Ontario Department of Agriculture
FIFTY-FIRST ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
Fruit Growers' Association
OF
Ontario
1919
PRINTED BY ORDER OF
THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO
TORONTO:
Printed by A. T. WTLGRESS. Printer to the King's Most Excellent Majesty
19 20
Printed by
THE RYERSON PRESS
To His Ilonoiif Lionel Clai^^ke,
Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of Ontario.
May it Please Your Honour :
I ]iave .the honour to present herewith for your consideration the Fifty-first
Report of the Fruit Growers' Association of Ontario for the year 1919.
Respectfully yours.
Manning W. Doherty,
Minister of Agriculture.
Toronto, 1920.
[3]
CONTENTS
PAGE
Officers ior 1920 5
Tbeasurer's Report ' 5
A.jnvuAr, Convention 7
President's Address : J. E. Johnson 7
Handling of .Government's Demonstration Orchards: W. F. Kydd 8
Commercial Varieties of Apples of Canada and the United States: W. T. M.uoun 11
Lesson from the Orchards' at Macdonald College: Prof. Bunting 23
Niagara District Grape Growers'- Association: J. C. Livingstone 27
Relation Between the Grower and the Canning Factory: Arthur Cbaise 30
Are Government Grades Desirable for our Peaches? F. A. J. Siieppard 32
The Grading of Peaches. H. F'lemixo 33
Fruit Situation in Lambton County: W. P. Macex)xald 36
Some Orchard Problems : Prof. F. C. Sears 38
Results of Spray Tests in Norfolk County: W. A. Ross 45
Intensive Strawberry Culture: P. H. Wismer 47
Sm.all Holdings for Profit : F. C. Keeler 50
Good, New and Not Well-known Varieties of Small Fruits: M. B. D wts 53
Fertilizers for the Fruit Grower: Henry G. Bell 57
Fruit and Vegetable Combination on Small Acreages: E. J. Atkin 63
Report of Resolutions Committee 65
W
Fruit Growers' Association of Ontario
OFFICERS FOR 1920
President D. Allan, Grimsby.
Vice-President H. Sirett, Brighton.
Secretary-Treasurer P. W. Hodgetts. Parliament Buildings, Toronto.
Executive Officers, together with A. Craise, St. Catharines,
and C. R. Terry, Clarkson.
Auditor D. P. Cashman.
Directors.
Div. 1. W. T. Macoun, Ottawa.
2. J, C. Keeler, Brockville.
3. R. W. Ireland, Wellington.
4. H. Sirett, Brighton.
5. W. J. Bragg, Bowmanville .
6. C. R. Terry, Clarkson.
7. David Allan, Grimsby.
Div. 8 A. Craise, St. Catharines.
9. J. E. Johnson, Simcoe.
10.
11. H. K. Rey-ell, Goderich.
12. J. P. Elliott, Oxford Centre.
13. W. L. Hamilton, Collingwood.
O.A.C. Prof. J. W. Crow, O.A.C, GuelpiL
H.E.S. E. P. Palmer, Vineland.
Representati\tes to Fair Boards and Conventions.
Canadian Natimial: W. P. W. Pisher, Burlington.
London: J. C. Harris, Ingersoll, and A. Sadler, Lambeth.
Ottawa. W. T. Macoun, Ottawa.
Committees.
Horticultural Puhlishing Company: Hamilton Fle^ahng, Grimsby.
New Fruits: W. T. Macoun. Ottawa; Prof. J. W. Crow% Guelpu; E. P. Palmw^
Vineland Station.
Historical: A. W. Peart, Burlington; W. T. Macol'n, Ottawa.
Transportation: T. H. P. Carpenter. "Winona; W. H. Bunting, St. Catharines;
W. R. Dewar, Leamington; Jas. E. Johnson, Simcoe; W. A. Shook, Clarkson;
W. P. W. Pisher, Burlington; M. C. Smith, Burlington.
Royal Show: David Allan. Grimsby; J. E. Johnson. Simcoe; W. P. W. Pishek.
Ontario Horticultural ExhiMtion: D. Allan, J. E. Johnson, Elmer Lick, W. F. W.
Pisher.
Receipts.
Balance on hand, Dec. 31, 1918
Membership Fees
Government Grant
Ont. Horticultural Exhibition,
Entry Pees
Interest
rREASURE
s $825 19
215 25
1,700 00
34 65
29 43
R'S REPORT
EXPEN]
Annual Meetings,
and November . .
Committees
Periodicals
Stock
Show
DITURES.
February
$654 80
244 36
196 95
300 00
197 19
Miscellaneous
Balance on Hand . .
-
257 62
953 70
$2,804 52
$2,804 52
[5]
DETAILS OF EXPENDITURE
Annual. Meetings:
Advertising. -
Grimsby Independent 5t>J lo
St Catharines Journal 4 i^
St. Catliarines Standard 3 75
Travelling Expenses. • _
A. D. Harkness 1" ^J
Prof. Chandler 51 45
E. C. Everett c
p. Shearer • | ^^
A. W. Peart 2 90
Heaters, Consumers' Gas Co. ...
Programmes, College Press
American Tent Co., enc
Travelling Expenses.
T. G. Bunting
F. C. Keeler -.
Jas. E. Johnson
F. C. Sears
E. J. Atkin
Expenses, P. W. Hodgetts
Freight, G. T. Ry
Light, Canadian National Exhi-
bition
February, 1919.
Printing.
College Press q tt
B. Hoover ^ 25
Reporting.
Miss Maud Coo ^^
A. Sadler "^ ^^
Total $208 00
November,
$40
25
20
00
20
00
32
10
20
00
12
50
112
57
26
16
15
35
44
72
4 20
1919.
Advertising.
F. H. Leslie ]l
Grimsby Independent 3 15
Farmer's Advocate 15 15
McLean Pub. Co 13 20
St. Catharines Standard 5 00
Farm and Dairy • • "^ 35
Gazette, Burlington 3 15
The Guide, Port Hope 3 15
Canadian Horticumtrist 1
Canadian Farm ^ 00
Farmers' Sun '? aa
Family Herald ______
Total .• $446 80
Committees.
Travelling Expenses.
H. Sirett $7 25
Jas. E. Johnson 13 60
W. H. Bunting 37 40
H. K. Revell 14 20
H. P. Carpenter
H. Leavens . . .
A. A. Craise .
P. W. Hodgetts
Horticultural Publishing Company, Stock ....
IShow.
W. F. Kydd, expenses
Manning Cold Storage, Storage and Freight
J. J. Pritchard, Fruit
Total
Periodicals.
Canadian Horticulturist
Miscellaneous.
D. Cashman, Auditor
HortfcuTura^ ^RTue,' Fund ' for ' Allied Countries, per Royal Horticultural
. Society, London, Eng
Wages of Office Help •
Dominion Guarantee Co., Treasurer's Bond • '
Postage and Exchange ' "
College Press, Printing
$1S9 81
13 65
12 15
6 30
$300 00
$13 00
172 19
12 00
$197 19
$196 95
$10 00
100
35
119
00
10
00
1
77
16
50
Total
$257 62
[6]
Fruit Growers' Association of Ontario
ANNUAL CONVENTION
The sixtieth aimual meeting of the Fruit O rowers' Association of Ontario was
held on the premises of the Canadian National Exhihition, Toronto, on the 12th,
13th and 14th of November, 1919. Much interest was manifested in the proceed-
ings, as the addresses and discussions were of a most practical character.
Mr. James E. Johnson, of Simcoe, President of the Association, occupied the
chair.
PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS.
Jas. E. Johnson, Simcoe.
It affords me a great deal of pleasure to welcome the Ontario Fruit Growers
to this Sixtieth Annual Convention, to discuss the many difficult questions of the
day. This gathering will mean renewed activity in the production of fruit this
comino year. I hope that all present will feel that this is their meeting, and that
you will become acquainted with your fellow fruit growers, and so help to make
tins a social and educational gathering.
The Horticultural Exhibition of Fruits in the Transportation Building is
certainly a great object-lesson to the Fruit Crrowers of Ontario, and every Fruit
Grower attending should be very enthusiastic, and should put forth every effort in
order to produce the finest quality of apples suitable for box-packing. I especially
call your attention to the Fruit Exhibit put up by the Ontario Department of
Agriculture taken from their Demonstration Orchards. Mr. W. F. Kydd, who is
our orchard demonstrator, will deal at length with the care of Government-leased
orchards by giving you the facts and figures of care, costs, and production. The
demonstration orchard in Norfolk County was visited by many fruit growers from
all parts of Ontario, and I am certain that the results of their work upon this
orchard will be a great inducement to our Norfolk apple growers to spend more
money on the care of their orchards, which will result in the production of a large
quantity of nice quality box apples for next season.
I sincerely hope that the Department of Agricultui^e will extend rts work, and
now is the time to dcy so, before it is too late, as apple production is on the decline
in Ontario. I also think that the Department of Agriculture can do great work in
having experienced fruit men throughout Ontario, to be known as Instructors in
the growing and packing of fruit. The Dominion Government does something in
this line at present, when the Fruit Inspectors are examining fruit for shipment,
but I believe it is up to the Province of Ontario to carry on the line of educational
fruit-growing for its own people.
I am more in favor qf boxing apples than ever before, as apples wrapped in
paper will keep far bettor than when packed in barrels. In the apple season we
are almost sure to have weather conditions too warm for the packing of the apples
in barrels. When the weather is warm and apples are packed in large packages
heat is generated which results in the decaying of the fruit. Next vear at the
in
8 THE KEPOKT OF THE Xo. 44
Horticultural Exhibition it Avould please me to see a demonstration of packing of
apples with an up-to-date sizer.
We have many soldiers taking- up fruit-growing, and we should do all we
possibly can to aid them and keep them contented on fruit farms. We must get a
back-to-the-land movement which 'we cannot expect under existing conditions.
Before this can be accomplished we have got to have a co-operation of all classes,
whether working in the field, factory, or office, and make known to each other our
exact positions unselfishly.
During the four anxious years of the war we were all wishing for the end of the
struggle to come, thinking the conditions would then l>e much better, but we find
ourselves to-day in a world of ugly temper and misunderstanding. We should take
an interest in the other fellows^ problems. The greatest difiSculty we face to-day is
that of understanding. We have had too much talk about masses and classes and too
little recognition of the truth that, in the main, all men are very much alike. If we
but had a better opinion of the others' ideas it would make for greater contentment,
and this would result in greater progress. The time is nearly at hand when
capitalists must give more thought to the laborers' questions, and workmen must
be informed as to the problems of business and industry. I surely hope, therefore,
that it will not be long before progress is made toward a better understanding.
One of our greatest troubles of the day is our lack of knowledge as to the duties
of others' occupations.
I wish to thank you for conferring upon me the honor of being your President
for ihe vear 1919.
HANDLIXO OF GOVERNMENT'S DEMONSTRATION ORCHARDS.
W. F. Kydd, Toronto.
At the present moment the .0 overnment has five leased orchards for demonstra-
tion and experimental purposes. They have been used more for experimental work
than for demonstrations ; very few of the fruit growers have visited titese orchards.
There are 1,350 trees in these leased orchards. There is one orchard in Prince
Edward County, one in Simcoe, one at Whitby, Ontario County, and one in
Lambton, and one in Norfolk.
All kinds of sprays and spray pumps have been used in these orchards. All
manner of cultivations have been carried on, including fall and spring ploughing.
There are ^15 trees in the Whitby orchard, and the house divides the orchard
in two, making it a long narrow^ orchard. We ploughed the middle of the
orchard and left the two ends not ploughed. One was mulched and the other clean
cultivation, and one end of that orchard is very much better than the other. The
north end is far better land ; it has been well fertilized with barnyard manure, and
the grass was cut and left on the grcaind. There is very little difl'erence in the crop
where it was cultivated where the land was good, but on the poor land it made
quite a difference; there is a marked difference in the vigor of the trees. That
indicates to me that one kind of land will give you good results without cultivation,
and another kind of land must have cultivation. I would go so far as to say that I
think 99 orchards out of 100 should be cultivated in order to get the best results,
but I do know of some orchards where they are making a great success and not
cultivating. If you can get all the manure you want, cultivation is not necessary.
because you can keep the moisture in the land by the use of manure. We have
1920 hiaiT GKOWEKS- ASSOCIATION".
tried clean cultivation, and we have left a strip alongside of the growing tree of
four or five feet on each side. -We have tliem growing in sections ten feet
square and eight feet square, and 1 could see no difference in the vigor of the
trees, or the quality of the fruit, where it was clean cultivation and this strip of
sod left on each side; therefore if I had a big commercial orchard of trees in full
bearing I would not plow within four or live feet of the tree.
The orchard at Whitby is one of the worst orchards in the Province to keep
free of scab; because it is surrounded by a wind-break of high spruce trees, and the
moisture stays on the apples very late in the forenoon. If any of you have a new
spray material that you want tested, we will try it on that orchard. A wind-l)reak
is e^ood if it is far enoucrh from the trees, but I would like to have a wind-break
that I could set up one day and take down another.
The orchard at Collingwood was a good one when we took it, and we have had
good results. It has paid us very well^, and we have had a great deal less trouble
with insects at Collingwood than we have had in this locality.
We took the most neglected orchard we could find in Lambton County ; it had
not been pruned for twelve years. We asked the owner what he would take for the
orchard. He thought a little while and then said $150 a year. He said that was as
much as he got out of it, and he had to haul the apples to the evaporator. For the
last four years the Department has cleared $500 per annum off that orchard. I
cannot tell exactly what we will make off it this year, but we have something like
300 barrels of apples. Part of that orchard is cultivated and part not cultivated ;
out there is no doubt in my mind that the most vigorous trees are in the cultivated
portion.
The orchard we have in Prince Edward Co. has been rather interesting to me,
and it is becoming interesting to the people of the county. It is about two and a
half or three miles from Wellington, When it was leased about five years ago, the
tree tops were all gone with canker and they were dying fast. We leased it for
six years, and the first thing we did was to cut off all that cankerous wood. We
liave had next to no crop from that orchard up to this year; and we have 450
barrels this year. They are really good apples, and came off 200 trees. The
apples that we picked this year are all off wood that we have grown in that orchard,
and that is going to be a good orchard. The people in that locality have come
to the conclusion that it pays to take care of an orchard.
You would be surprised at our being asked to go into Norfolk County, but
you would not be any more surprised than we were. We always looked upon
Xorfolk County as an example, and I can tell you now that if it had not been for
N'orfolk we would not have many apples at this exhibition. The orchard we took
in Norfolk County belongs to the President of the Norfolk Fruit Growers' Asso-
ciation. He had been a very sick man for a few years, and his son went to the
war and left him without any help. The orchard had not been given very- much
care, and it required a good deal of attention the first year. Last year it did not
make us any money, but we came out even. We are going to have a thousand
barrels of apples off that orchard this year.
What have we done to get these crops of apples? We have manured them, we
ha^'e pruned them, we have sprayed them, and we cultivated them, and sometimes we
thinned them. If there is one thing that the apple orchards of this country are
suffering from, it is lack of food. What could you do with a pig or cow if you did
not fet^d it? Mr. Watson, of Dixie, has some of the finest apples ever grown, and
he sells them in Toronto, and he is just coining money, and when he brings a load
2 F,G.
10 THE REPOET OF THE No. 44
of apples into Toronto, he brings back a load of manure. We are going to manure
this orchard in Norfolk County every year for three or four years. We give big
bearing trees 400 lbs. of barnyard manure per tree. We are not putting it within
five feet of the trunk of the tree. There is no benefit derived from putting the
manure near the trunk of the tree. The old trees must be pruned if you want good
sized fruit. Give them tankage, and you will get color, some people siay; but I do
not believe there is anything that will color apples except sunshine and lack of
cultivation; these are the main things in coloring apples. I know trees that are
25 and 30 feet high. I do not want high trees. I want to bring them down to
22 feet. Do not bring them down all in one year ; take Off a little at a time.
A number of fruit growers are finding fault because they do not get good
results from spraying, but that is because they do not half spray. I know one mait
who has a power sprayer, and he does not stop his team. I can't spray in that way.
If you have not used the gun, then buy a gun this spring, and if you have a big
orchard get a machine big enough and strong enough to keep the gun going ; get it
strong enough to put out 200 gallons of liquid in 30 minutes.
I believe cultivation is much more easily carried on if you plow in the fall.
I believe in fall plowing. J would not go closer than within four or five feet of the
tree. I would stop cultivation somewhere about the middle of June or first of July.
Sow some crop in the orchard. Some one told me that there was nothing that
would give as fine a finish to the apple as buckwheat. I do not know as to that, but
sow anything you like.
When you have a heavy crop of apples I am sure that you should thin them.
We sent some men down to thin one orchard, and they lost us money by not thin-
ning tliem enough. It will cost you money to thin the orchard, but it will just
save you that much money when you come to pack the apples.
Q. — You did not tell us when to stop cultivation? A. — I am goiijg^to stop
cultivating next year on the 1st of June. We thinned the orchard at Whitby one
year, and we packed 96% of No. 1 apples.
Q. — Did you find any burning after spraying with the gun ? A. — Yes, we got
burning by spraying with the gun. Tell me who does not get it. The reason we
got it was because we held the gun too close to the tree. If you get a gun that is
easily handled you will not have that trouble.
Q. — ^What kind? A. — I have no preference. There are seven or eight guns
on the market, and I advise getting one that you can move rapidly from the stream
to the mist, and keep away from the foliage at least four feet. The only objection
I have to the gun is that we are all tempted to use too coarse a spray.
Q. — What is the best spray solution ? A. — I want to use lime and sulphur and
arsenate of lead.
The orchards of Ontario are in a sad condition, and no one can be blamed for
that, because during the past five or six years the farmer could not get any help
on his farm. A number of small orchards are going out of commission, and I
think we should try and do something to keep these orchards. I believe that one
hundred apple trees are easily worth $250 to $300 per annum. There is big money
in these little orchards. If we do not put our shoulders to the wheel this apple
industry is going to be a thing of the past. Some one will say the young orchards
are coming on, but I doubt if some of them will ever bear the way they are being
cared foT. I think we should take care of the orchards we have and get the results
that we should from them. It can be done, and it is being done. If I were a
young man I would plant fifty acres of apples this spring, and I would consider
1920 FRUIT GROWERS' ASSOCIATION. 11
that I was doing a very wise thing for my children. You are not going to get the
price you are now getting for your hogs all the time, and if I "were a farmer I
would buy a good farm with an apple orchard on it If you have cows you have to
get up at five in the morning to milk them, and the pigs will be squealing if you
are not there to attend to them. In the cold weather you do not have to attend to
the apple trees, and there is big money in an orchard that is properly looked after.
I know orchards of only thirty-five trees that have paid $3 per tree for a number of
years.
Mi{. Fleming: I see there is a grant made for demonstration orchards. Is
the money made out of these orchards deducted from the grant ?
Mr. IIoiKiKTTS: The money received is all turned in as revenue and does not
increase the amount available for this work. This year the orchard at
Simcoe was visited by a great many people; it received more attention than the
other four. The orchard at Whitby has not been visited by as many people as we
think should have visited that orchard.
Mr. Bunting : Would not it be possible to have a field day once a month, and
liave the officials there that day and try and get the people out to these orchards?
The Chairman: The suggestion is good. They have the same thing in New
York State each year. Many farmers have visited the orchards that we do not
know about. Some have told me they have been through the orchard and seen the
wonderful work that was being done. We have got to carry this educational work
to the producers in order to get results.
THE COMMERCIAL VARIETIES OF APPLES OF CANADA AND THE
UNITED STATES.
W. T. Macoun, Dominion Horticulturist, Ottawa.
In the vast territory covered by Canada and the United States, where the
climates range from Arctic to tropical, there is a great diversity of vegetation and a
great variety of edible fruits, and most important of all the fruits is the apple. It
is grown in every Province of Canada and in every State of the United States, and,
while in Canada the number of trees grown in the coldest parts of the coldest
Provinces is very limited, so in the United States the number of trees which are
grown in the hottest parts of the hottest States is also limited.
The apple succeeds best in a moderately warm or a moderately cool climate,
but some varieties will withstand great cold and others will succeed in great heat.
The hardiest varieties of the colder parts are those which withstand extreme cold,
the hardiest varieties of the warmest parts are those which withstand extreme heat.
In some parts of Canada and the United States the "growing season is so short
that only those varieties of apples requiring the shortest season in which the apple
matures fruit can be successfully raised. Again, other varieties require such a
long season of warm weather that it is only in the warmest districts where apples
are grown that they reach full development. Crimson Beauty requires but a short
season, without much warm weather, to ripen ; whereas the Winesap and Newtown
Pippin will not mature thoroughly except in the warmest parts of Canada, as, even
if the season is a long one, unless there is much high temperature to properly
mature these fruits they cannot be very successfully grown. Thus, just as the
12 THE REPORT OF THE No. 44
banana and orange require higher temperatures than the apple, if they are to
mature, so different varieties of apples require different amounts of heat to bring
them to full maturity. Thus, also, some varieties do well in a short relatively cool
season ; others do best in a long relatively cool season. Some varieties which only
require a short season where the summers are hot do not reach their fullest develop-
ment where the summer is cooler.
It has been found that there are aboiit ninety varieties being recommended by
growers in different parts of Canada and the United States, although, if all the
varieties advertised by nurserymen were included there would be considerably more
than this, and there are some doubtful ones which we have not included that might
perhaps be.
We have divided the varieties according to their season into 13 summer,
18 autumn, 21 early winter and 38 winter sorts. Some of the summer apples are
autumn sorts in the coldest districts: the autumn varieties, early winter; and the
early winter, winter; but they have been classified according to how they keep in
Ontario, or where a certain variety is specially noted.
Summer Varieties.
There are the fewest good varieties among the summer apples than of any
other season. This is because varieties which will keep have been most sought after.
The summer apples ripen at a time when the farmer is very busy harvesting his
field crops, and they were not profitable for him to grow; and as it is only com-
paratively recently since apple growing became a specialized industry, there has
not been time for many good commercial summer varieties to be found, originated
and introduced. The varieties of summer apples which are being planted are
Duchess of Oldenburg, Yellow Transparent, Red Astrachan, Crimson Beauty,
Williams Favorite, Red June, Starr. Lowland Raspberry, Benoni, Early Harvest,
Charlamoff, Blushed Calville, and Beautiful Arcade.
The Duchess of Oldenburg is the great outstanding summer apple. It is planted
in nearly every apple district from North to South and from East to West. It
withstands great cold and great heat. It is a good bearer and a good shipper, and
the fruit is attractive in appearance, and in some places as much money has been
made out of this variety as any other of any season. Yet it is not good enough in
quality for a dessert apple at a time of year when nearly everyone wants an apple
to eat.
Yellow Transparent is earlier than the Duchess, and it is an early and heavy
bearer, but it is a difficult apple to handle, as it ripens unevenly and is easily
bruised. It also is grown over a wide area, being one of the leading varieties in
Georgia as it is in Ontario, and where it does not have to be shipped far has proved
quite profitable. It, like the Duchess, is a poor variety to begin the season, as it is
too acid and not good enough in quality for dessert.
The Red Astrachan has been grown in America for between eighty and ninety
years, and at one time was much more popular than it is to-day. It is a handsome
apple, but the fruit is usually very uneven in size, ripens very unevenly, and scabs
badly. It apparently requires a warm season for best development. Georgia and
New York States are the only States which report it as one of the leading apples.
The Williams, or Williams Favorite, originated in Massachusetts about one
hundred and seventy-five years ago. Its value as a commercial apple has been
more appreciated in recent years because it is an attractive red apple, is good in
quality, and comes into bearing early and is productive. It does not, however, ripen
1920 FRUIT GKOWERS' ASSOCIATION. 13
until late in August or early in September, and another variety is needed to open
the season. It is thought highly of in the States of New Jersey and Delaware, and
does well in the Annapolis Valley.
The Crimson Beauty must now be referred to. If the Crimson Beauty were
better in quality and a better shipper, here would be a prize indeed. As it is, it is
proving a profitable variety, we believe, to a few who have bearing orchards of it.
This variety was originated by the late Francis Peabody Sharp at' Woodstock, N.B.,
but outside a few orchards in New Brunswick and a few in Nova Scotia it is
practically unknown, yet one grower has made it well known in the Annapolis
Valley. Its chief merit is in its extreme earliness in colouring. At Ottawa, where
we have many hundred of varieties bearing, it is the first red apple to colour. In
1918 it was coloured at the end of July, and was quite ripe before the middle of
August at Ottawa. It, like most of the other early varieties that are planted, is too
poor in quality to start the season with, and something better is needed. It is acid
and has practically no flavour. It is a poor shipper and must be handled carefully
for best results. At Ottawa and at Macdonald College, Que., where it is being
tested, it has not borne well so far, though trees have been planted about twelve
years. ^
Red June is a popular summer variety in the South-eastern States. It is of
solid red colour and good, in quality. Grown at Ottawa, it is uneven in size, most
of the fruit running below medium to small. It ripens at Ottawa early in August,
but the fruit remains in good condition until October. The flesh is firm, and this
variety is a good shipper.
The Starr is a large yellowish-green apple of good quality that is thought well
of in the State of New Jersey. We have not seen this fruiting in Canada.
The only State or place where Benoni is mentioned as being a commercial
variety is in Illinois. It is attractive looking and of good quality, but runs rather
small for a commercial apple.
Early Harvest, at one time a popular yellow apple, is mentioned in Kansas,
but, although this is one of the earliest sorts and one of the best in quality, owing
to its unevenness of size and poor shipping quality, it is grown almost altogether
for home use, and is not widely planted for this purpose as it is very subject to
scab also.
There remain four lius-ian varieties which are very hardy and very useful
in the colder parts of Canada and the United States. All of these have fruited in
Southein Manitoba. They are Charlamoff, Lowland Raspberry', Blushed Calville
and Beautiful Arcade. Charlamoff is one of the most reliable and profitable
summer apples at Ottawa. It is somewhat like Duchess in outward appearance
mi longer in shape, and the quality is good for dessert purposes. It deserves more
general planting. It is highly regarded in Minnesota. The Lowland Raspberry
is a highly coloured apple, mid to late August apple of good to very good quality.
Owing to its tender flesh, it is a poor shipper, and the birds disfigure and destroy
a large number of the fruits. Blushed Calville is earlier than Yellow Transparent
and much hardier. It is a pale yellow apple with a blush, a poor shipper, but
iiecause of its great hardiness is valuable on the Prairies. Beautiful Arcade, also
known as Repka Kislaga, and by several other names, is a very hardy yellow sweet
apple valuable for the coldest parts.
It will thus be seen that the ideal summer apple is still to be found.
Of apples originated at the Experimental Farm, Ottawa, the following summer
varieties are mentioned out of a large number which have been originated there.
14 THE EEPORT OF THE No. 44
and it is hoped that some of these will become prominent commercial sorts some
day. They are in order of ripening in August : Rupert, Forerunner, Melvin, Battle,
Galetta, Medford, Melba. The Melba is the best of these, and very promising.
Autumn Varieties.
If a vote were taken among Ontario fruit growers the Wealthy might be given
first place among the autumn varieties of apples, but if it were taken in some other
part of Canada, or in certain of the United States, the Gravenstein would be con-
sidered the outstanding variety. Perhaps the best way of getting over the difficulty
is to say that, while there is but one outstanding summer apple, the Duchess of
Oldenburg, there are two predominant autumn sorts, the Wetohy and Gravenstein.
The Wealthy is probably more widely planted than the Gravenstein, yet, while
the latter is not found in the colder parts of Canada and the United States, where
apples are grown commercially, the Gravenstein is grown in nearly all of the great
apple centres of the more temperate and warmer parts. It is very popular in
Eastern America, and it is also popular in the extreme West. The Wealthy, how-
ever, can and is grown to a very large extent where the Gravenstein succeeds, but
there are many places where the Wealthy grows where the Gravenstein fails. The
Wealthy has much to recommend it. The tree is hardy, it is an early and heavy
bearer, too heavy unless the apples are thinned; the fruit is of good size if thinned,
handsome in appearance, and good though not of the best quality. The fruit, as a
rule, scabs little or none in most places where it is grown. It ships well for an
autumn sort. Its chief fault is that it drops badly, but if well thinned this weak-
ness is much lessened. It is a leading variety in most of the more Northern and
Eastern United States and in every province in Canada except the Prairie Prov-
inces, where little fruit is grown. It is a fruit of the more temperate and cooler
parts of America rather than the warmer.
The Gravenstein is the apple which has made the fruit of the Annapolis
Valley famous. It must not be supposed, however, that because the Gravenstein
has made the fruit of the Annapolis Valley famous that the best Gravensteins in
America are grown in the Annapolis Valley. Very fine Gravensteins are grown
elsewhere, and it is certainly one of the best of the autumn varieties in Ontario and
British Columbia as well. The Banks, a highly coloured sort of the Gravenstein
which originated in the Annapolis Valley, has become quite popular there.
It is surprising how few other autumn varieties there are which are widely
planted in America, although there are about eighteen which are planted more or
less.
Alexander will, perhaps, come next, but what a drop there is between Graven-
stein and Alexander. This variety has been planted in the past because of its
large size and handsome appearance and hardiness of tree. But the plantings of it
are getting less each year as it is not good enough in quality.
Blenheim is little grown outside of Nova Scotia, where it succeeds exception-
ally well. It is grown to some extent in Ontario and in New York State, but is
not now mentioned as a leading variety in any of the States.
Fall Pippin is a fine old autumn variety that is still considered a leading
sort in Connecticut, and Georgia, and in California, Oregon, and Washington, and
is highly regarded by some growers in New York State and in Ontario.
Maiden Blush was at one time widely planted, and was a very popular autumn
apple due to its very handsome, delicate appearance and good quality. It is not
very hardy and is not grown in the colder fruit districts. It has to be handled very
1920 FRUIT GROWERS' ASSOCIATION. 15
carefully, as it bruises easily. It is a popular apple in the State of Illinois, and
seems to succeed well through the Middle West.
The six varieties mentioned, namely, Grayenstein, Wealthy, Alexander, Blen-
heim, Fall Pippin and Maiden Blush have been more generally planted than any
of the others.
Twenty Ounce ('Cayuga Red Streak) is popular in New York State, and is a
large handsome apple, valuable for cooking.
Dudley is popular in New Brunswick and is become favourably known in
other parts of Canada and in Minnesota. It is about the same season as Wealthy,
is larger, is handsome in appearance, is of good quality and does not drop as ba^ly
as Wealthy. The tree is as hardy or hardier than Wealthy. This variety deserves
a trial where it has not been grown.
Fanny has a limited popularity and is inclined to run small.
Okabena is a seedling of Duchess of Oldenburg, which ripens just after that
variety and resembles it somewhat. It is an early bearer and productive, and is, we
believe, a coming apple for the colder parts of Canada where apples are grown
commercially. It is doing well at Ottawa. It is highly regarded in Minnesota.
Golden White, also known as Winter Stripe, is a Russian variety of handsome
appearance, and fairly good quality, which has proved very hardy and productive
at Ottawa, and is deserving of further trial.
Langford Beauty is a handsome apple of the Fameuse type, which has done
well in Eastern Ontario.
St. Lawrence, owing to its shy bearing habit, while of very good quality, is*
little planted.
The remaining varieties are valuable in the colder parts of Canada and the
United States. They are McMahan, Antonovka, Patten Greening, and Peach of
^lontreal ; Worcester Pearmain, an. English variety, has done well in some parts of
Canada.
Many autumn varieties have been originated at Ottawa, but eight of the most
promising are Glenton, Ambo, Lipton, Joyce, Pedro, Thurso, Patricia and Hume.
Early Winter Varieties.
It was difficult to know where to place some of the varieties mentioned in this
group, whether to put them here or among the winter sorts. The varieties put in
this group are those which remain in good condition in most apple districts from
November until February.
The two outstanding early winter varieties to-day are the Mcintosh and
Jonathan. There are, doubtless, more trees of Jonathan planted than of Mcintosh,
but Mcintosh is an apple which we believe is rapidly overtaking the Jonathan in
quantity of fruit produced, and, as the Mcintosh is a Canadian apple, we are
naturally proud of the high place it is taking.
The first tree of the Mcintosh apple was found along a road by John Mcintosh,
Dundela, Ont., in 1796. He planted it out in his orchard, and from that tree have
come the thousands of trees growing in Canada and the United States to-day. It
succeeds well over a very wide area in Canada and the United States, but is not so
popular near the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts, where the air is relatively moist, as
it is too difficult to control the apple scab in such places. The good points of this
apple are hardiness of tree, a regular bearing habit, productive without being over-
productive, fruit of good size, very attractive in colour, very good in quality, and,
while not very suitable for packing in barrels, makes an excellent box fruit, which
16 THE KEPOBT OF THE No. 44
commands a very high place. Very large plantings of Mcintosh have been made
in recent years in most of the Eastern States, and in the iN'orth-west-ern States,
Ontario and Quebec, and in some parts of the Maritime Provinces, and in the upper
country in British Columbia. It is better in quality than the Jonathan, which may
be considered its chief rival, although Jonathan has still the lead for quantity of
fruit available.
Although the Jonathan originated in the East, it is the Middle West, West
and North-western States which have made it famous, and it has been planted
more extensively, perhaps, than any other variety in British Columbia. In the
Eastern States and in Eastern Canada the fruit is not large enough, as a rule, and
is not much planted. It is an early and heavy bearer, and the fruit is very hand-
some, being of a deep but lively red with patches of yellow often sho'W'ing, which
adds to its beauty. It is a seedling of the Esopus Spitzenburg, and, like that
variety, has a high flavour. At present Western grown fruit of this variety meets
a ready sale in the cities and towns of Eastern Canada and the United States early
in the winter, when oifered for sale in boxes.
The Province of Quebec is noted for its Fameuse, and, mitil the Mcintosh
became well known, was more largely planted, but, while the Fameuse is a fine
apple, it is rapidly giving place, where it was once gro-^Ti, to the Mcintosh. The
Fameuse is still considered a leading apple in the States of Maine, Vermont, and
New York, and in parts of Ontario, where it is known as the Snow. It has not
been a favourite near the coast.
Ehode Island Greening is one of the most important early winter apples,
though we know that in Nova Scotia' it keeps until near spring. It is one of the
most highly thought of apples in the Eastern States, and in the State of New York
comes second only to Baldwin in importance. It is also very popular in the warmer
parts of Ontario, and, as we know, is very much grown in the Annapolis Valley.
It is essentially an Eastern apple, and because of its excellence both for cooking
and eating will, no doubt, continue for some time to be one of the best sorts to
plant.
The Tompkins King is a well-known early winter apple and one of the hand-
somest in appearance and best in quality. This is a rather shy bearer in most
places where it is grown, which is its main fault, but I have noticed that in Nova
Scotia in the East and Vancouver Island on the West it is much more productive
than in the interior, and thus seems particularly suitable for coastal conditions. It
is only in Connecticut and New York States in the United States that it seems to
be regarded as a popular commercial variety. It is now very little plant-ed in
Ontario, and is more popular in Nova Scotia than in any other part of Canada.
The Griones succeeds very well over a large area and is one of the best early
winter apples. It is a leading variety in the Middle Western States, in the North-
western States, and to some extent in the Eastern States, and is one of the popular
varieties in Virginia. It is not planted much in Eastern Canada, but does very
well in British Columbia, particularly in the Okanagan. While it is a yellow apple
and not so attractive in appearance as the red sorts, where it is well known it is in
much demand owing to its very go!bd quality.
The Wagener is, we know, regarded as a winter apple in Nova Scotia, but in
most places where it is grown it does not keep well past mid-winter. It is considered
a leading apple in Massachusetts, but in no other State is it mentioned as being an
important variety. It has been planted to some extent in the North-western States
and in British Columbia, but the tree has been found tenderer than Jonathan, it is
1920 FKllT (rROWERS' ASSOCJATlOxN^. 17
not as good a shipper as Jonathan, hence Jonathan is a more productive variety as
a filler. It has been planted to .-onie extent as a filler in Ontario, and, as we know,,
is largel}^ grown as a winter apple in the Annapolis Valley. It is a very early and
heavy bearer and on this account makes a good filler. The fruit is handsome in
appearance and good in quality, but a rather poor shipper in most places on
account of its tender flesh.
The seven varieties already referred to, namely, Mcintosh, Jonathan, Fameuse,
llhode Island Greening, Tompkins King, Grimes and ^^'agene^ are, perhaps, the,
most noted of the twenty-one included with the early winter sorts.
Two other well-known sorts, though popular over a relatively limited area, are
]^ibston and Hubbardston.
Eibston is an important variety in Nova Scotia in the Annapolis and Corn-
wallis Valleys and is gTOwn to a limited extent in other parts of the Maritime
Provinces: it is planted to some extent in Ontario, though it is not an important
variety here. It succeeds well in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia and
on A^ancouver Island, but in none of the United States is it mentioned as an
important variety. On account of its being an English variety and well known
there, the Nova Scotians are able to find a good market for this variety in England.
The Hubbardston is growing in popularity, although it is not widely planted.
It is one of the important varieties in the State of New York and is highly
regarded in Western Ontario. It resembles the Ribston somcwliat in outward
appearance, and is of good quality and in season in November and December in
Ontario.
Delicious has become a noted apple in a comparatively short time. It is well
advertised by the introducers, and' its remarkably tender flesh, and mild but high
flavour have made it a favourite with most people who have eaten it. As grown in
the North-western States and in British Columbia it is a very handsome apple of
large size and very good quality. Some of the Eastern and Southern States now
mentioning it as one of the leading or promising varieties are Maine, New Jersey,
Georgia, New Mexico and Virginia, and, no doubt, it will soon be called promising
in other districts. Where the season is relatively short and cool it does not develop
as well as in those parts where the season is long and warm, and unless it is highly
coloured and well developed it does not compare favourably with other varieties
more suited to the conditions. While the season of Delicious is early winter it
keeps well in cold storage until the following summer. In some places Delicious
is subject to water core and to the naturally tender flesh becoming too soft. The
Delicious has not proved hardy at Ottawa.
The Yellow Bellflower, or Bii^hop Pippin as it is known in the Maritime
Provinces, is, perhaps, more important in the apple districts of California than in
any other part of America. There it is a popular autumn apple. It is mentioned
as one of the leading apples in New Mexico, so that it is known far from the
Maritime Provinces. It is still regarded as one of the leading apples in New York
State.
The Ortley belongs to the Bellflower group and is grown to a considerable
extent in the North-western States.
The Winter Banana is one of the newer early winter apples which deserves
mention. It is handsome in appearance and very good in quality, but, as it shows
bruises readih', it is not now being planted extensively as a commercial apple. It
has been planted to a considerable extent in the North-western States and in British
Columbia. It is not now mentioned as a leading variety in anv of the Unit^'d
States.
18 THE REPORT OF THE No. 44
Westfield Seek No Further is a popular variety over a limited area. It is very
productive and of good quality, and the tree is hardier than some of the other
early winter apples. It is inclined to run rather small unless well grown. It is
still considered one of the important apples in New York State, and is well thought
of along Lake Ontario in the Province of Ontario.
Sutton Beauty has not increased in popularity as rapidly as one might expect
to judge by its handsome appearance and good quality. Vermont is the only State
which lists it as an important variety, although it has been planted fairly exten-
sively in New York State and, doubtless, in other Eastern States.
Wolf River has been planted instead of Alexander, where a large red cooking
apple is wanted. It resembles Alexander very much, but keeps better. This
variety is planted to some extent in the colder parts of Canada, where there are
commercial orchards, and in Minnesota and Wisconsin especially in the United
States.
Cox Orange Pippin. This delicious English variety is grown to a limited
extent only in America. It is succeeding well in parts of British Columbia, and
in the warmer parts of Nova Scotia. It is not very productive, as a rule.
King David is one of the newer apples which has come into notice mainly in
the North-western States and in British Columbia. It is dark red in colour, of
striking appearance, and good quality. It is not mentioned as promising in any of
the Eastern States.
Opalescent. This is a large, handsome red apple of recent introduction. The
tree is a good bearer. Young trees seen in Nova Scotia in 1919 were bearing
heavily. The flesh of the fruit is, however, coarse. It lacks juice, and although
well flavoured is not a high class apple.
Scarlet Pippin, a handsome Fameuse seedling, keeping better than Fameuse,
is planted to a limited extent in Ontario.
Milwaukee is a winter apple of the Oldenburg type, and is useful as an early
and heavy bearing hardy varie'ty.
Hibernal is, perhaps, the hardiest apple planted in America, and is useful in
the coldest parts. It is not desirable where other sorts succeed as the quality is low.
Two promising early winter seedlings of Northern Spy, originated at Ottawa,
are Ascot and Rocket.
Winter Varieties.
What is the outstanding winter variety of apple where the whole of North
America is considered?
There are about ten from which to select the leader. They are Baldwin,
Northern Spy, Winesap, Yellow Newton, Stayman Winesa]), Rome Beauty, York
Imperial, Stark and Ben Davis.
Of these, Ben Davis is undoubtedly the variety that has been most generally
successful if we may call getting large crops of well coloured fruit and selling at
a good profit is being successful, and most fruit growers would consider this to
be so. Ben Davis has done well in the north, south, east and west in the United
States, except in the very coldest parts. It has been grown profitably also in
Canada, except in the coldest districts. The plantings of Ben Davis are, however,
getting less each year in proportion to other sorts as, considering the enormous
number of trees which have been set out of varieties of better quality than Ben
Davis, growers are a little afraid that Ben will not be so profitable in the future
as he has been in the past. Moreover, recent severe winters have been hard on
1920 FRUIT GROWERS' ASSOCIATION. 19
Ben, and many thousands of trees have been killed in the Middle West in the
United States and in Ontario in Canada.
The plantings of Baldwin are confined mainly to the States east of the Missis-
sippi Valley, to the warmer parts of the Province of Ontario and to the warmer
parts of Nova Scotia, and over that great area an enormous quantity of this fine
apple is grown. It might be considered the great staple winter apple of America.
It is productive, handsome in appearance, and good in quality. It is one of the
tenderest of the winter varieties, however, and it is useless to plant it where the
coldness of a climate makes its success doubtful. To do its best it requires a
warmer summer than it gets in the Annapolis and Cornwallis Valleys.
If the average consumer in Canada were asked which is the best winter apple
he would unhesitatingly say Northern Spy. Northern Spy has acquired a repu-
tation for quality in Canada and certain parts of the United States which would
make other sorts envious if they were human. Like the Baldwin, however, the
Northern Spy, though grown to some extent in the North-western States, is
essentially an Eastern apple. It is one of the hardiest of the winter varieties and
will fruit where Baldwin, Oreening and King are winter killed. Many growers of
Northern Spy, however, find that it is not one of the most profitable for them to
grow, as there is a large proportion of wastage in the fruit apart from the fact
that it takes so long to come into bearing, and if it were not for the great demand
for it by consumers we fear that this fine sort would not hold its own among other
sorts.
The Winesap, while not much known in Canada, is a very important apple in
the South-eastern States, the Southern States, the Middle West, and in the North-
western States. In Canada, the only part which seems to suit it is the most
southerly part of British Columbia, where the summers are hot and relatively long.
This variety is very good in quality, and we might say is to the. south as a dessert
apple what the Northern Spy is to the northern parts of the United States and to
Canada.
The Stayman Winesap is larger than the Winesap, and just as good or better
in quality and is rapidly taking the place of Winesap in some sections. It seems
hardier than Winesap and is ]jeing grown successfully where AVinesap does not
-do well. It is an apple which should be thoroughly tested in the warmer parts of
Ontario.
The Rome Beauty has become a very familiar apple in Canada during the
winter in boxes from the North-western States, where this variety has come
rapidly to the front. It is of good size, very handsome in appearance, and good in
quality, though not as good as Northern Spy pr Winesap or Stayman Winesap.
While it is doing particularly well in the West, it is now one of the leading apples
in the Middle West. It is also succeeding well in Virginia, Georgia and New
Mexico. Doubtless, it will soon take an important place in more of the Eastern
States. W^hile planted to some extent in British Columbia, it has been little
planted in Eastern Canada yet. It seems hardier than most of the great com-
mercial winter sorts, and is an early and heavy bearer. It is well worthy of a
thorough test in the great apple districts of Ontario.
Yellow Newton or Albermarle Pippin is another variety which requires a
long warm season for full development. It is one of the tenderest of the winter
apples, and is grown mainly in the Southern States, in the North-western States,
and to some extent in the warmest parts of British Columbia. The Yellow Newton
on account of its firm flesh is a good shipping apple. It is ver^- good quality, and
is highly regarded in the Old Country.
THE REPORT OF THE No. 44
Stark. The Stark apple is not mentioned by any of the States as being a
leading apple. In Canada it has been more extensively planted in the Province of
Ontario than anywhere else, and has proved a profitable variety there, as it is an
early and heavy bearer. It has been planted to some extent in Nova Scotia also,
and we understand is now considered one of the leading apples in the Annapolis
Valley. The quality of the Stark, however, like the Ben Davis, is not good enough
to ensure its permanenc}', and is too mild in flavour even for a cooking apple.
York Imperial is another winter sort which is confined mainly to the Southern
States and to the Middle West. It is handsome in appearance, but the quality is
not high. It is, perhaps, being more largely planted in Virginia than in any other
State.
Roxbury Russet or Nonpareil. This variety is not an important apple outside
New York State, Ontario, and Nova Scotia. The good qualities of the Rus^set
varieties are not as much appreciated in America as they are in Great Britain and
Europe, and if it were not for the export trade this fruit would probably not be so
much grown in Nova Scotia as it is. It is one of the best keeping winter apples,
and the quality is good to very good.
American Golden Russet is little planted nowadays. It has the reputation of
being a shy bearer, and there is also only a limited demand in the home markets
foi this fme dessert sort.
Esopus Spitzenburg is one of the finest dessert apples, but does not appear to
be a profitable variety to grow in most sections. It is not very productive and
scabs badly in the East. It is still considered an important variety in New York
State, but the AVashington Spitzenburgs are those best known on the market, and
they command a very h\gh price.
The remaining -winter sorts may be very briefly mentioned. Gano and Black
Ben Davis, highly coloured strains of Ben Davis, have been planted to some extcjit,
but are no better except in colour than Ben Davis.
Red Canada is a handsome winter apple of high quality, which is considered
one of the best commercial apples for Vermont, and is highly regarded in Western
Ontario, where it is increasing in popularity. It is also called Steele's Red Winter
and differs from the Canada Red, which is grown in the Province of Quebec, which
is a much inferior apple, the proper name of which is Roseau.
Akin Red is another highly coloured winter apple of very good quality, which,
although not a leading sort anywhere so far as we are aw^are, has been planted to
some extent in recent years. It seems to require a long rather warm season for
best development.
Minkler is a prominent winter apple in the State of Illinois, and is met with
to a limited extent in other parts of the United States and Canada.
Salome is one of the hardiest of the late keeping varieties. It is handsome
in appearance, productive, and good in quality, and, while it does not seem to be an
outstanding variety anywhere, it is well thought of in the North-eastern States
and by some growers in Ontario. It is grown to some extent in British Columbia
and the North-western States. In some districts it runs uneven in size, a large
proportion of the fruit being too small.
Fallawater is a well known winter apple in Nova Scotia and Ontario and iv.
the Eastern States, but is no longer extensively planted. It is not good enough in
quality to compete with other better apples.
The Wellington apple, an English variety, seems to have found a place in Nova
Scotin.
1920 FRUIT GKOWEES' ASSOCIATION. 21
Blue Pearmain is an old variety, which is one oi' the hardiest winter apples,
but usually does not bear enough to make it very profitable. It is found to a
limited extent in the North-eastern States and all through Eastern Canada. It
is of very good quality.
Ontario is an apple originated in the Province of Ontario^ a cross between
Northern Spy and Wagener. The tree bears young and heavily. This variety
has done well in Ontario, in New York State and in Annapolis Valley, but it
bruises so readily that it does not advance rapidly in favour.
Cranberry Pippin is a variety which has succeeded very well in Southern
Ontario, but is too inferior in quality to be planted any more.
Tolman is still the principal sweet apple grown, and succeeds well in the
Eastern States, in Ontario, and in the Maritime Provinces.
Paragon, sometimes known as Mammoth Black Twig, is a red apple of good
quality, which has proven particularly suitable for the South-eastern and Middle
West apple districts where Winesap is so well known. This is not the ss^me as
another apple sometimes known as Mammoth Black Twig, but more correctly
Arkansas Black, which seems to be an important variety in Idaho, Texas and New
Mexico.
Bethel, Scott Winter, Pewaukee, North Western Greening, and Canada Bald-
win are all varieties which succeed in the colder parts of Canada and the United
State, where the best winter apples do not succeed, but none of them are good
enough even for these regions. Other varieties which have a limited adaptation
or are grown over a limited area in the United States are Kinnaird, Willowtwig,
Hero and White Pearmain, Sheckley, Terry, Yates, Hoover, Dr. Matthews and
Red Texas. There are, of course, many others which might be mentioned.
Some promising winter apples originated at Ottawa. All seedlings of Northern
Spy are Donald, Elmer, Bingo, Niobe, and Emilia.
While it has not been possible to describe in detail all the varieties mentioned
in this paper, full descriptions of most of them will be found in the writer's
bulletin on " The Apple in Canada,'^ which can be had free on application to the
Experimental Farm, Ottawa.
Which of all the varieties mentioned are recommended for Ontario? There
may be a difference of opinion in regard to this, but, after correspondence and
conversation with growers the following list was published in the writer's bulletin
on *' The Apple in Canada,'' and is practically the same as that recommended by
the Fruit Branch of the Provincial Department of Agriculture :
District 1.
Counties North of Lake Erie :
Summer. — Red Astrachan, Duchess of Oldenburg.
Autumn. — Gravenstein, Wealthy, Blenheim.
Early Wi7iter. — Tompkins King, Hubbardston, Mcintosh, Fameuse, Rhode
Island Greening.
Winter. — Baldwin, Northern Spy.
District 2.
Counties on Lake Huron and the souihcrn part of the Georgian Bay and
inland to WeUington and Waterloo Co^inti^^^:
Summer. — Red Astrachan, Duchess of Oldenburg.
23 THE REPORT OF THE No. 44
Autumn. — Gravenstein, Wealthy, Alexander, Blenheim.
Early Winter. — Tompkins King, Rhode Island Greening, Mcintosh, Famense,
Winter. — Baldwin, Northern Spy.
District 3'.
Counties on Lake Ontario north to a line south of Lake Simcoe on the west
and converging to Kingston on the east:
Summer. — Duchess of Oldenburg.
Autumn. — Gravenstein, Wealthy, Alexander, Blenheim.
Early Winter. — Mcintosh, Fameuse, Rhode Island Greening.
Winter. — Baldwin, Northern Spy. Baldwin is too tender in some places.
Additional varieties suggested for trial, home use or local market for district.?
1, 2 and 3 : Yellow Transparent, Primate, Ribston, Swayzie, Tolman, Rome Beauty.
District 4.
Counties of Wellington and Waterloo and the higher elevations in the adjacent
Counties :
Summer. — Duchess of Oldenburg.
Autumn. — Wealthy, Alexander.
Early Winter. — Mcintosh, Fameuse.
Other varieties such as Gravenstein, Blenheim, Ribston and Northern Spy will
succeed in the most favourable parts, but it is safer to top-graft them.
District 5.
Fi'oni near Kingston, north and east to latitude 46 deg. and along this line
west to and including Manitoulin Island, and south to District 3-
Summer. — Yellow Transparent, Crimson Beauty, Duchess of Oldenburg, Lang-
ford Beauty.
Autumn, — Wealthy, Alexander, Dudley, McMahan, Okabena is promising.
Early Winter. — Mcintosh, Fameuse, Wolf River.
Winter. — Milwaukee, Bethel, Scott Winter, Scarlet Pippin succeeds well near
the St. Lawrence River, but it is liardly hardy enough inland.
Additional varieties suggested for home use :
Summer. — Lowland Raspberry.
Autumn. — Peach of Montreal, St. Lawrence.
Winter. — Pewaukee, American Golden Russet, Tolman.
While a few winter varieties are recommended for this district, extensive
plantings of them are not advised.
District 6.
North of District 5-
Summer. — Blushed Calville, Lowland Raspberry, Duchess of Oldenburg and
Charlamoff; the two latter being autumn varieties in this district.
Autumn. — 'Golden White, Antonovka, Wealthy, Hibernal, McMahan, Longfield
and Patten Greening — all of which might be called early winter apples in this
district. Where apples wall not grow, the following crab apples should be tried :
Whitney, Transcendent, Florence, Martha and Hyslop. Where the climate is
most severe, the hybrid crab apples originated at the Central Experimental Farm,
Ottawa, such as Silvia, Jewel and Charles, should succeed.
1920 FRUIT GKOWERS' ASSOCIATION. 23
LESSONS FROM THE ORCHARDS AT :\IACD0NAL1) COLLEGE.
Prof. Bunting, Macdonalu College, St. Anne de Bellevue, Que.
The orchards at Macclonald Colleoe, in the Province of Quebec, are located
twenty-one miles west of the City of ^lontreal, and comprise thirty acres, consisting
of twenty-four and a half acres of young apple trees, twelve and thirteen years of
age, an acre and a half of American plums, some cherries and pear trees, and some
older apple trees from twenty-five to thirty years. The standard apple trees have
been planted 33 feet x 33 feet with fillers the one way consisting of early bearing
apple trees, sour cherry and plum trees, mostly of the Americana group.
Over 100 varieties of apples, including a number of Mr. Macoun^s named
seedlings have been planted. Of this number of varieties 12 are represented by
forty or more trees of each — 12 by 20 or more trees and the balance by from one
to four trees.
The soil is a fertile clay loam overlaying a rather stilf cUiy, and underneath
this at varying depths is rock. The land has been fairly well drained with tile,
and for the most part dries up in the spring much earlier than adjoining undrained
land.
Culture. — The orchard has been well cultivated and planted with intercrops,
consisting of potatoes and other vegetables, strawberries, some raspberries and
clover. During the first five years of the orchard the intercrops occupied a large
part of the total area, but as the trees increased in size this area was decreased in
order to permit of cultivating the tree rows without seriously interfering with the
limbs of the trees. By the tenth year approximately only one-half the space between
the tree rows was intercropped, and after this time, as the orchard was commencing
to bear more heavily, it was thought wise to discontinue intercropping, although
some parts of the orchard have had crops between the tree rows during the past
three years. The intercrops have been quite satisfactory and profitable, and would
be recommended for any young orchard where an adequate market can be found
for the produce. Potatoes, beans, beets, carrots and turnips, cabbage,* squash,
tomatoes and early short varieties of corn, strawberries and raspberries have all
been used extensively.
Clover planted as a catch or cover crop in June on one occasion was allowed to
grow the following year for hay, but on account of the difficulty and cost of getting
it out from among the trees it could not be recommended, although an exeellent
growth was secured. The result of the fertilization of the ground for these inter-
crops and their cultivation has stimulated a heavy wood growth, and many of the
trees have not come rapidly into bearing, but now that they are larger are capable
of bearing heavier crops, and the intercrops provided the return during the early
period of the orchard. The intercrops, in addition to ])roviding a revenue, consider-
ably reduced the cost of cultivating the orchard, as the cultivation, instead of being
solely charged to the orchard, is largely charged against the intercrop.
The result on the fruit of the heavy feeding and cultivation of these inter-
crops has been to greatly increase its size, and on the whole it has not been so well
coloured, although of good colour, as plots where cultivation was stopped late in
June or early in July.
In later y^ars of intercropping and especially when the trees were carrying
considerable fruit, the work of spraying did much damage to these crops, in that
they were tramped on and driven over by the spray wagon and team, and the men,
in quickly moving about with a line of hose also did much damage.
24 THE IJEPOKT OF THE Xo. 44
Cover Crops. — A number of different kinds of cover crops are sown during
the latter part of June or early July each year. At first these crops were sown
along the strip occupied by the tree row and where they would not interfere with
the intercrops. As the area in intercrops was decreased the cover crop was propor-
tionately increased, so that by the tenth year a strip approximately 16^2 feet wide
was in cover crop. Since then each year a cover crop has been sown over the
entire area of the orchard where other crops were not grown or weeds were allowed
to grow.
The cover crops grown may be divided into three general classes: first the le-
gumes, including clovers, vetohes, horse beans, and cowpeas, of which the first two
are most satisfactory, but of late years have been too costly for seed for orchards not
particularly in need of nitrogen. Second, broad leaved non-legumes such as rape
and buckwheat; these have the advantages of producing an abundance of humus
and are not so costly. They smothered weeds by their rapid and strong gi'owth
but hold the dew and rain and make it very w^et under foot at harvest time and
difRcult to gather windfalls. The third cla&s are the grains, including oats, rye
and winter wheat, of whicH the two latter are the best, producing an abundance of
humus, and not having the decided objection of buckwheat or rape in being so wet
underfoot. A fourth class may be referred to as weeds, which have the advantage
of costing nothing for seed, and usually give a good covering to the ground. At
the present wi'iting we have a piece of chickweed which is ideal from the stand-
point of protection and the orchard. In the areas allowed to grow up in weeds we
handle it like the rape, and cut it once with the mower about the end. of August or
sometimes before the harvest. The objection to this is the injury to windfalls by
pimotures in the skin 'of the fniit in falling on the stubble.
Fertilizers. — Fertilizer experiments have been carried on in one block of
over seven acres, including apples, and some cherries and plums used as fillers. In
these tests there are check plots with no fertilizer, stable manure used heavy and
light, and various combinations of commercial fertilizers, including an excess of
each of 'nitrogen, potash, and phosphoric acid. In this block, intercrops were
grown continuously for ten years, and the land was moderately fertilized with
stable manure over that part of the centre of the tree rows occupied with crop.
During the last three years no intercrops were grown. The cover crops during
this time have consisted of clover or rape. Up to the present no difference in
cither wood groAvth or fruit production as the direct result of the use of fertilizers
either manure or commercial, has been noted, but it must be borne in mind that
this block has good soil, and has been well cultivated and seeded to cover crops
which undoubtedly has added a large supply of humus and available plant food to
the soil. Whether or not marked differences in regard to yields will later Occur as
the result of fertilizers remains to be seen.
Pruning. — The orchard has been annually pruned, and on the whole rather
heavily. This heavy pruning has been due in part to the rapid and strong gro-wi:!! of
the trees. One of tlie chief difficulties in connection with pruning has been the large
number of main limbs that have been allowed to form from the trunk in the early
years of the orchard. In some cases there are from ten to a dozen quite close
together, and this has been a source of weakness in the trees, resulting in cracking
and splitting in the main crotches, and it has been a favoured place :Jpr the develop-
ment of a canker. This injury has later resulted in tiie ])reaking out of some
limbs, and following the winter of 1917-18 considerable canker developed. Three
to five main limbs well placed on the trunk are sufficient for the main scaffx>ld of
1920 FHIiT (rliOWKKS* ASSCK;] ATIOX. '^r,
most apple trees. Lighter pruiiings on the whole would likely have resulted in
earlier crops on some varieties.
Top-CjIkaftixg. — Some top-grafting on hardy, vigorous trees, such as Arabka
jiihI Longfied, has been done, and where the varieties' used for the graft are liard^
tl^ey have done well. However, a number of varieties not recommended for the
province on account of lack of hardiness and including Spy, Baldwin, King,
Gravenstein, etc., were used, and these were entirely killed out in the winter of
1917-18, although Arabka trees came through fairly well.
Spraying. — We have had an abundance of disease and insect pests to contend
with, including scab, canker, oyster-shell, codlin moth, bud moth, cigar case bearer,
tent caterpillar, fall web worm, canker worms, cheriy slugs, aphids, etc. The^e
luivo all been successfully kept in check, with the exception of the canker, which
has made some headway. The apple scab and insect pests have presented no
ilihicult pro])leni, but are a great drain on la])or (luring a busy season, and an it^u]
of considerable expense in growing good fruit. For the main part of the orchard
the spraying has consisted of the use of lime sulphur in combination with arsenate
of lead, the paste and dr}- form, and latterly of arsenate of lime. In addition,
considerable spraying work has been carried on to test other combinations or
recommendations, and new materials. A power sprayer has been used for all work
except in small plot sprayings, and during the past three years the spray gun was
used for applying the liquid.
We have found the lime-sulphur satisfactory for scab, as an orchard spray,
and have not noted under oiii- conditions the loss from dropping of the newly
formed fruits as the result of lime-sulphur spray injury reported from Xova Scotia.
The lime-sulphur is just as satisfactory as a scab control as Bordeaux mixture, but
in connection with the use of Bordeaux mixture we have, from time to time, had
Bordeaux injury or russeting on such varieties as Mcintosh and Fameuse. In
addition lime-sulphur lias been a c-lieaper spray tluni Bordeaux mixture during
late years. As there is no San Jose scale to contend with we have dispensed with
the lime -sulphur 1.003 sp. gr. spray for some years, and are using the semi or
delayed dormant lime-sxdphur spray of 1.001 sp. gr. for first spray. Several brands
of arsenate of lime have been used extensively in combination with lime-sulphur
without any ill effects from burning, and it has proved a satisfactory control for
eating insects and is considerably cheaper than either of the two forms of arsenate
of lead.
In using the Spragun we have found it a great labour saver, but during the
past year, which was favorable to the development of scab, we ha\e had considerable
scab develop in the cavity or stem end of the Mcintosh, while nine-tenths of the
area of the fruit was absolutely free. This injury is attributed to the use of too
coarse a stream under high pressure, driven in from the Spragun from the ground,
when the apples were small and on their sides, or the calyces ])ointing outwards,
and the spray has not entered this part of the cavity. Later when the apples were
larger and pointing downward dew or moisture would lodge in the calyx and
favored the development of scab on this part untouched with lime-sulphur.
The dusting machine has not been used, but has been observed in other
orchards. It is a great labour saver, but in the writer's opinion should only be con-
sidered an adjunct to the spraying equipment in the large orchards. This past
season one orchard has been inspected in which the dusting machine was depended
upon to control the scab, but on account of high winds prevailing throughout the
spraying period the dust could not be put on satisfactorily, with the result that
26 THE REPORT OF THE No. 44
the crop was very scabby and wormy. In this orchard the dusting machine gave
excellent results last year.
■Thinning of Fruits. This is one operation that is little practised or under-
stood in the east, and one that should be taken up more generally in connection
with some varieties. The writer has practised the thinning of Yellow Transparent,
Duchess, and Wealthy extensively for some years, and to some extent on other
varieties, and considers it essential to the production of high class fruit of these
varieties. The thinning has been done on comparatively young trees which could
be reached with six and eight-foot stepladders. The cost has been low, ranging
from 15 to 30 cents per tree, but it is felt that this cost is more than compensated for
by the smaller number of fruits to handle in picking and packing. In the process
of thinning, which is done in late June, all defective or ill-shapen apples are removed
and also those apples that are not well placed as far as receiving a fair amount of
light. Only one apple is left to a spur, unless the crop is very light on the tree or
some limbs, when two apples are left. If the spurs carrying fruit are quite close
together as is frequently the case with these varieties, all the apples are removed
from some spurs. We do not attempt to thin to a definite distance apart, but
prefer that the apples be from four to six inches apart on any one branch. The
result of thinning has been to greatly increase the uniformity, quality, and size of
the fruit; and it is much better colored because all fruits have ample room for good
light. We believe we have more regularity in bearing on these thinned trees as the
direct result of thinning, although there are many other factors influencing the
bearing habit. There has also been little breaking of limbs on the thinned fruit as
compared with heavily laden unthinned trees. The satisfaction in handling this
high class fruit should count for something as well as the higher prices obtained for
the box or barrel of such fruit.
Varieties. In handling an orchard of so many varieties, many difficulties
have been experienced in marketing the fruit. The market requirements are for
a large output of uniform fruit of known value. Good fruit of known value will
sell readily, but unknown varieties of good quality are more difficult to sell, and
will not bring such good prices, while little known varieties of mediocre merit
should be discarded from the commercial plantings. The local adaptability of the
district to different fruits as well as market requirements should be carefully
studied in determining the varieties that should be planted. Too many varieties
is a mistake except probably for local markets; however, it is well to have five or
six varieties which will aid in distributing the work of picking, packing and
marketing over a longer season and also aid in ensuring some crop in off-seasons for
some varieties. The Mcintosh and Fameuse are our two leading varieties and are
similar in many respects, but the marked differences in other respects should be
noted and studied by the intending planter. The Mcintosh will fall readily as it
nears maturity, and in cases of high wind many apples may go to the ground. The
Fameuse hangs to the trees well, and may be left nntil after the Mcintosh are har-
vested.
The Fameuse has been very seriously injured as the result of the winter of
1917-18, and thousands of old and young trees have been killed out throughout
the province. But we are not discouraged, for the Fameuse has stood the test and
been the leading variety for a hundred years.
Our best and most profitable varieties are Duchess, Wealthy, Alexander, Mc-
intosh, and Fameuse (Snow). We can grow those to perfection and have an un*
1920 FRUIT GROWERS' ASSOCIATION. 27
limited market for them. Of winter apples we have so few of sufficient hardiness
and merit that it is questionable whether any of them should be recommended for
•extensive commercial plantings in Quebec.
One of the most difficult factors to contend with in the Quebec orchards is the
prevalence of canker. The Fameuse is quite subject to it, and the Mcintosh is
more resistant. Probably we will have to check the tree growth earlier in June to
allow of better ripening of the wood before severe weather sets in, for it is largely
through frost splits or cracks on the trunk and larger limbs, especially in the
crotches, that the disease gains entrance.
In conclusion I would like to say that from my experience and observation in
Quebec as well as in Ontario I am very hopeful and optimistic of the fruit industry.
However, we have not been making the progress that conditions would justify. The
British Columbia fruit grower is sending in his fruit to our home markets, and
taking the cream of the prices. The dealers openly say they prefer to handle the
western fruit on account of its uniformity, good size, high quality, and splendid
pack, and to-day the buying pu.blic are demanding this type of fruit. The fruit
grower of the east must become a better grower than in the past, and will probably
have to specialize and extend his orchards to regain his home markets, and capture
new ones. Success in fruit growing is dependent largely on the following factors,
and I would emphasize them in the following order: Varieties, suitability of soil
conditions, cultural methods, pruning, spraying, and attention to those other details
such as thinning, picking, packing and storage, all of which help to make the differ-
ence between good crops of high-class fruit and poor crops of indifferent fruit.
THE NIAGARA I3ISTRICT GRAPE GROWERS' ASSOCIATION.
J. C. Livingstone, Grimsby.
My knowledge of the grape growing industry in the Niagara District goes back
thirty-five years, and with a general knowledge extending back for forty-five years.
Thirty^five years ago it was not a usual thing to sell grapes for 15c. and 20c. per
pound. The general crop was sold at 10c. and 12c., and if there was a big crop
it was sold at 8c.; that would mean 56c. a basket. The grape growers were
alarmed when grapes dropped to 6c. per pound, or 42c. per basket. I remember
a few years ago that I sold grapes for 8c. per basket; the basket cost me 3c., and
the picking Ic, which left me 4c. for the cropi and drawing to the station. In the
meantime a great acreage of grapes had been planted, because it w^as thought that
grapes were easy to grow, and they would grow on any kind of land; but it has
been proven that the best cultivation and spraying and pruning are necessary to
get the best results.
I will commence with 1907 to 1910 when grapes were sold at 10c. to 12c. per
basket, and I want to bring you up to this year when they were sold to the wine
companies for as high as $65 per ton, and in special cases to the Italian buyers for
as high as $90 per ton. Previous to 1910 the grape grower was not working for
himself at all, he had no control of his own business, he was working for the middle
man or retailer. For several years I kept account of what grapes sold at in the
Niagara District, and what they w^re sold at in Owen Sound, Sault St. Marie,
Winnipeg, Brandon, and Regina; and I found that the grape grower would be
28 THE KEPOKT OF THE No. 44
getting -ic., DC, and 6c. for a basket: and the dealer or middle-man would get from
Ic. to 5c. on a basket of grapes, and that the retailer would get 20c. on each basket.
The retailer was making more money on a basket of grapes than the dealer and
grower put together.
That condition was brought about in a most peculiar manner, the grape growers
are scattered about from Hamilton to Niagara. There was great competition for
the trade in the west; dealers would send men out there and make contracts for
the season. In order that they might have the grapes to ship, the dealers had to
make contracts with the growers. The dealer went about/ in July and August, and
made ^^ontracts with the growers. The cheaper he could buy the cheaper he could
s»^ll, and his profit came in between the buying and selling price, and crops were
contracted for as low as lie. per basket. You can see the small price he obtained
wiien he had to pay 4c. for the basket and Ic. for picking. It was impossible at
these prices for the grape grower to do anything more than live, and it is doubtful,
if he kept a set of books, that his accounts at the end of the year would show any
prolit. In 1916 prices had advanced to 16c. In 1918 there was a very light crop,
and that was the first year that prices began to show a reasonable comparison with
the prices of other commodities. Although everything else had gone up, grapes still
remained at a low figure' until 1918. In 1918 the wine men came out and offered
$40 per ton for grapes. Then they raised the price to $45, and $50, and $55.
That brought about a scarcity of grapes, and it was that fact that caused the grape
growers of the Niagara district to look into the market for grapes. They found out
That when we were getting $55 per ton for our grapes the grape growers in New
York State were getting $110 and $115 per ton for theirs. It was that fact that
.^ave rise to the present Grape Growers' Association.
That brings me up to the point of the aims and objects of the /Association.
They are as follows : First of all to bind all the grape growers of the Niagara district
together. There is an Executive Committee composed of two represent-atives from
each locality. The object is to have two local associations in each township. Where
there is a shipping point they will meet at that point. The president and secre-
tary of that Association become members of the parent association, and members of
the Executive. By meeting through the winter we will impress upon our memben;
the great necessity of giving more attention to the vineyards through better pruning,
better cultivation, and better spraying and better fertilizing. There are some of the
finest vineyards in America in the Niagara district, and we want to bring them
all up to that standard. Twenty-five per cent, of the vineyards are grown up
with weeds and rubbish. Next we want to become so strong as an Association that
we can deal with the wine companies and with the buyers as an Association. We
want to be able to say to them : we will produce the grapes for you and we will
improve the quality, and we want to deal with you so that we can make some money,
and so that you can make some money, and so that the public can get our grapes at
a reasonable price. If a few growers sign contracts to sell grapes at 15c., it forces
all the other growers to sell at the same price, because the dealers cannot compete
with the men who have the contracts at 15c. Not only that, but we find that tlie
buyers in the west seek by every possible means to have the prices cut to the lowest
possible notch. What we want is to have the Association say to its members, '^^Don't
sign contracts; the Association will endeavor to get a fair price and a uniform price
for everybody." The trouble has been that at Jordan there would be one price,
at St. Catharines another, and at Grimsbv another. The men in the west and
ia20 FIIUIT GKOWERS^ ASSOCIATION. 29
the buyers would hold up one district by the price in another, and so on, the results
being that the price was forced down in all cases.
Growers have been induced by the dealers to cut their grapes too early ir^
the season, and they have put on the market green grapes ; that may be a good- thing
for a few dealers, but it is not a good thing for the business. We will try and see
that the grapes are put on the market in an attractive manner and grapes that art*
fit to eat, and in that way we will increase consumption. What we want is a uniform
price, make ari-angements with the wine companies for so much and make arrange-
ments with the dealers for so much, and then the dealers will go to the west on
equal terms. Our object is not to boost prices or make the public pay more, but
our object is to boost production, to give the dealers and the wine companies all the
grapes they want at a reasonable price, and to give the consumers good grapes at a
reasonable price.
We are going to make a study of the distribution problem. We lind this situa-
tion: On the Toronto market grapes will be very low in price; we will find the
same condition at Montreal; but if we go up to Listowel or Goderich or Seaforth
the people up there are unable to get any grapes. The? dealers will tell you '*That
is not our fault, we quoted prices to the retailers in these towns." There are cases
where the public have to pay 75c. for a basket of grapes in the west that actually
left the gi'ower at 15c. There must be something done to put men in the district
to solve the distribution problem. We have either to take hold of the U.F.O. system
of distribution in the east or the Grain Growers in the west, or the dealers must
take hold of it and solve it for us.
You would think it strange that grapes could be bought for $55 per ton in
Ontario, and that in the State of New York they were getting $110 per ton. The
wine men over there thought wine would be exempt from the Act, and they were
willing to pay high prices, but when they were prohibited the price went down. In
the meantime some of the buyers from the other side were brought over here, and
they were surprised beyond measure to see our vineyards ; they dimply held up their
hands in amazement. Now it was strange that although they were only fifty miles
away they had no idea of our grape growing industry. AVe would have sold a great
many grapes to these buyers this year but for the fact that their market went bad
over there, and as a result, instead of taking o\'er 20O cars, I don't think they got
over 50 cars of grapes from us. They started off paying $80 per ton, and it went
down to $65. We are going to make a bid for the early grapes on the American
market, as our grapes ripen ten to fifteen days earlier than theirs. That being the
case it appears to us that there is a market in the United vStates for our early
grapes. They have the two and four quart package, and we have only the six
quart package. We believe that if we put some of our early grapes on the American
market in two and four-quart packages we have a ready sale for them. The market
in 1918 for the two-quart package was 27c., and the four-quart 38c. to 42c., when
we were selling our six-quart package at 30c. and 35c.
Another object we have in view is to endeavor to bring about a ])etter under-
standing with the wine makers. What we want to do is to stop the St. Catharines
buyer using the Winona grower as a lever to keep down prices in St. Catharines and
vice-versa. We want uniform prices, better production, and we want better distri-
bution, so that the consuming public all over Canada will liave a good supply of
grapes at a reasonable price.
Mr. Sheppard: I live on the Niagara River, and I started this thing going.
You will remember that our friend Mr. Fleming took me to task in 1911 because I
30 THE REPORT OF THE No. 44
said something about Free Trade. I am glad to know that our friends at Grimsby
have wakened up and have found that there is a market in the United States. Our
canning factories were paying 7c. per pound for cherries when they were paying 10c.
and 12c. in the United States.
Mr. Livingstone will have to do a lot of work among the grape growers with
regard to handling grapes properly. We should try and get our growers to handle
them in the same way that they do in the U.S. The difficulty is that our people
have not yet learned the necessity of taking the trouble to get their stuff up in an
attractive manner. I have a telegram in my pocket from a firm in the United
States which states that they do not want our grapes at any price because our
growers will not take the trouble to pick the grapes properly and pack them in
proper condition. We must look after all these little details if we expect to get good
prices.
Mr. Fleming: I am as strongly against reciprocity to-day as I was when
I spoke to Mr. Sheppard in 1911. I am still of the opinion that an alteration in
the duty on peaches would be ruinous to the peach industry of this country. I am
sure Mr. Livingstone would not like to see the duty taken off grapes ?
Mr. Livingstone : You bet I would not. I have studied that free trade busi-
ness very thoroughly during the last three months. If they are short in the United
States we can afford to pay a duty of $16 per ton, but if we have no surplus we
have none to ship. If they had a surplus they would simply gliit our market. Our
small surplus would have no effect on their market, but their big surplus would
ruin our market.
Mr. Johnston : I would like ta see more of our men go over there and study
their conditions.
THE RELATION BETWEEN THE GROWER AND THE CANNING
FACTORY.
Arthur Craise, St. Catharines.
During the past season the canning factories were falling over one another in
securing contracts for the growing of tomatoes for 1919. It was thought that
tomatoes were going to' be a poor crop, but it turned out to be a banner year, and
we only got started delivering when the canning factories said, "We are short of
cans and we can only take a limited amount of your tomatoes,'^ with the result
that hundreds of bushels of tomatoes rotted on the ground. The grower had spent
his money for manure and he had bought or grown his plants. We said to the
canning factories, ^'You have these tomatoes under contract, you have got to take
them,'^ and they pointed to a clause in the contract that said, "Anything that
renders this factory not able to operate makes this contract null and void."
What could we do? To give you an experience my brother and I had in 1917.
We made a contract with a canning factory for our strawberries. After some dis-
cussion we agreed on the price 8c. We had one patch tliat was an early variety,
and for that reason we did not want to include that patch in our contract, and so
we agreed to sell 400 crates. It turned out to be a wet season and the crop was
small. We had estimated our crop at between 800 and 1,000 crates. We shipped
226 crates of the early berries, and when we saw that the crop was going to bo
short we started shipping to the canning factory, and our total yield was only 426
1920 FRUIT GROWERS' ASSOCIATION. 31
crates, so that we only delivered to the canning factory 200 crates. We felt that we
had done our duty in the matter. At the end of the season we went to the canning
factory at St. Catharines to get our money, and they said, "We cannot pay you
full price for these; you have not fulfilled the whole of your contract, and we have
had to go out and buy berries to make up for the unfulfilled part of your contract
at an increased price. You have got to reimburse us for that." They asked us for
$114, which would leave us; $320. We consulted our solicitor and told him every-
thing, and he said, "You have no trouble in winning out in a case of this kind."
We took the case to court, and the judge said that nothing could be given in
evidence except what was in black and Avhite as to the contract, and that was that
we sold 400 crates of berries; and after we got through we had only $80, which was
not a very big price for 226 crates of berries. You all know how the canning fac-
tories act. If there is a large crop they commence to find fault with your peaches
or tomatoes; if the crop is small they will insist on your filling the contract to the
last crate. If they cannot handle the crop they have a clause in their written
contract that enables them to crawl from under. I do not think it is good business
to sign a contract with a clause of that kind in it. The question arises, what is
the remedy for this state of affairs? I claim that we should have co-operation
among the growers, and we should make out our own contracts.
Mr. Livingstone : We never have any trouble with the Dominion Canners.
Mr. Craise : We have got to get organized in a thorough way as fruit growers.
I think the U.F.O. Government will be the thin end of the wedge in getting the
farmers and fruit growers to organize, and I then think they will have some en-
couragement, and in my opinion they have very little now.
Mr. Livingstone: The great trouble in the Niagara district is that the men
there are interested in so many things, the peach grower thinks of nothing but
peaches and the grape grower of grapes and the vegetable grower of vegetables.
Mr. Bunting : This matter has been going along for a number of years in a
slipshod way, and the time has come when the producers should have something to
say in connection with any contract that is framed for the sale of produce of the
farm. I think a committee might be appointed by this Association to deal with
the canners and secure a contract that would be fair to all parties.. The tomato
growers east of Toronto received 25c. per basket more for their tomatoes than did
the tomato growers of Niagara district. Prices should be uniform, and this Asso-
ciation should take some steps to see that these things were all put on a proper basis.
Mr. Fleming: I think this committee should try and arrange more friendly
relations with the canners. The canners are the best friends we have. I have.no
interest in a canning factory. This year I had a contract with the Dominion
Canners. They offered me a price of Gl/^c per pound for my Avhole crop, which is
equal to about $1" per basket. There was no trouble, and they took all my fruit as
it came along. I had a few small peaches at the end of the season, and they said
these are too small,, we will be able to give you only 6c. for these, and I was very
glad they did that, and I was quite willing to take the lower price ; it encouraged me
to grow good fruit. For 13; years I have marketed my own fruit, and this year I
accepted this offer and sold them in that way. Go into any first-class hotel in
this province and ask for peaches, and what do you get ? California peaches. They
are swamping our market. If we would only grow good peaches for the canning
factory it would help greatly in advancing the peach industry in this province.
Mr. Craise : Supposing you had a large crop, would you like to be faced with
that clause in the contract?
3-2 . THE EEPORT OF THE Xo. 44
Mk. Fleming : Of course I see that things have not turned out well for Mr.
C raise. I signed a contract for any surplus tomatoes I had, and I sent my early
tomatoes to the market. They asked us at one time to delay sending in our tomatoes
because the platform was all filled up, and they could not handle them at that fac-
tory, and they had to send them to another factory.
Mr. RiTTiiXHOusE : The relations between the grower and the canning factory
should be most cordial, yet I think that the contracts are too one-sided. In some
cases where the local factory could not handle all the fruit or tomatoes that were
offered, they took the produce and shipped it to other factories that could handle
it. It was very difficult for the factories to get help this year.
Mr. Livingstone: The contract should be so framed that the fruit grower
t would be protected when he did not have the fruit.
Mr. Bunting : You will fail to find anything in the canners' part of the contract
in which he binds himself to do anything, but if you do not carry out your contract
to the letter you are penalized, and that has been the trouble all along.
Mr. Sheppard: I have been dealing with the canning factory in our district,
and I have never had any trouble. vSome of the managers are splendid good fellows,
and others of them are not, and they are apt to make trouble. I once took a load
of tomatoes to a certain factory. I had been delivering them for some time, and one
day a car load of officials from Hamilton drove up at the same time that I was
delivering my load, and the manager asked them to get up on the load and see my
tomatoes, and they said that if they were getting stuff like that at ail the factories
they would have no trouble ; within ten days of that time the same agent tried to find
some excuse for refusing my tomatoes. Three years ago they started out to sell,
and they told the wholesale people : '"You buy your supplies early, and anything we
cannot fill we will refund you 15 per cent, on the price." They agreed to fill all the
contracts up to 60 per cent., and an\i:hing between 60 per cent, and 100 per cent,
they would refund 15c. At a certain time in the year they said: "We cannot fill
any more orders, here is your 15 per cent., but immediately they jumped the price
to the wholesaler 25 per cent. They gave him back 15c., and charged him 25 per
cent. 1 thirk we should protect ourselves so that if, under weather conditions, we
cannot carry out our contract we will not be penalized.
Mr. Fleming : I move that the question of the relations between the canners
and the fruit growers be left in the hands of a committee to be appointed by the
directors of the Ontario Fruit Growers' Association. The motion was seconded by
iVIr. Allen and carried.
ARE GOVERNMENT GRADES DESIRABLE FOR OUR PEACHES?
F. A. J. Sheppard, Queenston.
This is a very big question, and I hardly know where to start. T am glad to
see that the Fruit Commissioner is here from Ottawa. We work under different
conditions in the Niagara district from what they do in different parts of the prov-
ince or the Dominion of Canada. It is much more difficult to form grades for
peaches than it is for apples or some other fruits. You all know that if you ship
peaches to a market that is three days away they may not arrive there in perfect
condition. Under the present conditions it seems to me almost impossible to
esta1)lish a uniform grade for peaches. It is true that we might grade them accord-
1920 nniT (;km)\vki,>s- associa'imon. 33
iiiir to size. l)uf size doos iKti. always count, W'v know iliai (lilTci'cni soil coiidii ions
make n tlill'ci-cnce in tli(; size. On another das- of soil .we will liaxc a hctlci- color,
.hilt not as lariic t'niit. 1 do not think at the |rrcscnt time it wouhl he fair to
the I'rnil urower t:o est-ahlish ^i^'rades. Ix'cause he would ha\e to come up i«» some;
Ftandai'd eithiM' as to siz(} or coh>r of the fruit. Owin^- to lahoi- conditions a numhei-
of <;-rowei's are not cult i\ at in,!;- iheii- orchards as well as they mi,Li-hl. I thiid-: it
would \)o wise for oui' inspectitrs and oui' Association to try and encourage the fruit
p;-roW(>rs to turn out n'ood fruit and to pack it in the vei'y hest and most attrac-
ti\(' manner, and that the top of the hasket will r(^i)r(>sent the contents of th(> hasket,
so that the pui-chasei- will know what he is l)iiyin,-;-. lie will know that thei-e is
no deception heinu;- pi'actised. I think it would l)e hetter to do that than to try
toestahlish grades for poaches. ""JMie dilTereiice hetwoen our fi'uil and that from tlx*
west has heen cojiimeJitcd on. I know that the west is ])j'()ducinLi- hetter fruit than
we are as far as size is eoncei-ned, hut I do not s(h> how we can rcMUedy that state; of
alf'airs. Their conditifuis are dilTerent to ours. They ha\e a I'ainy -(^ason and a
dry sea>on, and in siune places tluw have eternal sunshine, and tlie man who hrings
-.cater down from the mountains, and who has sunshine overhead can produce a. very
fine specimen of fi'uit. J do not heliexc we are .i»"oing to he ahle to com])ote witli
our California friends for a lou^u' time. We find that Oali'fornia fruit takes the
proferenco over Canadian i'niit in Ontai'io on account of the color. The I^]ll)crt;i
peach, which is the h(\st we have, will iH)t lune color and still he in a condition that
it can he peeled with a machine. The Lemon Free peach is as yellow as can he and
still firm. If we lot th(> Elherta peach get so that it has color it will he soft and
hreak down. I think that is largely the reason why the ("alifornia peach is more in
demaiul than our own. .Mr. Fleming told us that the Dominion (dinners docked
him half a cent on his Lemon Free peaches, and that (h)es not give us Ncry much,
encouragement to ixo into the ^'rowiui^- ot this \■.ariet^■.
THE GKADTN^G OF PEACHES.
H. Fr>E:\rixG^ GiunrsBY.
The peach industry is now one hundred years old. The first commercial peach
orchard was planted by Mr. Dennis Woolvcrton, of Grimsby, who, in 1.820, sold
peaches on the Hamilton market. About thirty years lattr there were several com-
mercial orchards in the Xiagara district. From 1890 to 1898 the industry boomed
and fell owing to a large quantity of poor grade fruit being thrown on the market.
Tn 191-1- the first shi])mcnts were made to Wirmipeg. Shipments were made to
Europe in 1900 and 1910 witli more or less, success. The industry cannot be said
to have fioui'ishcd during the wai- years. Many orchards were neglected through
th(> scarcity of labor, and the trees have suffered accordingly. To those of us who
have been so fortunate as to have been able to care for our orchards, there is a
bright future ahead. \i this o])timistic forecast is to come true, however, there
nmst be no lowering of the present tariff on imported peaches, and a Government
grade of peaches should be established. This brings me to the subject on which I
have been asked to speak : '^Are Government grades desirable for our peaches?'^ The
arguments which mighii be brought forward in favor of an established grade are
too numerous to be mentioned at this time, the mere fact that as things are at
3 F.O.
34 THE iJEPOKT OF TIJE No. 44
present, a peaeh grower is practically himsell the judge as to what constitutes a
No. 1 peach. Nearly e\ery grower is of opinion that there must be a percentage of
No. 1 peaches in his orchard. We find that the peach which orchard owner A. grades
as No. 1 peach, orchard owner B. may be grading as a No. '^ or cull. Such condi-
tions are not in the interest of the dealer, the wholesaler, the retailer, or the consu-
mer, and incidentally it is ruining the peach industry in Canada, especially in the
west. I am of opinion that there should not only be an established grade, but that
the minumum weight of the peaches should be marked on the package. This is a
large and difficult subject, and should be gone into very carefully by all parties
interested. 1 have spent much time on the question, and for the sake of discussion
and in order to obtain the views of my fellow growers, I will only mention one
grade and would suggest that the established grade of a No. 1 peach be as follow^s:—
"No i)erson shall sell or offer for sale any peaches represented to be of No. 1
quality unless such peaches are sound, of one variety, and of good color for the
variety, free from bruises and other defects ; the minumum diameter of the peaches
shall be two inches, the grade and minimum weight of the package shall be dis-
tinctly marked' on the package, also the packer's name and address. Ten per cent,
of the peaches contained in the package may be below the requirements of this
grade.*'
While I have with me the Government standard eleven-quart basket, which will
carry three packed layers of No. 1 peaches as above described, I have made no refer-
ence to the pack, as the probabilities are that the new Government standard of
bushel basket will be more generally used in the future, and at the present time
the heaped leno basket appears to be a legal package. If there is to be a great
future before the peach industry it is necessary that we should give our trees more
attention than in the past, have more enthu'siasm and co-operation among our-
selves, and be able to obtain healthy and reliable stock from the nurserymen. It
is our duty, although it should not be, to see that our industry is fostered and pro-
tected by "^ the Federal Government, that the literature issued by the Provincial
Government in Great Britain is kept up to date; and that our representatives over
there are the best men that can be liad. in order that desirable settlers may be kept
well informed as to the excellence of the climate of Ontario as compared with the
damp and cold of' Great Britain, and that it is not as is too often thought, a land
of snow and. ice, but a fertile land of sunshine, where peaches and grapes for- com-
mercial purposes can be grown in the open Avith profit.
Mil. Stteppard: Do you think it is profitable to grow peaches as large as you
static? ^ ■ ^ IT
Mr. Fleming: Yes, I think so. I would- like to grow a three-inch peach, i
would like to see two grades, fancy and No. i. The large peaches could be put in
small baskets.
Mr.. Stieppakd: The people would feel that it was a great hardship if they
had to cull their peaches, owing to the labor conditions. They prefer to put them
up as they do and sell them for Avhat they are worth. We are hoping that in the
near future labor conditions will improve, and then we will be able to cull the
peaches and ship them in better condition. I do not think the time is ripe when
we should tell the growers that they have to grade peaches.
IT. Ti. Craise: I think if you force the grading of peaches on the averag-e
grower at the present time it will just have the effect of enabling the canners to
buy them cheaper. I sold my entire crop this year, and T never had a more satis-
factory season ; they took them all. We will have to ]mt our peaches on the market
1920 FRUIT GROWERS' ASSOCIATION. 35
so as to be able to compete with the other fellow. The pit of an ordinary peach will
measure from three-quarters to' an inch, and if you coniine the size to two inches,
all you will have left will be twice the size of the pit. . I had occasion to go into
the Welch plant this fall and measure the pit of a peach, and I fouind that the
pit of the Crosby is only halt; the size of the Elberta. The pit of an Elberta was
found to be three-quarters of an inch across and one inch long, and the pit of the
Crosby peach was only half that size.
Mil. RiTTi'NirousE: It appears that there are two different opinions with regard
to this matter. We are liable to get a very full crop this year, and if the canning
i'actories cannot absorb the whole crop, we will have to have some organization
such as the Niagara Grape Growers have so as to enable us to get rid of the crop.
I want to say that the growers throughout the district are very much in favor of
establishing a grade for peaches. They are only trying to put off the time, but my
opinion is that we cannot start too soon and get the grade established. I do not
think they would agree to come down to two inches for the No. 1 grade.
Me. Baxter : Dominion Fruit Commissioner : We are always behind any move-
ment to help the fruit growers along. I may say for the information of, some who
have not gone into the matter that in so far as the grading of peaches is concerned,
British Columl)ia requested us to include them in our grades, and our present
legislation will cover that, provided we include boxes in our list of enclosed packages.
WHien we do that the present grading will include peaches. We just take the
present definition of No. 1 grade and apply it to peaches. In British Columbia they
pack altogether in boxes, and they ask us to go a little bit further and state
definitely what would be the minimum size for a No. 1 peach. This year we in-
creased the depth of the box so that 96 peaches solidly packed constitute a No. 1
peach; they must not be less than the minimum size of the variety, the same a^
we have provided for apples. There are a great many fruit growers who are
grading, although it is not compulsory. We inspect them the same as apples or any
other fruit, but we havie not been insisting on their being all of one variety. We
take yellow fieshed varieties, they are all included in one. We have not been as
particular in enforcing that as we have l>een with pears and apples. It might be
possible if we were confined to the shipping of peaches in six and eleven-quart
baskets to state the minimum number that a six-quart basket could contain. Then
comes in the question of leno covers. There is no standard for them, and there
is a difficulty. We have very open minds in the matter, and will be very glad to
get behind any movement that will help along the industry as a whole. I have
been in favor of grading for a great many years, and I want to call attention to
one thing I have discovered in non-grading, that the good apples work their way
to the top of the box.
Mr. Carey : I find in the city of Toronto market that 50 per cent, of the
growers are grading their peaches and marking them as such. There is a high-
class trade in Toronto to whom money is no object, and they want the good stuff.
By grading we get a more honest package. There are stores in Toronto that will
not take the poor stuff at all, but if you send them good stuff they will pay for it.
Mr. Sheppard: We have to judge by the money that comes back to us, and
while I agree that it is a good thing for the consumer to have a good article, we do
not now get the good money for putting it up. It is a fact that while we do spend
doul)le the time in packing these peaches, some other man gets the extra money for
onr extra work.
4 F.G.
36 THE EEPOET OF THE N-. 44
Mr. J. M. Ckej:elman: During the time I was at Grimsby at the Cold Storage
plant, and when I was in British Columbia, I had it continually thrown up to me
that when they lx>ught a car load of fruit from Ontario they never knew what was
coming. They would buy a car load of peaches from Washington or California or
British Columbia, and you know that there are so many boxes in that oar. and so
many No. 1 ; and you know there are 90 peaches or less in each box ; or if they are
Xo. 2 there will be from 96 to 112. Then if a customer comes into the warehouse
for small peaches you give him a box of No. 2. I do not know how you are going to
standardize in Ontario, as you have so many different packages and so many dif-
ferent varieties. That i^ why you will find California and British Columbia fruit
for sale in the stores in Toronto during the season.
Mb. Fleming: 1 think the resolution committee should bring in a resolution
as to the grading of peaches.
Mr. Sheppj^rd : I am heartily in sympathy with the movement.
THE FRUIT SITUATION IN LAMBTON COUNTY.
W. y. Macdonald^ Petholia.
I am pleased to know that this Convention is interested in leaniing tlie extent
and outlook of the fruit situation in Lambton Couny. First, because in Lambton
county fruit raising is a fair sized industry giving good promise, and secondly,
because the fruit industry in Lambton is worthy of development, and has not yet
reached a small fraction of the development or extent to which it will attain in the
course of time. The fruit industry in Lambton is only in its infancy.
Lambton County is admirably situated for the growing of all tender fruits.
The fruit section is situated along the northern portion of the county. This
section of the county is on the same parallel of latitude as the section of country
from Hamilton, St. Catharines and Welland, while the greater part of the connt}^
is situated below the 43rd parallel of latitude. The presence of a large body of
water (Lake Huron), extending along the entire length of the north-w^estem side
of Lambton County, has a modifying and moderating influence on the climate.
The general slope of the land in the fruit section of Lambton County j^
northerly; a particular feature sought by all experienced fruit growers. A
northerly slope retards unseasonable growth in the early spring and insures a
greater abse^ice oi injury to fruit buds in winter than where trees are subject 03^
a southern slope to the direct rays of the sun.
Throughout the fruit section there is w^hat is known as the "ridge.*' This is
a ridge of soil passing clear across the county. The soil varies from loam with a
gravelly subsoil to straight sand and gravel. Peach trees do exceptionally well on
the ridge formation, while on the loam soil fruits of all kind do well.
Along about the years of 1910 to 1912, and previous to this time, Lambton
County frnit growers planted heavy to peaches. These trees were coming heavv
into bearing about the time the war broke out. The result of war upon the fruit
industry is well known to you all. This meant a shortage of labor. Therefore,
orchards became neglected. Spraying, pruning, and the w^orking of the lands be-
tween the trees was neglected. To again multiply the difficulties of tlie fruit
growers durin<{ the spring of 191G-1917, curl leaf seriously attacked the peach trees:
1920 FKUIT GROWERS" ASSOCIATION. . 37
in many oases defoliating entire orcharils. The lack" of spraying and the attack «f
leaf curl so weakened the vitality of the trees that during the cold spell in Fehruary'
of 1918 many peach trees were winter killed. This only happened in orchard?
that did not receive the required attention, spraying and cultivation, during the
spring of J 916 and 1917.
The apple orchards in Lambton throughout the fruit district are in a flourish-
ing condition. Many new orchards are now coming into bearing. These young
orchards were interplanted with peaches as fillers. The peach trees have served
their purpose and have returned a revenue, and are now gradually being removed.
The growing of strawberries, raspberries, and small fruit is followed to some
ext-ent in the localities near Arkona and Thedford. This branch of fruit growing is
proving very successful and remunerative. New and larger plantations are bein^^
set out where farmers have their own lahor or can easily secure labor for picking.
Ijainbton offers unequalled opportunities to the young fanner wishing to engage
in fruit growing. In a great many cases farms can be purchased which includ*^^
ridge land as well as loamy soil. This means a great advantage over people ^i
-ertions which are specia^lizing in only one or two branches of the fruit industry.
In case of a failure in one crop, others are left to insure a revenue each year. In
fact, only in isolated cases do we find a specialized fruit grower in Lambton County.
Fruit growing is carried on in conjunction with mixed farming.
That there will be a revival of a period of peach tree planting in Lambton
County in the very near future is my candid opinion. The quality and early
maturity of Lambton's fruit is well and widely known. The success of and re-
muneration from fruit growing from the ]'n\<t experience is also an incentive to
llie fruit grower to enlarge his plantation.
Throughout this period of reconstruction, Lambton County should attract
large numbers of prospective fruit growers. The climatic conditions, the soils of
Lambton, the early maturity and quality of the fruit, the unexcelled marketing
conditions, are second to none in any of the general fruit sections of Canada.
Lambton County requires to attract to the fruit section settlers who have a
liking for fruit growing. There is all to be had in Lambton, coupled with cheap land,
which goes to make a successful fruit growing district. The greatest drawback to
the industry to-day is the lack of a class of citizen who desires to engage in fruit
growing as the major portion of his farm operations. Lambton is not, as yet. a
formidable competitor with the Niagara fruit district. The further development
of the industiT throughout the so-called fruit district 'is early anticipated by all
f niit growers. Quantity will not be the outstanding factor ; the quality and color-
ing of the fruit will not, however, be surpassed by fruit from other sections.
I would like to say a word in reference to the orchards in the older, or more
general farming sections of the county. From observations in Lambton, Middlesex
and Kent counties bordering on Lambton it is an outstanding fact that the orchard?
of our grandfathers are rapidly becoming a thing of the past. The days are past
when every farm home has its supply of apples taken from the farm orchard stored
away for tlie winter. The general farm orchard is dead, or is dying from neglect:
I believe at this Convention something should be done to encourage the general
mixed farmer to again plant out at least an acre or two acres of mixed orchard upon
his farm. The having of an ample supply of fruit on every farm is an attraction
to farm life, a business proposition, and adds to the health and prosperity of all.
38 THE REPOKT OF THE No. 44
SOME ORCHARf) PROBLEMS.
Prof. F. C. Sears, Amherst, Mass.
I lived ten years in Canada, and therefore feel fairly well at home, and it
takes a very small excuse to get me back again. I look back to the ten years
1 spent in Nova Scotia as the most pleasant years of my life. I am. going to talk
of things that will be of some help to you in this section of the country. Some
ten years ago Prof. Waugh, of our Agricultural College, started an orchard about
four miles from the orchard at Amherst, and I have told Prof. Butterfield, of
our College, that the time is coming when the people will insist on the professors
in agricultural colleges having a farm. We have too many men in our agricultural
colleges who would starve to death on a farm, and the time is coming when in
order to hold down their job they will have to have a farm, and know how to
run it. We have this farm together. It is not a general farm, for we are, first
of all, fruit men. I sympathize very strongly with what the last speaker said
as to the value of an orchard on la farm, but I am going to talk from the stand-
point of a fruit farmer, because that is the line in which I have been experienced.
The first problem I have on my notes is the question of fertilizer. I do not know
of a question that is more difficult for a fruit man to settle, or one from which
the fruit men have had less help from the agricultural colleges and experimental
stations. If you ask about the question of spraying, we have dozens of lessons
that we have been taught by the experimental stations. In fact, most fruit men
will admit, when you get them in a corner, that most of the things we have
learned as to spraying have come from the colleges and experimental stations.
It is the same on the question of pruning, but when you come down to the
question of fertilization they have done us very little good. Very frequently the
reports are conflicting, one station will say one thing and another station some-
thing else. The Geneva Station, in New York State, is one of the best we have
on the continent ; the Professor there does not think much of fertilizer. He makes
the statement that if the block under experiment had not received an ounce of
commercial fertilizer they would have been just as well off. The Massachusetts
Station has had almost the very opposite result. There is on the college ground
an orchard about 35 years old and they have run experiments in that orchard
for about 25 years, and the interesting thing about it is that it was started by
Dr. Gueston in an attempt to solve the effect of the different kinds of potash.
They used muriate of potash, sulphate of potash and wood ash, and barnyard
manure, but I do not think they helped us at all on the question of potash. The
interesting thing to me is that the check block that did not get anything has
not done as well as the block that got a little wood ash and some barnyard manure
and some bone meal.
We have a rather lightish soil and we have to do things differently from what
they do on their type of soil. We have come down to this, that we pay most
attention to three things : we have got to have nitrogen on our light soil. We have
a block of Wealthy apples on this light land and they have been in ten j^ears;
this spring they blossomed very heavily and I saw that we were going to get a
tremendous crop, and I said the only thing we could possibly do was to fertilize
that heavily. I went to a friend who was in the business and as a result of his
advice we put 500 lbs. per acre of amophos; I don't know whether you can get
that up here yet or not. It is a combination of phosphoric acid and nitrogen.
1920 FRUIT GROWERS' ASSOCIATION. , 39
In addition to that we put on 300 lbs. of nitrate of soda and 200 lbs. of fine
dust. We put it on in three applications. We first put on one-third and we did
not think the trees were responding, and we put on another one-third, and then
another. The result was that these trees bore a tremendous crop of fine large
fruit and well colored. They would run considerably larger than the Baldwins, and
they hung on the trees well for Wealthy apples. We sold $500 worth per acre
off the block. It was a block of land that we bought for $25 per acre. Two years
ago we sold $300 per acre off that same land. And still some people think there
is no money in orchard land.
Q. — What did the fertilizer cost per acre?
A. — We paid $105 per ton for our nitrate of soda and we paid $155 for the
amophos. I think it was $50 or $60 a ton we paid for the flue dust. We know
that it paid for itself, and that it was profitable.
Our farm is situated on a road that runs from Springfield into- Vermont. It
is one of the State Highways. We have a good local market, and we have sold
between $2,000 and $3,000 right on the road side. We are selling everything
we grow this year right on the place; we have not taken anything off the farm
at all. We have unusual conditions with respect to marketing. Our soil is light
and we have to fertilize heavily. Our problem is how to get sufficient fertilizer
so as to make our trees grow on this light soil. If we can do that we are all right
because we can get big apples of good color.
Q. — Did you do anything to add humus to that soil?
A. — No, we have 430 acres on the farm and 120 acres of orchard. One of
our troubles has been the getting of humus and that is evidently going to be
our trouble right along. This land we got for $25 per acre was poor, light land
with a scant sod on it. Last year we got a very scant crop of barley and this
year we got a fair crop of millet. We have sown everything that we could think
of that would give us a fair amount of material to plow under.
Mr. Kydd: Tell us when you put on that fertilizer?
Peof. Seaes: The first application was made right after the trees blossomed,
and the second one was within a month after that, and the third one was rather
late, well towards the last of July, but we got plenty of foliage which, I think, is
a good thing for next year.
Q. — AVould you follow that practice if you could get barnyard manure?
A. — Let me put that off. I am coming to barnyard manure in the end.
Q. — Would you advise applying that fertilizer any earlier?
Peof. Seaes: I think it might have been put on before the trees blossomed.
If I have a block of land that will not grow weeds I sit up at night and woi-ry
about it. We had one block that would not grow a good crop of weeds — w^e had
one block that was sour — and I went to Professor Haskins of our college and
asked him to test it. He told us it would take five tons per acre of ground lime
stone to neutralize that land. I think that was one reason why we could not
grow a cover crop. The last thing I did before leaving home was to call up the
Boston & Maine and tell them to deliver two car loads of lime at the farm. The
ground lime stone costs us $4.50 per ton in bags or $2.75 in bulk, and the freight
rate lis $1.10, so that we can lay it down for about $6 per ton. We have to
pay $10 per car for shunting. Last year we spent $750 in fertilizer, and next
year we are planning to spend $2,000. I do not think there is anything we
can do that will give us better results. We are using a lot of acid phosphate.
Dr. Twitchell has had better results from acid phosphate than anything else,
and he has been testing out a number of things.
40 THE REPORT OF THE No. 44
•
The next item I have is barnyard manure. We have a, lot of farm land
on which we have grown hay and it iias been profitable. It t-akes a good deal of
team labor which helps us out when the team is not at work at anything else.
We have not got any live stock at all except some hogs, and they seem to work
in satisfactorily with the other work. \\'e had a barn wliere we could tie up
26 head of cattle and we have tried to fill that barn with stock in the autumn.
We have gone around the country and bought up dry cows. "This year we have
gone in with a cattle dealer, and he is going to buy cows with us. We furnish
the barn and the roughage and he will furnisli his own grain, and he pays us
$2 per week for the roughage. Pie will put in '20 or 25 head, and that, with the
pigs, will give us a fine lot of manure in the spring. There is no question that
the problem is what kind of live stock we ought to take on. There is no question
in my mind that we ought to have some live stock. We have seen marked results
where we have been able to use barnyard manure. If we could get all our blocks
up to the point where they would grow weeds we should not worry very much.
We have thought of two or three different ways of getting barnyard manure. One
way is the way we are doing now, boarding cows for a live stock man. We get
the manure and that is really all we are after. We also get fair sale for the hay,
and it keeps one of our men busy in the winter. I believe the best thing is to
^hip in Western cattle from Chicago or Buffalo and fatten them during the winter ;
the trouble about that is that we do not pose as expert stock men.
My next item is tractors. We have a tractor that we do not think much of ;
I do not mean tractors in general, but this particular kind. I do think that a
tractor is a thing that we must have in the orchard, and we are going to have a
real tractor next spring. Mr. Mortimer, one of our trustees, w^ho has a 150 acre
orchard, does all his work with a Pordson tractor. There have been 22 men
killed with tractors in the State of Michigan. If you strike a real heavy snag
:he machine turns over. I have broken many a wdld colt on the Kansas prairie,
and the thing is to get off before he falls on you. I am, therefore, inclined to
get a Fordson and run the risk of our Polish boy getting off' before it falls on
him. The Cleveland tractor will not kill anybody, but they say the caterpillar
treads wear out on certain land. A criticism I have had of the Fordson is that
it has no governor on it, and if 30U have a raw driver on it he is apt to get you
nto trouble.
The labor question is a serious one on a fruit farm, and that is one of the
reasons why we are going to get a tractor ; because it will enable us to dispense
with one teamster.
There is nothing that will get you into a worse corner than to be without
help, or to have poor help. The question of labor is one that we have given a
:^reat deal of attention to, and I could talk for a whole hour on that question
alone. We employ a number of men, and for that reason our position is different
to that of a fruit grower who only employs one or two men. I think our problem
is easier to solve than that of a man who only employs one or two men. We
try to treat our men as neighbors and as human beings. W^e have four different
farm houses in which we have the men quartered. We like a married man best,
and we must provide him with a house. If he wants anything done to the house
we do it for him. We do not let them grumble for a year before we do anything
for them. I told the foreman the other day to go around and inspect the houses
and see if there was anything to be done. We have a standing offer with the
men, that any time they want paper or paint we will furnish the material if they
ld^<(> Fia: IT (POWERS' ASSOCIATION^. 41
will put it on. They very oi'ten do things of tliat kind, and we try to give them
good comfortable houses to live in.
Wf have been liberal in tin- ((uestion oi' wages, but we insist on good work.
It a man does not work well we do not want him, but if he is a good worker
we take care of him. ^\'e never dock a man for time off if he is sick. Last fall
when the influenza was going around 1 had to run the whole show myself. Prof.
Waugh had gone in for military work, and 1 tried to make my foreman, a young
man of about 30 years of age, believe that it was just as patriotic to grow produce
as to fight ; but finally he came around to me and he said '*' Proft'ssor, 1 am going
to ealii^t : 1 cannot stand people saying to me ' How is it that you are not in the
armyr^'- That left me with not only my own job to nin on the farm, but the
college a*- well. I paid one man for three weeks when he did not do any work, and
another man for two weeks. I think that is a good policy, it certainly has borne
fruit in our case. We have men there that do not think anything of leaving the
farm with a truck load of apples at three or four o'clock in the morning; and
before we had the truck they 'would often leave the farm at one o'clock in the
morning. Last year when I was alone one of the Polish men was handliiiii" the
salee and he took far more interest in getting good prices than I did.
Just one or two things about handling them out in the field. Of course, if
che men know they are going to be well paid and treated right they will have
an interest in the w^ork. We tr}- to get them interested in what they are doing.
For instance, if we have a man out pinning we try to get him interested in the
nomber of trees he can prune in a day. We do not cany that so far as to have
him do a poor job. I may go to Mike and say : " How many trees have you pruned
to-day r " and he will say so many, then I will say : ^" Do you remember, Mike,
that on this block last year we pruned so many ? " And he will say : "' Yes, we
will have to tiy and do better to-morrow.^' Of course, I always go around looking
at the quality of the work. Get them interested - in the spraying, how many
gallons of spray can they put on in a day, and sometimes I say : '' You are putting
on too much, better go more slowly.'* When they are packing it is just the same.
Let them see that you know how much they did last year, and compare that with
what they are doing this year, and it will be a big help. We always try to have
our men so that we will know who is doing certain work. Start one man on one
row picking and another man on another row, and then if poor work is being
done you know who is doing it. In teaching at the college I will take thirty or
forty b^)ys out into the orchard and st<irt them off in that way, and then I can tell
what boy is doing good work or bad work and place the responsibility where it
belongs. I do not like to see the whole gang — four or five men working on one
tree, then if anything is done wrong nobody did it. '' It just did itself,'* as the
youngster said.
Q. — What do you pay in wage*/
Pkof. Sears: Our average is $2.75, and we furnish them with a house and
feed t^heir cow for them, and give them all the land they want for a garden. Wages
have been going up steadily since we started down there. We are in the tobacco
district, and it is nothing for them to pay their men $4 and $5 per day. We
have one man that gets higher pay. Like all Polish people he has twelve or fifteen
of a family, and they get a chance to work on the place picking fruit. He says
he can ^ave more money with us than he could when living in town, although
he does not get as big pay. If we pay a man $3 per day that means $18 per
week for him. Of course, as a matter of fact, there is not much Sunday work
42 THE KEPOET OF THE No. 44
in the fruit business. That is why it is easier to get men on a fruit farm than on
a dairy farm.
Q. — What are your hours of work ?
Prof. Sears: Ten hours a day. I do not know how long we shall keep that
up. A number of our men work a good deal longer than that. The man that
drives the truck will leave the farm early in the morning, and he puts in more
than ten hours a day. We recognize that, and give him a bonus now and again.
Of course, we have a number of factories around us where the men work eight
hours a da}^, but I think ten hours a day on a farm is as little as a man can get
along with.
Q. — How do you find daylight saving affect you?
Prof. Sears : We like it fairly well, but I understand that farmers as a class
do not like it. I want to say a word on trucks : We are twenty-five miles from
Springfield, and we are eight miles from Northhampton. As a matter of fact
we sell everything on the farm, and if we deliver at Springfield we get paid for
delivering. Up to this year we got along without a truck, but this year we said we
must have a truck, and after looking around we finally decided on a one ton truck.
We can get eighty flaring peach baskets on our truck, as we have a special body. We
can go to Springfield at the rate of twenty-five miles an hour and come back at
thirty miles an hour. One day the foreman went to Springfield with a load and
came back to the farm and stirred things up, then went to North Hampton and back,
and then to Amherst, four miles from the farm, and he was back on the farm at
four p.m. When we had the team it would go to Springfield and back in a day,
but would not be much good the next day. The truck is too big to take out in
the orchard, and we have planned to buy a small truck or second hand Ford, so
that we will have a truck for getting things out of the orchard.
The next question is the question of nursery stock: I was interested to learn
from Mr. Kydd that there was not much enthusiasm here in setting out trees.
Most everybody is doing it in our section. In fact, we have got to the point where
we cannot get nursery stock; they are all sold out. We do not get any quotations
for trees under $75 and $90 per one hundred. On our farm we have narrowed down
to four ®r five varieties; we have the Oldenburgh, which is harvested in August;
the Wealthy, which is harvested in September ; the Mcintosh, the greatest apple
ever introduced. Ontario has the credit for introducing it, but I think we can
grow better Mcintosh apples than you can. However, I am certainly proud of
Ontario for introducing it. We are selling some of our apples this year at $15.75
per barrel. Then we have the Baldwin and the Wagener. They are all red apples,
and I have been converted during the last ten years into growing nothing but
red apples. We have the Palmer Greening, one of the finest apples ever grown,
and as good an apple in its way as the Mcintosh, but it is yellow, and we can
sell the Mcintosh for $15.75 easier than we can sell the Palmer Greening for $4
or $5. We have 500 Palmer Greening's on the place, and I wish they were
Mcintosh's. We are considering the Delicious. It is not a variety we can afi'ord
to grow generally, but the name of it is enough to make the average consumer
think he wants it, and we are going to set out 100 trees next spring. Tlie Mcintosh
will grow a more handsome tree without pruning than the Wealthy will if you
sit up nights with it.
We planted 30 acres the first year and we bought 650 Mcintosh apples. They
grew beautifully, and every time anybody came within four miles of the farm
we took them down and showed them this block of Mcintosh apples. About the
1930 FRUIT GROWERS' ASSOCIATION. 43
fifth or sixth year some of them blossomed, and we used to stand around and
Avatch these little apples grow. When I got back from my vacation the foreman
called me up and he said : '" 1 wish you. wuuUl look at these Mcintosh apples/'
and it turned out that none of them were Mcintosh. So that I am personally
interested in trees true to name. When we found out what the stock was Prof.
Waugh, who knew the firm we bought tliem from, wrote down to them and they
wrote a very nice letter, and said they would come right up and take the matter
up with us. But Just then their chief was running for the Legislature and he
could not get away. We knew what Southern politics were, and so we waited
and did not hear anything from him for a while. Then we wrote again, and he
replied that the election had been pulled off and he had been declared not elected,
but he could not get away until the rt'-coiint was over. W^e waited until we
tliought the re-count would be o\'er and tlien we wrote again, and he replied that
he had been counted in and could not get away. B}- that time we knew that he
was not very anxious to come up, and we knew that a Northerner going into a
Southern state and suing would not get anywhere, particularly when the man
we were suing was in the Legislature, and that is the position it stands in to-day.
I am now interested in nursery stock true to name, and this is what we are
doing: I don't know whether it is the best way out or not. We have tried two
schemes: one is buying Northern Spy or something like that, and budding them.
The trouble about that is that sometimes the buds do not take, and if you set
out a nice block of trees and the buds do not take it is a big loss. W^e have gone
from that to putting in a nursery, and then we can discard the trees on which
the buds do not take, and that is working fairly well. A friend of mine is setting
the trees as we do, and then whip grafting them, and he says they hardly miss
a tree. If we could get a nurseryman who would be sure of his stock that would
be all right.
I used to know years ago just what should be done in the pruning line. I
could tell what ought to be done and how it ought to be done, but the older I
get the less I know about it. I want to suggest to you two or three things that
] think are sound: In the first place, the proper time for pruning. In a talk
] gave the Nova Scotia i^pple Growers I told them that I thought the proper time
to prune was in March and April, and I still think that is good sound teaching
from a theoretical standpoint. As a matter of fact, when you get into the orchard
game to any extent pruning is one of the hardest things to do, and requires the
most brains and the most experience. We have 120 acres of orchard to prune, and
we do not have many men that we can trust to get into these trees. So we are
starting pruning a little earlier and we are planning to start pruning our trees
next month. If the orchard is small enough so that you can start pruning in March,
I think that is the proper time, but when you have a lot of pruning to do and only
a few men, then you must start earlier.
We have narrowed down to this, on our young trees from the time they are
set out until four or five years, we prune as little as possible, but we do some
pruning every year. I think it is a great mistake not to do that. When they
get down to nearly bearing, then we prune them out to the shape we want them.
In our Mcintosh apple trees, up until they are six or seven years old we do not
prune very much, but at that time, when they are bearing we prune them exactly
as we want them. The Wealthy is a variety which tends to get small as it gets
old, and we prune them very heavily, and give them thorough cultivation in order
to keep up the growth, and so far we have been entirely successful.
5 F.G.
U THE EEPORT OF THE No. 44
Mb. Kydd: How late do you keep up the cultivation?
Pbof. Seaes: We plow our land in the fall or spring. We do as much af-
possible in the fall, because on account of our land being liat we cannot get on
it early in the spring. 1 do not like to plow until the leaves are oft. I alway*?
feel better if I have thirty or forty acres ploughed in the fall. We stop the £rst
week in the month of July and put down our cover crop. In order to get a good
growth of cover crop you must get it in as early as that. If 1 had my land rich
enough I would not cultivate. The Marshall orchard in Ma.ssachusetts is the
.best I have ever seen, and he does not cultivate at all. He is just outside of £
large city, and he gets street sweepings and scatters all over his orchard. He keeps
his grass fairly close; he grows almost altogether the Mcintosh apple, and be
grows great big apples. He has a heavy soil.
We planted a thousand dwarf trees, and we are not very enthusiastic about
them. On the other hand 1 have large sized dwarf trees at the college which
are doing ver\- well; they certainly ha^e borne vronderfully. We have taken tnirty
bushels off six trees. I believe if a man had a commercial orchard with that kind
of tree it would be a pa3'ing investment. The Mcintosh, the Wealthy, the Olden-
burgh, and the Baldwin have done best with us. We have one big finn who planted
dwarfs, and tJiey say if they were doing it over again they would not plant dwarf
trees. I am not at all sure if 1 were planting again, but I would ivy the dwarf
as a filler.
Mb. Kydd: W^ould it be a good plan to cut in on the sides of our treer io^
well as the top; we have some very wide ti^es in this countr}-?
Prof. Seaes: That would depend on the type of tree. We always make a
severe piTining on the side branches of the Burba.nk plum. We have some varieties
of apples that would require the same treatment. We prop up tJie trees when
they are loaded. I do not believe you can thin the fruit off a tree down to the
point where the tree will carry without any propping.
Mr. Eobeets : What is the height of the head of your trees ?
Pbof. Skies: The bulk of our trees are two feet; we liave some ^y. and
some eight inches. I have always thought tJiat the two foot head was the prope;
thing. I tliink there is a lot to be said in favor of the low head.
Q. — Bo you prune the roots?
A. — I have seen people cut off the roots and plant with a crowb-ar inst/ead
of a spade. I do not approve of that.
Q. — It it better to head high ?
A. — I think you get a better circulation if you h€^a^ higher. I would expect
to get more benefit from putting them further apart. At the present time I wotild
not set anA'ihiiig under 45 feet apart, our land is not heavy and it will not grow
a big tree.
Q. — What do you do about mice?
A. — All the way fix)m nothing to good protection. We started in givbig them
no prote<rtion up to six or seven years, and I do not think we lo^t a dozen trees.
Then one winter they came down on us, and we lost 150 trees, and sinc.e. ihen
we have been protecting our young trees. We use building paper altogether, it
will only last one year. In the Marshall orchard they use heavy wire meBh, they
have to have protection there all the time. I think building paper is as good
a thing as you can use. If you want a permanent thing, I think wire is ihf- b^^st.
1920 FRUIT GROWERS" ASSOCIATION. 45
RKSILTS OF SPRAY TESTS IN NORFOLK COUNTY.
W. A. Ross, A'lXELAND Station.
Last year the Dojiiiiiion Department, with which J am coiuiei-ted, and the
Ontario Fruit Branch, commenced a series of investigations on spraying, which
will be contiimed over a period ot' three or four years. Our main object this year
was to compare the Ontario spray schedule with two spray schedules whicli have
given excH,4Ient results in the Maritime Provinces. The tests were made in a
thirteen acre orchard in Simcoe County, the Government experimental orchard.
We also made a lest in a smaller orclinrd. of younger trees, at the A'ineland Experi-
mental Station.
The orchards were divided ijito three Ijlocks, and were treated as follows:
The fii^t block was sprayed w^ith the Bordeaux mixture 3-10-40. In preparing
this we dissolved the hluestone over night in the usual way. We used builders'
lime.
For the second spray we used, Bordeaux mLxture 2-10-40, and arsenate of
lime, 1 pound to 40 gallons, and for the third spray: sodium polysulphide (1 part'
sulfocide or 1 lb. sol. sulphur), arsenate of lime, l/, lb.; hydratcd lime. 5 lbs.:
water, 40 gallons.
Fourth Spray : Bordeaux mixture 2-10-40, arsenate of lime 1 poun'd to 40.
The next blwk received three regular applications of lime sulphur: First, lime
>nlphur alone, and second, lime sulphur and arsenate of lead; the third application,
lime sulphur and arsenate of lead. This block did not receive any fourth
application.
The result- uii tlie young trees in the Vineland orchard were very interesting.
In the two blocks sprayed with lime sulphur solution, there was a slight amount,
not in any way x'rious. of spray injur)' throughout the block: whereas, in the
trees sprayed with Bordeaux mixture there was an absence of such injury, in
the Duchess variety tlure was a very marked difference between the trees. The
Duchess sprayed with lime sulphur, much of the foliage was singed, and then
again much of it was small and curled, and in the trees sprayed with Bordeaux
the foliage was large, and much more vigorous in appearance. I took several men
through that orchard at A'ineland and they spoke of the very marked difference.
In the large orchard, composed principally of Baldwins, Spies, Greenings, and
Russets, there was very little diffei-ence in the condition of the foliage. Here
and there in the lime sulphur block there was a slight amount of what we call
gun injury, which 1 think was caused by a defective gun, whi<h simply refused
to throw a mist. We discarded this g"un before we went on spraying the other
blocks. Some men who went through this orchard thought they could notice a
difference in the foliage, others saw no difference. In so far as the control oi
sc^b a.nd codling moth and other insect pests is concerned, the one gave as good
results as the other. Where we used the Bordeaux mixture in the case of Baldwins
there was no scab at all. Where we used lime sulphur we had about 3 per cent,
scab on the Spies and none on the Baldwins. Strange to say, we had more side-
worms in the Bordeaux block, but I do not think the spraying had anything to
do with it. In regard to the appearance of the fruit, especially the Baldwins,
and to a lesser extent the Spies, on the trees sprayed with lime sulphur the apples
had a fmer appoaranc-e and the color was brighter.
46 THE EEPORT OF THE No. 44
The results we have secured from these experiments over several years leads
me to believe that the following spray schedule is an ideal one for Ontario :
First Spray (with Oyster Shell Scale or Blister Mite) : Lime Sulphur 1 to 8
or 1 to 9. Apply not later than the buds are bursting. With no San Jose Scale
present and practically no Oyster Shell Scale or Blister Mite use: Lime Sulphur
1 to 20.
Second Spray: Lime Sulphur 1 to 40. Arsenate of Lead (powder) l-li/^
pounds, (paste) 2-3 pounds. Apply immediately before blossoms burst and when
the little leaf tissues break out, or project out about a half inch.
Third Spray (usually the last spray in Ontario) : Lime Sulphur 1-40.
Arsenate of Lead (powder) 1 pound, (paste) 2 pounds. Apply immediately after
blossoms have fallen.
Mk. Kydd: What is the particular object of putting on Bordeaux for that
second application?
A. — Because it gives you a nicer foliage, and then it is really a better fungicide
than lime sulphur, and it stays on much longer. In certain sections it may be
necessary to have a fourth spray ten or twelve days later, and here again I would
use lime sulphur because of the fact that it gives you a much better finish than
Bordeaux. It gives a brighter and snappier color to the fruit. It might be well
for some of you to give this schedule a trial. To those of you who are well
satisfied with the three sprays I would say go ahead with your usual formula.
After all, our peculiar problem in Ontario is not so much what spraying material
we use as how can we induce men to spray at the right time, and to spray thoroughly
and systematically,
Mr. Kydd: Do you just let a slow team keep on going when you are spraying?
A. — I stop until I have finished spraying the tree, and when I am through
spraying that tree, I go to the next one.
J. — How long do you stop at that tree?
A. — I never keep track of the time.
Q. — Do you stop the horses twice or once?
A. — It all depends on the length of the hose.
Q. — Do you lik:e to ride on the tank, or do you want a long hose?
A. — If you have a good spray gun you can do what you like with your spray
material, and you can put it where you like.
Prof. Caesar: For the San Jose Scale, you must be on the ground wdien
putting on the spray because you have to cover the whole tree.
A. — I like to be on the ground, but there is the question of labor; you cannot
get men to do it, and you can do a very good job from the tank. I do not think
it is advisable to refer to any of these new materials until they have been tested
for at least three years.
Prof. Caesar: This year I was asked to co-operate with Mr. Eoss on this
matter. I have spent eight years on fruit, and I feel that it is time the vegetable
men were getting more attention in the investigation of insect pests, and I wished
to spend nearly all my time on vegetable tests. I am quite in accord with the
results secured by Mr. Eoss, and his recommendations are exactly as I would like
to make them myself.
I believe that in this province we should use Lime Sulphur for the first spray ;
because we have in a good part of the province the San Jose Scale, and we have
quite a lot of the Oyster Shell Scale. With that as a fact, and with quite a number
dropping the first spray: if they use other than lime sulphur they will not get
1920 FRUIT GROWEES' ASSOCIATION. 47
results, i would strongly advise that first spray. It is the first spray more than
any other that does the work. I went into three orchards where the first spray
was put on and those orchards had clean fruit and foliage.
You cannot omit any one of these sprays and be sure that you are going
to get the best results.
A great many men in spraying use too large an opening. By using a small
opening you will use much less spray material and do a much better job, altliough
it will be a little slower. Stand back well from your tree. I am satisfied that the
second spray is well worth the trouble, and you will get better results from the
Bordeaux mixture.
For the third spray I should put on Lime Sulphur, but do get it on at the
right time, you cannot be too careful in watching the time. Two days might
make all the difference in the world.
Mk. Kydd: How many gallons will it take to spray a fully grown tree?
Peof. Caesar: With the old nozzle I used to think that a great big apple
tree could not be sprayed with less than ten gallons. Now, with the gun, I think
possibly I can spray it with seven gallons.
A Member: I am not a very large apple grower, I have only about fifty
trees. I had a fairly good crop Of apples this year. I sold them in St. Catharines,
and the man I sold them to said : " Where can I get some more apples like these? ^'
I recommended him to a neighbor, and he said: "That fellow sprays in such a
way that he might just as well not spray at all.'^ That is true, you might just
as well not spray at all if you do not do it right.
The Chairman: We have learned this morning that we must give our
orchards the very best care. I think we should spend more money on our orchards
than we have been spending the last few years. You can get labor if you pay
enough and use the men right.
Mr. Kydd: How much is it costing you per ton to lay the manure on your
orchard ?
The Chairman: Very close to $4 per ton. This year the manure will cost
$2.40 per ton laid down on the siding.
Q. — Do you think it is profitable to pay that for it?
The Chairm.ax: I do. We are afraid to pay the money, but we will get
back $3 and $4 for every dollar we spend.
INTENSIVE STRAWBERRY^ CULTURE.
P. H. Wismkr, Jordan Station.
Strawberies and raspberries have become the main source of my yearly income.
There are few products that equal the strawberry for profit. I must confine my
remarks to my own soil, as I have no practical experience outside of my locality.
My soil is a, deep sandy loam with 18 to 24 inches of gravel below the loam, and
clay below the gravel at an average depth of about six feet.
Location of Soil: Almost any location on the farm that will grow a good
corn crop will do for strawberries provided the soil is naturally well drained.
I would recommend the use of lime. My land has been limed occasionally for
years. I prefer a one year old clover sod, with a heavy application of well rotted
manure, say 40 tons per acre, plowed down about the last of August. This
48 THE RBPOKT OF THE No. 44
should be treated as a summer fallow and plowed again late in the fall. I
have also frequently used an oat stubble by manuring heavily, plowing down, and
seeding with oats, which in turn were plowed down as a green crop late in the
fall. Much, however, depends on previous preparation and on the richness of the
soil for best results.
SpPtiNG Pkepaeatiox: As soon as the land is in good condition, and suitable
plants may be obtained which have made sufficient start from their' dormant state,
we begin preparation by plowing. The land is then rolled and disked with the
disk lapping half to leave the land level. The drag harrow is then used, followed
by the roller which leaves an ideal surface soil to set tlie plants in.
Marking: A field marker of proper width, such as is used for corn, is the
quickest way.
The matted row system is giving largest returns, the rows being 3 feet 6 inches
and 4 feet apart. Plants are set at 30 to 24 inches in the row.
Plants : Select the best row in your one year old patch, digging up the whole
row, using a close tined fork. Select only the vigorous plants, discarding the
smaller ones and plants with the dark roots. We never clean the plants, considering
it a useless and possibly harmful practice. We avoid unnecessary handling. The
strawberry plant is quite sensitive to sudden changes of temperature and excessive
moisture. In Lincoln County, we do our planting about the first week in May,
conditions being favorable, the most popular method of planting seems to be
with a spade. A man and a boy are employed to do the work. Tlie man takes
the spade, pushes it into the ground at an angle of about 45 degrees, pressing it
forward until the opening is sufficiently large for the boy to place the plant,
holding it firmly until the spade is removed and the soil firmly pressed around
the plant. Great care should be taken to have the crown of the plant Just at
the surface of the ground. Past experience has proven to me that plaiits set by
hand in a light furrow have made a much better stai't tluui those set by tlie s})ade.
Two men will plant just as fast by hand as by the spade.
Cultivation: Cultivation should be started as soon after planting as possible,
and continued once each week and after each rain to hold the moisture. All
blossoms shoitld be hand picked. The weeds should 1)e remo^•ed as fast 'as' they
appear. It is important that all the first runners be laid and held in place by
covering with a small quantity of earth, placed back of the terminal bnd. 1 would
recommend the use of phosphoric acid in some form where lieavy applications
of manure are being made.
My largest yield was obtained by the use of basic slag, 500 to 600 lbs. per
acre, and bone meal 500 to 600 lbs. per acre, applied on the matured- row in the
latter part of the summer about the last of August. To restore a patch for a
second and third year, all weeds should be removed as fast as they appear so that
the patch is clean when the picking season is over. We plow a furrow off one
side of the row leaving it the proper width. Coming back the other side is barely
edged- to straighten it, the row being left about 10 inches wide. The ridge is
then cultivated down. The refuse may be taken off the patch, or it will disappear
with cultivation. The following year a furrow is plowed oft* the row on the siime
side as before. By this juethod the patch is being moved on new soil and yotir
plants are still only two years old and should be more free from weed seeds than
when you started.
I want to call your attention to three fact^^ : Xever mow a strawberry patch ;
never burn a strawberry patch over; never harrow a strawherry patch : if you would
a 030 FRUIT GKOWEES' ASSOClATiON. 49
have the largest returns. The plants will not regain normal vigor after these
operations. The leaves are the lungs and food factory of the plants. They cannot
thrive without them. The man who assists nature most gets most returns.
Surface drainage should be well looked after. For mulch, I have always used
• le.it^^d compost. We us<» the spreader for covering the patch.
YiELD-s: My yield this past season was 1,226 crates t'roiu 2 9/10 acres or about
11,414 quarts per acre. My average yield, however, one year with another, is
about 8,000 quarts.
Q, — I understand you to say that you do not take up your plants until they
start to grow?
A. — I believe that strawberry plants should l>e transplanted in the donnant
stage. Everv' other tree is taken up in the dormant stage. But very often if
you plant them in the dormant stage in a soil like mine they get a sudden check
and then they will stand still ; therefore I always wait until they make a start.
Q. — Did YOU ever trv- planting in the fall?
A._]S-o. '
Q. — What varieties do you grow?
A. — I formerly grew the Williams, but I now have the greatest acreage of
Glen Mary.
Q. — Is that for local sale ?
A. — The greatest proportion of our berries go to the canning factory.
Q. — With regard to renewing old plantations, your system sounds all right
in theory? Can you keep an old patch going continuously?
A. — I have not tried it long enough to tell myself. That depends on the
Location, the surfa-ce drainage in particidar, and the richnes^s of the soil, and
provided no weevil got into the roots. If no insect pests got in, I fancy they
would keep good for three or four years. I picked a second year patch this year
and got more than I did last year, and they look as if they will do better for
the third year.
Q. — I happen to be a neighbor of Mr. Wismer, and we feel proud of his
success in growing small fruit. Could you not give a shorter rotation that would
bring about the same result ?
A. — I want to tell you that the backbone of the whole thing is intensive
manuring and intensive preparation.
Q. — How soon after plowing down a strawberry bed would you plant it again ?
A. — I told you in tlie start that I was continually changing my plans. I am
just now turning over a new leaf in strawberry culture. Four years ago 1 was
(Crowded out with chick-weed. I kept men in it continually from the time spring
opened until the strawberries were ripe, and we picked 1,0*24 boxes from an acre.
Then I plowed it all up, and I sowed it to wheat. I did not get a verj- good catch
of clover, and I plowed it down and sowed it to wheat again, and got a remarkable
catch of clover. I plowed that down last spring and sowed it to buckwheat, and
this year I planted it to strawberries, and we did not have any trouble with weeds
this summer, not even chick-weed. I sent a man to clean the patch and he went
over it in less than three hours. I think by following that method I can rnn
strawberries on the same patch for three or four years.
Q. — Did vou ever grow strawberries in hiUs ?
A.— No. '
A Member: I have tried them in hills at Clarkson and it is not a success.
I also grew them in other parts, but did not get the yield that I get at Clarkson.
50 THE EEPOET OF THE No. 44
Mk. Hamilton : Our system is practically the same as yours. The cost of
growing has increased. We are now paying two cents per box for picking where
we formerly only paid one cent. We never, had such a profitable season in straw-
berry growing as we have had in the last two years. The price right at the farm
was 20c. a box, and for some of our raspberries we got 30c.
Mr. Eittenhouse: I am not satisfied as to the width of the matted row.
A. — I have three acres side by side, one acre and a half planted three feet
six inches and the other four feet, and I like the four feet best. I want eighteen
inches or better between.
Mr. Kydd: What do you do to prevent the runners filling up that row?
A. — I am thinking strongly of getting an instrument made for the purpose.
I can have one made that I can use two horses on it. I always remove the mulch
in the spring, some leave it on the row.
Mr. Eittenhouse : How do you get over the difficulty with the pickers want-
ing to pick both sides of the row?
A. — The last three years I have had my pickers take half of each row. I know
that there are things that might be said for or against each^ method. I usually
get rid of one or two when they start finding fault too much, and that settles it
for the season.
Mr. Hamilton : With us the pickers pick on each side.
Mr. Eittenhouse: The most satisfactory way that I have found is to get
the pickers to pair off and take a row between them.
A. — That was the very thing I Avas trying to avoid.
Mr. Eittenhouse: I never had better success than when I had a Polish
gang, and I paid one man $3 per day to look after them.
A. — You get on with the Poles better than most people do.
SMALL HOLDINGS FOE PEOFIT.
F. C. Keeler, Brockville.
I shall endeavor to speak to you concerning my experience along the lines
of fruit and vegetable growing on a ten acre farm situated three miles east of
Brockville on the bank of the Eiver St. Lawrence.
I purchased this small farm in 1905, for the price of $1,300, which was at
that time a cow pasture with a poor fence around it. First of all I erected a
house and barn, and when I paid for the same I had the large amount of 40c. left.
I commenced work tilling my land and hauling manure, and started a fine
vegetable garden. I had good luck, and cleaned up a nice little profit at the end
of the season. In 1906 I puchased some very fine Mcintosh apple trees, raspberry
and strawberry plants, currants and gooseberries, and asparagus roots, and rhubarb,
etc.
I planted these and cared for them along with my vegetables, thirty varieties
in all. The best encouragement I received from my neighbor was that I would
starve to death on ten acres. Well, I will admit I did my best to beat the game.
We did not favor an eight hour day then. It was rather like a fifteen hour day,
trying at the same time to show my people what could be accomplished on a
small holding with a small investment. I have not starved to death on the small
farm. Eather than that I have been able to come in posession of enough money
1920 FRUIT GROWEES' ASSOCIATION. 51
to purchase a timber limit in the County of Addington, valued at $10,000, and
also two other fruit farms, fifteen acres each, and I also am the owner of a $10,000
Victory Bond. I had the pleasure of being offered $10,000 for the first- fruit farm
which I paid the large sum of $1,300 for fourteen years ago, which encouraged
me very much. I retail my fruit and vegetables direct to the consumer, receiving
highest prices for same. It has been said we have the highest priced market in
Ontario.
I purchased a motor boat large enough to carry one ton, and began to supply
the wealthy river people on the islands on the St. Lawrence River. I also supplied
the Cornwall Navigation Co. steamers.
Some of my crops do not pay me as well as others. Catering to a public
trade I am asked for many articles that otherwise I would not grow.
I grow thirty varieties of fruit and vegetables, commencing on May 20th to
cut my asparagus, one acre in all, which is worth about $500. Next strawberries,
commencing June 20th, on three-quarters of an acre. I picked in 1918, 8,000
baskets, receiving $1,200 for same.
At the same time, we were picking radishes, lettuce, rhubarb, peas, early
potatoes, beans, for which we receive a fancy price.
I next harvest my raspberries, currants and gooseberries, for which I could
not give you exact figures on returns, neither in cash or acres, as I grow same in
my orchard rows.
Commencing first in August on tomatoes, celery, melons, sweet corn, onions,
cabbage and cauliflower. I load two wagons each day for market. I carry this
along until about the end of October. I commence picking my Mcintosh Red
apples about the 15th October, and continue picking till we have finished all,
including Russet and Greening. I had a fine crop of Mcintosh, for which I
received $10 per barrel, shipped to Chicago.
I also specialize in Irish Cobbler pototoes for seed, for which I received $3
per bushel. Also Oolden Bantam sweet corn, Wardwell's kidney wax beans, and
Gradus peas. I grow my seed and can rely on same.
I also have 100,000 strawberry plants for sale, namely: William Belt. Com-
mencing to cultivate same in 1912, I then picked only 4,000 quarts per acre : but
with careful plant iselection and first-class cultivation I have increased the yield
tc* 8,000 boxes per acre. The first three years I sold plants for $5 per thousand :
to-day I get $10 per thousand. I have my plants growing as far west as Manitoulin
Islands, and as far east as St. John, New Brunswick.
I am cultivating the Herbert raspberry, "for which I cannot supply the demand,
either in plants or fruit, and will say, now is the time for returned soldiers to
get busy. I can s3fely say I do not know of a better investment for a man with
a small capital to start right now on a small farm and plant fruit, and more fruit.
It will double the value of the land, and you won't be tied to the cow's tail the
year round, trying to get back the price of her feed in milk, on a large farm
with a large investment and the long hours, which is the reason the boys won't
stay on the farm.
I have had good luck with my help. I employ three men and ten berry
pickers. I pay regular wages, and also give a prize for the best picked berrriefs,
which I will say is a good investment. I have a bungalow for the pickers to
live in, on the bank of the river. I furnish them with a boat, fruit and vegetables,
and have had more and better results in this way. I think prices will be high
for a long time, which is better for everybody, it puts more money in circulation.
r)2 THE EEPORT OF THE No. 44
Mr. A, C. Miller, Member of the Federal Reserve Board, says that high
prices will prevail until the expansion of currency and credit, resulting fj-om the
buying of war securities on credit, has been eliminated, and until the volume
of credit and currency has been reduced to an equality with the needs of industry
and trade.
Barnyard manure is what I use, and potash and nitrate of soda when I can
get it. Pi-une well ; cultivate well ; spray well •; pack your fruit well. It will pay
you to cast out all inferior culls, and it will increase tirade.
Q. — What variety of raspberries do you grow?
A.- — The Herbert, I think there is no raspberry like the Herbei-t for my
business.
Q.— Do you pay your pickers by the day or by the box ?
A. — By the box, and I built a nice bung-alow at the river bank for the pickers
to live in. They do their own work and cooking, and we do not have any bother.
Q. — ^^^Tiat do you pay for picking a box of strawberries?
A. — If we have a heavy pick it comes down to a cent and a half, and it goes
up according to the pick. I am paying this year, 2c. per box.
Q. — How much do you pay for picking raspberries?
A. — From 2 to 3c. and on up to 5c. A lot of my customers came in this
year and said they would pick their own raspberries if I would allow them 3c.
per box for picking them, and I was glad to do it.
Q. — Do you find that pays?
A. — If I had 100 acres of ra-spberries I would have- it all done in that way.
I think that is the thing we will have to do if wo go into the raspberry business.
I have had the pleasure of receiving $10 per barrel for my Mcintosh apples this
year, just as they come from the trees. I think I am safe in saying it is the
only apple grown in our county that will pay a profit. I grow a large quantity
of the Irish Cobbler potato, and sell them for seed. I always have a good supply
of strawberry plants for sale. I am growing celery- to-day tliat costs me less than
one cent per head. I took the first prize for it at our exhibition. There is a
man growing celery in a muck pond down our way, and he grows a large head
of celery, but it is very bitter. I am told that last year his expenses were more
than his income. He saw my plan and admitted that I had him beat. It takes
a large quantity of fertilizer to grow it my way, but I can grow as much on
one acre as I usually did on ten.
Q. — How large are your beds ?
A. — Twelve feet square, I would not recommend that size to a beginner, I
would prefer six by twelve.
Q. — What distance between ? *
A. — Just walking distance.
Q. — How do you plant?
X. — The celery is grown so close together that tlie centre heads bleach them-
selves, and next year I am going to grow com very thick around the beds. There
is difficulty in handling celery gro-wni in that way. W(? have difficulty in carrying
it to market without breaking it.
Q. — Do yiyvL use water?
A. — Yes, I use more water on the celery than I do on anything else. We
have only a small area of celery^ planted as yet, and we have lotvS of help, and we
put the water on with pails.
Q. — Why does not the asparagus pay you as well ?
1020 FKUIT GKOWEK^' ASSOCIATION. 53
A.— It cost too much to keep the beds clean.
Mil. Kobehtson: I have an a^anigiis bed that I have been running for
twenty years, and 1 got four tons off it last year.
Mr. Keeler: The reason I grow asparagus is that it is the only thing that
I can have to come in just before the borrie.-^. I have tried two varietie.< of black
raspberries and they won't grow in our climate.
Mr. Fleming : Will the canning factories take the Herbert raspberries from
you?
A. — The canning factory does not get any of our fruit. We have not begun
to think of the canning factory business. We sell our stuff to the campers on
the Thousand Islands.
Q. — Wliat do you get for the celery- ?
A. — Three bunches for 26c., I belie^-e in high prices. It is better for the
laboring man and everybody else. The working man is getting more luxuries
now than he ever had before. It is better for us to be able to pay the laboring
man $4 per day than $1 per day. I can remember when I got laboring men
for 50c. per day, and I had the pleasure of selling strawberries for eight boxes
for a quarter.
Q. — Did I understand you to say that you took four or five barrels of apples
off a Mcintosh apple tree ten years after planting ?
A. — Yes. I bought them when they were three years of age, and I planted
them in this garden soil, and they grew very- rapidly. I planted them thirty feet
apart and forty-eight trees to the acre. I live where I can get stable manure
for fifty cents per load, and I can get all I want.
GOOD NEW NOT WELL-KNOWN VARIETIES OF SMALL FRUITS.
M. B. Davis, C.E.F., Ottawa.
I purpo^ to lay before you a brief description of a few varieties of small
fruits that are worthy of your consideration.
All the varieties here recommended have been t^ted for some years on the
trial grounds at the Central Experimental Fann, Ottawa, and it is thought that
having shown a good record of performance, as compared with some of our standard
varieties, it is time the attention of the trade was called to their merits, so that
individual growers might test them on a larger scale, under their own conditions.
For the information of those not acquainted with our soil conditions, I may
say that the soil at the Horticultural Division in Ottawa is a very light sandy
loam.
Strawberries.
Portia. I wish to call your attention to a variety named Portia, which is a
variety of C.E.F. origin. This berry is a seedling of William Belt, and is promising
from many standpoints. In habit, it is very vigorous with abundant large and
dark green foliage. Practically resistant to rust, it is an excellent plant maker, and
13 a variety that can be planted the maximum distance apart v^-ith the assurance
that it will readily form a good matted row. For anyone growing berries on
the hill system it is to be et^pecially recommended, as it forms an excellent crown.
Th-e flower is practically imperfect, producing a berry medium in size and slightly
54 THE EEPOET OF THE No. 44
larger than Parson's Beauty. In color, it is a rich deep crimson, which is carried
right through to the core, with seeds which are very prominent. With its regular
conic shape, attractive color and prominent seeds it is difficult to imagine a more
handsome product, as it is exceptionally firm and solid it should be an excellent
shipper, especially if picked before it becomes over ripe. In quality it is good,
possessing a mildly acid to sweet flavor. As a canning berry it stands in a class
by itself, being the only berry among the best known standard sorts to hold its
color and surpassing all in quality and appearance.
In season it is about the same as Parson's Beauty, but gives a larger yield
at the end of the season, and a few more pickings. Planted with Parson's it would
be a distinct acquisition to any patch, and where growers are supplying a special
trade this is a variety of such distinctiveness, that it could be used as a good
drawing card when sold as the canning' berry which holds its deep rich color.
A few plants of this variety will be available at the C.E.F. next spring.
Paspberhies.
In raspberries, I wish to call your attention to three varieties, Newman No. 23,
Count, and Brighton.
Newman No. 23 is a seedling of unknown parentage, but according to Mr.
0. P. Newman of Lachine Locks, Que., who originated this variety, it is most
likely a seedling of Eaton with King as a male parent. This variety is out-
standing at Ottawa and has impressed us most favorably. It is pre-eminently a
shipping berry. As it has done excellently on Mr. Newman's soil, which is mucli
heavier than ours, it apparently has wide range of adaptability. The bush is a
vigorous stocky grower of about four to four and a half feet high, with rather
an open centre, but strong canes with numerous branches.
The fruit is large, slightly larger than Herbert, bright crimson in color and
very firm. In quality it is practically as good as Herbert. In productiveness it
ranks close to Herbert with us, and apparently is as good on a heavier soil.
As a canning berry it is difficult to surpass, holding its shape excellently.
Two shipping tests were made of this and a number of commercial varieties,
including Herbert and Cuthbert. Upon the return of the crates, Newman 23
easily won first place. The fruit had not settled or mussed, and when the boxes
were emptied the berries in the bottom were still firm and shapely, whereas, in
the case of Herbert the fruit had fallen a half inch and the bottom layer was
nothing but juice, while Cuthbert, recognized as a good shipper, showed consider-
able mussiness in the bottom.
For a grower' who intends to sell to the cannery or who ships long distances,
this variety is a distinct acquisition.
In season, it commences to ripen with Herbert, but has a much more extended
season.
Plants of this variety will, I understand, be available next fall from- Mr. C.
P. Newman, La Salle, Que.
Count. A very early raspberry originated by the late Dr. AVilliam Saunders,
is worthy of a place in your plantation where an early berry, which has good
appearance, is a good yielder, a good shipper, and a good canner is desired.
The bush is a very vigorous upright grower, about four feet in height and
hardy. Berry, bright red in color, about the size of Herbert, medium quality and
firm. Very early and productive. A seedling of Bigger's Seedling.
1920 FRUIT GROWERS' ASSOCIATION. 55
Brighton, which is almost as early in season, slightly better in quality, not
quite as heavy a yielder, not as good a shipper, is also worthy of extended trial.
These two varieties are outstanding early sorts, and mark distinct progress
in the development of a very early berry, which is good in quality, firm and
})roductive. Plants of these varieties will be available in limited quantity next
iall from the C.E.F.
Grapes.
Three varieties of grapes are on our test as worthy of introduction to the
trade.
Lincoln. The first is a blue grape called Read's Hybrid, originated by M.
11. Read, of Port Dalhousie, and named Lincoln after Lincoln County. This grape
is said to be a seedling of Concord with Black Hamburgh, and has been at the
Central Experimental Farm trial grounds since 1897. Its record of performance,
-compared wath Concord, is quite noteworthy. In productiveness it has given
about 20 per cent, better yields than Concord. The vine is a vigorous grower, free
of mildew and quite hardy, a factor, of course, not so vital in the fruit districts.
The berry is somewhat smaller than Concord, heing about the size of Brighton,
the bunch is about as long as Concord, more oblong in shape and much more
compact, making a very regular and handsome bunch for market purpose. In
quality it is somewhat better than Concord, having inherited some trace of quality
from its Vinifera parent. As a shipper we have no evidence except apparent
characteristics, which lead us to believe that it should be a better shipper than
Concord. It has a thicker and tougher skin, according to the mouth and teeth
test, and this is borne out by accurate measurements and examinations under a
liigh-power microscope. According to a large number of sections of the skins of
these two varieties, which were made and examined; Concord has an average
thickness of 39.74 micromes, while Lincoln has an average skin of 57.54 micromes
in thickness. In other words, Lincoln has a skin which is 45 per cent, thicker
than the skin of Concord.
In addition, the same examination showed that the cells of the Lincoln skin
Avere smaller, thicker and more closely packed, this giving accurate evidence to
corroborate our preliminary test as to thickness and toughness of skin.
These findings lead us to conclude that this should be an excellent shipper.
In season, it is about with Moore's Early.
This variety is certainly worthy of a very extended trial and it is to be hoped
tliat Mr. Read can be persuaded to introduce it to the trade immediately.
Mary. Tliis is a variety of red grape which is wortliy of mention. A seedling
of Catawba, introduced by a Mr. Hasselkus, of Griffin, Georgia, in 1885. It
resembles Lindley very closely, but is more vigorous and more productive. It is
somewhat earlier than Lindley and fully as good in quality, makes a more compact
bunch and should be as good or even a better shipper, and as good a keeper. A
few vines of this variety will be available next fall at the Central Experimental
Farm.
Seedling Grape from Wilhins. This grape was first brought to your attention
in 1898, when it was mentioned by the Committee on seedlings and new fruits,
^vhen it was said to be worthy of trial. This is a seedling grape from 0. F. Wilkins,
Bridgeburg, Ont.
It is a white grape of medium, size, of better flavor, than Xiagara or Concord.
The bunch is of good size and form, and quite compact. Season somewhat earlier
THE EEPORT OF THE No. 44
tiian Niagara, skin about th<3 same thickness. This variety could well be used
for the home market to extend the season of Niagara. In productiveness it has
proved fully equal to Niagara, at Ottawa.
Currants.
The attention of giowers has already been called to the Saunders Hybrid
black currants, which have given such excellent results at Ottawa and elsewhere,
when given a trial.
The best of these varieties are exceedingly productive, hardy, of good quality,
and ripen their crop fairly evenly.
Saunders, which is already on the market, is one of the best, while Kerry.
which is a newer variety, is probably the pick of the whole lot. Cuttings of
Kerr}^ have been supplied to nurservmen and will probably be on the market next
fall. ^
Q. — Have yon any raspberries ]<iter than Cuthbert?
- A. — Yes, we have one of Dr. Saunders'. It is not much more than a we^k
later than CHithbert. It will give you a larger crop at the end of the season than
Cuthbert. The Thara gives a large quantity of fruit. We ha^'^ never been able
to grow blackberries sufficiently hardy to withstand our climate at Ottawa. The
St. Regis is the earliest l)errv' we have, and it is not a he-avy yielder.
ELECTION OF DIRECTORS.
Mii. Fleming: 1 am not a dir<x-tor of this association, but tlie point has
been brought up that the dirtx-tors are selected by districts, and they might be
selected according to tlie membership in the district. For instance, Norfolk dis-
trict has over two hundred members and the district of Forest has only six members,
and the representation on the Board is the same in both districts. I am told
that the dixeotors do not receive any remuneration, and that they give their
services free, I do not think that is right.
A Member: Norfolk has about one-third of the total membersliip, and that
would mean that they would have one-third of the directors.
Mr. Dempsey : The convstitution will not admit of any change without notic-e
is first given of the proposed amendment.
Mr, Robertson: Was not there some change in the districts a year ago?
Mr. Hodgetts : Yes. The Eastern Counties at that time were gi^^ng us
very few members and two of the districts were amalgamated, and WentwortJii
and Lincoln were separated. Mr. Fleming thinks that we ought to go further, and
that the districts that are not interested iji fruit growing should not be represented
as fully as they are at the present time. I understand that tlie vegetable growers
have some such ^scheme.
The Chairman: When this change in the constitution was brought about it
was with the view of trying to encourage fruit growing in different parts of the
province, and to interest a wider stH?! ion of the i)eople. 1 can remember vei^ well
when the Ontario Fruit Growers' Association was practically a Grimsby Pmit
Growers'* Association. After a while the area in which productive fruit growing
was carried on was increased, and it was thought desirable by the officers of the
association to tr^' to encourage that.
1020 FKUIT GROWERS' ASSOCIATION. 57
FERTILIZERS FOR THE FRUIT GROWEJJ.
IIenky O. Bell, Diilectok of the Soil and Ckoi* 1mim;oveaij:nt
bukeau of the canadian fertilizer association.
The future of Canada's fruit market depeiicLs on how fully Canadian horti-
culturists adopt methods that most quickl}- and permanently i lu.' reav'ie yields, and
improve quality. Increase in demand does not ahva3\s follow increase in produc-
tion, but in this case I am confident it would, in that better quality of product
would of itself constitute an important advertising medium. ^loreover, better
business methods which contemplate a more careful standardization of the pro-
duct being placed upon the market, induce more sales-getting advances into old
markets and invigorate advances into new territory.
The apple industry of Canada in 1910 amounted to approAiuiately IQi/o
million bushels of fruit. Of this, Ontario produced considerably over half. Mr.
Macoun, Dominion Horticulturist, is sponsor for the statement that apples can
be successfully grown in tiie provinces of Ontario and Quebec over an area of
about 700 miles in length, varj'ing in width from 30 to 50 miles.
Opportunity for the successful production of fruit in the province is de-
pendent upon at least six great factors :
1. The soil.
2. Climate.
3. Variety of choice.
4. Tillage practices.
5. Disease and insect control.
6. Plantfood supply and management.
No doubt other factors could be added, and some already mentioned could
be sub-divided, but these are the main points which interest the average grower
of fruit of all sorts. I .shall attempt to discuss but one of these factors, since
practical horticulturists are informed pretty fuRy on most of the others. The
point to which I shall address my attention is the last — orchard plantfood and
its management. This topic of itself is one of enormous importance and great
breadth. In fact, it might involve the specific stud}' of soil tA^^es, methods of
tillage, vsources of plantfood, etc. However, of these sub-divisions I shall again
make a choice, not in any way insinuating that I consider the other factors of
les.'ier importance, but to conserve the time at our disposal.
Plantfood for the orchard then, may come from the soil, green manures,
leavefi, stock manure, and from fertilizers. Mr. Macoun has on former occasions
{winted out the necessity of plantfood in the • orchard. He has sho-wTi that IGO
barrels of average apples t-ake from the soil approximately 8.9 lbs. of nitrogen,
5.2 lbs. phosphoric acid, and 32.8 lbs. potash. This being the case if the orchardiet
cx)ntinues to take off crop after crop without putting back any plantfood, it is
but a mathematical problem to figure how long the bank account of soil fertility
will stand the draft.
This may sound to be a theoretic treatment of the subject. Let me point
to an exact case in point. Before the oldef-i member of this audience was bom,
thousands of acres in soutliern Ohio, along the Ohio Valley, were producing
profitable crops of apples. In fact, it was in tliis territor}- that orcharding in
the central part of North America had its beginning. Twenty-five years ago th^
same territory' exhibited equal, if not greater area.s of orchard, most of which
58 • THE EEPOET OF THE No. 44
were old trees, but these were orchards that were not returning a reasonable
interest on the money invested in the industry. In fact, the annual history ran
al)out as follows : Springtime blossoming gave great promise and provided the
shrewd orchardist with ample opportunity to unload his unprofitable enterprise
on the back of some unsuspecting tenderfoot, who admired the location, the
general beauty of the landscape and the promise of the orchards. Shortly after
the blossoms dropped, the early setting of fruit began to show unsatisfactory
development. This discouraging state of affairs increased as time went on, until
that section of the Middle West became famous for its non-productive orcharding.
The Ohio Experiment Station was appealed to. The orchard specialists of that
institution claimed that the trouble was the uncared for condition of the orchards.
To demonstrate their claim they engaged areas of orchards where proper pruning,
spraying and tillage were immediately put into practice, but the results were
still far from satisfactory. This led the Soils Division of the Experiment Station
to investigate the plantfood content of the orchard soils, with the result that
the trouble was traced to a lack of plantfood. Ohio orchardists have learned how
to supply proper plantfood, with the results that the orcharding of this section
has come back to be one of the foremost industries. Of the methods we shall
speak later. The point I wish to make is that orchard practice which indefinitely
neglects supplying plantfood is as sure of disaster as we are sure that the sun
will rise to-morrow.
I have been asked to speak on the subject of fertilizers for the fruit grower's
use. " Why use fertilizers ? " The answer is obvious. Orchard soils are running
short of necessar}^ plantfood, livestock manure is becoming scarcer and scarcer; in
fact, in view of our ordinary mLxed farming practices, there is not one-hundredth
enough to go round. With the growing of legumes as cover crops, one important
constituent of plant food — nitrogen — is being returned. To answer the question
specificall}', " Why use fertilizers ? '' let me point out what fertilizers have done
in actual tests. First, in our own province, the ten year report of the Yineland
Station shows increases in three yields from 6 per cent, to 75 per cent., aa a result
of proper fertilization of a peach orchard which was* set apart for tests. Pennsyl-
vania Station has been conducting extensive orchard investigation in various parts
of that important orcharding State. In Bulletin 153, published by Prof. Stewart,
he records the fact that by the addition of fertilizers, yields have been increased
265 and 308 bushels per acre over normal, without fertilizers. He reports that
the gains have been made at fertilizer costs of about 13c. to 27c. per bushel, even
at present rates and prices. In fact, on one plot. No. 2, the increase was made
at a cost of 9c. per bushel.
The investigations regarding orchard fertilization conducted by the Ohio
Experiment Station, which are probably among the most thorough-going to be
found on the continent, record that the increases attained in apple production
alone, from 1910 to 1915 were worth over a quarter of a million dollars. Where
l^Yo lbs. of fertilizers were applied, per tree, on, an orchard of Ben Davis apples,
the yield was increased from 20 barrels to 49 barrels per acre. The following
year the same orchard yielded, unfertilized, 9 barrels; fertilized, 46 barrels per
acre.
1920
FRUIT GROWERS' ASSOCIATION.
59
Maine Experiment Station has conducted orchard fertilization tests at High-
moor Farm since 1914 with the following results:
Orchard Fertilizer Experiment. About 130 Ben Davis apple trees in each plot, Averaj^e
yield of apples in pounds per tree.
Year
Plot 6 A
No fertilizer since 1912
Plot 6 B
7.2 lbs. 5-8-7
fertilizer per tree
Plot 6 C
14.4 lbs. 5-8-7
. fertilizer per tree
1914
1915
1916
172.8
121.1
113.7
158.8
131.8
138.7
194.2
157.4
147.2
Average for
3 years
135.7
143.1
166.6
New Hampshire Experiment Station, which has been conducting a fertility
test for some time past, has not recorded an}- great gains in yield. It has found,
however, that the size of fruit has been increased by the use of fertilizers and the
proportion of No. 1 apples, also the total area and weight of leaves has been greatly
increased.
I could go on, but these instances should prove sufficient to answer the
question, " Why- Use Fertilizers ? "
The comparative newness of this part of .the continent has, up till recently,
made it almost unnecessary for you to bother about the plantfood of the soil.
From the time of the red man until periods quite within your own memory, all
that was necessary was to stir the soil, plant the crop or set the tree and reap
the crop. It is true that within the last couple of decades a great deal of attention
has been given to such points as the best rotation of crops, best cover crops, how
deep and how frequently to till the soil, etc., pertaining to the mechanical manage-
ment of the soil. These are of enormous importance and are absolutely essential
to the proper use of fertilizers because fertilizers are carriers of plantfood. Your
crops — ^^whether apple trees, grape vines, celers^, cabbage, or what not — cannot take
up a bit of plantfood, other than carbon dioxide, unless the plantfood is first
dissolved in the water of the soil or in the root juices of the plant. Hence, the
absolute necessity of an abundant supply of water. Your own practices of plant-
food management have been comprised very largely of the growing of legumes
and the use of stock manure. Both of these practices are good, but together they
fall short of the possible best, first, because the supply of manure is becoming
scarcer and scarcer, and its quality poorer; and second, because there is a demand
for a great deal more plantfood than can be supplied in the nitrogen from legumes
or from any other source than fertilizers.
Now, from my investigations, where I have had opportunity to examine
orchard practice in various parts of the province, I am convinced that one of
the things that is holding back your net returns from orcharding in Ontario is
a lack of specific information regarding fertilizers. I am therefore going to ask
your careful attention for the next few minutes while I discuss what fertilizers
are and how they should be used.
The use of fertilizers antedates extensive fruit growing in Ontario. Fertilizers
came as a product of the years following the French Revolution. Starvation
aroused men to seek new methods of crop production. Leibig, the German chemist,
developed methods to treat bones in order to render them soluble. These methods
iJO. THE REPORT OF THE Xo. 44
involved the addition of sulphuric acid to bone, and later to phosphate rock,
which is a carrier of the same plantfood constituent. The acid reacted on the
rock, breaking it down into a new substance, wliicli su1)stance — acid phosphate —
is to varying degrees soluble in water. This important constituent of plantfood
causes the ripening of the crop. This was a great discovery, because in the
systems of European agriculture an addition of bonemeal, treated as described,
and later of phosphate rock, also treated, which forms acid phosphate, was found
to greatly hasten the ripening of grain and other fruit crops and to invigorate
their root growth. But students of plant growth soon came to see that by adding
bone or acid phosphate only one of the important constituents which were falling-
short in^the soil were being supplied. Hence, the use of materials carrying nitrogen
and potash.
Xow let us get a perfectly clear view of the leading functions of these
important plantfood constituents because it is they that we meet at ever}- turn
in fertilizers. Phosphoric acid or phosphorus hastens the ripening of tree fruits
and grains. Xitrogen is the constituent that increases wood and leaf growth
and retards the ripening of the fruit. It may be that by manuring and growth
of leguminous cover crops you have so enriched your soil in this constituent that
your trees have too great a twig growth and too much leafage, thereby cutting
down the fruit yield and impairing its quality. You must balance up the ration
with phosphoric acid and potash. Potash seems to have an important bearing
on the health of the crop, in that it increases disease resistance.
Xow comes the question, where do the carriers of these three important
plantfood constituents in fertilizers come from?
Phospho7'ic Acid. Vie have already pointed out that the phosphoric acid
came from bonemeal, which also contains a^mall amount of nitrogen, and from
acid phosphate. Another, and slower carrier of phosphoric acid, sometimes used
in tlie orchard, is basic slag. This material is a by-product of the steel industry-,
containing a low and relati\ely slowly available form of phosphoric acid and
about 30 to 45 per cent, of lime.
Nitrogen. The nitrogen or ammonia of the fertilizer may come from several
sources. First in order of availability is nitrate of soda, which is a very soluble
salt, obtained from Chile, South America. This iiitrogen carrier gives quick
action. Nitrate of soda used on a sandy soil may be so quickly soluble that part
of it may leach away. Sulphate of ammonia, the by-product of the coking in-
dustry, is another important carrier of nitrogen. It is more slowly soluble than
is nitrate of soda. A new product which is finding its way more and more into
th6 fertilizer market is cyanamid, a material composed of the calcium of lime,
carbon of the air and nitrogen of the air. These are combined electrically,
producing a dark gi'ayish dust or powder, which carries a considerable amount
of fairly rapidly available ammonia. To these three sources of nitrogen may
be added blood and tankage, which are the by-products of packing plants ; tankage
carries some phosphoric acid also, in as much as it contains bone.
There is a point worth emphasizing at this stage, and that is the importance
of relative availability. For a rapidly available fertilizer — if your orchard should
be in need of that — nitrogen, coming largely from nitrate of soda or sulphate of
ammonia, should be used. For an orchard fertilizer to last through the growing
season a large per cent, of the nitrogen should come from organic sources such
as blood and tankage.
Many eastern orchardists make extensive use oi' tlie same analysis of fertilizers
1920 Vnin GKOWEKS' AS80C1ATI0.V.
(>l
SrS they use on their potato crop. Those fertilizers usually contain about oue-
third rapidly available nitrogen and tlie remainiiinr two-thirds in ji form that will
last throughout the growing season.
Potash. The carriers of potash, which previous to the war were most largely
Uised were -nlphate and chloride or muriate of potash. In the cruder or less pure
form these ])otash salts were called Kainite, which contains about 12 to 1-Jt per
cent, potash, as compared to 48 or 50 per cent, in sulphate and muriate. During
the scarcity of this importaait plantfood the fertilizer industry on this continent
developed several American sources, which include wood ashes, potash from cement
plants, the liquor from sugar beet factories, and the evaporated waters of salty
lakes of California, Nebraska and other sections. The potash suj^plied in this
latter form frequently contained considerable carbonate of pota>h as well as sul-
phate and chloride. This caj'bonate form is equally good as plantfood.
JSTow the fertilizer industry obtains its raw materials from all of the>e sources.
It assembles the materials six months ahead of the time that you are ready to
use them. Now I want to tell you something about the care with which fertilizers
are made, not to advertise the industry, but to disabuse the minds of some, perhaps,
who may still have a feeling that the fertiliz^^r industry is simply that line of
business that collects all that is useless to every line of industry and palms it
off on the farmer as something mysterious which is good for his farm. ' On the
contrary, the fertilizer industry possibly stands on a better basis than mo^t other
industries when viewed from the standpoint of the scientific care with which its
products are manufactured. Chemistry is of course the basis of the industry.
Every raw material which is assembled is carefully analyzed. In making up what
is known as a brand or guaranteed analysis the various ingredients are combined
or mixed precisely on the basis of their chemical analysis. Not only is this the
case, but frequently samples of the product in process of completion are tested
for analysis. AYhen the mixing is completed the product stands for 30 to 90 days
when it is again sampled, reground and resifted, before being put on the market.
In the foregoing brief statement I have tried to cover some of the most
important points in the making of fertilizers. When you come upon the product
on the market or when the salesman or agent calls at your farm he talks about
brands, and he mentions such figures as ''' 3-8-3 '' or a *' 4-10 " or some other
analysis. Now the first figure always refers to nitrogen or ammonia, the plant
grower. The second figure always refers to phosphoric acid, the plant ripener.
While the third figure refers to potash. The various figures represent percentages
of a ton, that is, a 3-8-3 means that there is 3 per cent of a ton or 60 lbs. of
nitrogen contained in this fertilizer, the 8 means that there is 8 per cent, of a
ton or 160 lbs. of phosphoric acid in the fertilizer, and the 3 per cent." of potash
means that there are 60 lbs. of potash in this particular brand. One more point:
Remember that each of 'the brands are registered with the Dominion Analyst,
and that the fertilizer manufacturer is liable to a .severe penalty if the product
offered on the market under tag is found to fall below the guaranteed analysis
recorded on the tag. I mention these points to disabuse your minds of any idea
of mystery or subterfuge which formerly you may have attached to the fertilizer
industry.
I have failed as yet to touch upon the point which comes nearest to your
business. You want some light on the question what analysis and how much
fertilizer should a man use on his orchard in order to get best paying results?
Without elaborating on this subject I wish to m:ike three statement^ which I
62
THE EEPOET OF THE
No. 44
could substantiate with abundant proof if time permitted. First, you cannot
get 'at the best analysis of fertilizer to use on your soils by soil analysis. Second,
no one, from a sample of soil, can advise you exactly how much or what analysis
of fertilizer to use on your soils in order to get best results under your conditions.
Third, actual experience on your own farm, under your own conditions, is by far
the best indicator as to most profitable future practice. I can tell you what
was used in various experiments and actual farm tests. On the basis of what
information I have accumulated concerning soil types and crop requirements, along
with observation of extensive practice I can tell you what I think will give best
results under your conditions, but having done this the exact working out of
your problem is left with yourself and so it must always be. For instance, in
the Ohio experiments, where they got such remarkable results by fertilizing the
orchards, they increased the yield from 20 barrels per acre to 49, and from 9 to
46, by using to the tree 12% lbs. of plantfood composed of 5 lbs. of nitrate of
soda, 5 lbs. of acid phosphate and 21/^ lbs. muriate of potash. This they scattered
in a circle around the tree, out about the extent that the^ branches of the tree
covered the ground. In various of the experiments I have studied, the investi-
gators found that the best time to apply fertilizers to the orchard was just when
the fruit buds are forming or just at the time they were opening. In some of
the Ohio experiments they did not find a pronounced profit from the use of
potash. A few rather interesting records are on file regarding actual financial
returns where different fertilizers supplying nitrogen and phosphoric acid were
used. They are as follows :
Comparative results in Ohio Tests .
Amount used per tree
Total gain
Gain per tree
Nitrate of Soda
Acid Phosphate
1.
2.
3.
4.
2i lbs.
5 ••
10 "
10 " tankage
5 lbs.
5 "
10 "
10 ' ' bonemeal
$103.
171.
174.
6.65
$2.45
4.07
4.14
1.58
In some sections of Europe it is considered good practice to supply a large
amount of phosphoric acid in the form of basic slag. Pennsylvania Station has
tested this source of phosphoric acid in comparison wath acid phosphate for the
orchard and finds that acid phosphate leads basic slag by 54 bushels to the acre
as an average of their tests.
Finally, it seems to me that the most profitable fertilizing practice for your
orchard can be determined to quite an extent by a study of the trees themselves.
If the leafage is sparse and the twig growth is indifferenf, there is clear indication
of the lack of nitrogen. If, on the other hand, twig growth is extensive and a
great deal of leafage and a slow ripening of the crop, there is pretty clear inrlica-
tion of the lack of phosphoric acid. Undersized apples, insipid in taste, and
fruit trees susceptible to disease indicate a marked lack of potash. As a general
rule you will find sandy or gravelly soil short of all three of the plantfood
constituents, and orchards on such soils will naturally require more abundant
feeding than were they found on richer loam soils. Clay soils are fairly well
supplied with all three plantfood constituents, but the phosphoric acid and potash
of clays may be in forms in which the tree cannot readily use it. It may pay.
1920 FEUIT GROWERS' ASSOCIATION. 63
therefore, to make material additions of well-balanced fertilizers to orchards on
soils of this type. In actual farm practice, as the result of the investigation,
Pennsylvania Station recommends the use of 500 lbs. per acre of a fertilizer
analyzing 6 per cent, ammonia, 8 per cent, phosphoric acid and 5 per cent, potash.
Remember Pennsylvania Station makes the report that it finds that on orchards
located on the best soils fertilizers can be used at greatest profit.
In these remarks I have tried to give you a survey of the fertilizer industry
in its relation to your own. I have pointed out the actual carriers in fertilizers
of the same plantfood exactly as you are supplying in stock manure. I am not
recommending any brand, make, or analysis of fertilizer, because a scientific in-
vestigation of the problem forms no basis for such a recommendation, but there
are points that I wish to lay special emphasis upon. The first point is that
orchard fertilization is eminently profitable. I am aware that there are experiments
on record which would not substantiate this statement. I am aware also that there
is abundant orchard practice on record as well as a considerable fund of experi-
mental data that abundantly supports my statement. I do not attempt to say
that the same analysis and quantity of fertilizer used on your orchard would give
the same results as those used on your fellow fruit grower's farm in some other
section of the province. Some of you are dairymen to a small degree. You know the
importance of feeding your cows abundantly a well-balanced ration. Feeding
your fruit trees is precisely the same problem. The second point I wish to make
is that not only does quantity depend up on proper fertilization of the orchard,
but quality is also involved, and the third and last point is that fertilization
is one of the big factors — but only one — involved in the improvement of the
orcharding industry of Ontario or Canada. Fertilizers will not take the place
of drainage, nor will they do the job of spraying or pruning or proper soil tillage,
nor will fertilizers take poor varieties and produce good results from them. But
scientific investigation and actual practice show that the liberal use of suitable
fertilizers in connection with other proper management rarely fails to give abun-
dant and profitable results.
FRUIT AND VEGETABLE COMBINATION ON SMALL ACREAGES.
E. J. Atkin, Leamixgtox.
Few native Canadians have any conception of the possibilities of an acre of
soil. The principle of expansion is as old as the law of self-defence. Individuals
as well as nations have grasped for more for all time. In our greed for gain we
ignore the small and seemingly insignificant things in nature, and rush wildly
on without chart or compass. Unless our -system of Agriculture is radically
changed within the next fifty years, coming generations will have a food situation
to solve, that is now perplexing India.
This fair Ontario of ours, which ranks highest of all Provinces in the
Dominion, for the production of food-stuffs, is being dispoiled to satisfy this lust
for expansion.
With our forests gone, and our marshes and low-lands drained, so that the
water that should remain for months in land is rushed in a few weeks to the sea,
we have nothing to expect but blights and diseases for our orchards and crops;
and drought, hot winds and hard winters for our farms.
64 - THE REPOKT OF THE No. 44
The past few years, owing to the great war and the extreme scarcity of farm
labor, has taught our farmers more in regard to intensive Agriculture, smaller
acreage, and larger yields thaii the whole previous centur}\ The successful farmer
of to-day will no longer spread a five-acre crop over a twent}^-acre field, as the
net income wdll not warrant the expense. The farmers of to-day, and more
particularly the fi-uit and vegetable growers, have learned several valuable lessons
within the past few years. The first and foremost of these perhaps is, that intensive
farming and rich soil is the only line of Horticulture that pays. Secondly that
crop rotation must be followed to produce successfully,, year after year, a large,
healthy and profitable crop.
As to the first point, it is not my intention to mention it but briefly. In the
Leamington section, where the scarcity and high cost of manure makes it almost
prohibitive, we must resort to other means. True, we do use a small amount of
farm-yard manure, particularly where we have to follow extremely iiitensive forms
of culture, as in the greenhouses and on our irrigation plots. In the latter we
give an annual application of about twenty tons per acre, whicli is supplemented
with commercial fertilizers. Where possible a cover crop is also sown in the fall
which is plowed down in the spring. On the remainder of the land a fall cover
crop is generally grown, this is plowed down in the spring and supplemented
with commercial fertilizers.
Crop rotation is the one that requires, perhaps, the greater consideration, and
the proper rotation, to a great extent, controls the loss from insect pests and plant
diseases. While the majority of those before me, I presume,- are fruit growers,
a large number engage in vegetable grovidng as well. These two work well together
in a good many localities and on proper soil, especially one that is sandy in nature ;
they give us a combination that is both profitable and easily handled. While
vegetable growing is the principle one in our district, a large number of the
growers have found that a combination of the two work well together, especially
the smaller fruits, such as strawberries, currants and even peaches, to a very great
extent. As a sandy soil is not so well adapted to cherries, plums and pears, these
are very little grown and are not nearly as profitable as the aforementioned. The
peach trees are planted out early in the spring on a soil that has been previously
well prepared. Early tomatoes are then planted in the orchard; the cultivation
necessary for them gives the trees a good start at no extra expense. In the fall,
the vines are pulled up and piled around the roots. These give protection and also
serve as a catch to the snow. The second year the orchard is planted with melons.
These grow well and the only preparation necessary is digging some well rotted
manure in the hills. The third year often no crop is planted if the trees have
made a normal growth, but if the space is limited and the trees permit it, two
rows of tomatoes are often planted the wide way, the third year. By the fourth
year the trees will commence to bear and further intercropping would be unwise.
Under the irrigation a different rotation is followed. Cabbage are planted
in the spring, usually about April 1st to 10th. These will all be harvested by
the first week in July. The ground is then given a light top dressing of manure
and about August 1st to 15th, is planted to strawberries. These produce a very
good crop the next year. After cropping they are cultivated, cleaned out, and
later on mulched and left for a full crop the coming year. When pickine: is over
they are plowed down and the ground planted to late potatoes. The following
year the ground is planted to onions, egg-plant or peppers. In this rotation five
profitable crops are grown in the four years, while under ordinary means of culture
only three would be produced.
1920 FKUIT GROWERS' ASSOCIATION,
If we had needed proof that a rotation of crops was necet^sary we had an
ample one this last season. A half acre plot was planted to egg-plant, half of
this area had been an old strawberry patch the previous year and had also grown
a crop of late potatoes, or in other words, was the fourth year of the rotation
mentioned above. The plants were large and healthy and produced over one-half
bushel per plant, of first class fruit. The other quarter acre had been planted
witli egg-plant the previous year. This crop had been healthy and showed no signs
of diseases, but the crop this year developed practically every disease common
to egg-plant and I think some that were not. The crop was almost a total failure.
These two plots were side by side and throughout the season it was easy to tell,
even from a distance, just where the division came. We fijid that if a crop is not
planted oftener than every four years, the diseases common to it and the family
to which it belongs give ver}^ little trouble, a probable exception to this is the
mosaic disease and I very much doubt if this is carried over in the soil, but rather
with the seed.
To sum up, rich soil, good cultivation and proper rotation, will give large.
healthy, profitable crops with the minimum expense and labor.
Pbof. Caesaji : "Was it a disease that caused the wilting of the egg-plant ?
A. — Yes, and we also had a lot of leaf spot, and insect pests, and the white
fly wa.s also verj' bad this year. The plants were raised in the greenhouse and
got infected there. The plants were all the same, so that it could not be due to
anything else than want of proper rotation, and having two crops in succession.
Q. — What kind of setting do you get from the strawberries?
A. — A good setting.
Q. — How wide do you leave the rows ?
A. — About eighteen inches. We have • conditions in Essex that are perhaps
different from other parts of the province. We have a long growing season. In
fact, when I left home on November 11th we had* had only one white frost, and
everything is growing yet. W^e have an irrigation system, and drs' weather does
not have any effect. W^e always water the ground before planting.
Mr. Bunting: Do you have any difficulty in getting plants at that time of
the year?
A. — No, we generally leave a row for the purpose of raising plants. Our
second year is the best picking. Our land is badly infested with a kind of Crowfoot
weed that comes on the last of June. We use a heavy cultivator and plow the
rows down to six inches wide. Our soil is loose and we use a spring tooth cultivator
and cultivate the width of the row and then harrow with an adjustable harrow
crosswise; that generally tears them up pretty well, and a little hoeing will clean
the patch, and after that they will come on fine.
REPORT OF RESOLUTIONS COMMITTEE.
Moved by Mr. Bunting, seconded by Mr. Fisher : '' That in view of the
rapid depletion of the ranks of qualified men in the various departments of agricul-
ture in Canada owing to more attractive financial conditions elsewhere and in
other lines of Industry : This convention would respectfully urge upon the Federal
and Provincial Governments the advisability of special consideration being given
to this undesirable state of affairs, and that steps be taken to retain in Canada
66 THE EEPORT OF THE No. 44
the services of men who have demonstrated their worth and ability in the public
service."
Moved by Mr. Bunting and seconded by Mr. Craise : " That the members
of this convention of the Fruit Growers of Ontario believe that the time is now
ripe for the bringing together of the fruits of the various provinces of this
Dominion in a ^ National Apple Show ^ and would request the incoming directors
to take such steps as may be necessary, by communicating with sister societies
and the officers of the Fruit Branch at Ottawa, with the view to arranging and
preparing for an exhibition of fruit in the Fall of 1920, to be held in the City
of Toronto, but which would be Dominion-wide in its scope and influence.''
Moved by Mr. Bunting, seconded by Mr. Dempsey : '^ That in connection
with the above ^ National Apple Show ' we believe it would be a very opportune
time to hold the Fifth Dominion Fruit Conference, when problems of a general
character in connection with furthering the Fruit Industry of Canada, might be
considered and discussed by representatives from all provinces of the Dominion,
and that plans to this effect be taken up at once."
Mr. Cutting: I would suggest that a Dominion Fruit Conference be recom-
mended regardless to whether an apple show is held or not. I think the important
point in this resolution is the holding of a Dominion Fruit Conference.
Mr. Fisher: What are the particular questions to be introduced at the
conference? No doubt the Department will want to have a definite object.
The Chairman: Different things will be coming up from time to time.
We have several important questions at the present time; the basket question is
a pressing one. Probably in another year it may be necessary to mark the weight
on every package. A barrel of apples cannot be shipped to the United States
unless it is marked "U.S. standard barrel."
Mr. Bunting: Another fact that is important is that the British Columbia
and Nova Scotia Fruit are capturing the market, and it seems to me that Ontario
Fruit Growers should get acquainted with their competitors and learn their
methods.
Mr. Sheppard : The fruit business in the Province of Ontario is going back,
and we will have to do something. I think it would be a good thing for the
Provinces to get together, and see if we cannot do something to help the fruit
industry.
Prof. Crow : There will be no lack of topics for discussion. Mr. Sheppard's
suggestion gives me the opportunity to emphasize the changes that have taken
place in Ontario apple growing. Any one who has travelled over Ontario must
realize that Ontario apple growing has fallen back very materially during the
last few years. I do not think it is too much to say that Ontario apple growing
has gone back twenty years in the last five years.
Moved by Mr. Bunting, seconded by Mr. Fisher, '' That, whereas, during
the past few years the Government Employment Bureau has given special attention
to the enlisting of women and girls for work on the fruit farms of the Province,
and whereas, there is still a desire on the part of the fruit growers that this help
be available in order that they may maintain and increase their production, and
on the part of the women and girls that they have this opportunity for a healthful
and remunerative vacation, therefore we would respectfully request that the
Government continue to conduct this branch of their employment bureau."
Carried.
Miss Straith: There may be some misunderstanding about my representing
1920 FIJLUT GrxOWEK.8' ASSOCIATION. G7
the girls in this movement. Tlie Ontario Government Employment Bureau has
eharge of sending the girls out to the farms, and 1 represent the Dominion Conier-
ence of the Y.W.C.A., who have for the last three years taken charge of the girls
in the matter of liousing. I would ask you to try and not consider what 1 say
as being said on behalf of the Y.W.C.A., because I am keenly interested in this
movement of the girls to tlie land, and I am also keenly interested in the building
up of the fruit industry. 1 come here for the purpose of getting the feeling of
the meeting as to whether they care to have these camps continued. From what
1 ha\e heard since coming here I judge that you would like to have these camps
continued, and that they are still necessary. The Y.W.C.A. are unable to carry on
^,the boarding houses in the country and come out even, as they can in the city.
Last year where camps were provided for 20 or 25 girls sometimes only 4 girls
came. ] do not know whether that situation can be remedied or not. On the other
hand, occasionally a number of girls came in quite unexpectedly, and this hampered
us very nmch in the matter of food supplies. I'eople from the city have the idea
that all they have to do is to go out in the country and there they will be able
to get chickens and butter and eggs and vegetables without any difficulty and at
low prices. That has not been our experience, in fact, we found that we were
paying higher prices for ^•egetabIes in the country than we could buy them for
in the city. We were criticized very strongly for bringing girls out to the country
and feeding them on canned vegetables. I said to one man " Have you a garden? ''
and he said " No.'' 1 said '" Is there any man in the district that runs a truck
garden?" and they did not know of one. Then I said: '^ How do you propose
to feed the girls on fresh vegetables that are Jiot grown within one hundred miles
of this, place? '" Lack of storage in the camps is another serious difficulty, we
are nnable to buy in large quantities because of that. Ninety per cent, of the
House Mothers reported that the fruit growers were too busy to give them any
attention and assist them in the matter of buying. One housekeeper told me
she had hunted the country over and could not buy potatoes, and one day a farmer
told her he could have taken her where she could buy plenty of potatoes at -a
reasonable price. Tliis year the ])rice of food has been exceptionally high, and
the price of labor has gone up, and we were paying our housekeepers and cooks
a much higher price than we paid the year before. I am speaking to you of
the difficulties, to see whether something cannot be done to eliminate what is
rather a big problem with us. Unless something can be done we will have to
raise the price of board. 1 believe the large percentage of the girls earned from
$9 to $15 per week this year, and that was very encouraging. I think the fruit
growers might give us more assistance in purchasing, and they might furnish
us with vegetables and fruit at a more reasonable rate. The question with us
is whether we should go on with the work and lose money. 1 would ask you to
formulate some sclieme whei-eby the Y.W.C.^. may be reimbursed or secure some
grant whereby they may be enabled to carry on the work. This year there were
between 70 and 80 fruit farmers who engaged girls from the camps. The question
is, is it worth while to you ? The question with the Y'.W.C.A. will be " Are they
justified in spending public money on this work, and to what extent can we count
on the co-operation of the Fruit Growers?" T was very glad to hear the resolution
that you have just passed asking the Government to continue the work. Many
of the girls will be greatly disappointed if the camps are not continued, and I know
that a number of tlie men have said that they will have to depend on the girls
for another vear.
m HKVOUT OK FlU IT (iROWKHS- ASSOCIATION. • No. 44
*i» ____^
Mil Fisiihk: A\'e are vitally int(M'C'sf('<l in this (lucstioji in our district, J'rom
th<; fact that wc require a large surplus ot lielp over tliat which is sup])lied locally.
One or two camps in the district is a great relief. 1 would like to see this move-
ment receive every possible encouragement from this Association. We l)eliev(.'
it is useful work. The fact that the ^^\V.C.A. liave liad a deficit is most unfortu-
nate, and I think it is largely due to the fact that in some of the camps they have
not had the full complement of girls. Tossibly a remedy for that would l)e to
reduce the number of camps. H we can get 10 or 50 girls in our district it will
help to relieve the situation.
Moved by Mm. Fleming, secojuled l)y Mil (*aj{Pextek: ''That tlu> Hoard
of Directors consider the advisability, oi- othei'wise, of combining the ])i-esent«
system of appointing one director from cacli of the geograj)hical districts with
representatio]! according to nu.'mbersliip in the Association, and report at the next
Annual Meeting.^'
Moved by Mi?. Fleming, seconded by Mr. Cilusk, '" Tliat a small committee
be chosen by the directoi's to take np the question as to whether (i0\ eminent
grades for ])eaches ar(^ desirable, and rc^port to the next meeting of the association.
The following i-esolntiiui was forAvai'ded for aj)pi'oval l)y the Canadian Horti-
cultural Association.
Moved by Prof. Crow, seconded by Mii. Ceai^i: : '• A\'hereas a well developed
Horticultnre is recognized as 'essential to the welfare and pros])ei-ity of Canadian
home life, and
''Whereas Horticulture is a dehnite craft in itself and is not a bran{;h or
department of Agriculture, and consists of the more intensive cultivation of fruits,
and tlowers, and vegetables and ornamental ])lants, and
''Whereas there is a great sliortage in Canada of trained Horticulturists, and
"Whereas scientific researcli in Flant Fhysiology, Plant Pathology and
Entcmiology is of vital im])()rtance .to the futiii'e development of Iforticulture in
Canada, and
" Whereas" systematic plant improvement and [)lant introducti(/n are likewise
of fundamental importance to the future of (*anadian Horticulture. Therefore be
it resolved that this committee i-ecomniends the establishment of special facilities
for the practical and scientific training of men in Horticulture, and further
recommends that all Horticultural organizations in Canada ])e requested to appoint
representatives to a Canadian Council of Florticulture, with a view to formulating
plans for the adequate developnuMit of Horticultural intei'ests in Canada as outlined
herein.'^
Peof. Crow : This resolution came from a special committee appointed by
the Florists' Organization. The sjiecial committee, after considering the niatter,
decided that the thing we need most in this country in connection with horticul-
ture is some authorative l)ody who can speak for the interest of horticulture. They
have in mind the establishing of a National Council of Horticulture. That
Council would be of an advisory chai'acter. and would, where iiecessary, bring-
about any new machinery which may be required.
The Convention then adjourned.
^^CL, S6 3^H.C C2. ^1%3
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