Ontario Fruit Grcwers in Convention 



AT the 

 Growe 

 Nov. 1 



the convention of the Ontario Fruit 

 vers' Association, held in Toronto on 

 13 and 14, many important items of 

 business were transacted. A change was 

 made in the basis of representation on the board 

 by directors. Action was taken in the matters 

 of nursery legislation, express rates, and term- 

 inal facilities at Toronto. The change in the 

 basis of representation reduces by one the num- 

 ber of directors from the eastern part of the 

 province, and adds one to the Niagara district. 

 The following directors were elected for the 

 ensuing yearr R. B. Whyte, Ottawa; A. D. 

 Harkness, Irena; F. S. Wallbridge, Belleville; 

 W. Rickard, Newcastle; R. W. Grierson-, Osh- 

 awa; A. W. Peart, Burlington; G.A.Robertson, 

 St. Catharines; Jas. E. Johnson, Simcoe; D. 

 Johnson, Forest; A. E. Sherrington, Walkerto'h; 

 C. W. Gurney, Paris, and C. L. Stephens, Orillia. 

 Reports were received from the cooperative and 

 new fruits comrtiittees. They will be published 

 in a later issue. 



TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE 



This report was presented by Mr. W. H. Bunt- 

 ing, of St. Catharines, who referred to the short- 

 age of cars and the need for better railway 

 facilities at stations and for transit, to the desire 

 of fruit growers for stop-over privileges for as- 

 sorting and grading apples at divisional points, 

 and to the need for a definite means of securing 

 redress for loss or damage due to the negligence, 

 delay, or lack of proper equipment on the part 

 of the railways. 



NURSERY CONTROL AND LEGI.SLATION 



There is a feeling in the association that nurs- 

 erymen should be compelled to guarantee stock 

 true to name. Legislative control of nursery 

 stock has been under consideration for some 

 time. At the convention, both sides of the ques- 

 tion were heard. A letter by Mr. E. C. Morris, 

 I of Brown Bros. Nurseries, was read. Mr. Morris 

 I took the ground that there is no need for legisla- 

 tive control, as no more than 5 % of stock sold is 

 untrue to name. It was contended that a 

 guarantee bond would give no better guarantee 

 than is now furnished by the standing which 

 reliable nurserymen occupy. Mr. Morris thought 

 that it would be unfair to demand compensation 

 of $4 or $5 on a tree that proved untrue to 

 name and which had been purchased from a 

 nursery for 25 cents. Such would pay better 

 than farming. Nurserymen are just as anxious 

 as the growers to have their stock turn out 

 satisfactory and true to name. 



In replying to the foregoing, Mr. Geo. A. 

 Robertson, St. Catharines, cited many instances 

 where orchards had been planted with trees un- 

 true to name and that resulted in large losses to 

 the planters. He read a number of extratsc 

 from various laws enacted in the United States 

 and in the Dominion provinces, respecting this 

 question and the inspection of nursery stock. 

 In conclusion, the following suggestions for the 

 enactment of a law were made: 1. No nursery- 

 man shall be allowed by law to send or sell any 

 known variety under a new name, or to employ 

 any other method for deceiving the public. 2. 

 No firm shall be allowed to do business under 

 more than one name. 3. All stock shall be free 

 <• from noxious insects and fungous and other 

 diseases. 4. That the law .should be made more 

 stringent with respect to the fumigation of 

 nursery stock. 5. Stock shall be guaranteed 

 true to name when sold as such; this stock 

 should be tagged with the name of the variety 

 and also the locality of production. 



A lively discussion followed the reading of 

 these two papers. Mr. D. L. Morris pointed out 

 that there is a great chance for errors occurring 

 in the production of nursery stock even though 

 the nurserymen be hone.st and desirous of doing 

 what is right. Employees often make mistakes 

 unintentionally. Mr. W. E. Wellington stated 

 that while fruit growers are as intelligent as 



other men, nurserymen have as many rascally 

 customers as rascally tree agents. There is no 

 object in selling trees that are wrongly named. 

 Mr. Wellington suggested that a committee of 

 fruit growers meet a committee of nurserymen 

 to discuss the question The suggestion was 

 adopted. Mes.srs. G. A. Robertson, W. H. Bunt- 

 ing and Robt. Thompson of St. Catharines, and 

 P. W. Hodgetts, secretary of the asso- 

 ciation, Toronto, were appointed to act for the 

 growers, and Messrs. W. E. Wellington, E. D. 

 Smith and D. L. Morris, for the nurserymen. 



EXPRESS RATES 



Some valuable information and suggestions 

 were brought out in a paper on "Express Rates 

 in Relation to the Fruit Industry," by J. L. 

 Hilborn, Leamington. It will be published in 

 a later issue with the discussion that followed. 

 The transportation committee was commissioned 

 to bring the questions involved and the com- 

 plaints before the Board of Railway Commis- 

 sioners. The members of the committee are: 

 Messrs. W. H. Bunting, St. Catharines; L. A. 

 Hamilton, Clark.son; R. J. Graham, Belleville; 

 R. W. Grierson, Oshawa; E. D. Smith, Winona; 

 J. L._ Hilborn, Leamington; and Mr. Randall, 

 of Grimsby. 



The necessity for a new fruit market and 

 terminal facilities at Toronto, was discussed by 

 Mr. H. Dawson, Toronto, members of the City 

 Council, Toronto; Board of Control, Toronto, 

 and others A full report of the discussion will 

 be published later. It resulted in the appoint- 

 ment of a committee to meet a committee of 

 city authorities to discuss the question. The 

 fruit growers appointed were: Messrs. H. C. 

 Fisher and Wm. Armstrong, Queenston; L. A. 

 Hamilton, Clark.son and W. H. Bunting, St. 

 Catharines. 



HORTICULTURAI^ STATION 



An outline of the progress that has been made 

 at the Ontario Horticultural Experiment Sta- 

 tion was given by the director, Mr. H. S. Peart, 

 Jordan Harbor. It is published on another page 

 of this issue. In the discussion that followed, 

 Mr. Sherrington stated that the farm should be 

 of great value to southern Ontario, but would 

 not benefit the growers in the north very much. 

 For the latter section, it would be of greater 

 value if it would cooperate in its work with the 

 Central Experimental Farm. Mr. Sherrington 

 suggested that the work at local experiment 

 stations should be continued. He suggested 

 that the Jordan Station carry on extensive work 

 in the propagation of new varieties, and in the 

 origination of others. Established varieties 

 should be tested on different soils. 



Mr. Murray Pettit.J,Winona, said: "If the new 

 station can produce a peach with the productive- 

 ness, size, hardiness, and shipping qualities of 

 the Elberta, with the color and dessert qualities 

 of the Early Crawford, and as early in season as 

 Triumph, it will pay the total expense of its 

 maintenance for many years to come. New 

 varieties of plums also are needed, particularly 

 one as productive, hardy, and of as good quality 

 as the Lombard, with the shipping qualities of 

 Monarch, and as early as the Japan varieties. 

 The grape industry wants a new variety as 

 IJroductive, hardy and vigorous as Concord, as 

 early as Champion, and with the shipping qual- 

 ities of the tough-skinned Rogers. The station 

 can do excellent work in testing the value of 

 fertilizers on fruit orchards. Pruning should be 

 given attention. Demonstrations could be 

 made of the respective merits of low-heading and 

 high-heading peach trees. Experiments should 

 be conducted also in thinning fruits, and in 

 spraying." Mr. Pettit suggested that a board 

 of control be appointed to assist in the man- 

 agement. 



"The horticultural department at the O.A.C., 

 Guelph, has done good work for similar locali- 

 ties," said Mr. E. D. Smith, M.P., Winona, "but 

 it is of no value to southern Ontario. The sta- 



309 



tion in the Niagara district was needed long ago. 

 While fruit growers are growing a large number 

 of varieties, the question is, ' Are they growing 

 the best that are in existence?" Extensive 

 variety tests at this station should determine 

 this. We want five or six varieties of peaches, 

 like the Elberta, but of different seasons. There 

 is not a good all-icund pear. If the variety does 

 not bhght, it has otiier defects. For this reason 

 many growers are abandoning this industry! 

 It would be well to try a cross between Anion 

 and Seckel. We want a good shipping grape 

 for the west. That market is all our own, as 

 British Columbia cannot grow grapes success- 

 fully. The Lindley is an excellent shipping 

 variety, but it bears a good crop only once in 

 about 20 years. We want a grape that has a 

 good skin, that is a good bearer, and that will 

 stand rough handling." 



Dr. Wm. Saunders, C.E.F., Ottawa: "It is 

 almost impossible to combine all desirable 

 features in one variety. Such should not be 

 expected from the new station, or any other. 

 The aim should be to produce the best possible! 

 If a committee of consultation be appointed, it 

 .should not consist of too many members. 

 Each man will have his own opinion, and add 

 to the confusion." 



Mr. F. H. Pattison, of The Weekly Fruit 

 Grower, Grimsby: "There is more money in- 

 vested in Ontario in tender fruits than in apples. 

 The O.F.G.A. does not seem to appreciate this 

 fact, as it appears to have degenerated into an 

 apple growers' association. The most import- 

 ant work that should be undertaken at the new 

 station is the origination of new varieties of 

 tender fruits, and experiments in spraying." 



MARKET CONDITIONS IN ENGLAND 



" Market Conditions in Great Britain," was 

 the subject of an address by Mr. J. A. Ruddick, 

 Dairy and Cold Storage Commissioner, Ottawa' 

 who spoke as follows: 



"There is a great market in the west for 

 tender fruits. Pears and tomatoes can also be 

 shipped successfully to Great Britain, although 

 the latter is rather diflScult to transport in cold 

 storage. Great Britain will take all the first- 

 class fruit that Canada has to offer. There is no 

 need to look for other markets. They can 

 handle all of the apples that we can produce. 

 The larger the quantity, the more notice is 

 taken of it. While all dealers in Great Britain 

 are willing to admit that Canadian apples are 

 best, they do not always give as mucli for them 

 as for apples from other countries. Canadians 

 are likely to meet new competition. Large 

 quantities of Tasmanian apples are being put on 

 the English markets, and are meeting with favor 

 from dealers and consumers. 



"British dealers say that Canadian apples 

 have improved in quality and grade during the 

 past few years. Purchasers have greater con- 

 fidence in Canadian apples than in American. 

 Our growers should be particular not to mis- 

 represent contents of packages. Apples seldom 

 are sold according to marks on barrels. Merit 

 alone counts. It is a mistake to send packages 

 wrongly marked. 



"In respect to selling apples by anction sys- 

 tem, would say that, personally, I wonld prefer 

 to sell f.o.b. to consigning, although good sales 

 often are made on consignment. It is better to 

 consign to the large centres rather than to 

 inland points, as there is greater competition." 



Mr. Ruddick referred also to the canned fruit 

 trade, and mentioned its possibilities. There 

 is a good market for canned apples, but only one 

 variety should be placed in a can. The demand 

 for raspberry pulp is large. England will take 

 large quantities of cider. The average price is 

 17 cents a gallon, and the freight four cents. 

 Growers can determine for themselves whether 

 or not the industry would be profitable 



OTHER VALUABLE PAPERS 



Space in this issue of The Canadmic Horti- 



