THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



45 



R. Frankland; Sec.-Treas., Chas. E. Chambers. 

 About four meetings will be held during the 

 year, exclusive of the annual meeting and the 

 annual excursion. These meetings will be devot- 

 ed to the more important subjects connected 

 with horticulture, such as a contemplated address 

 by Mr. J. Horace McFarland on "Civic Improve- 

 ment" and addresses such as that delivered by 

 Dr. Fletcher in June last. It is claimed that 

 fewer meetings and better subjects would be 

 conducive to a much larger attendance. 



GRIMSBY HELD MEETINGS. 

 At Grimsby the Pres. for 1906 is Dr. Clark, 

 and the Sec. Mr. J. W. Brennan. During the 

 past year several fine exhibitions and regular 

 meetings were held. Travellers frequently ex- 

 press their admiration of the beautiful lawns and 

 gorgeous display of flow^ers. 



DURHAM'S HOMES IMPROVED. 

 The officers of Durham Society for this year 

 are: Pres., Gilbert McKechnie; 1st V.-Pres., 

 Geo. Furneaux; 2nd V.-Pres., Wm. Scaif; Sec.- 

 Treas., Chris. Firth. The secretary writes The 

 Canadian Horticulturist as follows: — "A 

 great impetus has been given to home improve- 

 ments in the way of ornamentals. Evergreen 

 and shrubbery, and flower gardens have been 

 started where such things have never been before, 

 especially about the homes of farmers, for a 

 radius of eight or ten miles around the town. 

 A great improvement is to be noticed also in the 

 surroundings of town residences 



VANKLEEK HILL PROGRESSIVE. 

 A new society was formed at Vankleek Hill 

 and officers elected as follows: Pres., J. L. 

 Browne; 1st V.-Pres., E. Z. Labrosse; 2nd V.- 

 Pres., A. R. Metcalfe; Sec.-Treas., D. T. Mode; 

 Directors, J. Hurley, A. Bancroft, J. MacCallum, 

 F. B. Bouden, J. S. Macintosh, P. Dusserre, J. 

 Irvine, H. C. Jones, and S. A. Huntington. The 

 organization was effected chiefly through the 

 instrumentality of the newly elected president, 

 who had been connected with the Durham 

 society. Special inducements are offered in 

 giving premiums of ornamental trees, shrubs 

 bulbs and plants, and low rates on fruit trees 

 and other nursery stock. Besides the members 

 will receive The Canadian Horticulturist 

 for a year. 



Will Improve the Horti- 

 culturist 



At the annual meeting of the Horticultural 

 Publishing Co., Limited, held in the offices of 

 the Company, Toronto, Jan. 24, it was decided 

 to still further improve The Canadian Horti- 

 culturist. Various departments of the paper 

 are to be strengthened; it will be enlarged by 

 four pages in each is.sue, and the cover will be 

 improved. The following officers were elected: 

 Pres., W. H. Bunting, of St. Catharines; 1st Vice- 

 Pres., J. H. Dunlop, of Toronto; Sec.-Treas and 

 Managing Director, H. B. Cowan, of Toronto. 



The board of officers consists of those already 

 named, and Messrs. Alex. McNeill, of Ottawa, 

 representing the Ontario Fruit Growers' Asso- 

 ciation ; Herman Simmers, of Toronto, and Har- 

 "\d Jones, of Maitland. It is the intention of 

 I he management to make The Canadian Horti- 

 i^BpjLTURisT a publication of which Canadians 

 ^^Kay feel proud, and one that will hold its own 

 ^^^Kth any other publication of a similar nature on 

 ^^^Bie continent. 



A general statement of the Bank of Hamilton 

 shows that they have a cajiital stock of $2,- 

 440,740. After paying the customary divi- 

 dends this bank has been able to place in the re- 

 serve fund the substantial sum of SIS."), 000. A 

 few new branches have been ojjened during the 

 year in Ontario and Manitoba, and special at- 

 tention has been given to .strengthening and 

 building up the business at points Where offices 

 had already been established. It is proposed 

 that $.500,000 additional capital be subscribed 

 and used in providing for the future growth of 

 the bank's business. It has also been decided 

 that the practice of declaring dividends every 

 three months be adopted. 



Dealing WitK tHe Tomato Question 



j\. B. Cutting, B.S.A., our Special Representative 



AT a meeting of the Hamilton branch of the 

 Vegetable Growers' Association, held in 

 Hamilton on Jan. 13, a committee was 

 appointed to confer with the executive of the 

 Consolidated Canners' Association of Canada 

 and discuss the tomato question. The commit- 

 tee comprises Messrs. E. G. Mahoney, R. H. 

 Lewis, P. Ray, H. D. Binkley, and A. E. Bates. 

 It was decided to approach the canners in a 

 businesshke way and ask for a business under- 

 standing. The vegetable growers of the district 

 want a square deal and in return are ready and 

 willing to guarantee superior excellence in the 

 commodity that they have to offer in exchange. 

 Already some of the factories in this district 

 have circulated rumors to the effect that they 

 have contracted for all the tomatoes they require 

 for next season. Growers should not be hood- 

 winked by reports of this nature as they are far 

 from correct. In proof of this, we can cite the 

 case of a factory representative who, when 

 soliciting contracts in the vicinity of Hamilton, 

 told each and every grower in turn that his 

 factory required only 1,000 bushels more; when 

 the contract was secured, the same story was 

 told the next man and his neighbor until the 

 whole neighborhood was completely canvassed. 

 It is known that a few growers were led to con- 

 tract for the coming season but tlie great major- 

 ity have not yet done so, nor do they intend to 

 do so until they get a square deal. 



One of the members stated that last season 



the canners took pains to keep a record of the 

 grade and quality of each grower's tomatoes as 

 they went in the factory, so that, in the event of 

 a raise in price for this year, they would know 

 where the best stock may be secured. This 

 action on the part of the canners indicates 

 two things: — first, as regards the canners, it shows 

 that they are not so independent as they would 

 have the growers believe, and that though they 

 would demand high grade stock, they would 

 pay an increased price if they had to; and second, 

 as it effects the growers, it shows that a raise in 

 price would mean greater discrimination in 

 quaUty and grade, and as a consequence the 

 grower of trash would be left out in the cold — 

 this is as it should be. 



Mr. Mahoney spoke briefly on the advantages 

 of co-operation in this matter. The association 

 can do a power of good for its members. Dur- 

 ing the past year a little friction was caused in 

 one or two instances by members contracting at 

 prices lower than asked by the association. 

 These are things of the past, and should an 

 incentive to do their duty in the future. Unity 

 of effort is necessary to achieve results. This 

 sentiment was supported by Mr. Emory who 

 urged the members to stand together not only 

 upon the tomato question but also in all matters 

 that affect the association. He pointed out 

 the fact that beside this possibility of better prices 

 for tomatoes many other benefits may be 

 derived. 



Practical Co-operation 



The committee in charge of the co-operative 

 work in connection with the Ontario Fruit Grow- 

 ers' Asscxriation have decided to concentrate 

 their efforts during 1906 and put forth a special 

 effort in about a dozen places to form co-opera- 

 tive shipping associations. It was decided that 

 in former years an attempt had been made to 

 carry on this work too extensively, and it is 

 expected that if efforts are directed to fewer 

 places it will result in strong associations that will 

 serve as object lessons to growers in other parts. 



It was recommended that the Minister of 

 Agriculture be advised that a series of experi- 

 ments for the spraying for the Codling Moth, 

 Scab, San Jose Scale, Grape Rot, and other fun- 

 gous diseases, should be carried on as extensively 

 as possible during the summer. It w-as suggest- 

 ed that a committee be appointed in each section 

 to act in conjunction with Prof. H. L. Hutt, of the 

 O.A.C.; Secretary Hodgetts, of the Ont. Fruit 

 Growers' Assn., and a representative of the De- 

 partment of Agriculture, and that this commit- 

 tee inspect the work done two or three times 

 during the season and have the compiled results 

 published next fall. 



Owing to the difficulty in obtaining reliable 

 information regarding the prospects of the 

 season's crop and the probable prices, it was 

 proposed that coiTespondence be inaugurated 

 between each of the co-operative fruit growers' 

 associations and Sec. Hodgetts, so that the 

 associations may be kept in closer touch with 

 each other. It was also recommended that the 

 different co-operative associations should unite 

 in the effort to advertise their products by mak- 

 ing as large and as representative an exhibit 

 as ijossible at the Royal Horticultural Society's 

 Show in London, Eng., as well as at other im- 

 portant shows, and that a representative be put 

 in charge. 



The Dominion Dept. of Agri. will be asked to 

 continue the supervision of tlic work connected 

 with the transferring of fruit sliipments from the 

 railways to the steamers at Montreal, and if 

 necessary, to appoint special inspectors to look 

 after this work. It is felt that commercial agents 

 in the Old Country should engage extra help 

 for two or three months during the shipping 



season to personally look after the shipments and 

 report their condition. The good work accom- 

 plished by Mr. B. T. Boies, of British Columbia, 

 in showing the Ontario growers the proper 

 methods of packing and grading fruit was refer- 

 red to, and it was decided to ask the Dominion 

 Government to continue such demonstrations. 



Items of Interest 



A meeting of the members of the Toronto 

 Vegetable Growers' Association will be held in 

 the Albion Hotel, Feb. 3, at 3 o'clock, when 

 "Forcing Rhubarb" will be discussed by Mr. 

 Thos. Delworth, of Weston, and "Celery Grow- 

 ing," by Mr. George Syme, jr., of Carlton West. 

 "Blights on Vegetables, Their Causes and Rem- 

 edies, if Any," will be fully discussed. The first 

 meeting held recently was a great success. 



At a meeting of the Hamilton branch of the 

 Ontario Vegetable Growers' Association, held in 

 Hamilton, Jan. 13, the newly elected President 

 resigned. Mr. E. J. Mahoney, President for 1905, 

 was appointed without opposition. Directors for 

 1906 were also appointed as follows: — Chas. 

 Scheer and W. A. Emory, Aldershot; P. Ray, 

 Waterdown; John L. Lewis and John Ewing, 

 Hamilton; Frank Crosthwaite, Bartonville; and 

 J. J. Fields, Burlington. 



The members of the committee in charge of 

 co-operative experimental work in horticulture 

 in connection with the Ontario Agricultural and 

 Experimental Union appointed at the annual 

 meeting are: Prof. H. L. Hutt, directors H. S. 

 Peart and J. Albert Hand. Last year about 200 

 members experimented with the different varieties 

 of fruits. During the coming season experi- 

 menters will receive the different bush fruits, 

 grapes and ajjples. 



The annual meeting of the British Columbia 

 Fruit Growers' Association will be held in Van- 

 couver, on Feb. 7 and 8. 



Growers should lay in a stock of baskets, 

 boxes and other fruit packages before the har- 

 vesting season comes. Mr. C. W. VanDuzer, 

 of Grimsby, carries a full line of all such goods. 



