134 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



is not large. Musk melons will be in good sup- 

 ply, as they usually are; the main crop will be 

 Extra Early Hackensack, Osage, Paul Rose and 

 Rocky Ford. Only a very few acres of sweet 

 corn will be grown. Ten or 12 new greenhouses 

 were erected last fall and winter, most of them 

 Iwing small. Some of the larger growers have 

 insl.illcd hot water and steam heating plants. 

 Mr. J. t,. Hilborn using hot water and [. D, 

 Kraser and E. R. Adams steam. Some ex- 

 perimental work has been done during the pa.st 

 winter in growing lettuce, with good results; 

 more will be grown next winter. Messrs. Hilborn 

 and Fraser are planting a considerable quantity 

 of tomatoes and cucumbers under glass for early 

 spring market." — E. E. Adams, Leamington. 



KENT COUNTY 



"The growing of vegetables in this district is 

 not confined to the market gardener, but, to a 

 considerable extent, is done by the farmers. 



Benefits of Organization 



A. McMeans, of Brantford 



Mr. McMeans is the v.-pres. of the Ont. Vegetable 

 ^ w" A^^~^^tf°J>. and has recently been appointed 

 H T H^«"*! ?l *^ vegetable department, under Prof. 

 H. L. Hutt, at the Ont. Agricultural College, at Guelph 

 rhls IS a department that has received but sUght atten- 

 tion in the past, and which is to be considerably extended 

 fromnow on under Mr.McMeans'direction. At fherequest 

 of the Vegetable Growers' Association, the department 

 has sent Mr. McMeans to N.Y., Mass., ind other of ?he 

 eastern states to ascertam what work is being done there 

 to .^courage vegetable growing, and to visit the placel 

 of some of the leadmg vegetable growers. He is a 



^tS% L """l' ^^i ^°' y^a" ^"^ managed his own 

 vegetable establishment at Brantford. In his new 

 position he should do excellent work. 



Most of the potatoes produced are grown in 

 Chatham township, but for several seasons the 

 crop has suffered severely from blight. This 

 year, however, the acreage will be largely in- 

 creased and there should be some for export 

 Onions are grown only in Umited quantities' 

 an acre bemg considered a large patch The 

 acreage is about as usual. There is a disposi- 

 tion to go more extensively into early tomatoes 

 and an effort will be made to find an outside 

 market. A number of our gardeners are grow- 

 ing tobacco, and repoit larger profits than from 

 vegetables. The acreage in tcbacco will be 

 large."— Fred Collins, Chatham 



SARNIA 



"Gardeners have not done much planting or 

 sowing, the season being backward. The acre- 

 age in vegetables promises to be above the aver- 

 age and prospects for a good season are bright. 

 There seems tc be a feeling that early potatoes 

 are the best to grow. T would not be .siu-prised 

 to see an increased acreage of 25 % However, 

 some farmers arc going to grow sugar beets, and 

 this may lessen the quantity of early potatoes 

 grown by them." — ^W. A. B. 



AT a meeting of the Toronto branch of the 

 Vegetable Growers' Association last win- 

 ter Mr. Thos. Dclworth, of Weston, out- 

 lined the benefits to l)e derived by 

 organization and by becoming a member of the 

 Ontario Vegetable Growers' Association. The 

 purchasing of supplies such as boxes, twine, 

 Paris green, and greenhouse fittings were men- 

 tioned as being worthy of consideration. 



Boxes cost 14 cents each, or mf)re, whereas 

 a few years ago they could be had for $1.00 a 

 dozen, with an extra 1k)x thrown in. It was 

 suggested that a committee be appointed to go 

 to the box manufacturers and see what reduc- 

 tion could be had if the members of the local 

 as,sociation would agree to purchase their sup- 

 plies from that factory. The association does 

 not projx)se to buy these supplies but expects 

 that an arrangement could be made so that by 

 showing the membership card a reduction would 

 be given on the regular prices. Each grower 

 would be required to pay cash for what he pur- 

 chased. The average grower in this section has 

 to buy 50 to 75 or 80 boxes each sea.son. It is 

 not known where these boxes go, but through 

 loss and breakages many new Ixjxes have to be 

 purchased each season. 



The same was true in twine. The value of a 

 single ball of twine was not very much, but the 

 purchases of a sea.son amounted to a consider- 

 able sum. During the past few years many 

 growers in the vicinity of Toronto have erected 

 greenhouses. Many instances were known where 

 growers had gone to the firms that supplied 

 boiler fittings and when the clerk found out that 

 the prospective customer was not a regular 

 dealer at that place, they either claimed that 

 they had not the required line in stock, or if they 

 sold them, three or four prices were charged. 

 Something should be done whereby this injus- 

 tice would be put to an end. The glass for these 

 greenhouses should also be obtained at lower 

 rates than at present. 



By co-operation in getting supplies in these 

 different requirements much could be done to 

 lessen the expense to the individual grower. 

 This is the practical way to show the growers 

 that it is profitable to dealers to become mem- 

 bers of the Vegetable Growers' Association. 



As regards purchasing seeds, Mr. Delworth 

 pointed out that it would not be satisfactory 



for the members to club together to purchase 

 their seeds from any one house. Most growers 

 have certain lines of seeds which they buy fiom 

 certain firms each year, and it is difficult to get 

 them to change and buy seeds from another 

 seedsman. The gardeners w"ere advised never 

 to purchase cheap seeds. The only safe way 

 is to buy the best seeds and those which are 

 recommended. Then if the crop is a failure 

 something sliould be done to make the firm who' ' 

 supplied the seeds make up the lf)ss, unless the 

 fault lies with the grower. Occasionally seeds 

 are bought which are not true to name and in- 

 stances are known when seed purchased as beet 

 seed turned out to be mangels. The memljers 

 of the a.ssociation should unite to see that an 

 example is made of such instances. 



Regarding the crop reports which it has been 

 decided to have published during the 

 summer, Mr. Delworth pointed out that those 

 who grow onions extensively would have saved 

 considerable money last fall if they had known 

 the exact condition of the crop in the different 

 parts of the province. Many growers disposed 

 of their crop at 85 cents because they believed 

 there was a heavy crop throughout Ontario. 

 Such was not the case, and as a consequence 

 prices have soared to f 1.15. Other crops cannot 

 be held over as can onions, but the fact that a 

 few- crops can be held over is sufficient to war- 

 rant the growers in pressing for regular reports 

 from all sections to be circulated to the members 

 of the association. Mr. Delworth suggested that 

 these reports be tabulated and sent out monthly 

 through The Canadian HoRTict;LTiTRisT, and 

 by circular letter every two weeks. 



More Experiments Needed 



Ed. The Canadian Horticulturist: 



In looking over the February number of The 

 Horticulturist, I notice on page 38, that a 

 gentleman from Hamilton asks a question re- 

 garding the production of vegetables in glass 

 houses, and is replied to by Mr. Macoun of 

 Ottawa. The reply is, as you will note, some- 

 what vague as to results. The matter of ex- 

 pense appears to be against their general 

 production. 



INSURANCE 



The very best kind of Insurance — i.e., provision for the 

 future as well as the present, is a Savings Account in 



SOVEREIGN BANK 



OF CANADA 



Interest paid four times a year. 



$ 1 .00 wall open an account. 



Put you money in a place where 

 you can get it when you want it 



57 BRANCHES THROUGHOUT THE DOMINION 



Mention The Canadian Horticulturist when writing. 



