PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANNUAL MEETING. 255 



FRUIT RESOURCES OF CANADA. 



BY PROF. JOHN CEAIG OF CANADA. 



I regret xerj much that I have to start what I am ashamed to term a 

 lecture by an apology. I had arranged a series of slides illustrating some 

 of our Canadian fruit resources. Unfortunately, just before I had the 

 pleasure of receiving an invitation fi-om your secretary, I loaned the 

 slides for another purpose, but learning that I was placed on the pro- 

 gramme for this subject, and thinking you might possibly be interested 

 to some extent in knowing what we in the cold north are doing in grow- 

 ing fruits of the various classes, I brought along all the slides I had, 

 and trusting that you will bear with me, and that your imagination will 

 supply any deficiencies there may be in the slides or in my discussions, I 

 wish briefly to take you for a trip across the continent, beginning at the 

 eastern boundary. 



We have quite a little strip of country to the north of you. I know 

 that the people of the United States have a very fair idea and a very fair 

 impression of the importance and the size of their own country, and I 

 think it is a splendid thing for every individual, no matter what flag 

 he lives under, to think that there is no country under the sun like his 

 own country. I am only sorry to find that since I got here I am greeted by 

 so many friends. Now, that may seem rather peculiar, to say that I am 

 sorry to be greeted by friends, and I know at least a half dozen persons 

 who have come up and shaken me by the hand, saying they were brother 

 Canadians. However, just to give you a rapid idea and a comprehensive 

 one of the extent of our domain — I know you usually imagine that 

 Toronto or Montreal, which is the metropolis of our country, is about the 

 geographical center east and west, and if you have that impression yoa 

 are considerably mistaken, because you have to go nearly two thousand 

 miles west of that before you strike our geographical center east and 

 \\ est, so that Winnipeg is near our center. 



We have in Canada, as you in the United States have, an experiment 

 station system which has for its object, as I say, the horticultural as 

 well as the agricultural interests of the Dominion. We manage our sta- 

 tion work somewhat differently, and I will just give you a brief outline 

 now of our system, and later I will give you some views of our farm to 

 bring you nearer to our work. The institution which I speak about is 

 under the management and control of the federal government, corre- 

 sponding to your federal government at Washington. We have a central 

 farm, a central station at Ottawa, the seat of government, and we have 

 in each of the other provinces branch stations to do the work for the 

 provinces, and the work is taken as a whole from our central station at 

 Ottawa and results are collected, collated, and published from that cen- 

 tral station. AVe have not been in existence as long as some of your 

 stations have, and we have not done a great deal, yet we have done some- 



