Fruit Crop Conditions and Prices 



APPLK indications in Canada are for only 

 a medium crop, but on tile whole, of 

 good <iiiality, I'rom now on weather 

 conditions will be the controlling factor. 

 In Ontario, the crop will not be as large as was 

 exj)ected; re|K)rts from a few districts, where 

 hall and dry weather have done damage, indi- 

 cate a light crop. As a whole, only about 

 50% of a full crop may be exijccted. The 

 quality promises to lie extra good, scab and 

 insect injury being less noticeable than for many 

 years. Rain is needed badly; if it does not 

 come soon, the fruit will be undersized. Among 

 the fall apples, Colvert and Fameuse promise 

 to yield the heaviest. In winter varieties 

 Spy and Greening are the most promising, the 

 Spies being particularly good and clean. Baldwin 

 and Russet will come next, with King and B. 

 Davis following. 



Pears promise a good average crop of fine 

 quality. The peach crop is declared to be a 

 fair average, but slightly less than last year. 

 Plums, a very light crop; prices will be high. 

 The grape crop is excellent this year. Rot is 

 prevalent in a few vineyards, especially in 

 those that were not sprayed. Fruit of all 

 kinds is suffering for want of rain. 



A POINTER ON PRICES 



There will be no difficulty about selling ap- 

 ples this year. We have a number of buyers 

 in mind who will have the effect, even if they 

 do not buy the whole crop, of materially stif- 

 fening prices. Two buyers from South Africa 

 are now in Canada negotiating with Annapolis 

 Valley and Ontario growers, and making prep- 

 arations to ship Gravensteins and other apples 

 to Cape Town. They will probably buy large- 

 ly. One of them called on The Horticul- 

 turist recently, and said that he wanted apples 

 that could be relied on, and is willing to pay an 

 extra price for them. In addition to these 

 a number of buyers have written from the 

 Old Country, and expressed their intention 

 of coming to Canada to buy. As regards 

 sales already made, we know of some 

 that indicate that prices will be good. One 

 orchard of about 200 bbls., east of Toronto, 

 was sold for $300; one of 250 bbls., $275; an- 

 other at $2.25 a bbl., tree run, owner to furnish 

 bbls. and pick, grade and pack with assistance 

 of buyer. It would be well for growers not to 

 be in a hurry to sell winter apples, but be sure 

 that they put up a good article, then ask a good 

 price. 



UNITED STATES report 



While not so large as the govt, report from 

 Washington would indicate, the apple crop of 

 the U.S. is known to be much larger than last 

 year. The Apple Congress that met in St. 

 Louis on Aug. 17 estimated the crop of the U S 

 and Canada at 56,000,000 bbls., and the price 

 to be $1. In N.Y. State there will be a large 

 crop of good quality; Baldwins predominate, 

 with Kings next; Russets are short. That 

 state will be a strong competitive factor, for 

 Canada, in the export trade. Missouri will 

 have a fine crop of excellent quality. The 

 U.S. govt, reports Mo. to have 82% of a crop, 

 but probably 60% or less is nearer correct, or 

 about 200% of last year's crop. Ben Davis 

 is the leading variety, and particularly good 

 this year. The crop in Ohio is the best for years. 

 Mich, will have about 55% of a crop. Illinois 

 will be less than the average; Iowa, Kan., Ark., 

 and Neb., gtxid. IlHnois will have less that! 

 was reported, probably average. Other states, 

 except Va., also will have fair crops. The box 

 apple states, Colo., Wash., Idaho, Ore., and Cal., 

 are estimated to have double the crop of last 

 year. That means that they will cut a big 

 figure in the export trade. 



the nova SCOTIA CROP 



Nova Scotia will have an average crop, about 



the same as last year, say 325,000 for export. 

 The quality is only fair. It is rejKirted that a 

 large part of the crop is not worth shipping. 

 Fungus has been jirevalent and in.sccts. Tus- 

 s<jck moth suddenly became troublesome, and 

 is destroying not only the leaves but also gnaw- 

 ing the surface of the apples and making them 

 valueless. Baldwin will lead in yield : t|uality, 

 good. King, Ribston, Blenheim, Spy and Russet 

 follow in order. Gravcnstein and B. Davis, 

 poor crop and poor quality. British Columbia 

 will have a good average crop. In Quebec, 

 the crop will be less than medium; Fameuse, 

 fair. The Ontario crop corresixindents of The 

 Horticulturist ix)int out the situation in 

 the various counties of the province as follows; 



prince EDWARD COUNTY 



West Lake. — The apple crop will be less than 

 last^ear by thousands of bbls. — Stephen Lake. 



NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY 



Rednersville. — The ajiple crop is only 60% 

 of last year's crop, 'i'lie quality runs from 

 fair to good.- — Harry Dcniijsey. 



DURHAM COUNTY 



Bethany. — Fall and winter apples will be a 

 medium crop, only two-thirds of last year's 

 crop. Pears and plums will be light. Fungus 

 diseases are not prevalent. — F. E. Brereton. 



PEEL COUNTY 



Clarkson — Lawton berries are a full crop, 

 and paying well. Winter apples are falUng 

 short of last year's crop; they are clean and 

 free from scab or spot. Pears are a good 

 crop. — W. G. Home. 



, HALTON COUNTY 



Burlington. — The quality of apples is better 

 than average. Codling moth is working havoc 

 among pears and apples. Very little black spot 

 is to be seen, but considerable damage has been 

 done in many orchards by hail. Greening, Spy 

 and Cranberry are making the best show at 

 present. King, Baldwin, Russet and other 

 winter apples are a lighter crop. Fall apples 

 are a light crop. There will be about the same 

 quantity of export apples from Burlington this 

 year as last year. Pears are a good average 

 crop. Keiffer a little under average. — Wm. 

 F. W. Fisher. 



WENTWORTH COUNTY 



Hamilton.— Early peaches are receiving at- 

 tention now, mostly Clingstone. Prices have 

 kept up fairly well. Yellow St. Johns are next 

 to arrive, and will be ready a}x)ut Aug. 30. 

 Crawfords are not expected to be a heavy crop 

 this year. While plums have been pronounced 

 a complete failure, a number of baskets have 

 appeared on the market, Bradshaw, Queen, 

 Saunders, and Imperial Gage. Prices, •J0-75c. 

 a 11 qt. bskt. Pears are an abundant crop. 

 Bartletts will be ready about Aug. 27. Clapp's 

 Favorite are ready now, and are worth 30c. a 

 bskt. wholesale, and 40c. retail. Grapes will 

 be a heavy crop. Muskmelons are a good crop 

 and bringing good prices, in 11 qt. bskts, 25- 

 40c; in crates, $1-$1.25. Watermelons have 

 just come in and are worth $1-81.25 a doz. 

 Harvest apples are plentiful. Winter apples 

 good only in some varieties. Baldwins are 

 scarce. — Jas. A. Stevens. 



Winona. — Early Clingstone peaches are an 

 abundant crop, quality not up to the usual, 

 owing to the extreme dry weather, with prices 

 ruling rather low, but demand good. Lawton 

 berries, a full crop and fairly good sample, are 

 nearly over now; prices and demand good. 

 The general outlook for late peaches is fair; if 

 we have rains shortly it will greatly assist the 

 quality and quantity, otherwise I do not think 

 they will come up to the standard sizes of the 

 last few years. Plums are a very light crop, 

 but those that are bearing (where sprayed> 



are quite free from rot and fungous diseases; 

 the bulk of the crop will be of the following 

 kinds: Bradshaw, Yellow Egg, Gueii, Monarch, 

 Reine Claude, Lombard and some kinds of 

 Gages. Grajjes, where sprayed, are looking 

 up to last year's quaHty and quantity; where 

 not, more or less rot and petrified berries ap- 

 pear in the bunches or have fallen out and left 

 scraggy bunches. I sprayed all kinds of grapes 

 before blossoming, with the exception of one 

 row of Niagaras; where sprayed, alxnit per- 

 fect; the one row not sprayed Ijefore blossom- 

 ing, very poor. Although sprayed twice since, 

 the spray has had no effect in checking the rot, 

 which is gradually getting worse until at pres- 

 ent the bad berries in bunches will run from 

 30% to 90%.— Egbert M. Smith. 



LINCOLN COUNTY 



Grimsby. — ^The general outlook for fruit is 

 good. Rot in grapes has not developed much 

 in last 3 or 4 weeks; Rogers 15 is affected most. 

 Peaches are a fair crop; Elbertas, good; Craw- 

 fords, rather shy. Pears are good and excep- 

 tionally clean, especially Bartletts; blight has 

 been prevalent, and this year affected orchards 

 planted on clay more than those planted in 

 light soils. Plums are very light. Tomatoes, 

 while not badly damaged, show signs of suffer- 

 ing from lack of rain. The apple prospect 

 would appear to be as good as last year, but 

 all the trees have suffered more or less from 

 twig blight, especially the Greenings. — H. L. 

 Roberts. 



Jordan Station. — The fruit crop is in a 

 trying condition owing to the need of rain, 

 although in this immediate locality it is not 

 suffering to the same extent that it is to the 

 east and west of us. Neglected peach trees 

 are carrying 3 or 4 times the number of peaches 

 they should carry; it is impossible for them to 

 bring to perfection their load. Trees that have 

 been well pruned, cultivated, fed and thinned, 

 are carrying a good crop of fine fruit. Grapes, 

 where spraying wa5 neglected, are rotting badly; 

 in some cases almost ruining the crop; on the 

 whole, no more than half a crop. Apples, even 

 where not sprayed, promise a crop much larger 

 than last season and of better quality. Pears 

 have suffered from blight; the crop will be light, 

 though of good quality. Plums are more 

 plentiful than was expected, and are of good 

 quality. — C. M. Honsberger. 



St. Catharines. — The extreme drought that 

 has prevailed throughout the greater part of 

 the Niagara district has wrought considerable 

 damage to the fruit crop and, unless broken in 

 the near future, . will be quite serious. The 

 early tomato crop has proved a very good 

 one, but serious damage from rot is reported 

 in nearly all the late fields, which, of course, 

 are depended u]»n for the main crop. Canners 

 are becoming apprehensive that the pack will 

 be very much lessened. Pears are s moderate 

 crop, generally speaking; many varieties, how- 

 ever, have blighted to a considerable extent. 

 Early peaches have been plentiful. The yel- 

 low varieties will be a fairly good crop, but 

 need rain badly to swell them to normal size. 

 Grapes have been affected slightly by rot and 

 mildew; the crop will be moderate to fair. All 

 fruits are ripening prematurely on account of 

 the dry, hot weather. — W. H. Bunting. 



KENT COUNTY 



Chatham. — Fruit prospects are good. Ap- 

 ples are quite free from scab and worms, and 

 are holding on pretty well. This is for orchards 

 that have been sprayed. In unsprayed or- 

 chards the crop is light. Greenings promise 

 most. Spy next, Baldwins light; Ben Davis, 

 light ; only few Kings. — W. D. A. Ross. 



LAMBTON COUNTY 



Forest. — The peach and plum crop is prac- 

 tically a failure. Pears will be fair and crab 



