61 



on the continent to be without a rival, both as regards quality of the fruit and 

 perfection in packing. 



During the month of October a few days were spent in the State of New 

 York along the south shore of Lake Ontario, where is to be found one of the 

 more important fruit-producing sections of this State. For many years the 

 counties in this section have been noted for the production of the Baldwin, 

 Greening, King of Tompkins and other standard winter varieties of apples, 

 of which the output has assumed extremely large proportions. 



Wayne County is probably the centre of this district and has within its 

 borders some of the more prominent and aggressive fruitgrowers of the State. 

 During the season of 1911 an extraordinary crop of apples was produced in 

 this territory. 



The orchard of Mr. B. J. Case is important from the fact that for several 

 years systematic thinning of the fruit has been practiced and as a result com- 

 paratively regular annual crops have been produced. This practice, combined 

 with the liberal application of fertilizers and very careful attention to the thorough 

 spraying of the trees, produced this year one of the finest crops of apples which 

 we have seen in the course of our itinerary. It has been practically demon- 

 strated on this farm that, by judicious thinning, it is quite possible to cause 

 the Baldwin and other varieties to bear annual crops in reasonable quantities. 

 This theory is also borne out by the testimony of others who have experimented 

 to a greater or less extent with this object in view. If this practice is followed 

 in Canadian orchards, the results I am satisfied will be equally successful. 



A feature of this district is the tendency to plant on the roadsides continuous 

 rows of the Ben Davis apple tree and in locations of this kind it seems to attain 

 a perfection of size and colour. Another outstanding feature which is unique 

 is the large number of evaporating plants located in this county, one on almost 

 every large farm, where all fallen or over-ripe apples are quickly changed into 

 a non-perishable evaporated product which finds a ready market at fair prices. 

 This custom is important from the fact that it eliminates to a large extent the 

 temptation to include amongst the apples intended for shipment in the fresh 

 state any fruit of an unsatisfactory character. 



In many directions Canadian fruitgrowers are quite the equal of their 

 American neighbours, and in some particulars perhaps in advance of them. 

 It is, however, quite possible to profit by the experience of these sections of the 

 United States where fruit has been produced on -a large scale and where com- 

 petition has been so keen that it has been necessary to employ the very best 

 men — from a scientific and practical standpoint — to solve many of the problems 

 which have presented themselves. By means of the researches of these men 

 very great progress has been made in acquiring knowledge of those practices 

 which make for success. 



On account of the wider field, some of our brightest men have been drawn 

 to cast in their lot with American horticulturists. Canada cannot afford to 

 allow this condition to continue, as there is ample scope in this country for the 

 energies of our most ambitious and energetic young men. Public opinion should 

 be so moulded and influenced that there would be created a still greater feeling 

 of pride and confidence in the future of Canada, which would re-act and be the 

 means of bringing into this country, to engage in fruit culture, many from the 

 south, in the same way that the western prairies are drawing the American grain 

 grower to embrace the opportunities presented to him in our own great North- 

 west. 



From the Atlantic shore to the Pacific ocean there are numberless oppor- 

 tunities in Canada to undertake the cultivation and production of fruit on 

 advanced lines of work, which will furnish ample scope for the activities of many 

 thousands of the brightest young men which this country can produce, or who 

 may be induced to come in and locate in some one of the many splendid sections 

 of fruit land described in this Report. 



