price paid this year are 

 a,-> follows: Lombards, fifty cents; fancy 

 plums, seventy-five cents; and Reine 

 Claude, from eighty cents to one dol- 

 lar a basket. One can readily see that 

 by the time the shipper would get his 

 profit, the express company its slice, 

 and the retailer his profit, the con- 

 sumer would be paying pretty dear 

 for a basket of plums. There were a 

 great many more plums in the country 

 than was at first supposed. 



Cecil C. Fettit. Fruitland, Ontario 



Another thing that worked against 

 the business was the season, as it has 

 been a peculiar one. In the first place, 

 it was from two to three weeks late. 

 Then it was so dry that plums seemed 

 to ripen all at one time. In some 

 orchards, Lombards were ready to 

 pick all at once, and, of course, the 

 growers rushed them off as fast as 

 possible; as a consequence, the market 

 was glutted and the bottom went out 

 of it. 



I heard Mr. E. D. Smith's foreman 

 say that they took in 10,000 baskets 

 of Lombards in one day. I also heard 

 it said that one of the canning factories 

 in this district threw out 10,000 bas- 

 kets of Lombards in one day that they 

 paid fifty cents a basket for. They 

 were so far behind that the plums 

 s])oiled on their hands. Usually the 

 Lombard season lasts from ten days 

 to two weeks, but this season it was 

 practically all over in about one week. 

 This was largely due to the very dry 

 season. Reine Claudes were ready be- 

 fore Lombards were finished. It seems 

 that everything was working against 

 I he dealer, who had l)ought heavily. 



Those growers who got fiftv fixe 



cents and sixty cents for Lombards and 

 from seventy-five cents to one dollar 

 for other varieties, were in luck at the 

 expense of the shipper. Everything 

 seems to go better when all make a 

 little profit. It is far more encour- 

 aging for the dealers. Had the dealers 

 paid the growers about forty cents for 

 Lombards and sixty or seventy cents 

 for other varieties, the plum crop could 

 have been handled with a profit to all 

 concerned. As it was, the dealers had 

 to quote so high that the retailers 

 could not handle the fruit in sufficient- 

 ly large quantities to keep the markets' 

 cleaned up. It will be a long time 

 before the dealers will get caught again, 

 or before the grower will get such fancy 

 prices for his plums as he did this year. 



Pewaukee apples are inclined to 

 drop early. They should be picked 

 before they reach the stage of full 

 maturity. I pick them about the same 

 time as Blenheim Orange, a week or 

 ten days before Snows. The Pewau- 

 kee is a wonderful bearer, and is a good 

 cooker; but its appearance is not up 

 to the mark. — W. G. Watson, Dixie, 

 Ont. 



