A. Standstill in Horticulture at tKe National ExHibition 



AT the Canadian National Exhibition, 

 Toronto, products of the field and gar- 

 den do not receive the attention that 

 they deserve The facilities for making 

 proper displays, and the ineagrcness of the prize- 

 list do not encourage large exhibits. The build- 

 ings are old, the prize-list is not properly arranged, 

 and not enough money is offered as a recomi)cnse 

 for the expense incurred in exhibiting. The 

 perishable character of fruit warrants larger 

 prizes. Very seldom is a basket or plate of fruit 

 of any value after the exhiljition. A new build- 

 ing is promised for next year. A new prize-list 

 and more money, also, should be forthcoming. 

 FRUIT 



While the fruit exhibit was not as large as it 

 might have been, the quality of the fruit was 

 better than usual. In varieties, a stronger 

 tendency to grow and uphold the commercial 

 types was evident. The strongest competition 

 was in the commercial classes. The commercial 

 packages showed a great imjirovement in tiering, 

 in make of box, and in the material used. Prac- 

 tically no boxes were made of poor material. 

 The style of packing, in most instances, was good. 

 In one class, there was an excellent object lesson 

 in packing. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize boxes 

 were side by side. The 3rd prize box was 50 % 

 better than the 1st prize in regard to fruit, and 

 100 % better than the 2nd prize box, but it was 

 slack. It is essential that the box be full and 

 packed tight. Slack packing will cause the 

 apples to roll, become bruised, and arrive at their 

 destination in poor shape. Some other boxes 

 were not filled to the top and did not receive 

 the award that quality of the fruit merited. A 

 box of Greenings, good fruit, was packed with the 

 bottom end of the fruit up, and the appearance 

 was spoiled. In commercial packages of pears, 

 some baskets were filled too full, heaped up, and 

 not properly covered and protected. While 

 such may have a place in a nearby, special 

 market, they are not fit for shipment, and, of 

 course, could not compete: Some of the finest 

 Bartletts on exhibition were packed in this 

 manner and were disqualified. 



The plate exhibits were fair. Had it not been 

 for the efforts of the St. Catharines and Gran- 

 tham societies, and the Ont. Fruit Exp. Stations, 

 the size of the display of plates would not have 

 amounted to much. Owing to unfavorable 

 weather during the past season, the number of 

 plates of apples and plums was not great. 

 Pears madea better showing, but, on many plates, 

 there was a lack of uniformity in grading to size. 

 In some instances of 5 varieties on a plate, all 

 pears were of good quality; but 1 or 2 were large 

 and the rest small. The exhibit showed an 

 unevenness that spoiled the effect. Fruit 

 exhibited on plates should be as uniform in size 

 as that demanded in packages for export. 

 Bartletts, Clapps and Duchess were the most 

 numerous. An interesting feature in connection 

 with some of the Bartletts was the fact that the 

 influence of Keiffer pollen was noticeable on 

 some specimens of that variety. Trees from 

 which those particular Bartletts came probably 

 were in close proximity to trees of Keiffer. 



The Niagara district sent some good contri- 

 butions of peaches. Considering the date of the 

 exhibition, the coloring and size were very good. 

 The leading commercial varieties were shown and 

 some others that should have been kept at home. 

 A regrettable feature was the presence of San 

 Jose scale on some of the specimens. Scale was 

 to be seen on peaches that were awarded first 

 prize. Such fruit should have been disqualified 

 altogether, no matter how it compared with 

 competitive plates. The fact that scale was sent 

 to the exhibition is an indication of the serious- 

 ness of this trouble in the peach orchards of this 

 province. If growers cannot select a few clean 

 peaches for exhibition out of the many bushels 



that their orchards produce, the situation is 

 serious. 



The Ont. Fruit Exp. Stations made an exhibit 

 of varieties of fruits that are recommended for 

 general planting throughout the province. It 

 was in charge of Mr. P. W. Hodgetts, Sec. 

 F.G.A., Toronto, and was arranged for edu- 

 cational purposes. All kinds of fresh fruits 

 were shown; and cherries, raspberries, straw- 

 berries and others were in bottles pre- 

 served in antiseptic solutions. A new peach, 

 "Lewis," early, creamy flesh and of fair 

 quality, was shown. A collection of small 

 tools and other materials for use in fruit orchards 

 was also there — pruning knives, saws, si)raying 

 nozzles and protectors, strainers, insecticides and 

 so on. Fruit packages, packed and unpacked, 

 helped to make the exhibit an important one. 



VEGETABLES 



In the vegetable dept. some excellent speci- 

 mens of garden crops were to be seen. The 

 celery was very good, particularly White Plume 

 and Paris Golden Yellow; but some exhibits 

 were not entered in their right classes — White 

 Plume was .shown for Dwarf White, and so on. 

 Beets, carrots and parsnips were very good, the 

 latter scarcely up to average in size owing to 



kinds and varieties, and, in some cases, several 

 groups of the s:ime variety were found at different 

 places on the place of display. This makes it 

 difficult for judging. A collection should be 

 limited to say 40 classes or varieties, and each 

 variety should contain no more than 5 s|)ecimens 

 Each class or variety should be correctly named, 

 the names printed on cards attached, and by 

 itself, not scattered promiscjiously over the table. 

 The Horticulturist knows of a case this year 

 where a grower went to the fair grounds with his 

 exhibit correctly named and groujjed, as already 

 suggested; and, on seeing the scattered arrange- 

 ments of the collections then placed, he refused 

 to exhibit. A rearrangement of the conditions 

 of entry for next year should be effected so as to 

 make a reoccurrence of such an incidence im- 

 probable. ^ 

 The floral department 

 The cut flower exhibit this year was almost a 

 failure. The entries were the smallest and the 

 exhibits the most inferior of any in past years. 

 In the plant section some very good specimens 

 were shown. A complete change is requiredjin 

 the floral department. Such is necessarylto 

 keep pace with the rapid advances made in other 

 departments of the exhibition. The whole prize- 



Prize Peaches at Canadian National were Spotted with San Jose Scale 



dry season; garden turnips were poor, some of 

 them worm eaten. Potatoes, extra good. 

 Winter radish, fair. The date of exhibition was 

 too early to show good cauliflower ; cabbage and 

 kale were up to the standard. Citrons were 

 excellent, but some wrongly placed. Tomatoes, 

 fine in quahty, large sized, but wrongly named 

 in some instances. The display of onions was 

 the best for years; Brown Bros., of Humber 

 Bay, captured 8 firsts out of 9 entries. The 

 collection of peppers was fair, but would have 

 been more satisfactory had the names been 

 printed on cards and attached to the specimens: 

 each variety in a collection should be limited in 

 number, — as it was, the same variety could be 

 found on different plates distributed over the 

 table. In the class for individual entries of 

 peppers, we think that, in one instance, the 

 award was wrongly placed; the best exhibit was 

 passed by because not quite ripe, but was ou't- 

 standingl}' the best in other particulars. Sweet 

 corn, squash, salsify, egg plants and cucumbers, 

 also were good; the latter, however, was wrongly 

 named in one or two cases. 



In the class for collections of vegetables, two 

 nice displays were to be seen; many superior in- 

 dividual specimens were shown in both collec- 

 tions. Mr. W. Harris, of Humber Bay, was 

 awarded first prize. There is one thing about 

 these collections to which we desire to direct 

 attention: they were not limited to number of 



list for flowers and plants needs revising, and 

 some novelties should be introduced to make 

 the floral hall more attractive. 



Societies that appoint representatives to the 

 National Ex. Assn. should be careful to select 

 only those men who are in every way competent 

 to fill that important position. How many mem- 

 bers in the floral section this year can be accused 

 of having originahty? Only one or two. Some 

 new men are wanted. 



The erection of a new building for horticultural 

 purposes will eliminate many of the evils that 

 now exist. New features can be introduced that 

 heretofore have not been practicable. Some 

 classes in the prize-hst remain to-day in almost 

 the same condition as they were when introduced 

 20 years ago. Geraniums, fuchsias, summer 

 flowering begonias, and similar classes should be 

 omitted. Many others should be revised. 



It would be well, also, to make a change in the 

 foliage group. In their place banks of tuber- 

 ous begonias, or auratum or rubrum lilies, wit!i 

 ferns, might be introduced. The public is tired 

 of the old-time formal banks. They always 

 know that such are at the exhibition; for, it is 

 the only place where the average citizen can see 

 such an arrangement of plants. Money now 

 given for classes of this nature could be well 

 spent in prizes for the most original floral decora- 

 tion. Give the exhibitor space to put up a decor- 

 ated dinner table, a wedding breakfast, a parlor 



