THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



205 



District Horticultural Exhibition, to be held at 



St. Catharines on Sept 14-15, should be made 



to bear out this reputation. It should be 



made representative of the entire district, so as 



lo advertize, in a comprehensive and striking 



^ anner, the extent and character of its resources 



lid possibilities. St. Catharines, on those dates, 



hould be a rallying place for fruit, vegetable 



ttd flower growers, far and wide. The best 



hat can be produced in the district should be 



shibited, with the idea of bringing out the 



iucational features that are so necessary to the 



uccess and purpose of horticultural exhibitions. 



fhe management is showing commendable 



nterprise and their efforts should be heartily 



iipported by the growers, as it is for the benefit 



f the growers that the exhibition is to be held. 



Prince Cd-ward Island Letter 



Journalism has its compensations. During 



he past month The Horticulturist has been 



he fortunate recipient of various donations of 



nit. Mr. R. H. Lewis, of Hamilton, kindly 



emembered our failing and favored us with a 



asket of luscious cherries, which, in the absence 



the editor, unfortunate occurrence, were 



Sevoured by members of the staff. Mr, Robert 



Thompson, of St. Catharines, was so generous 



~as to send us a crate of prime strawberries— 



about the liest we have ever seen; and from 



Helderleigh, the famous fruit farm and nurseries 



of E. D. Smith, M.P., Winona, we received a 



large basket of Black Tartarian cherries. How 



nice it is to have friends among the fruit growers! 



IT lf 



An international conference on plant breeding 

 is being held in London, England, July 30 to 

 August 3. Since 1899, two conferences jof 

 this nature have taken place, one in London 

 and one in New York. To the third in London, 

 |)lanl-breeding s])ecialists from all parts of the 

 world have been invited to attend. Every 

 effort has been made by the council of the Royal 

 Horticultural Society, under whose auspices 

 Uic conference is taking place, to make the event 

 ,1 pleasant and profitable (me. There is no 

 ubjecl associated witli the care and develop- 

 icnl of plants respecting which there is so much 

 ed of greater knowledge, as that of the pro- 

 ction of new varieties and new forms. In- 

 ternational plant breeding conferences will do 

 nuich to solve some of the difficulties, and to 

 iroaden the ordinary conception of these 

 ings. 



The former associate editor of The Horti- 

 tuiAt'RiST, Mr. J. Albert Hand, B.S.A., resigned 

 recently to accept a po.sition with E. D. Smith, 

 M.I'., of Winona. The best wishes of The 

 HoRTict'LTURiST follow him in his new work. 



Items 



>f In\ r 



rest 





Mr. J. W. Bigelow, supt. t the hort. dept. 

 of the Dominion exhiViition to e held in Hali- 

 ,x this fall, writes us that th prize list was 

 epared largely in the interesi of (Jnt. fruit 

 owers. Large prizes will be gi n for grapes, 

 aches and other fruits not g\ wn in N.S. 

 t. growers will find it to the. interest to 

 hibit. Special prizes are offei^d also for 

 impetition between the various provinces of 

 le Dominion. 



The Orillia Co-operative Fruit Assn. has been 

 formed recently. The members intend to pack 

 their apples in a central packing house, and to 

 ship by refrigerator car to Winnipeg. The 

 .Ulcers are: Pres., J. Ryerson, M.A.; v.-pres., 

 V.'m. Bacon; sec.-treas. and manager, R. A. 

 I.chmann; additional directors, Alex. Cuppage 

 and R. B. Anderson. 



In the govt, spraying ex]«?riments at Mea- 

 ford, Borfleaux mixture was used in the pro- 

 l)ortions of 4 lbs. blue stone, 5 lbs. lime, 4 ozs. 

 Paris green, to 40 gals, water; instead of 8 ozs. 

 Paris green, as mentioned in the July issue of 

 The Horticulturist. Also, lead arsenate was 

 used, not lead acetate. The mistake occurred 

 in the copy, and was not due to any error on 

 ,the part of The Horticueturist. 



Rev. Father Eurke, Alberton 



THE orchard meetings which, late as they 

 were, covered the ])rovince in their ex- 

 tension, in the month of June, were not 

 as well attended as one could have de- 

 sired; but because of the places in which they 

 were held for the most part, and the extra busy 

 season, can be said to have been fairly suc- 

 cessful. Instructor Burke, nobody doubts, un- 

 derstands thoroughly his business. It is to be 

 regretted that the dept. at Ottawa has so far 

 refused to make his position permanent, and 

 thereby contribute in the only sane way to 

 effective horticultural instruction amongst us. 

 We had at the outset, through Dr. Jas. Rob- 

 ertson, a yearly engagement with our inspect- 

 or; that was done away with when he retired. 

 We are sure that there is no one around the 

 agri. dept. at Ottawa who claims to know 

 P. E. I. needs better than the late commissioner, 

 no one more sincerely desirous of helping the 

 agricultural interests with us to the place they 

 must attain when an enlightened and vigorous 

 policy brings lo us the prosjierity which we 

 need and is ours by right. 



Only the other day we remonstrated on this 

 instructor business; only the other day the new- 

 sec, of agri. for this province urged on the 

 powers this great need, and by the looks of 

 things there is no very proximate intention 

 with the dept. of meeting the well-expressed 

 and urgently pressed wishes of the people. The 

 inspectors of B.C., Ont., and M.S., have annual 

 engagements and are helping out very materi- 

 ally the instrucli(m propaganda in their respec- 

 tive ])rovinces. We have a circular (No. 7) 

 issued by Mr. Maxwell Smith in B.C., which is 

 or ought to be invaluable to horticulture there, 

 giving as it does the result of his experience 

 in planting varieties suitable to that country. 

 Eastern inspector-instructors have not attemjit- 

 ed anything of the sort that we know of. They 



might well do so. And P.E.I, could most profit- 

 ably employ Mr. Burke all the year around 

 in this work. No one understands it better. 

 Will the minister not harken to our petition in 

 the matter? 



parliament and the apple barrel 



Senator Ferguson, of this province, by far 

 the best authority on fruit matters in the sen- 

 ate of Canada, made some judicious remarks 

 when the act to amend the Marks Act was up 

 for consideration. He thoroughly agreed with 

 the opinion expressed by us in this column be- 

 fore, that "No. 1" should be our best brand of 

 apples and as near perfection as "Fancy" now 

 exacts. He did not like the definition of No. 

 2, but accepted it as coming from the confer- 

 ence of eminent Canadian horticulturists that 

 met at Ottawa. It permits two varieties of 

 fruit in a package, and that was undesirable. 

 ■Sir Richard Cartwright, who had charge of the 

 bill, agreed with Senator Ferguson; but as No. 

 2 was a grade not likely to ever -see the other 

 side of the ocean the bill was passed as origin- 

 ally drafted by the conference. It has since 

 received the assent of Go v. -General Grey, and 

 is law. What has become of the barrel ques- 

 tion? Questioned by Senator Ferguson in the 

 senate as to whether the Dominion conference 

 decided on the 96 qt. bbl.. Leader Scott said 

 that he knew nothing of it, and had consulted 

 the minister of agri., who also knew nothing of 

 it. Strange! 



The apple outlook is good; that is, the early 

 and fall apples have fixed well. There was a 

 wet, cold period when late varieties were in 

 bloom, and as that period is only over, there 

 might be danger in saying that the later fruit 

 has fixed as well as the early. We hope that 

 it has, however. Cherries arc abundant and 

 so are small fruits. Plums look very shy. In- 

 sect enemies are much in evidence. 



The North^vest Fruit Trade for TKis Season 



J. J. Philp, Winnipeg 



HAVING dealt with the question of pack- 

 ing and packages very fully in the 

 last issue of The Horticulturist, 

 and which referred principally to small 

 package fruits, I will now discuss the pack- 

 ing of the apple cro]). First of all, however, 

 a few words on the prospect for a demand for 

 Ont. apples. I have taken pains to secure all 

 the information possible, and am now in a 

 much lx;tter jMjsition to write with confidence 

 than I was a month ago. 



In dealing with this subject there are several 

 features to be taken into consideration. What 

 is the quantity available for shipment at the 

 place of growth, what is the quahty of the fruit, 

 and what is tlie |)robablc cost going to be? The 

 reports secured are almost unanimous that the 

 several conditions affecting these factors are 

 very favorable. 



At this end we need to find the purchasing 

 capacity of the market to which these goods are 

 to be consigned. Here, too, the conditions are 

 very favorable. Indeed, to such an extent is 

 this true, it is going to tax the ability of Ont. 

 to supply the demand, provided always that the 

 fruit is put up in a jjroper manner; viz., well 

 selected, properly graded, nicely marked, and 

 last, but not least, honestly packed. 



There is the danger of one or more of the 

 markets liecoming congested, through the con- 

 signing of too great a number of apples at once. 

 This is a danger that is always to be faced by 

 the man who consigns his fruit ; more especially 

 when it is taken into cimsideration that it is in 

 this class of fruit that the greatest laxity as to 



methods and care in grading prevails. Let no 

 man say, therefore, that he has been misled by 

 any optimistic reports of the writer; if, under 

 such circumstances, he is up against it when he 

 comes to receive his returns. 



The danger of such a state of affairs is con- 

 fined almost entirely to early apples, peaches, 

 plums, pears, and grapes. One reason why it 

 occurs less frequently in the fall and winter 

 apples, is owing to the fact that they are of a 

 more durable nature. If they do not meet with 

 an immediate sale they can be held for the 

 market to clear. 



It is beyond the power of any one to correctly 

 compute the purchasing capacity of this market. 

 It is bound to be large. For this reason the 

 acreage is largely increased. Crops as a whole 

 never looked better, and the number of con- 

 sumers also is very much greater than they 

 ever were at any time in the history of this 

 country. There will be no difficulty from lack 

 of funds. 



Lastly, let me urge upon everyone (and don't 

 forget that this means you), to whom is entrusted 

 the duty of packing any fruits for any market, 

 to guard well the responsibility that is placed 

 upon you. Remember that your character is 

 written on every package more indelibly than 

 it could be with any ])encil. Thus it shall be in 

 the future. Instead of the execration and con- 

 tempt that has been heaped on the packers 

 of the past, your praises will be sung by thou- 

 sands to whom you are unknown, and the truth 

 of the proverb 'te illustrated: " By their works 

 shall ye know them." 



