November, 1907 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



283 



NOTES FROM THi: PROVINCES ^ 



By our Secular Correspondents and OtKers (a 



rotted badly. The year 1907 will not be re- 

 membered as a successful one by the average 

 New Brunswick farmer and fruit grower. 



BritisK Columbia 



By a Staff Representative 



The carload of grapes shipped from the St. 

 Catharines district to Oscar Brown Co., of Van- 

 couver, arrived on Oct. 14, in excellent condi- 

 tion. The consignees report everything satis- 

 factory. They sold almost the entire car within 

 three days of its arrival. The retailers have the 

 fruit prominently displayed and marked, "On- 

 tario Grapes, Special, at 60 cents and 65 cents a 

 Basket." 



California grapes retail for 15 cents a pound, 

 or two pounds for 25 cents. A comparison of 

 the retail prices will show that the Ontario 

 grapes are selling for less than the California 

 fruit. There is a desire on the part of the 

 wholesale fruit men in Vancouver to import 

 larger quantities of grapes next season. The 

 splendid c:)ndition in which the fruit arrived 

 this season would indicate that it should be a 

 paying venture to ship Ontario grapes to Brit- 

 ish Columbia. The representative of The C.\n- 

 ADi.\N Horticulturist, who is visiting British 

 Columbia, was asked to obtain a list of growers 

 who would be willing to ship their grapes to 

 the coast next year. 



The prices being paid for apples in Vancouver 

 this week range from 75 cents to $1,50 a box 

 of standard size. The fruit is of excellent size, 

 color and quality, and retails from five cents 

 each to four cents a pound. The fruit exposed 

 for sale appears to be of a high quality. I have 

 not seen any poor fruit since my arrival, and the 

 flavor of apples I have sampled compares very 

 favorably with apples grown in Ontario. 



An Undeveloped District 



E. C. Miller, Fort Steele, B.C. 



We have lands available for fruit raising of 

 the berry species in the vicinity of Fort Steele 

 that may be equalled but not excelled. Straw- 

 berries, raspberries, currants, and gooseberries, 

 where cultivated, have gone to waste for want 

 of transjxirtation, and hands to gather the crops. 

 These fruits are indigenous to the country — and 

 can be produced to great perfection. 



As soon as this overlooked district, comprising 

 the choicest portion of British Columbia, is 

 opened up by the Kootenay Central Railway, 

 the Fort Steele district may be counted upon 

 to provide fruit and vegetables to any extent. 

 The prospect for apple cultivation, plums and 

 cherries, promises good. There are not many 

 fruit-bearing trees at present, but these show 

 excellent crops of apples of hardy varieties, 

 and of splendid quality. The young stock, 

 planted during past two or three years, are 

 mostly thriving, with little care or knowledge 

 of proper cultivation being given. 



Quebec 



At the 15th annual summer meeting of the 

 Pomological and Fruit Growing Society of the 

 Province of Queliec, many valuable papers 

 were read, Mr, R. Brodie, of Westmount, 

 gave an interesting paper on "Retrospect and 

 Prospect of Fruit Growing in Quebec." This 

 paper was published in The Canadm.v Hor- 

 ticulturist for October, Mr. Auguste Du- 

 puis, of Village des Aulnaies, delivered an ex- 

 cellent address on "Orchards in Kastern Que- 

 bec and the Sale of Fruits," Mr, T,uc Dupuis, 

 government lecturer on agriculture, addressed 

 the meeting on two subjects of interest to 

 fruit growers, Mr. G. Reynaud, of La Trappe, 

 read a paper on the three most common ques- 



tions asked him in connection with fruit cul- 

 ture. Mr. \'. R. Gardner, of the Macdonald 

 College, discussed the best means of control- 

 ling plum enemies. A portion of this address 

 appears in this issue of The Canadian Hor- 

 ticulturist 



An exhibition was held in connection with 

 the convention. The fruit, especially the plums, 

 brought forth expressions of praise from the 

 judges and the spectators. On the conclud- 

 ing day of the meeting, the delegates drove to 

 the home of the president, Mr. Auguste Dupuis, 

 where some 30 varieties of plums were dis- 

 cussed and tested. After a luncheon tendered 

 to the party by the worthy president, one of 

 the most instructive and enjoyable meetings 

 of the society was brought to a close. 



Montreal 



St. Lawrence apples are still going forward 

 at this date (Oct. 19) on London ships. This 

 tells a story to the fruit man — that the season 

 is a very late one. Even to-day this apple is 

 in sound, hard condition for this variety. This 

 has been a remarkable season for coolness. 

 We inspectors know it as we are testing the 

 temperature of apples and sheds many times 

 each day. We have found very few danger- 

 ous temperatures all through the season. Ap- 

 ples that have gone forward have been more 

 free from rot than for many years. Upwards 

 of 70,000 barrels went forward last week. This 

 is a record for the past four years. 



There is only one thing to be regretted. 

 Several cars have been left open to allow the 

 circulation of cool air. In two cases where 

 this was done, we found the ends of the barrels 

 broken in and the apples all gone. It is to be 

 hoped that the shippers get paid for these 

 apples. I think that the evil-disposed persons 

 locate the cars in the day time and rob them 

 at night, as cars of apples lay around for sev- 

 eral days before they are unloaded. It is a 

 pity that some of them were not caught and 

 locked up for three months where they would 

 not get a taste of apple sauce. 



Another scene that was amusing occurred 

 at one of the docks recently. Six barrels of 

 apples slipped off the wharf and fell into the 

 water. Three of them burst open from the 

 force of striking the water and apples were seen 

 floating all over the water. One sailor jumped 

 in and swam around for the fruit. He got a 

 good many. Another man let a pail down 

 into the water and soon filled it, I also hope 

 that the owners in this case will be paid for 

 their loss by the company to blame. 



Some of the new steel sheds are nearly com- 

 pleted. The cars run so close that they can 

 be unloaded quite easily into sheds. This is 

 much better for shippers than the old way of 

 loading on wagons and drawing sometimes 

 over a mile 



Ne^r Bruns-wicK 

 J. C. Oilman, Fredericton 

 The condition of the fruit crop in this prov- 

 ince was indicated at the provincial exhibition 

 held at Fredericton, some favored localities 

 having exhibits that indicated a fairly good 

 crop, while others showed a scarcity. Hail 

 storms early in the season left their marks in 

 many orchards. 



The red rasjiberry crop was a good one, al- 

 though an excess of rain at picking time inter- 

 fered somewhat with the gathering of the fruit. 

 Tomatoes were late and scarce. Potatoes 



Fredericton Exhibition 



The recent exhibition at Fredericton, X,B., 

 brought out an exceedingly creditable displav in 

 all branches of horticulture, notwithstanding'the 

 unfavorable season experienced by the grow- 

 ers. The several classes of exhibits evoked 

 most favorable comments from the judges. 



In floriculture, most of the sections in the 

 open classes were for plants and flowers which 

 can only be successfully grown under glass. 

 In the majority of instances there was no com- 

 petition, as few people in the district, other 

 than the professional florists, have properly 

 equipped houses. Notwithstanding this, Messrs, 

 Bebbington & Son put up a fine display, and 

 one which would have stood a good deal of 

 coinpetition had there been any, Mr, Alward, 

 another local grower, who has not the facili- 

 ties which Messrs, Bebbington have, had a 

 good showing. In those instances in which 

 they were in competition, the honors were about 

 equally divided. In the class for amateurs 

 only. Miss Edith Gregory had what the judge 

 described as "a most creditable display" of 

 potted and cut flowers, and one which was 

 much admired. 



In the fruit division, the bulk of the exhibits 

 were apples, there being only about half a 

 dozen entries in pears and plums. In the 43 

 sections devoted to apples, practically all were 

 filled and the various exhibits, being nicelv 

 staged, made a most ternpting display. Un- 

 fortunately, a large share of the premiums 

 went to Nova Scotia growers, the season in 

 New Brunswick having been unfavorable for 

 fruit. Of the local men, Messrs. J. C. Oilman, 

 S. B. Hatheway, I. W, Stephenson, Geo. Mc- 

 -A.lpine, and J. N. Hallett, managed to capture 

 a fair share of the prizes, and some of their 

 exhibits were, in the opinion of the judge, 

 quite equal to, if not better, than the same 

 varieties from Nova Scotia. This clearly 

 showed that certain sections of New Bruns- 

 wick are well adapted to the growth of apples 

 and that apples should be more largely culti- 

 vated. 



The proposal to construct a railway along 

 the valley of the St. John River will, if it ma- 

 terializes, open up a section of countrv than 

 which there is no fairer in the whole Dominion, 

 nor one more suitable for the planting of orch- 

 ards, rivalling as it does the Annapolis Valley 

 in Nova Scotia, With the fact now clearly 

 established that New Brunswick grown apples 

 can compete successfully in the markets of 

 the Old Country, and elsewhere, with those 

 grown in any other part of the world, it is greatly 

 to be hoped that the opening up of this dis- 

 trict will result in a very large increase in the 

 number of orchards, care being taken, how- 

 ever, that only those varieties which have 

 proved hardy and profitable to grow and have 

 good marketable qualities are planted. 



In the vegetable classes, the entries were 

 "great" both in number and quality. In 

 many instances, competition was keen. The 

 various exhibits formed quite an object lesson 

 to the visitors. Although some of the varieties 

 were not up to that standard of perfection 

 usually seen at horticultural shows, owing to 

 the bad season, the display was in the words 

 of the judge, "a credit to any province." — G. 

 Bidlake. 



• I have been highly pleased with The Cana- 

 dian Horticulturist, and enclose my re- 

 newal subscription. It is a valuable paper to 

 any one engaged in horticultural pursuits. I 

 have perused every issue with much interest, 

 and have gainecl considerable information. I 

 would not be without the paper. It is worth 

 much more than the subscription price. — E. G.. 

 Cooper, Halton Co., Ont. 



