THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



17 



TKe Prince Ed^vard Island Convention 



THE fruit growers of Prince Edward Island 

 were in session at Charlottetown Dec. 19 

 and 20, and, as usual, their meetings were 

 most interesting, instructive and purposeful. 

 Indeed, the remark of Senator Ferguson might 

 be literally accepted when he said that of the 

 many important meetings of the association, 

 he believed this was really the most useful. 



The association is in a most flourishing con- 

 dition. The treasurer's report showed a con- 

 siderable balance on the right side of the ledger. 

 Reports on transportation, co-operation, prize 

 lists, etc., showed how well organized the island 

 is in those important matters. 



Besides the local orchardists, Mr. W. T. 

 Macoun, horticulturist at the Experimental 

 Farm, of Ottawa; and Prof. F. C. Sears, of 

 Truro Agiicultural College, were present and 

 rendered valuable service. 



The National Council subjects coming up for 

 discussion monopolized to some extent the pro- 

 gram, but there were some excellent formal 

 papers and addresses delivered, such as Sena- 

 tor Ferguson's paper on the "Commercial Out- 

 look," which elicited much appreciation; Reg- 

 istrar White's "Horticultural P'xcursions;" 



Rev. Father A. E. Burke 



President. Prince Kdvvard Island Fruit Growers' Associ- 

 ation and Special Correspondent from the Island for The 

 Canadian Horticulturist. 



Prof. Jones' "Horticultural Beginnings;" Mr. 

 Dickey's "Cranberry Conditions in 1904-5," 

 and the excellent addresses of Mr. Macoun on 

 "Island Horticultural Notions," and "Re- 

 marks on Varieties" and Prof. Sears' "Provin- 

 cial Demonstration" and "First Impressions of 

 Island Horticulture." 



At a large public meeting with a musical pro- 

 gram interspersed, His Worship Mayor Kelly 

 and His Honor Lieut.-Governor McKinnon 

 made salutatory addresses, and Acting Premier 

 Hazzard, Commissioner of Agriculture Reid, 

 Senator Ferguson and Alex. Martin, M.P., 

 made addresses commendatory of the industry 

 and encouraging its extension in healthy lines. 



The president. Rev. Father Burke, made his 

 annual address at this meeting, and as usual 

 it was replete with matter and admirable in 

 manner. He again insisted on better fertiliz- 

 ing — it wasn't enough to know that good fruit of 

 every variety could be grown on the island; the 

 best had to be produced, and as with all other 

 organisms proper nourishment was an important 



condition of success. He wanted co-operation 

 also, and expected the Federal authorities to 

 assist in organizing for it as they did with the 

 cheese industry. A packing, grading, market- 

 ing house at the capital was suggested, also a 

 means of canning, jamming and evaporating 

 fruit. Father Burke spoke of the forthcoming 

 National Council, from which he expects much. 

 He also declared flatfootedly for an independent 

 fruit commissionership at Ottawa. 



The discussion arising from the question box 

 was never more vigorous or interesting. The 

 number of questions was very large, and cov- 

 ered the whole range of practical horticulture. 

 The questions were answered most satisfac- 

 torily by the visiting professors, and local in- 

 formation was available for purely local queries. 



The fruit show in connection with the con- 

 vention was most successful. The beautiful 

 apples on plates on the tables, and the barrels 

 and boxes were much admired. Profs. Macoun 

 and Sears did the judging, which was in every 

 way satisfactory. We append Mr. Macoun's 

 appreciation of this department. 



The election 'of oflficers resulted in the unani- 

 mous and enthusiastic rechairing of the Rev. 

 Father Burke in the president's place; the elec- 

 tion of D. J. Stewart as vice-president, and the 

 return with few exceptions of the old board. 

 Father Burke made his acknowledgments, and 

 declared that as he had now put in his con- 

 scription, surely next year he would be permitted 

 to retire. The resolutions passed covered a 

 wide range of work, many of them referring to 

 National Council subjects. 



TKe Frxiit ExKibit 



W. T. Macoun 



While the fruit exhibit was not quite as large 

 as last year, it was a very creditable one consid- 

 ering the light crop that followed the large one 

 of 1904, and the fact that the heavy snowfall of 

 last winter did great damage to fruit trees 

 throughout the island. The fruit growers, how- 

 ever, are not discouraged, and are perfectly con- 

 fident of their ability to grow good fruit. Last 

 year, as well as this, certain varieties of apples 

 appeared much better suited to the island con- 

 ditions than others. Everyone was struck with 

 the particularly fine lot of Kings that were 

 shown, there being a very close competition in 

 this variety, the specimens comparing very 

 favorably with any seen in other provinces. 

 The same may be said of the Stark apple, which 

 succeeds admirably on this island, a box of this 

 variety being as fine as any we have ever seen. 

 There was also a very fine display of Graven - 

 steins. The Annapolis Valley will have to look 

 to her laurels if she wishes to hold the palm in 

 the Maritime Provinces in regard to this vari- 

 ety. In the competition in boxes the first prize 

 went to a box of Gravensteins that was prac- 

 tically perfect, both in regard to the fruit shown 

 and in method of packing. Other varieties 

 which were well grown were Wealthy, Alexan- 

 der, Bellflower, Ben Davis, Baxter, Ontario, 

 Wolf River and Wagener. 



While the competition in boxes was not 

 large, the fruit shown was all fine and the pack- 

 ing very good. Indeed, little improvement was 

 possible in fruit, package or method of pack- 

 ing, and the prize boxes were practically per- 

 fect in every respect. From the writer's ob- 

 servations made at the exhibitions held in con- 

 nection with the Fruit Growers' Association for 

 the past few years, the varieties that in our 

 judgment would be most desirable to plant are: 



As permanent trees — Gravenstein, Alexander 

 or Wolf River, Ribston, Blenheim, King, Spy, 

 Stark, and a few Baxter for trial. 



As Fillers — Wealthy, Wagener, Ben Davis, 

 and a few Ontario for trial. 



These observations are made from the fruit 

 only. If made in the orchards there might be 

 a sUght change, but probably not much. 



In closing I wish to compliment the fruit 

 growers, "including the energetic president. Rev. 

 Father Burke, on the display of fruit made. It 

 was easy for even an outsider to see that it was 

 largely through the indefatigable efforts of the 

 latter that much of the success of the exhibit, 

 and in fact the whole convention, was due; but 

 the mere fact that such a good exhibit was made 

 in an off year, showed that the Fruit Growers 

 of P.E.I, do not lack enthusiasm and are willing 

 to work together to further the fruit industry 

 on Prince Edward Island. 



St. Catharines Notes 



Robert Thompson, St. Catharines 



During the past month the weather has been 

 propitious for the fruit grower, allowing him to 

 finish up his ploughing and ditching. Never 

 was the work as well advanced, and a lot of prun- 

 ing has been done. All this should tell in the 

 fruit growers' favor in the spring. The Niag- 

 ara peninsula fruit growers held a meeting in 

 St. Catharines on Saturday, Dec. 16, to discuss 

 the tariff question. A large number were 

 present. After a long and exhaustive discus- 

 sion the meeting decided in favor of a resolu- 

 tion as follows: "That inasmuch as the fruit 

 growers of Ontario in convention assembled at 

 their annual meeting held in Toronto during 

 the month of November, 1905, passed a reso- 

 lution unanimously asking that the duties on 

 fruit remain as at present, except as in regards 

 pears and plums, which were asked to be changed 

 from an ad valorem to a specific duty of J cent 

 a pound, and a committee met the commis- 

 sioners and pressed these views, we feel that it 

 would be wisdom on our part to reaffirm our 

 approval of that action." A few growers were 

 in favor of asking that the duty on peaches be 

 raised to two cents a pound, and pears and 

 plums to one cent a pound and apples to 75 

 cents a barrel, but the consensus of opinion 

 seemed to be in favor of being moderate, and 

 they felt that the present duty was sufficiently 

 protective for all ordinary purposes, and would 

 not bear unjustly on the consuming public. 



The Grimsby and Winona growers wished 

 the depth of the 6 quart baskets as defined at 

 a previous meeting, changed from 4f inches in 

 depth to 4i inches, and the St. Catharines grow- 

 ers agreed. This will have the effect of mak- 

 ing the growers unanimous in favor of the 6 

 quart size. 



Apples in this district are almost as scarce as 

 oranges. The canning factories are trying to 

 procure contracts from tomato growers at out- 

 lying stations such as Fonthill, Jordan and 

 others, agreeing to furnish crates, make up car- 

 loads and pay freight to St. Catharines, and pay 

 25 cents a bushel. A large number of the 

 growers refuse to grow for 25 cents, as at this 

 price nearly any other crop will pay better, and 

 the factories can afford to pay 30 cents as their 

 output for 1905 is nearly all sold, and they 

 start in the new year as short of canned toma- 

 toes as at the end of 1904. 



Spraying for Scale 



The eighteenth annual report of the Mary- 

 land Agricultural Experiment Station, College 

 Park, Maryland, contains a report of tests made 

 of spraying materials for controlling the San 

 Jose scale. The tests made by Mr. Thomas B. 

 Symons, who says it has been proven that by 

 proper spraying the San Jose scale can be kept 

 under control, and that the trees can be saved 

 and made to produce profitable crops 



Tests were made of the various spraying so- 

 lutions used at different seasons. Better re- 

 sults were obtained from the cooked solutions 

 of lime sulphur and salt than with the uncooked. 

 The addition of caustic soda or potash was an 

 advantage when cooking was not practised. It 

 was found that the lime sulphur and salt spray 

 may be used to advantage in late fall or early 

 winter, but that the preferable time is early 

 spring. 



