Home- Grown Fruits for CKristmas 



H. S. Peart, Ontario Agricultviral College, GvielpK 



THE judicious selection of home- 

 grown fruits suitable for the Christ- 

 mas season is one which has re- 

 ceived but Uttle notice from pur- 

 veyors. With the advent of Yuletide 

 the busy housekeeper keeps a close 



A Plate of Vergennes 



watch for fruits suitable for the Christ- 

 mas dinner, and for the production of 

 artistic decorative effects. Tropical 

 fruits are used extensively. Oranges, 

 bananas and Malaga grapes seem to be 

 the favorites. Let us pause for a 

 moment and consider why home-grown 

 fruits are not used more extensively. 

 In the first place, the relatively low 

 price of imported fruits as compared 

 to home-grown ones at the Christmas 

 season has had much to do with the 

 ever-increasing use of perishable south- 

 ern fruits. Secondly, native fruits are 

 not offered by local salesmen because 

 they have not yet learned how to han- 

 dle our most delicate and high quaHty 

 fruits. 



What is more refreshing on Christ- 



Grapes Packed for Storing 



mas day than a well-matured, thor- 

 oughly ripened Anjou pear? Compare 

 its buttery, melting properties with 

 the insipid flesh of a green picked Ja- 



maica banana, or the acid flesh of all 

 but the very highest grade oranges, 

 the kind reserved for those to whom 

 money has little or no value. Every- 

 one should have at least a basket of 

 Anjous for Christmas day. Select well- 

 matured specimens toward the end of 

 October, and store them in a dark 

 place in a cool cellar. If they do not 

 ripen fast enough to be ready for 

 Christmas, bring a few of them into a 

 warmer room for a few days, and you 

 will be surprised how quickly they will 

 mellow and become ready for eating. 



During the past few years the im- 

 ports of Malaga grapes into Canada 

 have continued to increase. This is 

 well, from a fruit-consuming stand- 

 point, but it is not in the best interests 

 cf either Canadian producer or con- 



mixed fruit gives us a glow of color 

 and richness that is impossible to ob- 

 tain from imported fruit, most of 

 which is yellow and entirely unattrac- 

 tive in appearance. For purely dec- 

 orative effect, . the little Lady apple 

 may be used on our Christmas trees 

 and over our mantles. Its rosy cheek 

 and bright yellow skin blends remark- 

 ably well with an evergreen back- 

 ground. 



Among the native fruits that tend 

 to further the success of the Christmas 

 display, we must not omit the cran- 

 berry. What turkey is complete with- 

 out cranberry sauce? Thousands of 

 acres of these piquant berries are found 

 growing wild in Canada. 



A good collection of nUts should al- 

 ways be provided as a supplement to 



Apples and Grapes Grown at Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa 



sumer. For those who have always 

 used Malaga grapes, allow a suggestion. 

 Order direct from a reliable grape grower 

 a half dozen baskets of carefully 

 selected home-grown grapes, specially 

 packed so that no berries are broken 

 from the stems, and packed with a 

 sheet of paper between each layer of 

 fruit, or what is better, each bunch 

 carefully wrapped in Manilla paper. 

 Boxes of choice fruit, as shown in the 

 illustration, form a convenient method 

 of storing. Set the baskets or boxes 

 in a dark, cool cellar, and the fruit 

 should compare favorably in quality 

 with the choicest Malagas, and the 

 cost will be less than one-half. Such 

 varieties as Vergennes, Salem, and 

 Lindley are the most satisfactory. 



What place has our common apple 

 for Christmas cheer? A few choice 

 Fameuse, Mcintosh, Swazie, and North- 

 em Spys in an attractive setting of 



293 



our Christmas cheer. Of these, Can- 

 ada furnishes a great variety. The 

 English walnut, so famous on account 

 of its rich, sweet meat, has been in- 

 troduced into British Columbia, and 

 it may be only a matter of a few years 

 until we may be producing it in suffi- 

 cient quantity that the people of the 

 home land will be sending to us for 

 supplies. Filberts, hazels, black wal- 

 nuts, shag-bark hickories, and but- 

 ternuts are found in many parts of 

 our great Dominion. Although scarcely 

 so easily prepared as almonds and 

 brazils, native nuts deserve a place 

 on the Canadian Christmas menu. 



A choice collection of home-grown 

 fruit served for Christmas cheer adds 

 greatly to the general decorative effect 

 of the dinner table. It will be rel- 

 ished by young and old, and each 

 should feel they arc enjoying the fruits 

 of our young and promising Canada. 



