THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



3i;i 



worthy of trial in southern sections of the prov- 

 ince as a choice dessert apple. Another variety 

 mentioned was Minkler, originated a number of 

 years ago in 111. This is apparently a very pro- 

 ductive variety, of medium size, and good qual- 

 ity, and is a long keeper. On account of its 

 lateness in taking on color in the fall and its 

 dull red color when matured, it probably would 

 not compete in the market with higher colored 

 varieties. 



Reference was also made to the Spencer Seed- 

 less Apple and the statement made that in our 

 province, where we have so many fruit expt. stas. 

 to thoroughly test such new varieties before they 

 are offered to the public, it would be folly for 

 growers to invest in new varieties of this kind 

 until they have been tested and reported upon. 



THE COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT 



Representatives from the various cooperative 

 fruit growers' assns. in the province, reported 

 on the progress that is being made in the move- 

 ment. The character of the reports gave evidence 

 of the value of cooperation. Arkona reported 

 that the assn. started 2 years ago with 8 members 

 and shipped 1 carload. This year, they shipped 

 1,400 bbls., and realized satisfactory returns. 

 The members of the assn. are well pleased with 

 their success. The Burlington assn. has had 

 good success, and has done good work for its 

 memljers. Belleville, a new assn., is well pleased 

 with the progress that has been made during 

 its first season. 



The assn. at Forest has been in existence for 

 3 years and has a membership of 30. Much 

 progress has been made in the growing, packing 

 and marketing of fruits. A change in orchard 

 methods through cooperating has made it pos- 

 sible for the members to produce in quantity, 

 fruit of superior quality. Forest has received 

 satisfactory returns for fruit this year. They 

 have consigned principally to the Old Country. 

 The Ilderton F. G. A. reported by letter and 

 stated its satisfaction with the cooperative 

 movement. 



The assn. at Newcastle has had a successful 

 season. The fruit' was sold to a dealer who was 

 erecting a cold storage warehouse. It averaged 

 $2.25 a bbl. By cooperation, the orchards of 

 the members have been well cared for, the qual- 

 ity of the fruit has been improved. It is pro- 

 posed to increase the membership and probably 

 to form a joint-stock company. A storehouse 

 will be built in which the assn. intends to place 

 its apples if a satisfactory price cannot be secured 

 early in the season. 



The Oshawa assn. reported that its first ob- 

 ject is to secure a reasonable price to the grower 

 for his fruit. During the past season, a good 

 example of the value of cooperation was furn- 

 ished. Some orchards of the members netted 

 $1.30 to $1.70 a bbl., while neighboring orchards 

 not in the assn. sold for 50 cts. a bbl. Oshawa 

 has received returns from 800 or 900 bbls. The 

 sales have been satisfactory. The consignments 

 have brought practically the price asked for 

 sales. The cooperative movement is not with- 

 out its troubles. A few growers picked their 

 fruit before it was ready. Another difficulty is 

 the persistent efTorts of apple operators to buy 

 from members of the assn. with a view to break- 

 ing up the organization. 



During the past season, the assn. at St. Cath- 



rines ship]>ed about 160 cars, of which 60 were 



.Id f. o. b., and netted a little over $30,000. 



lany of the cars were sold to commission men 

 in the west. Members of the assn. cooperate in 

 ijurchasing baskets, spraying materials and other 



ipphes. They bought one car of fruit pack- 



L;es from B.C. 



The Simcoe assn. comprises about 20 mem- 

 bers and has done excellent work. They refused 

 ndmittance to growers who would not agree to 

 spray 4 times during the .season. The result 

 has been a marked improvement in the orchards 

 and fruit of that vicinity. Some men who re- 

 fused to comply with the requirements are now 

 sorry. Fruit of the assn. has brought good 



prices. They intend building a storehouse and 

 evaporator. 



Many members of the Trenton assn. are now 

 getting as much for their early fruit as they 

 used to realize on their whole crop. One man 

 who formerly got no more than $20 for his 

 orchard, received $50 for it since he joined the 

 assn. Another grower who had never realized 

 more than $50 for his orchard, received $70 

 this year for his early fruit and still has 100 bbls. 

 in storage. The assn. assigned one lot of fruit 

 that netted $2.55 a bbl. Most of their winter 

 fruit is in storage. 



The secretary of the Ont. Cooperative F. G. A. 

 referred to its recent organization. Coopera- 

 tion among the cooperative assns. is a move- 

 ment in the right direction. Through the cen- 

 tral organization, the various local assns. are 

 kept continually in touch with each other. 

 They are given information each week regarding 

 what the others are doing. From the central 

 ofiicte, reports on crop conditions and prices are 

 disseminated. As the provincial assn. is com- 

 paratively new, it has not attempted anything 

 radical in the way of improving the conditions 

 of the affiliated assns. It has been moving 

 slowly, with a view to looking into the possibil- 

 ities. Next year, through the provincial or- 

 ganization, it is possible for the local assns. to 

 have a man placed in the West and another in 

 England, to look after their interests. 



MISCELLANEOUS ADDRESSES 



Many interesting addresses were delivered, full 

 reports of which will be published in the next' 

 issue of The Canadian Horticulturist. Among 

 them were "Low-headed Peach Orchards," by 

 Chas. F. Hale, Shelby, Mich.; "The San Jose 

 Scale," by Prof. P. J. Parrot, Geneva exp. sta. ; 

 "Future of the Apple in Ontario," A. McNeill, 

 Chief, Fruit Div., Ottawa; "Markets of the 

 North-West," Robert Thompson, St. Catharines; 

 "Protecting Trees from Mice and Rabbits," W. 

 T. Macoun, Ottawa; and "The Strawberry," 

 W. F. W. Fisher, Burlington. 



The Min. of Agr. for Ont., Hon. Nelson Mon- 

 teith, addressed the convention and spoke of the 

 apparent decadence of the apple industry in 

 various sections of the province, due largely to 

 lack of care and attention. He said that the 

 O. F. G. A. should do a little missionary work in 

 the way of teaching the owners of such orchards 

 how to improve them. Fruit growing makes 

 farm life more attractive and should be encour- 

 aged. Its influence tends to keep the boys and 

 girls on the farm, Ont. should be the banner 

 province in fruit growing. The maintenance of 

 her reputation depends upon cooperation. The 

 minister pointed out the fact that quality counts 

 for more to-day than ever it did in the past. 

 The moral is, produce the best. 



At the evening meeting, Nov. 7, Prof. H. L. 

 Hutt, of the O.A.C., Guelph, took the audience 

 on an imaginary trip throughout the length and 

 breadth of the province to the homes of many 

 prominent fruit growers. By means of lime- 

 light views and appropriate remarks, the Prof 

 showed scenes and described in an interesting 

 way the homes and orchards of leading fruit 

 men from the Niagara River and the St. Law- 

 rence Valley to Algoma and the Muskoka Lakes. 



Frviit PacKag'es in B.C. 



W. J. Brandrith, Ladner 



A meeting of B.C.F.G.A. delegates from the 

 various sections of the province was held in 

 Vancouver on Nov. 2, to discuss the fruit pack- 

 age question. It was unanimously agreed 

 that the 4-5 qt. box should be 5J^ x 5p^ x 2 

 inches, and that the 2-5 qt. box should be 

 5J^ x 5}^ X 1 inch, and that the crates to hold 

 these sizes should be the only ones manufac- 

 tured. It was also decided that the box known 

 as the "Oregon Cherry Box" be adopted for 

 sweet cherries, and that the 4-5 qt. berry crate 

 be adopted for sour cherries; that the plum 



crate now in use be adopted, and that a box 

 18xllx8J^ inches be adopted for pears, and 

 that a half box for pears shall be 18 x 11 x4 

 inches; and that the pear and J^ j)ear box be 

 used for crab apples. A resolution was passed, 

 also, asking the Dom. Govt, to legalize the 

 apple box for home use, as well as for export. 



At a meeting of the executive committee 

 held on Nov. 3, it was decided to hold the 

 annual meeting in Nelson, B.C., on Jan. 

 23 and 24. The secretary was instructed to 

 procure a sufficient quantity of spraying ma- 

 terials for the coming season. 



Nova Scotia Convention 



The annual convention of the N. S. F. G. A. 

 will be held at Wolfville, on Dec. 12, 13 and 14. 

 An interesting meeting is expected. Mr. A. 

 McNeill, Chief, Fruit Div., Ottawa, will speak 

 on "Horticulture in Nation Building" and "Or- 

 chard Management." Mr. W. T. Macoun, Horti- 

 culturist, C.E.F., Ottawa, will discuss various 

 horticultural questions. Prof. F. C. Sears, 

 Truro, will discuss "Spraying" and other topics 

 of interest to fruit growers. Cooperation will 

 receive full attention. 



An exhibition of winter fruits on plates and 

 in barrels and boxes will be shown. This will 

 add much to the general interest of the conven- 

 tion. Fruit growers, not only in N. S., but 

 from the other provinces, are invited to attend. 



Montreal Frviit Trade Notes 



E. H. Wartman, D.F.L 



The handling of fruits from boats and railroads 

 is not yet perfect. Barrels and boxes are not 

 only broken by careless handlers, but are 

 "pilfered" — leaving the barrels slack, Think 

 of a barrel of Kings landing at steamer sheds for 

 export, head broken to pieces and IJ^ pecks of 

 the fruit taken out. This barrel, if "landed in 

 sound condition, would have brought 24s., but as 

 it is 16s. — a loss of $2. The checkers at steamers- 

 would sign teamster's check Ibbl. slack"; but, 

 who should pay to the shipper the $2 loss? I 

 would hke to carry a rubber stamp and have the 

 authority of the Dominion Dept. to brand such 

 broken, pilfered packages, "Pilfered and bro- 

 ken — not to go forward," and to notify shipper 

 of same, so that he might collect for packages so 

 rascally used. 



Apples in our standard export boxes are 

 thrown down instead of being laid down. 

 Inspectors soon stop such work when on the spot. 

 They have saved shippers hundreds of dollars, 

 but, there are times when these goods are arriv- 

 ing at 3, 4, or 5 o'clock a.m., that we cannot be 

 expected to be around after a hard day's work 

 up to 12 o'clock the previous night. 



Our shipments from this port are probablj 

 75,000 bbls. short of last year to date. The fruit 

 is in the country yet. Before the beginning of 

 navigation next May the aggregate will total a 

 large number. 



Shippers are wise in not fiUing the last steamers 

 full of apples. As the season for this fruit is a 

 long one and the apple is a general favorite, we 

 may look for good profits by keeping the ball 

 rolling not too fast. 



In a few cases No. 1 Fameuse have sold in 5 

 bbl. lots in this city already at $6 a bbl. 



Important Announcement 



In the House of Commons, on Nov. 2(), the 

 Hon. Sidney Fisher, Min. of Agr., intimated that 

 an item would be placed in the estimates to 

 encourage the establishment of cold storage ware- 

 houses throughout Canada. The jjroposition is 

 to secure the equipment and establishment of 

 cold storage plants where the conditions of 

 trade seem to justify. 



Mr. F'islier asked Iiis colleagues to put in the 

 estimates an item which would bring about the 

 desired results. Iji a few days the estimates . 

 will be placed upon the table of the House. 



