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THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



well informed on fruit matters in Canada, 

 and consequently were not in a jxjsition 

 to make an intelligent report. In ad- 

 dition, they are supposed to look after 

 so many other matters that fruit can be 

 only a side line with them. Tor these 

 reasons the spasmodic reports of the 

 commercial agents have not carried 

 much weight with tlie growers. This 

 has given rise to the feeling that in many 

 respects the interests of our fruit growers 

 are not being pushed the way they 

 should. The industry, it is felt, is not 

 being advertised, both at home and 

 abroad, as it might. The Dominion 

 Dairy Commissioner, who is also the 

 Dominion Fruit Commissioner, visited 

 Great Britain last vear. He has made 



a report concerning the cheese and 

 butter trade, but, so far as we have 

 heard, he has had nothing to say regard- 

 ing the export fruit trade. Why were 

 the fruit interests overlooked? 



It was with the object of gaining in- 

 formation on these and similar points 

 that we arranged to have our representa- 

 tive visit Great Britain. We hope that 

 the information that has been gained 

 will be of value and importance to 

 Canadian fruit growers and that it 

 may lead to much needed improvements 

 being made. While some of the con- 

 clusions we have reached may be open 

 to correction, we believe, in the main, 

 that they are well founded. There fs 

 one thing, however, on which we are 



more convinced than ever. That is that 

 the fruit interests of Canada will never 

 receive the attention they need and 

 deserve, at the hands of the Dominion 

 Department of Agriculture, until they 

 have an independent fruit commissioner 

 of their own who will not be forced, when 

 it comes to introducing new lines of 

 work, to first gain the approval of the 

 dairy commissioner or the head of any 

 other branch of the government service. 

 The first of the reports by our represent- 

 ative will be published in our next issue. 

 It will deal with the conditions under 

 which perishable products are handled 

 by the steamship companies. The reports 

 to be published in subsequent issues will 

 deal with questions of similar importance. 



PicKing and PacKing PeacKes 



THE opinion is held by manv grow- 

 ers that peaches should be picked 

 on the green side of maturity to 

 eiisure the best keeping quality. Investi- 

 gations show this opinion to be erroneous. 

 Experience teaches that peaches keep best 

 when picked fully mature, yet not ripe. 

 The proper stage of maturity is when 

 the peach is well colored, full grown, 

 but yet firm, and when the ground 

 color takes on a faint yellowish tinge. 



After green peaches are picked, the 

 process of ripening proceeds more quick- 



more quickly than the latter. Further- 

 more, peaches that are picked too green 

 will shrink rather than ripen; poorly 

 colored, shrivelled peaches bring the 

 lowest price; they do not attract the 

 customer; they never acquire that fine 

 quahty, or that aroma that is character- 

 istic of highly colored, well-matured 

 specimens. Last season, peaches that 

 were altogether too green were shipped 

 to Winnipeg. 



Oftentimes we see peaches, originally 

 high grade, showing the effects of bad 



A Crate of Select Georgia Peaches 



A six-basket carrier of Elbertas. showing a 2-1 pack. The photo was taken in the great Hale Orchards, of 



Fort Valley. Ga.. by Mr. G. Harold Powell. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 



ly than in the case of more mature speci- 

 mens of the same variety, and the 

 chemical changes that are constantly 

 taking place within the fruit progress 

 rapidly. Green picked fruit, therefore, 

 reaches the end of its life in storage or in 

 the refrigerator car as quickly, or even 



handling. This condition may be due 

 to poor methods of picking or to subse- 

 quent rough handling in the packing- 

 house or on the market stand. When 

 picking peaches, the picker must be 

 careful not to grasp them too tightly, 

 or he will bruise them and cause them to 



become discolored. Peaches should be 

 placed in the picking basket with much 

 more care than is usually practised. 

 Fruits of all kinds, should be touched by 

 the hands as little as possible, for every 

 evidence of such handling detracts from 

 both their shipping and market value. 



GRADING AND PACKI.NG 



The successful transportation of 

 peaches depends largely upon the man- 

 ner in which they have been sorted and 

 packed. Pressure of space forbids more 

 than a passing mention of some ideas 

 on these points. A word in particular 

 for the benefit of those, and there are 

 many, who practise packing peaches an 

 end. This system of packing is almost 

 universal in our peach districts. 



The point or apex of the peach is the 

 most tender part of the fruit, as it ripens 

 first. When peaches are packed on 

 end, they are apt, almost sure, to be- 

 come crushed through pressure of the 

 upper layers and, when the baskets are 

 piled, by the weight of the upper tiers. 

 This bruising of the tender end of the 

 peach hastens decay and is one reason 

 why promising, well-selected specimens 

 sometimes fail to reach their destina- 

 tion in good condition. 



Peaches should be packed on their 

 sides and packed firmly to prevent 

 change of position and bruising while in 

 transit. The rosy cheek of the peach 

 should be placed uppermost, and all the 

 peaches in the package should point the 

 same way. Some growers may contend 

 that peaches cannot be packed on their 

 sides in the 11 -quart basket. Even so, 

 it is not the fault of the peach ; it is the 

 fault of the basket. 



THE CLIMAX BASKET 



The Climax basket is a satisfactory 

 package for some kinds and grades of 

 fruit, but for all classes and grades that 

 require systematic packing, or "laying 

 up" as some persons call it, it is not to 

 be compared with some of the styles of 

 packages used in the United States 



