MO 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



Floral Edition. 



Ontario Vegetable Growers' Annual Convention 



F. G. H. Pattison, Winona, Ontaiio 



THE Annual Convention of the Ontario 

 Vegetable Growers' Association was 

 held In the Parliament Buildings, 

 Toronto, on November 9th. A noticeable 

 feature was the spirit of optimism and pat- 

 riotism which pervaded the proceedings. 

 President P. F. Reeves, of Humber Bay, In 

 his pre.sldentlal address, called attention to 

 the great progress that had been made by 

 the association during the past nine years. 



Great anxiety and loss was suffered by 

 vegetable growers during the past season 

 owing to the heavy spring frosts and con- 

 tinued wet weather during the summer. In 

 spite of this a spirit of optimism prevailed 

 throughout the vegetable growing fraternity, 

 and over a million pounds of dessicated 

 vegetables had been sent to the troops at 

 the front. The Field Crop competitions had 

 proved as successful as usual, and as a re- 

 sult, some excellent crops were shown by 

 the prize-winnera at the Toronto, London, 

 and Ottawa Exhibitions. The Minister of 

 Agriculture was commended for the Inter- 

 est he and his staff had taken in the work 

 of the association and for appointing the 

 President, ex officio, a member of the ad- 

 visory board of the Vineland Experimental 

 Farm. 



Prices for vegetables had ruled on an 

 average 25 per cent, lower than for the past 

 few years. The seed market was unsettled 

 owing chiefly to the wet weather experi- 

 enced In the seed-growing centres of the 

 United States. Reliable seed of onions, 

 spinach, beans, and celery is likely to be 

 .scarce for the coming season. 



Vegetable growers continued to have 

 great difficulty in securing sufficient labor. 

 The need for a suitable standard package 

 for vegetables was very apparent. It was 

 suggested that the association, with the as- 

 sistance of the Department of Agriculture, 

 .should gather information as to the acreage 

 and condition of vegetable crops at various 

 seasons of the year, and issue this informa- 

 tion to the growers. A concerted effort 

 should be made to specially advertise On- 

 tario vegetables. 



Reference was made to the response Can- 

 ada has made to the call of Great Britain 

 to flght for the laws of freedom and jus- 

 tice. The address concluded with the fol- 

 lowing words: "Like all other classes of 

 men, the vegetable growers have given of 

 their sons and their wealth, and are pre- 

 pared to give even further in this gi-eat 

 world struggle." 



Secretary-Treasurer J. Lockie Wilson 

 presented his report, of which the 

 chief items were: The continuous rains 

 during the summer and early fall caused 

 rust, blight, and rot to attack, and in many 

 cases ruin, vegetable crops. 



Detailed accounts from the various liooal 

 Branches .showed them to be in a flourish- 

 ing condition. The membership has re- 

 mained about the same, but a large increase 

 is looked for in 1916. The Field Crop com- 

 petitions excited great interest amongst the 

 growers. Four kinds of vegetables were 

 selected: tomatoes, onions, celery, and early 

 potatoes. For the first time the Central 

 As.sociation had provided neat boxes for the 

 exhibitors to ship their products in to the 

 exhibitions. This, and the wrapping and 

 packing of tomatoes In two-layer boxes, were 

 regarded as great improvements. The di- 

 rectors had curtailed expenditures as much 

 as possible in this time of stress and strain. 



Sympathy was expressed for the presi- 

 dent's son, wounded on the battlefield in 

 France. Scores of the members of the as- 

 sociation had joined the ranks of the 

 flghter:i for their country. , 



A short course at the O. A. C. for judges 

 in the field crop competitions was recom- 

 mended. Further investigation into the 

 matter of co-operation by the Central Asso- 

 ciation was left In abeyance until the war 

 is over. 



This report concluded as follows: "It Is 

 the bounden duty of those of us who re- 

 main at home to do our part in increasing 

 the products of the soil, and in making 

 every possible sacrifice so that victory may 

 perch on the banners of the men fighting 

 for freedom's cause." 



The balance sheet presented by Mr. Wil- 

 son covered the eleven months — Nov. 30, 

 1914, to Oct. 31st, 1915, and showed receipts 

 of $1,330.98; expenses, $796.48; balance on 

 hand, $534.80. 



After some discussion it was decided to 

 allow any member competing In the Field 

 Crop Competition to exhibit at the Toronto, 

 London, and Ottawa shows, but the asso- 

 ciation would pay express only on the ex- 

 hibits of prize-takers in the local compe- 

 titions. It was also decided that Field 

 Vegetable Crop Judges should take the short 

 course at the O. A. C, as recommended by 

 Secretary Wilson. 



The convention heard with deep regret 

 of the death of Mr. M. F. Rittenhouse, of 

 Chicago, and placed on record its sense of 

 deep appreciation of his splendid personal 

 qualities and of his generous and intelligent 

 Interest in horticulture in Ontario, his na- 

 tive province. 



During the morning session the president 

 welcomed two visiting delegates from the 

 National Vegetable Growers' Association of 

 the United States— Prof. C. W. Waid, of 

 Lansing, Mich., and Mr. Howard W. Selby, 

 of Philadelphia. 



Prof. Waid expressed great pleasure at 

 being with the vegetable growers of On- 

 tario. The past season had been a trying 

 one for gardeners in the States, as well as 

 for those in Ontario. He highly compli- 

 mented the Ontario growers on their thor- 

 ough organization, and said that it was a 

 question if any vegetable organization in 

 the States was accomplishing as good wor-c 

 as they were. Mr. Selby said that from 

 the moment they had crossed Suspension 

 Bridge till their appearance before the con- 

 vention, they had been more and more im- 

 pressed with the great national spirit 

 evinced by the Dominion of Canada during 

 the present crisis. At the last meeting of 

 vegetable growers in Philadelphia he gave 

 the slogan "Co-operation must be pttt in 

 operation." They had not accomplished 

 much in that wav as yet, but were getting 

 down more to the business side of their 

 work. "Getting the money out of it," said 

 he, "is the most serious and interesting 

 side of our work owing to the prevailing 

 low prices." This had been the key-note 

 of the Philadelphia meeting and of every 

 other meeting throughout their country. 

 He extended the greetings of the United 

 States National Association and hoped 

 that the Ontario Association would send 

 more delegates over to the American con- 

 vention next year. During the noon hour 

 the association entertained the delegates 

 and visitors to an excellent dinner. The 

 health of "The King" was duly honored, as 

 well as that of the American visitors. Short 

 speeches were made by President F. F. 

 Reeves, Secretary J. Lockie Wilson; the 

 two American delegates, Prof. Waid and 

 Mr. Selby; C. W. Baker, London; Thos. 

 Delworth, Weston: J. J. Davis, London, and 

 the representatives of the Farmer's Advo- 

 cate and "The Canadian Horticulturist." 



A number of interesting addresses and 

 reports were given at the convention. Dur- 

 ing the morning, in addition to the presi- 

 dent's address and secretary's report, the 

 chief were the report of President Reeves 

 as delegate to the American Growers' Con- 

 vention held In Cleveland, Ohio; the re- 

 port of the vegetable specialist, S. C. John- 

 ston, and a paper on "Fertilizers Best 

 Suited to Vegetable Crons in Ontario," by 

 Leslie Elmsley, Central Experimental Farm, 

 Ottawa. 



At the afternoon session, reports on ex- 

 perimental work at the O. A. C, Guelph, 

 and Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa, 

 were given by Messrs. J. E. Britton, and 

 A. J. Logsdail. A paper on "Tomato 

 Blight" was given by D. H. Jones, O.A.C., 

 Guelph. "The Skinner System Necessary 

 for Successful Market Gardening." was 

 the subject of an interesting address by 

 Thos. Delworth, Weston. 



In the evening, "Greenhouse Problems" 

 were dealt with by Prof. C. W. Waid, of 

 Lansing, Mich.," and "Problems in Market- 

 ing," by H. W. Selby, Philadelphia. "Vege- 

 table Work at Vineland, with Spe- 

 cial Reference to Seed Improvement," was 

 described by F. M. Clement, of the Vine 

 land Experimental Farm. 



Separate references to some of these re- 

 ports appear elsewhere in this issue, and 

 more concerning them will appear later. 

 The attendance of delegates was good. 



Activities of the Fruit Division 



The offices of the Fruit Division of the 

 Dominion Department of Agriculture at Ot- 

 tawa have recently been moved from the 

 Canadian Building, Slater Street, to com- 

 fortable new quarters on Cliff Street, in the 

 commodious building previously occupied 

 by Railway Commissioner McLean. 'This 

 has caused a separation from the offices of 

 the Dairy and Cold Storage Division, which 

 remain In the old quarters. The relations 

 that have existed between the two branches 

 have been most cordial. 



A representative of The Canadian Horti- 

 culturist had an interview recently with 

 Fruit Commissioner Johnson, who described 

 the v'ork his Division is carrying on of in- 

 specting fruit at points of shipment. The 

 new system has given excellent results. By 

 it the quantity of bad fruit that reaches the 

 markets has been reduced. The boxes and 

 barrels are examined and inspected just be- 

 fore they are shipped, and in cases where 

 bad fruit is found, or over-facing is dis- 

 covered, the owner of the box or barrel is 

 prosecuted under the Inspection and Sales 

 Art. 



The system of sending inspectors and ex 

 perts through the country to give the grow- 

 ers and packers pointers and advice along 

 the line . of packing and shipping fruit is 

 showing excellent results. "Occasionally 

 we have come across a few who have re- 

 fused to allow our representatives to give 

 them advice," said Mr. Johnson, "but under 

 the Inspection and Sales Act we are able 

 to punish those who break the law." He 

 added that by this method the Division is 

 able to see that the fruit leaves the ship- 

 ping point honestly packed and graded. 



Commissioner Johnson is pleased with the 

 results being obtained from the system now- 

 followed of distributing information. It 

 seems to be working almost to perfection. 

 "We have our representatives wire us twice 

 a week regularly, giving us information as 

 to the condition of fruit throughout the 

 country," he explained. "They advise us 

 as to how the fruit is growing, what the 

 quality of It is, and how much there is likely 

 to be on hand at certain periods. We have 

 our officials in consuming centres, advising 



