The Canadian Horticulturi^ 



Vol. XXXVI 11 



.JULY, 1915 



No. 7 



Home Markets Unreached by Our Fruit 



H. Bronson Cowan, Editor The Canadian Horticulturist 



THE problems confronting the fruit 

 grower are becoming more com- 

 plex in character. A few years 

 ago it was the common belief that if 

 fruit growers would . merely increase 

 their production their most pressing 

 difficulties would be solved. In time 

 it became apparent that other, factors 

 had a determining influence on the 

 prosperity of the fruit grower, and 

 activities were started to secure lower 

 freight and express rates, and ulti-' 

 mately for the appointment of a 

 railway commission. About this time 

 also the importance of marketing 

 fruit on a better and more economical 

 basis was recognized, and cooperation 

 as a remedy was advocated. Growing 

 out of all this, as the local markets 

 became supplied, came the call for 

 wider markets, and experiments were 

 started which had for their object the 

 obtaining of varieties of fruit which 

 would stand shipment, and also to as- 

 certain the best methods of packing for 

 distant markets. 



Until recently most of our fruit 

 growers have felt that the fruit grow- 

 ers in other provinces and districts 

 were their competitors, and that there 

 was little in common between them. 

 Recently we have begun to recognize 

 that anything which will benefit the 

 fruit growers in other sections is likely 

 to have an important bearing on our 

 own prosperity. A striking evidence 

 of this new way of looking at things 

 occurred at the Dominion Fruit Con- 

 ference in Grimsby last August. The 

 delegates from Nova Scotia were seek- 

 ing the cooperation of the delegates 

 from the other provinces in order that 

 pressure might be brought to bear on 

 the Dominion Government to have it 

 use its influence to obtain a reduction 

 in steamship rates on fruit from Nova 

 Scotia to the British markets. Their 

 case was listened to with attentive in- 

 terest by the fruit growers from the 

 other provinces, who seemed, however, 

 to think that the point at issue consti- 

 tuted a local problem which the fruit 

 growers from the Martime provinces 

 should solve for themselves. When, 

 however, one of the Nova Scotia dele- 

 gates pointed out that if these steam- 



ship rates were secured it would enable 

 them to market the bulk of their crop 

 in Europe, while otherwise they would 

 be forced to ship to Ontario and the 

 Western markets, thus possibly glut- 

 ting these markets, the fruit men of 

 Ontario and British Columbia were 

 quick to see their interest in the situa- 

 tion. Within a few minutes they de- 

 cided to cooperate with the growers 

 of Nova Scotia, and had appointed a 

 representative committee to wait on 

 the Dominion Government, and thus 

 help to obtain the improved steamship 

 service desired by the Nova Scotia 

 growers. In passing, it might be added 

 that their joint efforts proved success- 

 ful. This incident shows the identity 

 of interest that exists between the 

 fruit growers of all our fruit provinces. 



Other Problems. 



Leading fruit growers are now be- 

 ginning to realize and admit that the 

 various complex problems already men- 

 tioned do not begin to exhaust those 

 for which the fruit growers must ulti- 

 mately seek to find solutions. Amongst 

 the most pressing of these is the eco- 

 nomic condition of the working classes, 

 not only in our Canadian cities, but in 

 other countries as well. A statement 

 made at the last Dominion Fruit Con- 

 ference by Mr. Elmer Lick, of Oshawa, 



revealed as though by a lightning flash 

 something of the nature of this prob- 

 lem. While discussing the problem of 

 wider markets, Mr. Lick made this 

 remark : 

 ^^ "The disturbing feature that 

 "confronts us when we attempt to 

 ''find an outlet for our apples is 

 I 'the large percentage of the peo- 

 "ple in our cities who are unable 

 "to buy fruit at any price." 

 The importance of Mr. Lick's re- 

 mark was recognized by all present, 

 but no one seemed to think that the 

 question was one which the conference 

 was called upon to deal with. The 

 problem Mr. Lick called attention to 

 ip such a large one it cannot be more 

 than touched upon in this issue of The 

 Canadian Horticulturist. For the pres- 

 ent, therefore, let us merely examine 

 the bearing the economic condition of 

 the working classes in our cities at 

 home has on the prosperity of our 

 fruit growers. 



One of the enigmas of our modern 



A Nova Scotia orchard of King apples. In full crop. In which vetch was used as a cover crop 

 (Photo furnished by Manning Ells, Port Williams. N.S.) ^' 



