THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



43 



A-pples at Five Cents a Barrel 



J. J. PHilp, Dominion Fruit Inspector, "Winnipeg 



Apples are more in demand in Winnipeg at 

 this season than any other fruit. They are more 

 of an actual necessity than are the finer and 

 more expensive fruits. 



This year in Winnipeg to many the apple 

 trade is a very unsatisfactory proposition, not to 

 the regular and legitimate dealers, or those who 

 have a regular trade and are handling their 

 stock inteUigently, but to those who are ship- 

 ping here on commission, or for storage, and 

 have no proper facilities for watching their fruit, 

 or a regular trade to absorb the accumulation of 

 off stock that is bound to appear at this time of 

 the year. To the latter the experiences of the 

 present season cannot fail to be anything short 

 of disastrous. One eastern man sold 75 barrels, 

 and notwithstanding that some of them brought 

 $4.25, the whole lot netted him less than $1.00. 



There was a time when the writer used to 

 think that we had the very best cHraate for 

 keeping apples over winter. Closer observation 

 has convinced me that this is a mistake. Few 

 cellars can be procured that are altogether free 

 from artificial heat. This means want of uni- 

 formity of temperature, and lack of proper 

 ventilation, two conditions that when combined 

 cause the destruction of the fruit stored. 



It may be asked what about cold storage? 

 It's the very best, but could not accommodate 

 one-half of the quantity that has to be stored 

 here for the three months after navigation 

 closes. It is astounding to look over the stocks 

 stored in Winnipeg at the present time. Just 

 fancy: Snow apples, lots of them, XXX, and XX, 

 the first some of them not too bad, but the latter 

 small, scabby, and rotten. Many of them are 

 not worth the price of the barrel in which they 

 are packed. Also in stock there are: Col vert. 

 Jenneting, Wealthy, Mcintosh Red, Haas, 

 Golden Pippin, and other varieties too numerous 

 to mention. Very few of these will realize 

 enough to pay for their transportation, and all 



I 



^^Tnce down by the sea. Nova Scotia, will be 

 exporting over a million barrels of apples in addi- 

 tion to supplying the ever increasing demand in 

 the local markets. Great progress has been 

 made during the past few years. 



The earliest record we have of apple-growing 

 in this province is in the year 1633. Previous 

 to 1812 the fruit industry was only an industry 

 in name, and consisted in growing a lot of seed- 

 ling apples and a few good varieties. These latter 

 were shaken from the trees and marketed in 

 old flour barrels, and foimd sale in local towns 

 and cities in the Maritime Provinces. Tlie 

 poorer sorts and seedlings were carted away to 

 the mills and the juice converted into cider. 



In the year 1812, the Hon. Charles R. Pres- 

 cott, M.L.A., bought a farm at Starr's Point and 

 started fruit-growing. This marks a new era 

 so far as the fruit industry is concerned in Nova 

 Scotia. Most of tlie varieties of fruit planted 

 by Mr. Prescott were imijorted from England, 

 and in that way very many of the best standard 

 varieties of to-day were introduced. In his 

 list were to be found the Spy, Ribston, Blen- 

 heim, Baldwin, Gravenstein, Fameuse, Green- 

 ing, Spitzenburg, and others. 



His hst of pears, phmis, cherries and other 

 small fruits contained many of the leading stand- 

 ard varieties of our time. 



About 1849 the first fruit show was held in 

 Canard, Kings County. At that show Mr. Pres- 

 cott exhibited 03 varieties of apples and 20 

 varieties of pears. From this time on the fruit 

 industry increased and grew until in the year 



the time they are seriously injuring the sale of 

 good stock. Herein we have the pith of the 

 whole matter. Such apples as many of these 

 are can never be shipped liere except at a loss, 

 because they are not worth anything, and never 

 should have been shipped. 



A couple of weeks ago The Ottawa Fruit and 

 Produce Co. auctioned ofi' large quantities of 

 Ontario fall fruit for five cents a barrel. From 

 300 to 350 barrels a day were sold, according to 

 a recent issue of the Winnipeg Free Press, for 

 several weeks. These were fall apples that should 

 have been sold by November. The purchasers 

 were Yiddish people. 



Shippers should send half the quantity, and 

 that the best half. This gives only half the 

 expenses, and half the risk. Better marking of 

 the barrels according to the Fruit Marks Act 

 should be observed. Shippers must consider 

 the effect that a fine package, neatly marked, 

 has on the sale of the article. I believe that a 

 man's character and personal habits can be 

 told by the way the apple barrels are marked. 

 Besides, the law says so, and the inspectors are 

 supposed to see that it is observed. 



The wholesale fruit dealers at a recent meeting 

 appointed a committee to formulate resolutions 

 regarding the standard for a No. 2 or XX grade, 

 and other amendments that they think will 

 improve and help to facilitate the working of the 

 act. If there are any amendments to be made 

 that will improve the act, they will be very wel- 

 come, and cannot come too quickly, but in any 

 event let all discussion in reference to its several 

 features be on a higher plane than the purely 

 selfish idea that if it is going to benefit the other 

 fellow more than it does me I won't have it. 

 That our fruit interests are in need of being 

 raised to a higher standard, no one in close touch 

 with the business will deny, and all should aim 

 to have a part in the good work. 



The Frviit Industry of Nova Scotia 



G. H. Vroom. Midaieton, N.S. 



1880 the export of apples from St. John and 

 HaHfax to Great Britain amounted to 24,000 

 barrels. In 1890 the export had reached the 

 100,000 barrels, and in the year 1903 the total 

 export of apples from Nova Scotia to the Old 

 Country amoimted to 532,000, besides over 

 80,000 barrels sold in local markets. 



It is only within the last 20 years that 

 fruit has been grown very much outside the dis- 

 trict known as the Annapolis Valley, which in- 

 cludes the stretch of coimtry lying between the 

 north and south mountains in the counties of 

 Annapolis and Kings. This valley is about 80 

 miles in length and three to eight miles in width. 

 The best orchard land is near the foot of the 

 mountain and on the hilly slopes. The soil is 

 deep and fertile, and frost does less damage than 

 it does on the low lands near the rivers. 



In the early eighties other parts of the prov- 

 ince made small beginnings in the fruit-growing 

 industry. The farmers in the county of Lunen- 

 burg began to wake up to the fact that fruit- 

 growing was a pleasant and profitable industry, 

 and decided to try the possibilities in that grand, 

 historic old country. Their efforts were crown- 

 ed with a marked degree of success, and to-day 

 some of our finest and best fruit comes from 

 Lunenburg county. Hants county also em- 

 barked in the business on a soniwhat extended 

 scale about the same time, with the result that 

 to-day fruit grown in the Avon Valley is sought 

 after in both the local and fi ireign markets on 

 account of its superior quality. Similar advance- 

 ment has been made in other sections. 



With few exceptions the fruit business in Nova 



Scotia is carried on in an up-to-date manner. 

 Among those exceptions may be mentioned the 

 tendency to pack and market third-grade stuff, 

 which is detrimental to the reputation of number 

 one Nova Scotia fruit. Among the up-to-date 

 features of the Nova Scotia fruit business is the 

 abundance of first-class fruit houses along the 

 lines of railway where the farmer can store his 

 apples and haul them when the roads are good 

 in the fall. This does away with the old method 

 of hauling through snow-banks or mud, or run- 

 ning the risk of having the fruit frozen on the 

 highway. 



In these frost-proof houses the fruit is packed 

 under the supervision of a competent man who 

 has had sufficient experience to qualify him for 

 such a position. When a steamship arrives in 

 port cars are run alongside the fruit house, and 

 the work of loading a car is only a matter of a 

 short time. The cars are better than in former 

 years and, taking everything into consideration, 

 good facilities are in existence to ensure our fruit 

 arriving in the British market in excellent con- 

 dition, if proper care and precaution is taken. 

 This is benefiting the industry and helping Nova 

 Scotia fruit to hold its own in the markets of the 

 world. 



Notes on tHe Fruit Xrade 



E. H. Wartman, Dominion Fruit Inspector 



Handlers and speculators in Canadian apples 

 are a class that make many mistakes, and run 

 a little wild in their ideas. Frequently buyers 

 say, "If I only had purchased 5,000 instead of 

 10,000 barrels, or 10,000 rather than 20,000. 

 By purchasing the smaller quantity my help 

 engaged could have done good work and got 

 through before frost had a chance to do any 

 damage." Many a buyer has purchased from 

 small growers 25 to 50 barrels on the trees, not 

 making provision to house or shelter this fruit 

 as gathered. When the time comes to gather 

 you have the spacious out-door to do your work, 

 through rain, snow, heat or mud. The mark- 

 ets demand a clean, neat package, but how is 

 it possible under these circumstances? Buyers 

 should pass such ill-provided ranches, and teach 

 such men it is absolutely necessary to jirovide 

 for their products. The buyer who left such 

 fruit would be money in pocket. Other buy- 

 ers go around the country buying small lots of 

 20 to 40 barrels that have been picked some 5, 

 10 or 15 days, and exposed to heat and all kinds 

 of weather. No fruit should be bought under 

 these circumstances. In this day of advance- 

 ment buyers are looking for sound goods in neat, 

 clean packages. Co-operative associations have 

 been formed and are doing good work. It is hoped 

 soon that all those who have no place to house 

 and projjerly pack their fruit in, will have one 

 of these close at hand, where the fruit can be 

 taken and properly cooled, graded and packed; 

 then a buyer can at any time get a full car of 

 the varieties he desires. 



As the demand for choice apples in boxes is 

 increasing, we need not look for any more bar- 

 rel famines. Fruit buyers this year who have 

 tried to live up to the requirements of the Fruit 

 Marks Act have been well compensated. The 

 principles of this act are only the golden rule 

 after all. 



A Bu.slncs.s Change. — The first of this year Mr. 

 FeUx A. Perkins, of the firm of Perkins & Paine 

 Manufacturing Co., Port Dover, sold his share 

 and interest in this firm to Otto G. Palm, who, 

 with Mr. John B. Paine, of Toronto, will con- 

 tinue manufacturing the Little Giant Sprayer 

 in Port Dover, Ont., under the firm name of 

 the "Little Giant Sprayer Mfg. Co." The office 

 will be' in Toronto at 41 Colborne St. They 

 have several orders on hand, and are rushing 

 out machines as fast as possible. This is one 

 of the most practical spraying machines on the 

 market, and as it is a Canadian invention and 

 made in Canada, it ought to be patronized by 

 Canadian fruit growers. 



