98 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



On the other hund, when the dealer liuys tlie 

 fruit not packed but just as it eonics from the 

 tree "and usually at a hi^ price," he thinks he 

 must pack and sell everythinj; an<l he puts a lot 

 of trash marked No. :i on the market, and it is 

 havint; a depressing effect. This applies to the 

 locid market in a large measure. One great fault 

 with the Nova Scotia fruit grower is the tendency 

 to dump an inferior article into the local markets. 

 This grade of fruit should never leave the farm 

 but should be given to the sttx-k. It is the excep- 

 tion and not the rule to find first-class fruit in 

 the local markets. 



What is the result of all this? It is that other 

 provinces are sending gCKxl fruit into a fruit-grow- 

 ing locidity, while that locality is sending its fruit 

 to a foreign market. This is not as it sliould t)e. 

 The apples in Nova Scotia were only fair at 

 picking time last fall and the mild winter has not 

 been favorable for keeping fruit in storage, and 

 consequently the output at present is rather over 

 ripe, and in some instances subject to black spot. 

 The No. 1, or first grade, has upon inspection 

 been found g<x>d and well packed. The No. 2 

 grade has been found inferior. Perhaps a 

 definition for a No. 2 would be a g<»d thing. 



Toronto Gro-wers* MontHly 

 Meeting 



Increasing interest is being taken in each suc- 

 cessive meeting held by the Toronto vegetable 

 growers. At a sjiecial meeting on March 17, 

 over 70 members were present. Celery grow- 

 ing was taken up by Mr. Harris, the celery 

 king, of Humber Bay. Messrs. Thos. Courtice, 

 J. McKay, Joseph Rush and George Syme took 

 part in the discussion that followed. The culti- 

 vation of beets was dealt with by Mr. Albert 

 Shuter. Mr. James Stevens, of Todmorden, gave 

 an interesting talk on growing cabbage, and the 

 shortcomings of the present tariff rates. 



The menjbership of the association has been 

 increased until it is now nearing the 200 mark. 

 This necessitated the election of two more 

 members for the executive board of the pro- 

 vincial association. Messrs. John McKay and 

 Albert Shuter were unanimously chosen. The 

 following corresiwndents were selected to furn- 

 ish crpp reports during the coming season: 

 Messrs. K. Gibbard for the east, Joseph Rush 

 for the west, and Albert Shuter for the north. 



At the next meeting on April 7, Mr. H. Reid 

 will discuss glass in its relation to outdoor work ; 

 Mr. James Dandridge will take up the growing 

 of early potatoes, and Mr. James Gibbard will 

 deal with early tomato growing. 



Ne-w Fruit Gro-wers* Associa- 

 tion in SoutHern Ontario 



A number of fruit growers of the Winona- 

 Grimsby district met in February and organized 

 an association, to be called the Southern Ontario 

 Fruit Growers' Association. The purpose of 

 the new organization is to promote the best 

 cultural methods and, by united effort, to seek 

 to/apply the principles of co-operation in the 

 packing, sale and transportation of their prod- 

 ucts. A resolution was passed to the effect that 

 "the members of the Southern Ontario Fruit 

 Growers' Association desire to express their 

 appreciation of the work done by the Niagara 

 Peninsula United Fruit Growers' Association, 

 but as they realize the difiiculties that the 

 members of that association in this district 

 labor under in attending meetings at such a dis- 

 tance, . they consider that an organization in 

 this district, working in co-operation with the 

 one in the east, would be in the interest of fruit 

 growers in general." 



The following officers were appointed: Pres., 

 Jonathan Carpenter, Winona; v.-pres., Geo. 

 Awrey, East Hamilton; sec.-treas., E. M. 

 Smith, Winona. It was decided to have as 

 many directors as there shall be sub-organiza- 

 tions having 10 paid rtiembers within its bound- 

 aries for the first director; for the second direc- 

 tor, 30 members; for third director, 60 members; 



for the fourth director, 100 meml>ers; for the 

 fifth director, 150 members within the sub- 

 organization, and by whom the directors shall Ix; 

 elected. ■ M» wM 



Meetings have been held at Stoney Creek, 

 Winona, Grimsby, lieamsville and elsewhere, 

 and sub-organizations have been ff)rmed at 

 each of the places. Other sections promise to 

 do likewise l)efore long. The Southern Ont. 

 Fruit Growers' Assn. bids fair tf( liecome one of 

 the strongest and most useful organizations of 

 its kind in Canada. — (A.B.C. 



claimed by C. W. VanDuzer that the fruit 

 growers themselves were largely to blame for 

 the inferior baskets that were being made. 

 They did not want to jxiy high prices, and the 

 manufacturers vied with each other in pri' 

 ducing cheaj) baskets. 



TKe BasKet Situation 



The Hamilton branch of the Vegetable Grow- 

 ers' Assn. held a meeting Sat., Mar. 10, and 

 another on Sat., Mar. 17, to discuss the basket 

 situation. It apjjears that all the basket nifrs. 

 have combined for the purjXKe of advancing 

 and maintaining a fixed price on baskets for 

 the coming season. Prices have been received 

 from most of the mfrs., and they are all the 

 same, namely: 11 qt. fruit ba.skets with ajvers, 

 $42 per M; without cover, $34; (i§ qt. grape 

 baskets with cover, $36 \>er M; without covers, 

 $28; l)erry boxes, $3.30 per M; 24 box crates, 

 $11 per M; Lena covers, $10 per M; wood cov- 

 ers, $G [jer M. These prices are considerably 

 in advance of last year's. On 11 qt. baskets 

 there is an advance of $7 per M, and on 6§ 

 qt. baskets an advance of $4. This is a very 

 serious matter, when consideration is given to 

 the large number of baskets required by the 

 members through this district. If the crop 

 should be as large this season as it was last, 

 the members will have to pay about $25,000 

 more for their baskets. 



The growers as yet do not know what to do, 

 but it is expected they will decide to take legal 

 action as against a combine should the manu- 

 facturers not lower their prices. 



Important Questions 

 Discussed 



The* newly formed Southern Ontario Fruit 

 Growers' Assn. held an interesting meeting at 

 Grimsby on Mar. 2, Cooperation, quotations 

 by dealers and shippers, transportation facili- 

 ties, and the telephone service were ably dis- 

 cussed by leading members of the assn. 



In introducing the subject Cooperation in 

 Packing, H. L. Roberts, said that 4 to 10 grow- 

 ers should unite and have their fruit packed in 

 a central packing house by competent men. 

 Then it should be sold direct to the trade or to 

 a local dealer. The telephone question was 

 ably handled by W. H. Brand, H. L. Roberts 

 and S. Culp. It was pointed out that another 

 line is needed between Winona and Jordan, and 

 a committee was appointed to interview the 

 Bell Telephone Co. and see if something could 

 not be done to give a better telephone service 

 between Stoney Creek and Jordan Station. 



In deaUng with the question of quotations 

 on the various fruit crops, J. A. Livingston 

 pointed out that the fruit business is injured 

 every year and the markets demoralized by 

 dealers under-quoting each other. The gen- 

 eral opinion of the meeting was that the dealers 

 should arrange to give uniform quotations. A 

 committee was appointed to interview the 

 dealers regarding this proposal. Transporta- 

 tion facilities were dealt with by E. D. Smith, 

 M.P., who showed that the express rates are 

 exorbitant, and the freight service practically 

 useless. He compared the freight service 

 given in Ont. with that in Eng. and showed 

 that Canadian ry. cos. could give the Canadian 

 growers much better service if they tried. The 

 light and weak baskets, that are being supplied 

 by most of the basket manufacturers also were 

 referred to. It was pointed out that many 

 baskets went to pieces during transportation, 

 and he urged the members of the assn. to make 

 arrangements with the basket fimis to supply 

 them with better baskets, even though they 

 had to pay a higher price. In reply, it was 



E-xperiments in Orchard 

 Culture 



A bulletin on Exijeriments in Orchard Cullui' 

 has l)een prejwred under the direction of Proi 

 Vy. M. Munson, of the Maine Agricultural and 

 Experiment Station. It contains a reiK)rt of 

 wijrk done cm the farm of Mr. Cha.s. S. Popi 

 Manchester, Me., and includes a discussion <' 

 cultivation and mulching as methods of ireai 

 ment for orchard lands; stable manure com 

 pared with concentrated fertilizers; the Fisher 

 formula, orchard renovation, top-grafting of 

 orchards, and the effect of cultivation upon 

 the keeping ([uality of apples. 



Results in the "renovation orchard" show 

 plainly that with pro];er care and ff>od then 

 need be no "off year," even with the Baldwin.'^ 

 As might be expected, l)etter results were ob- 

 tained from the application of a complete fer- 

 tilizer than from the use of any one or two of 

 its separate components. The severe winter 

 of I904-O injured many trees, but where good 

 cultivation and feeding are practised the trees 

 are rapidly recovering 



Alx)ut 20 Ben Davis trees which were top- 

 grafted two years ago to Baldwin, Sutton, 

 Jonathan and Spitzenburg, have all made a 

 remarkably strong growth and in some cases 

 fruit buds are developing, but conclusions are 

 not drawn from this work as yet 



Results of the keeping test indicate that while 

 the color of the fruit from sfxJ -grown trees is 

 unquestionably better than that from cultivated 

 trees, there is very little difference in the actual 

 keeping quality of such fruit. 



Bulletin 122, giving full details of the work 

 in question, will be sent free upon application 

 to the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station. 

 In writing, please mention this paper. 



Presents for Our K.eaders 



Our readers will \x given their choice of the' 

 following i)remiuras, when purchasing goods 

 from our advertisers, if they will tell them that 

 they saw their advertisement in The Canadian 

 Horticulturist: 3 months renewal subscrip- 

 tion to The Horticulturist; 1 Baby Rambler 

 Rose; 1 Herbert Raspberry; 1 Boston Ivy; 

 Book on Strawberry Culture; Collection of 6 

 Tuberous Begonias; Sweet-scented Calla Bulb; 

 New Grape Vine; New^ Fern Nephrolepsis Pier- 

 soni; Large Size Package " Helen Pierce" Sweet 

 -Pea, new; New Dahlia "Mrs. Roosevelt," new; 

 Book on Bulbs and Bulbous Plants; Book on 

 FertiUzers; Book on Injurious Insects, Plant 

 Diseases and their Remedies; Book on Onion 

 Culture; Book on Tomato Culture ; Book, Your 

 Plants, House and Garden ; Hydrangea panic- 

 ulata grandiflora ; Collection of 3 Canna bulbs; 

 Collection of 6 Garden Vegetable Seeds; Col- 

 lection of 6 Garden Flower Seeds; Collection of 

 6 Gladioli Bulbs. To the reader purchasing 

 goods to the greatest value from our advertisers 

 in the April issue, we will give a $5 cash prize. 

 It is no trouble to win a prize. Just tell the 

 advertiser . when writing, that you saw their 

 advertisement in The Horticulturist, and 

 then make application at once to The Can.\dian 

 Horticulturist for a premium. Write the 

 Advertising Manager, The Canadian Hortt- 

 cuLTtTRiST, 507-508 Manning Chambers. To- 

 ronto, Ont 



I would canvass for The HoRTictJLTURisT for 

 two reasons. First, because I believe it to be 

 the best magazine on horticulture I have yet 

 seen, and secondly because it is Canadian, 

 "made in Canada," a text for which I always 

 have a sermon.— (D. C. Crosby, Berwick, N.S. 



