232 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



MarKetin^ Early Apples 



J. F. Scriver, D.F.I. Montreal, Que. 



There are almost enough early apples raised 

 on the Island of Montreal now to supply the 

 local market and growers living outside a radius 

 of 10 miles of the city must look elsewhere for 

 a market. It has been shown in the last three 

 years that these apples can be marketed in 

 Great Britain at paying prices. 



Pick the Duchess when fairly well colored, 

 and not when they are small and green. On 

 the other hand do not allow them to become 

 too ripe, as they will not carry well then. Pack 

 them in boxes, and guard against them becom- 

 ing heat.ed. It would be better to ship them 

 to one of the cold storage warehouses in Mon- 

 treal and allow them to remain there a few 

 days to become thoroughly cooled. Ship in 

 cold storage on steamer, and you will receive 

 satisfactory returns. 



I would advise stiipping to Glasgow if packed 

 in boxes. Wealthies and Alexanders should 

 be handled in the same way, although these 

 apples have brought good returns packed in 

 iDarrels. However, the extra price received 

 would more than pay the extra expense. 



I would never advise shipping St. Lawrence 

 apples to the old country market. They do 

 not seem to want them there, and often very 

 low prices are secured. The Winnipeg market 

 is the place for them. Pick them on the green 

 side, cool thoroughly before loading, and ship 

 in refrigerator cars. There are two rules that 

 must be observed in exporting early apples. 

 The first is, do not allow the apples to become 

 ripe before picking; gather when on the green 

 side just when well colored; the second and 

 most important rule is never to allow fruit to 

 become heated. Ship only when well cooled, 

 and if you cannot ship in this condition, it is 

 better to allow them to rot on the ground, be- 

 cause it will result in heavy loss. 



Enterprising Fruit Gro-wers 



At the annual meeting of the St. Catharines 

 Cold Storage and Forwarding Co., of St. Cath- 

 arines, a committee was named to act with the 

 directors in making shipments of fruit to the 

 Northwest during the present season. This 

 committee has made arrangements for the 

 work. With the experience of the shipments 

 of last year and the advice of Robt. Thompson, 

 the president of the company, who spent some 

 six weeks last spring in the fruit districts of B.C., 

 studying their methods and consulting with the 

 wholesale houses in Calgary, Moosejaw, Regina, 

 Brandon and Winnipeg, they feel that they can 

 look forward to some degree of success. They 

 have adopted a set of rules to govern all shippers 

 and every man is required to sign them. 



The rules or regulations in brief, are: That 

 each shipper agrees to fill a certain space in each 

 car or give 5 days' notice of inabiUty so that the 

 committee can procure suitable fruit to fill 

 same; that two cars be forwarded each week, un- 

 less lessened by order of majority of committee; 

 that uniform packages be used, also a uniform 

 system of branding names of shipper, varieties 

 and grades on all boxes. 



A carload of apple, pear, pliun, peach and 

 tomato boxes have been ordered from New 

 Westminster, B.C. A trade brand has been 

 adopted for the western shipments and can be 

 used only when approved of by the committee. 

 All fruit in these boxes is to be packed according 

 to directions and is subject to inspection by a 

 sub-committee to guarantee uniformity. All 

 grapes with brand on have to weigh a standard 

 weight per bskt. All fruit has to be delivered 

 at the cold storage building on the day previous 

 to shipment to enable it to be chilled before 

 going into the refrigerator car. The railway 

 companies are to be consulted so as to ensure 

 a supply of cars and quick despatch. Arrange- 

 ments are being made to ship to the Ottawa 

 Fruit Exchange in Winnipeg and to wholesale 

 men in the west. The shippers who sent the 

 bulk of the 30 cars last season are making pre- 



parations to pack in boxes and wrap a portion of 

 the fruit. Some of the shippers have sent a 

 few crates of strawberries and cherries by ex- 

 press to a few of the western towns to see if 

 they will carry successfully. 



Prince Ed-ward Island Letter 



Rev. Father Burke, Alberton 



Concerning the work in horticultural instruc- 

 tion, undertaken in early spring, Inspector 

 Burke writes as follows: " Horticultural meetings 

 were discontinued for a time during the hay- 

 making season. I do not know whether these 

 will be resumed this season or not. 



"The prospect is fairly good for the apple 

 crop, but the quantity of fruit set is not so 

 large as was promised. Plums and pears will 

 be a light crop. Cherries were a good crop; 

 small fruits abundant." 



The view of the instructor, who has gone over 

 the province, agrees with our own with respect 

 to the crop. It will not be as abundant as first 

 indications promised. Small fruits are now- 

 being picked. They are in abundance, but 

 apart from strawberries, there is no regular 

 profitable market for the quantities grown. 

 We have but a couple of local jam factories, 

 and they are only on a small scale. There 

 should be a big preserving concern here. The 

 best jams and pickles could be profitably put 

 up. Proximity to the maritime markets should 

 secure good sales for pure products. There is 

 no word of the elevation of the Fruit Division 

 to a commissionership yet; indeed, the live 

 stock commissionership is now taken away and 

 made an appendage to the Health of Animals 

 Department. Queer things happen sometimes 

 before people get back to their senses. What 

 has the health of animals to do with formal 

 organized stock' breeding? And what has but- 

 ter and cheese in common with fruit? 



There is complaint in New Brunswick, too, 

 because their inspector is not a permanent 

 ofBcer and employed in instruction, as the 

 inspectors elsewhere. Our inspector has only 

 a temporary mandate, although he should be 

 on the regular staff, and we must agitate till 

 he is. 



Fruit Notes from Montreal 



E. H. Wartman, D.F.I. 



The Island of Montreal, noted for Fameuse 

 apples, will come far short of a full crop this 

 season ; about 50 % clean, and of good size. 

 This variety comprises 75 % of the fruit pro- 

 duction of the island. 



The market for raspberries of all kinds lias 

 been firm. The uniformity of baskets in size is 

 quite noticeable, and largely accounts for the 

 good condition fruit has arrived in this season. 

 A uniform berry crate would now be in order so 

 as to pile snugly in cars, to prevent oscillation 

 and to insure good condition at distant points. 



Early apples, Duchess, E. Harvest, Astrachans, 

 have been arriving in large quantities in II qt. 

 bskts. and have sold well. Bbls. of same varie- 

 ties are coming in slowly. 



The grading of peaches, showing honest face, 

 is becoming very satisfactory to the trade. Fruit 

 men, in general, are making money on account 

 of satisfactory packages and grading of fruit. 



The banana trade is increasing annually. One 

 firm received 7 cars in 1 day, 2,.500 bunches, 

 which would aggregate $3,000 in cash. 



The Can. Express Co.'s method of handHng 

 large quantities of fruits should be commended. 

 When morning express arrives, fruit cars are 

 shunted alongside their commodious shed. Lat- 

 tice gates are used for ventilating. These are 

 locked; no one but consignees are allowed in 

 until each man's lot is piled and checked. Then 

 buyers are let in. Many sales are made through 

 the grating, so that when shed is open to public, 

 one-half of consignments are sold. Then comes 

 the double checking. Every man who has any 

 packages to bring out has to have a check bear- 

 ing the number of packages. Men at doors col- 



lect these checks, which, when added, should 

 make up the sum total. 



The hot weather has commenced to show on 

 early peaches and tomatoes. When skin is 

 broken, juice soon ferments and goods soon be- 

 come unsaleable. It is hoped that western 

 shipijers will continue to ship in the same good 

 style which has been a characteristic of the past 

 few weeks, and they will be handsomely re- 

 munerated. 



Peaches for NortK-AVest 



"Peach growers have not yet solved the prob- 

 lems of picking and packing for the Northwest," 

 remarked Mr. F. B. Henry, formerly of Winona, 

 who has spent many seasons on the ground and 

 closely in touch with the western fruit trade, 

 to a representative of The Horticulturist. 

 "Asa rule, Ontario growers pick their jxraches 

 too green. This is a mistake. Peaches for long 

 distance shipping should lie fully mature, but 

 not ripe. In all cases that came under my 

 notice, peaches well matured kept better than 

 those picked on the green side of maturity; 

 and also such brought at least 20 per cent, 

 higher price." 



Some varieties of peaches will ship farther 

 than others. Crawford can be shipped with 

 safety only as far as Winni|)eg, while Elberta 

 can be laid down in good condition in Brandon, 

 and even farther. At present, most all our 

 peaches in the West are sold for dessert pur- 

 poses. The canning season is over there when 

 Elberta arrives. We need an early peach that 

 vrill carry to that market. This is work for 

 the new Niagara Experimental Fruit Farm. 

 By originating such a variety, the Government 

 will aid the Ontario grower to compete favor- 

 ably with growers from across the line. 



Vegetables in Cold Storage 



"I tried some experiments keeping vegetables 

 in cold storage last season," said Mr. J. W. 

 Rush, of Humber Bay, to a representative of 

 The Horticulturist, "but the results were not 

 altogether satisfactory. Thirty cases of caul- 

 flower, 20 barrels of spinach, 300 roots of celery 

 and a quantity of cabbage were placed in cold 

 storage for two or three months. 



"The spinach and cabbage kept fairly well, 

 but the green outside leaves of the caulifiower 

 and the green of the celery turned brown. The 

 temperature was probably not kept low enough. 

 Three or four degrees of frost will not hurt cauli- 

 flower. If celery can be kept satisfactorily it 

 will mean much for our market gardeners, as 

 Canadian celery is of better flavor and sells bet- 

 ter than the celery that is imported." 



When in Reading, England, recently, the staff 

 representative of The C.\nadian Horticot^ 

 TURisT had the pleasure of being conducted over 

 the large seed warehouses and trial grounds of 

 Messrs. Sutton & Sons, a name that is well and 

 favorably known throughout the British Empire. 

 The Horticulturist had a previous acquaint- 

 ance \vith this firm through their catalogues. 

 A personal visit to their place of business was 

 considered a treat, and proved to be a surprise. 

 No one, who has not been over their premises, 

 has any conception of the pains this firm takes 

 to ensure only pure seeds being sent to their 

 customers. For their foreign trade, they take 

 extra trouble to protect their seeds from mois- 

 ture during the ocean voyage. The seeds are 

 placed in ordinary packages bearing a Sutton 

 seal. Afterwards, they are placed in a tinfoil 

 covering with the ends melted together, then 

 into an air-tight tin with a screw cap and this is 

 soldered. If the order is sufficiently large these 

 packages are placed in an hermetically sealed 

 steel tank. These are but a few examples of 

 the trouble taken to give customers pure seeds. 



I have always valued The C.\n.\dian Horti- 

 culturist and look forward to its artival each 

 month. — Jas. Kay, Aberdeen, Scotland. 



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