310 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



assn. has been managed somewhat as a "close 

 corporation." This feeling lias Ijeen general, 

 not only among the menilicrs of the assn., but 

 also among the larger body of fruit growers in 

 the province. In another column wc publish 

 in full the clauses that have been amended. 

 The following 13 directors for the various divi- 

 sions, as numbered, were elected by ballot: 1, 

 A. D. Harkness, Irena; 2, A. A. Wright, M.P., 

 Renfrew; 3, Harold Jones, Maitland; 4. W. H. 

 Dcmpsey, Trenton; H, W. Rickard, Newcastle; 

 6, Elmer Lick, Oshawa; 7, A. W. Peart, Burling- 

 ton; 8, Geo. A. Robertson, St. Catharines; 9. 

 H. H. Groff, Simcoc; 10, A, E. Sherrington, 

 Walkerton; 11, A. O. Telfer, Ildcrton; 12, D. 

 Johnston, Forest; 13, C. I.. Stephens, Orillia. 



According to the new arrangements, the assn. 

 in future will finish its financial year on Dec. 31. 

 An extra business meeting will be held each year 

 in Jan., when the newly-elected board of directors 

 will take office and appoint from among them- 

 selves a pres. and vice-pres., and from among 

 themselves, or otherwise, a sec.-treas. 



THE DOMINION CONFERENCE 



The immediate results and the possibilities of 

 the Dominion Conference of fruit growers were 

 discussed respectively by W. H. Bunting, St. 

 Catharines, and A. W. Peart, Burfington. In 

 the course of Mr. Bunting's remarks he gra- 

 ciously referred to the work of Mr. Alex. McNeill 

 in bringing about the conference. By his efforts 

 in this direction, Mr. McNeill has brought about 

 a feeling of harmony between fruit growers in 

 the various provinces. Among the results of 

 the conference, Mr. Bunting mentioned that 

 the discussion there on fruit statistics, while ex- 

 cellently presented by Mr. Peart, went to show 

 the need of more accurate data in that respect. 

 The establishment of a definition for No. 2 apples, 

 and of a new grade "Fancy," were important 

 changes in the Fruit Marks Act. The feeling 

 of the conference regarding pure food products 

 has been the means of doing good. The discus- 

 sion on fruit packages and the proposals made 

 have gone a long way towards bringing about 

 uniformity. The express companies operating 

 in Canada have been placed under control of the 

 Railway Commission. 



When discussing the value and possibilities of 

 the Dominion fruit conference, Mr. Peart also 

 said that it tended to break down provincial 

 prejudice and to make the fruit men more united. 

 Many important matters were discussed, among 

 them the question of transportation in various 

 phases, such as, putting the express companies 

 under the Railway Commission, railway facil- 

 ities, ocean transportation, and cold storage 

 for tender products. Mr. Peart referred also to 

 markets and marketing and to insect and fungous 

 pests, as discussed at the conference. 



When speaking of Dominion fruit statistics, 

 Mr. Peart said: "The value of our fruits and 

 vegetables are lumped at $12,994,900 for 1901. 

 In acreage all orchards are lumped together. 

 Vegetables and small fruits are lumped also. 

 Vineyards are .separate. The Ont. statistics 

 gives information on fruit as follows: (1) Acreage 

 of orchards and gardens lumped by counties and 

 province; (2) acreage of vineyards by counties 

 and province; (3) number of apple trees 15 

 years old and over, number under 15 years, and 

 bushels per tree by counties and province. I 

 would suggest that Ont. be asked to give further 

 fruit details as follows: Acres of apple, pear, 

 plum, and peach orchards; acres of other tree 

 fruits, of small fruits and of vineyard, all by 

 counties and province; also, acres of garden 

 truck, such as tomatoes and so on, by counties 

 and province. It would be well, also, to con- 

 tinue to give the number of apple trees by coun- 

 ties and province, and the average yield per tree 

 by counties and province." 



FRUIT STATISTICS 



The question of fruit statistics was discussed, 

 also, by Mr. C. C. James, Ont. Dep. Min. of Agr. 

 He spoke of the difficulty and cost of corapiUng 

 accurate and extensive statistics. The dept. 

 finds it hard to secure reliable estimates of the 



crop yield. The yield per acre of farm crops can 

 readily be estimated, but it is a different matter 

 in the case of fruits. So many influenc-es come 

 to bear on the crop between the time of blossom- 

 ing and the harvest, that it is practically im- 

 possible to stale at any one time what the crop 

 will be when matured. 



In Ontario there are about 7,000,000 apple 

 trees in Ixraring according to the census of 1901. 

 When one estimates the probable yield of these 

 trees in a normal season, and then notices the 

 number of barrels that are actually marketed, 

 it is surprising to contemplate the tremendous 

 waste and loss to the farmers in this country 

 that occurs. An interesting discussion followed 

 Mr. James' remarks. 



It was suggested that crop statistics could be 

 secured by the assessors. Others thought that 

 the information could be secured from school 

 teachers and pupils. Professor Parrot, of the 

 Geneva Exp. Sta., said that crop estimates and 

 values made before maturity are only approxi- 

 mate at the best. A knowledge of the crop 

 outlook in one province or state is of little value 

 without similar information regarding the con- 

 ditions in others. The opinion was general that 

 even accurate information regarding crop con- 

 ditions in Ontario and in Canada is of small 

 value unless a knowledge of the crops in the 

 U.S. and in Europe is also known. 



REPORT ON NEW FRUITS 



In a report on new fruits, Mr. W. T. Macoun 

 said: "There were fewer good, new fruits 

 brought to our notice this year than usual, but 

 some interesting and promising seedlings have 

 fruited at the Cen. Exp. Farm, most of them for 

 the first time. The cry from the colder parts of 

 the province of Ont. for a winter apple with high 

 quality and fine appearance may still go on un- 

 satisfied, but we believe that it will not now be 

 long before we shall have an apple which will 

 fill this long felt want. The extremely severe 

 winter of 1903-4 killed out many varieties of 

 apples at Ottawa, but the lessons learned from 

 that winter have been of the utmost value, and 

 should save many thousands of dollars to those 

 who are planting apple trees in those parts of 

 the country where the climate is similar to what 

 it is at Ottawa. 



"One of the facts that was brought especially 

 to our notice after that winter was that it was 

 the trees of the varieties which ripened their 

 wood early which came through in the best con- 

 dition. An early ripening tree means, in our 

 experience, a tree which ripens its fruit early, 

 hence most of the hardy varieties prove to be 

 summer and fall sorts, but there are exceptions, 

 and we found that in some cases the trees mature 

 early and the fruit is in condition for eating in 

 late fall or early winter, yet the fruit will keep 

 practically all winter. In other words, the tex- 

 ture of some apples does not break down as 

 soon as others, even though they become fit to 

 eat at the same time. It is this early maturing 

 but long-keeping apple which will give us the 

 tree hardy enough to withstand a test winter. 

 Some varieties of this character which withstood 

 the test winter at Ottawa are Winter Rose, Stone, 

 Calumet, Scott's Winter, Milwaukee, La Vic- 

 toire, and Baxter. The Winter Rose is an apple 

 of good size, of fair appearance and good quality, 

 but has not sufficient acidity for a winter apple. 

 The Stone is of much the same character, "rhe 

 Calumet is an attractive looking a^jple. but not 

 even enough in size nor quite good enough in 

 quality. The La Victoire comes nearest being 

 an apple of the desired type, but lacks juiciness. 

 The Baxter is a very large, handsome apple, 

 but somewhat coarse. Since the winter of 1904, 

 however, when it proved so hardy, we consider 

 it a desirable apple for planting in the North 



"As was stated last year, we have at Ottawa 

 a collection of very promising seedUngs which 

 have been sent in by persons who have originated 

 them. As these are lieing tested as standard 

 trees rather than top grafts, they are longer 

 coming into bearing, but our own seedlings, 

 raised from the best apples fruited at Ottawa, are 



not fruiting in considerable numbers. Out of 

 84 which we have descritied, consisting of seed- 

 lings of Fameuse, .Mcintosh, Swazie, Wealthy, 

 Scott's V\'inter, Winter St. Lawrence, and Dork- 

 ham Kussett, 21 have been considered suffi- 

 ciently promising to propagate for further trial, 

 so that if this proportion, which is '2.'i% of prom- 

 ising apples, is maintained through the 2,000 

 apple seedlings which are being grown, we should 

 have about .500 promising varieties to select 

 from. 



"A number of promising crosses have fruited, 

 and many Russian seedlings also. There is a 

 temptation to disseminate some of the best of 

 these, but we Ijelieve that even though it takes 

 a long time it is Ix-st to thoroughly test a variety 

 liefore recommending it, as there are too many 

 kinds on the market already. It is interesting 

 to note among the seedlings which have fruited, 

 the more or less resemblance in most cases to 

 the female parent and to the probable male or 

 the tree growing near that from which the fruit 

 was taken in the orchard. This is particularly 

 the case in regard to the seedlings of Wealthy 

 and Swazie Pomme Grise. Near the original 

 tree of Swazie seedlings and the large dots on 

 the skin show the Baxter blood, and in one 

 instance a large Swazie seedling looked very 

 much like Baxter in outward appearance. The 

 Wealthy seedhngs nearly all have that smooth, 

 symmetrical surface peculiar to the parent, and 

 in some instances the seedlings have been quite 

 crab-Uke, showing the crab origin of the Wealthy 

 as claimed by Peter Gideon, the originator. 



"Some good grape seedUngs fruited this year, 

 the seedhngs of Brighton being particularly 

 promising. One of these, a black seedling, al- 

 most identical with Brighton in flavor, but a 

 finer grape, will, we beUeve, be an acquisition. 



"There are 2 new apples which have been 

 fruiting at Ottawa for several years which we 

 would like to draw your attention to. These 

 are the Walter and the Hoadly. They are both 

 about the season of the Wealthy, but have 

 proved very hard)^ and have merits of their own. 



'W.\lte"r. — Originated by the late P. C. 

 Dempsey. Fruit, roundish,' rather irregfular, 

 very large; cavity, deep, open, medium width; 

 stein, short, moderately stout; basin, deep, 

 medium to open, almost smooth to moderately 

 wrinkled; color, greenish yellow, splashed and 

 streaked with red, with dots, few, small, white, 

 distinct; skin, moderately thick, moderately 

 tender; core, small; flesh, yellow, rather coarse, 

 juicy, melting, sub-acid; flavor, pleasant, high; 

 quality, good; season, October. 



"HoADLV. — Originated in Wisconsin. Fruit, 

 oblate ; size, above medium ; cavity, deep, mod- 

 erately open, slighth' russeted; stem, short, 

 slender; basin, medium depth and width, al- 

 most smooth to sUghtly wrinkled: calyx, open; 

 color, yellow, splashed and streaked with car- 

 mine, with dots, few, yellow, indistinct; core, 

 medium; quality, above medium; season, Oct. 

 Tree, an upright grower, hardy and productive. 

 Sections obtained from the late J. L. Budd, 

 Ames, Iowa." 



In the report by Prof. H. L. Hutt, O.A.C., 

 which was a verbal one, he mentioned the work 

 that is being done at the college in developing 

 new- varieties by plant breeding. They had 125 

 varieties of strawberries and 100 varieties of 

 raspberries fruiting this year, many of which 

 appear to be quite promising. They do not 

 intend to give any of them names or disseminate 

 them for cultivation until they have been given 

 a more thorough trial, as they do not wish to 

 send out any new varieties until they are satis- 

 fied, after thorough trial, that they are in some 

 way superior to those already in general cultiva- 

 tion. 



Among the promising new fruits which are 

 not much grown in this countr\'. Prof. Hutt re- 

 ferred to Cox's Orange Pippin, one of the most 

 popular apples in the Old Countrv", because of 

 its excellent quality. Where it has been fruit- 

 ing here, it has borne heavily, but the fruit is 

 apparently subject to rot, and prooably would 

 not prove valuable for shipping. It is, however. 



