FRUIT IN MANITOBA. 141 



FRUIT IN MANITOBA. 



REMARKS BY A. P. STEVENSON, NELSON, MANITOBA. 



As your president has said, I come from Manitoba as a delegate 

 from the Western Horticultural Society, and we follow as closely 

 as possible the Minnesota society in a great many things. I must 

 say that the Minnesota society is the only organization of this kind 

 whose findings are of any value to us. With the Ontario society 

 we have very little to do because their conditions and ours are en- 

 tirely different. I may say this is the first time I have ever had the 

 honor and the pleasure of being present at any of your society meet- 

 ings, although I have been a member for nearly ten years. There are 

 a great many members in the society with whom, although I have 

 never met them personally, I feel acquainted, especially with their 

 ideas, by simply reading their views in the Horticulturist. One 

 thing that we are interested in up there is this thousand dollar prize 

 apple seedling. We hope the day is not far distant when that seed- 

 ling will be discovered. I think you will derive a vast benefit from 

 that offer. 



Now, possibly, it may occur to some of the members to ask 

 what we have been doing in Manitoba in horticultural lines, what 

 success we have met with in the growing of trees and fruits. I will 

 try to answer any anticipated questions as briefly as possible, be- 

 cause I know it is time for lunch. 



Now in regard to growing fruit. It is something like eight 

 years since I commenced growing fruit in Manitoba. You will un- 

 derstand that what I have to say at least has the merit of experience 

 to back it, because I know that an experience of one or two years 

 only is of very little value. Something like twelve years ago we 

 planted our first Russian apple trees, about seventy varieties. Of 

 these some have fruited for four years, bearing fair crops. We have 

 fruited the Blushed Calville and the Gravenstein, and we have had 

 some very fine apples. Some varieties are just coming into bearing — 

 one named the Russian Gravenstein apple — and then we have the 

 Anisim, Hibernal, Repka, the Little Hat, Red Twig, Lieby, Ostre- 

 koff, Antonovka, Sugar Sweet, Saccharine and Roman. Now these 

 varieties planted twelve years ago have borne fruit, some of them 

 good fruit, and some of them very poor fruit. I think the best qual- 

 ity with us is the Anisim and Russian Gravenstein. The Hibernal 

 is a good apple for cooking purposes. The Wealthy have borne fruit 

 with us for the last five years. I may say that the Wealthy after 

 being blighted killed down to the ground and sprouted up in bush 

 form. They are bearing very profusely ; we found it necessary to 



