47 



Mr. BucicE. — What will those half-barrels, or cases, fetch in the English 

 market ? 



Mr. Shepherd. — I have never sent any over as a speculation. The fact is, I 

 have never had enough cases to disjDose of; the demand has been greater than the 

 supply. I sold forty cases to one man in Montreal — to a gentleman who has a 

 business coanection in England, lie used to ship his Montreal Pameuse always in 

 barrels, but he has discarded shipping in barrels since the cases have been used. He 

 bought forty cases of Fameuse and Wealthy last year, and paid me $3 a case for them 

 at Montreal. 



Mr. BucKE. — That would be about |6 a barrel ? 



Mr. Shepherd. — Yes; but you must remember that the packing' costs more. 



Mr. BuoKE. — I think that would pay very well. 



The Pbesident. — I have amotion which has been placed in my hands. It reads 

 as follows :■ — 



'•■ Moved by Mi'. L. Woolverton, seconded by G. C. Caston, that the following 

 gentlemen constitute a legislative committee, to whose consideration all matters 

 requiring legislation shall be referred: Rev. Canon Pulton, P. Q. ; Hon. W. D. 

 Porley, Wolsely, JST.-W. T. ; A. McD. Allan, Goderich, Ont. ; G. W. Henry, Port 

 Hammond, B. C. ; B. Starratt, Annapolis, 'N. S. ; L. Woolverton, Grimsby, Ont. 



Is it your pleasure to adopt the motion ? 



Motion carried. 

 , Mr. Woolverton. — There is one subject which should be referred to this com- 

 mittee at once, and that is with regard to the statistics mentioned by Mr. Johnson. I 

 think at present the statistics of fruit culture, garden and orchard products are very 

 imperfect. We have no means of knowing the number of apples, pears and peaches 

 produced in any of the Provinces, and although we have some knowledge of the fruit 

 product in bulk we have nothing in detail. We know everything about wheat, 

 barley and other field products, but with regard to the garden and orchard products 

 we are almost ignorant, and I think that the Government should obtain this informa- 

 tion for us. I move, therefore, seconded by Mr. A. M. Smith, of St. Catharines : 



" That in the opinion of this Convention, the present statistics of the garden and 

 orchard products of the Provinces are exceedingly imperfect, ana should be under- 

 taken upon an entirely new basis, to include a detailed statement of the various fruits, 

 large and small, grown and exported, as well as the quantity of each imported into 

 the country." 



The President. — I may say that when Mr. Johnson was speaking on this matter 

 I considered it one of the most important subjects that could be brought to our atten- 

 tion. Anyone who has had to deal with the question of fruit culture, and especially 

 in its relation to disease, orchard extension, or decline, &c., must recognize the fact 

 that we have absolutely no statistics on the subject that we can rely on. ITow, if in 

 the next census we can have a statement in reference to orchard area in the different 

 Provinces and the amount of produce from each, it would accomplish a vast amount 

 of good. I hope it will be possible for us to obtain some legislation looking in that 

 direction. 



Mr. Smith. — In seconding the motion, I would say that I have been trying to get 

 at the commercial value of small fruits for a long time, but I have had little or no 

 success. 



Mr. Geo. Johnson. — They were all bunched together in the last census, so much 

 so that they are really of no value. I am at present in communication with the 

 authorities at Washington with respect to the mode in which they deal with this 

 question and also with respect to dairying matters, so that in the next census we 

 may get a detailed statement, rather than the bulk statement we have had hitherto. 



Mr. Brodie. — In connection with the census of wheat and field products, many 

 people feared that it was simply a plan to get increased taxation, and I believe in this 

 case it will be a pretty hard matter, in some sections of the country, to get at the 

 facts. 



