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THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



April, 1915 



Factors of Success in Fruit Growing 



F. M. Clement, Director of Horticultural Station, Vineland Stati 



Harvesting the Celery Crop 



An Illustration obtained In the celery field of 

 Mr. J. W. Powell. Thedford, Ont. 



November. Boys and men are hired by 

 the dozen to help harvest the crop dur- 

 ing the last thirty days' rush, and even 

 then they are almost sure to be caught 

 with a little out yet when the frost settles 

 down for the first real freeze. 



Last season Mr. Powell harvested 

 about seventeen carloads. As celery is 

 worth around five hundred dollars a car, 

 you can estimate the value of his 1913 

 crop. Of course, all this is not profit, 

 by any means, as hired help, seed, 

 equipment, and loss must all come out of 

 this, but even at the worst it returns a 

 vastly better living than his old veterin- 

 ary practice used to do. The celery is 

 shipped out all winter as required b'^ 

 big wholesalers in Toronto and Mon- 

 treal, and in order to prevent freezing, 

 refrigerator cars are used. The supply 

 often lasts into the early summer. 



Other growers besides Mr. Powell are 

 doing well on the rich muck soil of the 

 old swamp. Mr. J. W. Paisley, with 

 eleven acres, is the next largest grower, 

 with Mr. Allan Stubbs and Mr. Humphry 

 Ross coming next. Many growers have 

 from a half-acre to two or three acres, 

 and it is these who go to make the grand 

 total of forty-six acres of celery grown 

 and harvested in the swamp every year. 

 Thirty-four cars were harvested in all 

 last season, and this season should see 

 between forty and fifty cars shipped 

 from this small but important producing 

 .section. 



A garden is a piece of land where 

 plants and people grow and love each 

 other. 



THE factors of success in fruit grow- 

 ing naturally fall into three divi- 

 sions : The basic or foundation 

 factors, production factors, and the 

 wonomic factors. In the first division 

 we have to take into consideration such 

 factors as location, situation, soil, site, 

 choice of varieties, and such other fac- 

 tors as form the basis or foundation of 

 the industry. These are largely deter- 

 mined by the grower when he buys a 

 farm and plants, it. They are considera- 

 tions that are often, but should not be, 

 lost sight of, for on them the degree of 

 success largely depends. In the last 

 division, we must consider such factors 

 as markets, transportation, distribution, 

 and sale. These are questions that 

 the grower must face without flinch- 

 ing. Between the foundation and econ- 

 omic factors we have a long step, that 

 of production, but one that determines 

 largely the final profits. Without good 

 fruit properly packed, sales at remuner- 

 ative prices are unlikely. 



Five operations enter into production : 

 Pruning, fertilizing, spraying, cultiva- 

 tion, and thinning. The finished pro- 

 duct, the fruit is judged on five points 

 also: Color, size,, freedom from blem- 

 ishes, quality, and uniformity. For the 

 sake of convenience the following table 

 is arranged, and it is under these heads 

 that I wish for a few minutes to discuss 

 production. 



Pruning — color. 

 Fertilizing — size. 



Spraying — freedom from blemishes. 

 Cultivation — quality. 

 _ Thinning — -uniformity. 

 Pruning stands first in the production 

 of No. I and fancy fruit. Color, the 

 first result of pruning, is often, the de- 

 ciding factor between a No. i and a No. 

 2 and color is also an indication of ma- 

 turity. Pruning regulates the size of the 

 fruit ; and also to a large extent the 

 quantity. Pruning is the first step in 

 the control of blemishes, and especially 

 Apple Scab and Ink Spot or Sooty fun- 

 gus. Spraying is only a supplement to 

 pruning for the control of scab. Nature's 

 remedies, sunlight and air circulation, 

 stand first as disease controllers. Spray- 

 ing is only supplemented by man to as- 

 sist in or to complete the work. Only 

 well pruned trees can avail themselves of 

 nature's remedies, and it is useless to 

 expect best results if the first principles 

 are neglected. Pruning also in this way 

 improves the quality of the fruit by col- 

 oring and keeping free from blemishes. 

 The first step in uniformity is in prun- 

 ing, shaping, and balancing the tree. 



•Extract from an address delivered before the 

 Northumberland and Durham Fruit Growers' 

 Aesooiation. 



■on, Ont. 



Fruit evenly distributed is much more 

 likely to be of equal size. 



'Fertilizing might be discussed in con- 

 junction with cultivation. By some, cul- 

 tivation is placed first and fertilizing dis- 

 cussed as a supplement to it. A fertile 

 soil produces large fruit. Size within 

 the variety is more variable than quality 

 within the variety, and consequently, 

 though in practice cultivation precedes 

 fertilizing, fertilizing is of most import- 

 ance. The two operations are, how- 

 ever, interchangeable. A starved tree 

 produces small apples; a well nourished 

 tree larger apples. Fertilizing also 

 affects the vigor or health of the tree, 

 .md makes it better able to resist disease. 



Spraying is a special operation and is 

 done with one main object in view, that 

 of completing the control of fungus dis- 

 eases and pests on both fruit and trees. 

 It is a step in the improvement of the 

 appearance of the fruit. 



CULTIVATION AND QUALITY J 



Cultivation is being held responsible 1 

 for quality (within the variety). By cul- 

 tivation is meant not necessarily clean 

 cultivation followed by a cover crop or 

 sod mulch, but any form of soil treat- 

 ment that tends to make the trees thrifty 

 and bear good fruit. Quality is a little 

 harder to define. It is largely firmness . 

 or brittleness and taste or flavor. Cul- I 

 tivation is our best means of conserving 

 moisture and plenty of soil moisture 

 tends to turgidity in fruit, leaf and 

 branch. Quality may also be extended , 

 to include keeping quality. Experiments 

 show that keeping qualities are extended 

 from one to two weeks by judicious clean 

 cultivation methods. Cultivation, on the 

 other hand, when carried to the extreme. 

 is destructive to color and maturity of 

 the fruit and to maturity of the tree. 



Thinning, though last on the list, is 

 there only because it was the last of the 

 five productive operations to be taken 

 up by the orchardists. With the advent 

 of the box package thinning for uni- 

 formity is imperative. For the barrel 

 package, it is helpful but not essential. 

 Uniformity of size from thinning might 

 also be extended to include uniformity of 

 celor, a factor extremely essential to 

 the best appearance of the fruit. Pick- 

 ing, grading, and packing are produc- 

 tion factors aLso, but not being included 

 in those operations which are always di- 

 rectly under the control of the grower, 

 are not dealt with here. 



No one factor alone will lead to suc- 

 cess, but all-basic, productive and econ- 

 omic factors linked closely together will 

 make a strong chain. The chain, how- 

 ever, leading to success is no stronger 

 than its weakest link. 



