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THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



The Canadian Horticulturist 



Published by The Horticultural 

 PubliahinK Company", Limited 



The On\y Horticultural Magazine 

 in the Dominion 



OMcial Orcan of Britiih Columbia, Ontario, Quebec 

 and Prince Edward Island Fruit Growers' 

 Associationa and of the Ontario Veg- 

 etable Growers' Association 

 H. Bronson Cowan, Editor and Business Manager 

 A: B. Cdttino. B.S.A., Associate Editor 

 W. O. Rooc, Advertisine Manager 

 GREAT BRITAIN 

 Prank Fletcbhr, 135 Henrietta Street. Old Trafford. 

 Manchester, Eng., Advertising and Circulation Manager, 



1. The Canadian Horticulturist is published the first 

 of every month. 



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7. cArticles and Illustrations for publication will be 

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8. cAll Communications should be addressed: 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



507 and 508 Manning Chambers 



TORONTO, CANADA 



APPLE TRADE IN DANGER 



A nioveiiienl is on foot to bring in large quan- 

 tities of apples from New York state and store 

 them in Ontario, and later repack them for the 

 British market. The men behind the scheme 

 intend to try and influence the Dominion Govern- 

 ment to allow the apples to come to Canada, 

 be stored and packed, and passed through for 

 exjKJrt without paying duty. 



Many Ontario buyers, when they went out to 

 look at the orchards in the Northumberland, 

 Durham and Prince Edward region, found the 

 winter apple crop very short, and the apples that 

 were there had been bought up by a few dealers 

 very early. They found, also, that apples were 

 more plentiful and very mucla cheaper in New 

 York state. Several of them at the Apple 

 Shippers' meeting in Niagara Falls, August 2 

 and 3, who had already made trips through 

 New York state, were seriously considering the 

 purchasing of large quantities of this stock. 

 It is likely that since that time they have made 

 these purchases, because the prices have gone up 

 in Ontario and have not improved materially in 

 New York state, just now there appears to be 

 a hitch in the proceedings. These apples, if 

 sold now, would realize little or no profit, since 

 there is a surplus of early summer and fall apples. 

 They cannot be stored in New York, except in 

 the large commercial storehouses, and this is 

 where they ran against a snag. Some of the 

 heavy American apple plungers, it is understood, 

 noting this influx of Canadian apple buyers, 

 proceeded to buy control of all the available cold 

 storage, with the result that now that the Cana- 

 dians have bought their stock, they can only 

 store it by giving the prospective profits to the 

 men who control the storage. One of their 

 strong reasons, therefore, for storing at Colbome 

 and Brighton will be to secure storage, since 

 they cannot procure it cheaply in New York 

 state. 



Perhaps a more important reason would be 

 that they could repack the apples during the 

 winter months; and, more important still, they 

 could possibly, in some way or another, work 

 a lot of them off as Canadian grown apples, and 

 thus receive the enhanced price that such a 



reputation would give them. Even if they 

 were obliged to declare the country of origin, 

 they could make the fact that they were packed 

 in Canada so prominent that they would receive 

 all the benefits that accrue to Canadians as the 

 result of the enforcement of the Fruit Marks 

 Act. 



The effect upon Canadian trade would tie to 

 increase the quantity of Canadian packed fruit, 

 and to that extent depreciate the price. An- 

 other feature that is not to be overlo<jked is 

 that we are comparatively free from at least one 

 insect that is altogether uxj common in New 

 York apples, namely, the "railroad worm," or 

 apple maggot. The railroad worm is compar- 

 atively harmless when introduced in a few- 

 apples that are consumed within towns and cities 

 where there is a very small chance of the worm 

 being able to complete its life history and propa- 

 gate itself the next year; but, if these apples are 

 stored in the frost -proof storehouses of Trenton 

 and Colbome, in the middle of the largest or- 

 chards in Canada, it would be a distinct menace 

 to the apple industry, and on that ground, if upon 

 no other, it would be dangerous to store them. 



Such action as is projxjsed would mean loss 

 and injury to our apple trade. A note of protest 

 from apple growers should be sounded from one 

 end of Canada to the other. The scheme should 

 not be tolerated. The government should 

 protect our apple interests by demanding the 

 payment of the regular tariff rate on all apples 

 that come into the country, whether for con- 

 sumption here or elsewhere. 



THE SEEDLESS APPLE 



The Horticulturist would advise it.s readers 

 to go slow in the matter of investing in trees of 

 the Spencer Seedless apple. It must be borne 

 in mind that this apple has not been tested in 

 Canada, and that many years must pass before 

 definite results and conclusions can be reached 

 Should it provt to be no good, as it is said to be 

 by the American horticultural press, and by com- 

 petent men who have investigated it, our fruit 

 growers will not lose anything. 



The Spencer Seedless Apple Co., of Toronto, 

 promises to have a large number of Seedless 

 apples at the Ontario HorticuUural Exhibition 

 in November. Growers will then be able to 

 ascertain, personally, the merits and demerits 

 of the fruit. As to the productiveness of the 

 trees, their hardiness, early-bearing, longevity 

 and other features necessary in an apple for this 

 climate, that can be determined only by ex- 

 periment. 



We would further advise Canadian growers not 

 to lay too much stress on the testimonials that 

 are printed in the pamphlets sent out to boom 

 the production. The Horticulturist is in- 

 vestigating the source and authenticity of these 

 testimonials. Already we have, in our office, 

 several letters from persons whose names appear 

 in the pamphlets, stating that they do not 

 endorse the apple and were not aware that their 

 names are being used in that way. The Buffalo 

 Enquirer says in part : "Did not know they were 

 using our name in any way. Would not advise 

 anyone to inves' money in the enterprise." The 

 New York Herttid: "Am surprised to hear that 

 our name is being used in connection with the 

 Spencer Seedless apple." Still another: "Have 

 not recommended the Spencer Seedless apple. 

 Never heard of it." A letter sent to New York 

 city has been returned by the postal authorities, 

 addressee not known. 



These are some of the things that make the 

 affair look "fishy." While the idea of a seedless 

 apple, valuable also in other respects, is a good 

 one, and one that woujd revolutionize the apple 

 industry of the world, yet the questions remain : 

 Does the Spencer Seedless apple fill the bill? 

 Is it what it is said to be? Is it adapted to cul- 

 ture in Canada? Is it a new production or 

 simply an old novelty again brought into prom- 

 inence? Canadian growers will do well to 

 watch and wait. 



LABEL EXHIBITION PLANTS 



The educational features of the floral depart- 

 ment at the Canadian National Exhibition 

 could l>e greatly strengthened. Flower and 

 I)lant shows are f>f little value unless they teach 

 something. They may stimulate a desire for 

 flowers and increase the trade and they may be 

 of benefit in other ways, such as acting as an 

 incentive to cause growers to produce high-grade 

 stock. But above all things, they should be 

 made particularly useful for purposes of in- 

 struction. 



The Canadian National apparently lost sight 

 of the most important means of accomplishing 

 this end. It did not compel exhibitors, particu- 

 larly of foliage plants, to correctly name and 

 attach same to the plants by means of labels. 

 The prize-Ust stated this as a condition of entry, 

 but it was not enforced to the letter. Those that 

 were labelled might as well have t)een without. 

 The labels were so small and so dirty that, in 

 most cases, it was impossible to read them. 

 Every plant and flower in the building sliould 

 have been labelled in letters large enough and 

 plain enough for the passer-by to read without 

 coming to a haU. The Ca.vadi.^n Horticultur- 

 ist heard many persons enquiring the name of 

 this and that plant. Had the names been 

 printed there, the floral exhibition would have 

 accompUshed its most important purpose. As 

 it was, the passers-by left the building without 

 learning what they desired to know. 



It may he said that labels would interfere with 

 impartial judging. This should not be. In 

 case of the possibility, however, it could be over- 

 come by demanding that the entries be lalielled 

 as soon as the awards are announced, which 

 occurs, usually, the first or second day. The 

 value of such a departure to the Exhibition 

 visitor would more than make up for the extra 

 trouble incurred. The cost of the labels, which 

 should be neat and uniform in size and appear- 

 ance is a mere bagatelle. The end would justify 

 the expense. There should be something done 

 to strengthen this feature of the Exhibition. 



BETTER CARS NEEDED 



One of the needs of our large and growing 

 apple trade is a ventilated car that can be used 

 for the faU shipments. For the very eariy apples 

 ripening in August, and the first two weeks of 

 September, it is not likely that an>thing will 

 succeed except the refrigerator car. From this 

 time until the fruit has to be protected from 

 frost, a thoroughlv ventilated car is much to be 

 desired. The ordinarv box car is totaUy unfitted 

 for this trade. Even when the doors are left 

 partially opened the ventilation is very imper- 

 fect. The car is practically a trap for catching 

 and retaining the heat of the sun during the day 

 as well as the heat derived from the natural 

 process of ripening in the apples. There is so 

 little*provision for ventilation that the apples 

 are frequentlv more injured by the railway 

 journey than by any equal period in the trans- 

 portation. 



Recently a car was noted in Ottawa, whicfi 

 was used in connection with the Georgia melon 

 trade, that would be a great improvement. This 

 car had eight openings, four on the bottom and 

 four on the top through the walls of the side of 

 the car, strongly grated with half-inch rods. 

 There were, also, four gratings on each end. 

 As a consequence, when the car was in motion, 

 there was a strong current of air that thoroughly 

 ventilated the car. The advantage of this type 

 of car would be that it could be used for two or 

 two and a half months in the apple trade and 

 then used in the ordinary traffic without change 

 and without endangering any of the ventilating 

 appliances. The elaborate system of ventilation 

 such as the Dominion Express Company is non- 

 using in its express cars, would be entirely un- 

 suitable for the apple trade, inasmuch as the 

 apparatus would prevent it being used for other 

 classes of rough freight. This subject should 

 engage the attention of shippers and it is hoped 



