The Canadian Horticulturist. 177 



hardiness in the counties of Grey, Bruce and Huron, counties surely exposed to 

 as low temperatures as Prince Edward Co. In most of these it is also ranked as 

 vigorous and productive. A grower in the county of Middlesex, however, only 

 gives it three for hardiness, remarking that it does best on a good, deep, strong 

 soil and especially on limestone. 



^^'e hope to hear from others with regard to this apple. 



LOW PRICES OF FRUIT : CAUSE AND REMEDY. 



A S the time for the shipping of fruit approaches, it is well to regard care- 

 ^^r\ fully those principles which will insure us an honorable reputation 

 and the highest possible prices. The following remarks by a New 

 York commission merchant in the American Garden are worthy of repeti- 

 tion : " Cultivation of fruit in this country has attained such proportions 

 that, if we are to believe the statements of some growers, it is no longer 

 profitable. If this is true we should investigate the cause, and then like 

 sensible men apply the remed}'. The cause of this depression in prices, I 

 think, is the production of such large quantities of poor fruit, which must 

 be sold for a price less than the cost of production. Thousands of quarts of 

 berries, tons of unnpe grapes, thousands of barrels of apples, pears and 

 quinces which are not fit for consumption, are sent to market with the idea 

 of getting some price for them. Growers make a great mistake in shipping 

 unripe grapes to market, for when the market is stocked with other varieties 

 of ripe fruit there is but little demand for the ripe grapes, and none for the 

 unripe. The continued shipping of the unripe grapes to market has the 

 effect of depressing the prices for a time after the ripe grapes replace the 

 unripe. If such varieties as the Champion, Hartford and Elvira were exter- 

 minated from our vineyards and only the later varieties cultivated and 

 allowed to ripen before being picked, the grower would realize a greater 

 profit from his vineyard than he now does ; or if those sour varieties were 

 permitted to ripen it would add to their value, as then they might be sold 

 for wine. But now each grower vies with the other to get his grapes on 

 the market first, and the consequence is that the returns from the sale of 

 the fruit do not pay for the labor expended upon it. Premature, wormy 

 and imperfect apples, pears, etc., are an objectionable feature in the trade, 

 and the continued shipping of these fruits have the same effect upon the 

 market as in the case of unripe grapes. It would unquestionably be far 

 better to keep this fruit at home and send to market only the ripe and per- 

 fect kinds. Not only would better prices be obtained, but the chance of 

 having the fruit seized by the agents of the Board of Health would be 

 reduced to a minimum. Each year these agents seize large quantities of 

 unripe fruit and there is no redress for the shipper. 



