11 



way of drawing greater attention to our fruits, and while, as a Jesuit, more fi'equent 

 applications from England, for the shipment of apples, have been received, it has 

 not resulted in that enlargement of our export trade which it was confidently hoped 

 might follow. This result may to some extent be due to indifference of the pro- 

 ducer to fluctuation of market prices both at home and abroad, and to other similar 

 causes ; but there is good reason for entertaining the belief, as will be shown in papers to 

 be presented for your consideration, that transportation constitutes the principal factor 

 in determining this result. As has been amply demonstrated by the Nova Scotia 

 fruit growers, apples can be placed on the London market in prime order, but if the 

 shipper feels that there is no dependence to be placed upon the way in which his fruit 

 is stored and handled, and that it is largely a matter of chance whether it arrives in 

 good order or a mass of rotten pulp, he will prefer in most cases to take his chances 

 with the home market, where his reputation, at all events, can be maintained. This 

 is one of the most important questions to be brought before you, as upon it the future 

 possibilities of our fruit trade wholly depend. The question, however, is one of many 

 aspects and requires a thorough and unprejudiced consideration of all the facts bear- 

 ing upon it. While on our part it is only proper to ask that the railroads shall 

 handle the fruit with care and forward it with despatch, and of the steamboat com- 

 panies that they provide proper storage and ventilation, the producer and the shipper 

 must, on the other hand, be willing and ready to guarantee their part in the whole 

 process, and see that the picking and packing are properly executed. Fruit poorly 

 packed will suffer injury under the most favourable conditions of transport. The 

 interests of the producers and of the transportation companies are one, in the en- 

 couragement of an enlarging export, but each must do the part falling to them, and 

 it has been felt that the importance of this subject deserved more than ordinary 

 consideration. It is with a view to making some definite arrangement that repre- 

 sentatives of the various railway and steamboat companies interested have been in- 

 vited here to discuss this matter with you, for the same reason, also, the Dominion 

 Dairymen's Association will hold a joint meeting with us this evening. 



Another important aspect of this question is our relation to the Uuited States. 

 Looking somewhat more closely into the exports and imports for the past two years 

 I find that in 1888 apples to the value of $197,613 were expoi-ted to the United States 

 and in 1889 this was increased to $284,252. The bulk of these were sent from Ontario 

 and Nova Scotia. 



The imports of fruit during the same period were as follows : — 



1888. 1889. 



Apples 66,548 40,695 



Blackberries "| 



Gooseberries I 



Kaspberries | ' ' 



Strawberries J 



'^^^'^'^' ] 5,744 2,179 



Currants J ' ' 



Cranberries ^ 



Plums [ 36,790 36,581 



Quinces ) 



Grapes, U.S 30,452 29,532 



do G.B 22,355 22,351 



52,807 51,883 



An inspection of these figures in detail shows that it is not a question altogether 

 of import to non-producing Provinces, since some of the largest imports were to 

 fruit-producing Provinces, and it is naore probable, so far as apples are concerned at 

 least, a question of transportation and local market values. It ie, therefore, a 



