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CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



ADVICE TO FRUIT GROWERS AND SHIPPERS. 



AS the fruit season is now at hand 

 we think it would not be amiss 

 to drop you a few lines regarding the 

 putting up and shipping of fruit, for 

 insertion in your valuable Journal. 



As Strawberries are about the first 

 fruit to make their appearance, we would 

 recommend that the fruit be carefully 

 and cleanly packed and the baskets 

 well filled. Baskets require to be well 

 tilled because they get a good deal of 

 handling and shaking before they reach 

 market, and if this is not done they 

 will show up slack, and will not sell as 

 rapidly or at as good a price as other- 

 wise. Use the twenty-four quart 

 basket crate in shipping. 



This package is coming more into 

 favor every season, and we believe that 

 it will eventually entirely supersede all 

 other packages for the shipment of this 

 fruit. It is of a nice suitable size, and 

 comes n-earer to meeting the require- 

 ments of the grower, the carriers, the 

 commission men and the public general- 

 ly, than any other package we have 

 yet seen, and we trust that it will not 

 be long before all growers adopt it. 

 This package is not returnable and this 

 therefore does away with all the trouble 

 and annoyance experienced in past 

 seasons on that account. Raspberries, 

 Blackcaps and Kittatinnys should 

 also be shipped in this package. Other 

 small garden fruit, such as Cherries, 

 Currants, Gooseberries, etc., are pi-e- 

 ferred in the twelve-quart basket and 

 sell most rapidly when shipped in that 

 shape. Plums and Peaches are best 

 shipped in the twelve-quart basket, and 

 Grapes in the sixteen-quart basket. 

 In all instances carefully observe to fill 

 all packages well. Cover baskets 

 nicely and securely with cardinal or 

 blue leno, whichever is the most suitable 

 to the fruit you are shipping, then 

 attach your shipping labels securely to 

 each basket, and write your full name 



and post oftice addi'ess plainly and 

 distinctly on each label, and thus avoid 

 loss and confusion when they reach 

 market. Apples and Pears can be 

 profitably shipped in the twelve- quart 

 basket when they first commence to 

 come in and are of choice varieties ; but 

 as soon as they commence to come in 

 freely, they do better properly packed 

 in barrels and shipped by freight ; it 

 will cost less to put them up and ship 

 in that way then to put them in baskets 

 and ship by express. 



Avoid shipping on holidays when 

 possible, as mostly all places of business 

 are closed up, and as a rule arrivals 

 have to be held over until next day or 

 closed out to pedlars at very low figures. 

 Also avoid shipping on late trains as 

 the early closing movement is in 

 operation here, and all grocers are 

 compelled to close at seven o'clock, 

 p.m. Fruit arriving on the morning 

 or early afternoon trains meets with 

 the best and quickest sale, while any- 

 thing by evening trains generally gets 

 left over until the following day. 



We noticed last season that a great 

 deal of fruit was shipped from the 

 Grimsby section by freight, and when 

 shipped that way it would as a rule 

 reach our market in time for the 

 morning trade, but it frequently arrived 

 in very bad order, possibly, caused by 

 want of proper conveyances by the 

 cartage agents or indifierent handling 

 by the Railway Company. We would 

 like to see the fruit coming by freight 

 as a general thing, providing these 

 difliculties could be overcome. 



Growers are no doubt all aware of 

 the trouble they have had in past 

 seasons, when shipping by express for 

 want of sutficient accommodation. 

 Trains will not stop at the stations long 

 enough to enable the express people to 

 load it properly, and the consequence 

 is tiiat it is thrown on in any way and 



