THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



15 



at least one half of the charges now exacted by 

 the middlemen. These matters are discussed 

 at length in this issue. It is well they are, be- 

 cause they represent the greatest problems con- 

 fronting our fruit growers. 



lot included some King, Spy, Greening, Mann 

 and Colvert, and was not of the highest quality, 

 many of the barrels being marked No. 2 (or 

 XX), but the prices reaUzed are much better 

 than could be got for so-called No. 1 grade if 

 improperly packed or out of condition." 



" ■ Evidence of the value of The Can.\di.\n Hor- 

 Tici'LTURiST as an advertising medium con- 

 tinues to accumulate rapidly. The cash prize 

 of five dollars offered in the November issue to 

 the reader purchasing goods to the greatest 

 value from advertisers in that issue was won 

 by Mr. W. C. Dempsey, of Albury, who bought 

 trees worth S140 from the Belleville Nurseries. 

 A similar prize, as well as smaller ones, is offered 

 in this issue. Readers must tell the advertis- 

 ers that they saw their advertisements in The 

 Canadian Horticulturist. 



The Canadiam Horticulturist starts this 

 year w^ith the largest circulation and the most 

 valuable advertising patronage in its history. 

 The advertisements carried in this issue are 

 worth three times those that appeared in the 

 January issue of 1905. Our February number 

 ■will be devoted largely to planting and nursery 

 matters, and the March issue to spraying. 

 Advertisers should bear this in mind and should 

 apply early for choice of positions. 



Canadian Fruit in Poor 

 Condition 



Mr. W. A. McKinnon, Canadian commercial 

 agent at Bristol, England, has the following to 

 say regarding tlie condition of Canadian fruit 

 when it reaches Great Britain: 



"I have examined a lot of Canadian apples 

 recently landed for sale on commission. These 

 consisted of a number of varieties, including 

 King, Greening, Pewaukee, Cranberry Pippin, 

 Hubbardston and others. The receiver stated 

 that the fruit was not in good condition, and 

 he therefore offered facilities for its examina- 

 tion. Not one barrel of the 20 or more that I 

 examined was 'tight,' as all should be on ar- 

 rival. It seems hardly possible that these could 

 have been properly packed at the point of ship- 

 ment; if so, the fruit must have been subjected 

 to high tem[)erature at some stage of the jour- 

 ney, for there was a large proportion of rotting 

 and soft fruit. As the inspector for the depart- 

 ment of agriculture stated that they were car- 

 ried in a well-ventilated part of the ship (No. 1 

 'tween decks'), it is hardly to be supposed that 

 the damage began on board ship, and I am 

 inclined to fear that the fruit was never proper- 

 ly cooled before it went aboard at Montreal. 

 The shipper has been notified, but it is to be 

 hoped that other exporters will take warning. 

 Especially in a season w'hen gcx>d fruit is com- 

 manding such excellent prices, it is very re- 

 grettable that profitable returns should be lost 

 owing to the want of protection from heat be- 



Cm the time of packing and loading on board 

 tt is im|X)ssible for shippers to throw away 

 he less popular varieties and to confine their 

 . ments to a few of the leaders; so long as 

 the trees live, or until they can be top-grafted, 

 these grades must be marketed, but odd varie- 

 ties and mixed lots would do better in the larger 

 and more highly organized markets on this 

 side. The Bristol market is just in process of 

 development, and should have special care. 

 The trade here express the opinion that five or 

 six varieties are all that they require, and have 

 recommended some of the following: Spy, 

 Baldwin, Greening, King and Golden Russet. 

 The Snow is very popular in the early part of 

 the season if it can be landed in good con- 

 dition. 



A successful shipment 



"An Oakville exporter has just sent a very 



^good lot, showing less than 10 per cent, of 



'slacks,' the private sale of which, so far as it 



I bas gone, has yielded excellent prices. This 



TOO MANY VARIETIES 



Canadian Apples in France 



A report from Commercial Agent Poindron, 

 of Paris, France, gives some valuable hints as 

 to how Canadian apples should be sent there. 

 The report says: 



"Fall and winter table apples are the only 

 ones suitable for the French market, and espec- 

 ially Golden Russets, Baldwins, Ben Davis and 

 Spies. It would not pay Canadian exporters 

 of apples to send to France on consignment for 

 sale XX barrelled or boxed apples. XXX ap- 

 ples only will pay, and c.i.f. Havre dealings 

 would be the most satisfactory basis rather than 

 consignments for sale. 



"Barrelled apples are in greatest demand. 

 Much care should be taken in shipping the regu- 

 lar Canadian apple only as to weight and size. 

 Apples in France are sold by the 100 kgr. as a 

 unit (220 lbs.), and not by the barrel. Two 

 years ago the Canadian apple barrel was intro- 

 duced on the French markets, for the first time, 

 in substantial quantities, weighing 74 to 7o kilos 

 (163 lbs.) gross weight, and 68 to 70 kilos 

 (152 lbs.) net weight of fruit per barrel. Later in 

 the season barrels of smaller size were shipped to 

 Paris market, causing trouble and loss to Paris 

 importers who had bought by the barrel and 

 sold by weight. Great care should be taken 

 in having the barrels nailed, as in many instances 

 the point of the nail is not properly knocked 

 down, and it pierces and rots the apples. As 

 a consequence, the apples in the barrel become 

 loose and are badly bruised when the barrel is 

 open, which constitutes a great damage to the 

 exporter and to the reputation of the Canadian 

 apple itself on the market. 



"As to boxed apples, no fruit below 7 to 8 

 ounces in weight should be shipped to France. 

 On the contrary, extra choice Golden Russets 

 and Baldwins and Spies, 7 to 8 ounces and over, 

 carefully packed tight in paper and paper wool 

 would meet a good paying demand. By paper 

 wool I mean light paper in small ribbons. The 

 French fruit packers and dealers object to 'ex- 

 celsior' wood fibre which, they say, settles ow- 

 ing to handlings during transportation and 

 makes a much less compact package than paper 

 wool, which enjoys the preference of all of them. 

 The fruit remains unbruised and only in such 

 condition can the full price be obtained from 

 retailer and consumer." 



To PublisK Results of 

 Experiments 



At a meeting of the board of control of the 

 Ontario Fru't Experiment Stations, held dur- 

 ing December, in the Parliament Buildings, To- 

 ronto, it was decided to have pubUshed the re- 

 sults of experiments conducted during the past 

 10 years. This report will include the numerous 

 experiments that have been carried on with 

 different varieties of the various fruits in each 

 of the experiment stations. 



The object in having such a report published 

 is to show the growers or prospective growers 

 what varieties are best adapted to the differ- 

 ent sections of the province. 



In the same volume will be included the work 

 of the experimenters in obtaining accurate de- 

 scriptions of the standard varieties already 

 planted throughout the province. This part 

 will be fully illustrated, and will be of special 

 service in identifying the different varieties. 



The board of control comprises Messrs. G. 

 C. Creelman, chainnan; Linus Woolverton, of 

 Grimsby, secretary; W. T. Macoun, of Ottawa; 

 Prof. H. L. Hutt, of Guelph; P. W. Hodgetts, 

 of Toronto; Elmer Lick, of Oshawa; and A. M. 

 Smith, of St. Catharines. 



The Standard Frviit DasKets 



The fruit growers of theNia.cara district have 

 agreed that the law regarding baskets should 

 be amended. At a meeting in St. Catharihes 

 on November 25, the points for and against 

 were freely discussed by the leiulirig growers 

 who deal most extensively with basket fruit. 

 The prevailing opinion was that st i ndard bask- 

 ets should be adopted. It was decided by a 

 large majority to have only the present 15 

 quart basket for wine grape purposes, the 11 

 quart basket, a 6 quart basket and the present 

 pony baskets of 2 2-5 quarts. 



A committee was appointed to investigate 

 the various measurements and decide on which 

 shape would be best adapted to general use. 

 Top and bottom measurements had to be select- 

 ed for the 11 quart and the 6 quart sizes. 

 This committee met on December 2 and re- 

 ported that they had decided the law should 

 he amended to read: "11 quart basket 5 J in- 

 ches deep, bottom to be 6} x 16^ inches, and 

 top 8 X ISJ inches, measurements to be inside 

 of the veneer and not to include the top band, 

 the cover to be 8J inches wide by 19 inches long. 



"6 quart basket 4f inches deep, with bottom 

 5fxl3J inches, and top 7 x 15J inches, inside 

 measurements, cover to be 7\ x 15^ inches, 

 corners of baskets to be nicely rounded." 



A few of the growers were in favor of having 

 a third size for peaches, plums and cherries. 

 Some wanted 7 quart, some 8 and some 9 

 quarts, but the majority were in favor of hav- 

 ing only the standards as defined, and leaving 

 the law as at present, so that if any grower has 

 a special market he can use a 7, 8 or 9 quart 

 basket by stamping the size in large letters on 

 the side of the basket — this to be done by 

 manufacturer. Very few of these special bask- 

 ets are used. Another objection raised to the 

 special sizes was the fact that it is felt that the 

 time is not far distant when standard fruit 

 crates like those used by western growers will 

 be adopted for the better grades of fruit. 



The fact that almost all of the baskets used 

 for grape shipments are of the 6 quart size, 

 largely determined the action of the growers. 

 A larger basket than the 6 quart or 9 pounds 

 is not desirable for shipping grapes any distance, 

 and it is the size most called for by the buyers 

 Only three factories in Ontario are making the 

 6S quart baskets. 



British Columbia Groovers 

 on Top 



The fruit sent by British Columbia to the 

 Royal Horticultural Society's show in Ix)ndon, 

 England, captured the gold medal this year for 

 the second time. When it is considered that 

 this has been done in competition with fruit 

 from all the colonies, some idea can be gained 

 as to the high quality of the display sent from 

 British Columbia. 



The display of apples covered an area 75 x 6 

 feet, and Britishers said it' was the finest ex- 

 hibit they had ever seen. Besides a gold 

 medal for the provincial exhibit, eight indus- 

 trial exhibitors' medals of lesser value were 

 awarded to British Columbia growers. 



i 



A Fine Spraying Machine. — Regarding the 

 "Duplex" Wallace Power Sprayer, Capt. H. L. 

 Roberts, of Grimsby, reports that it has worked 

 well and given him no trouble. He finds only 

 one pump sufficient for grapes and similar work. 

 This machine, he says, has always maintained 

 plenty of pressure. His apple trees are very 

 large. 



Scalecfde is being widely used across the line 

 for San Jose Scale, and reports show that the 

 results have proved satisfactory. In an ad- 

 dress on spraying at the Fruit Growers' Con- 

 vention in Toronto, Mr. W. N. Brown, of Wyo- 

 ming, Del., said that it was perfectly soluble 

 and costs no more than the Lime-Sulphur wash. 

 It is one of the cheapest of the combination 

 washes used in spraying. 



