The Canadian Horticulturi^ 



Vol. XXXIII 



JULY, 1910 



No. 7 



Great Possibilities of Ontario Apple Orchards 



THERE are neglected orchards on 

 thousands of farms in Ontario, the 

 owners of which have no concep- 

 tion of their value. These orchards 

 range in size from one to twenty acres. 

 Many of them are stocked with excellent 

 varieties of trees. For the most part 

 they are unpruned, unsprayed, unculti- 

 vated. Did their owners realize the 

 returns that might be obtained from their 

 orchards they would be quick to give them 

 the slight care and attention that is all 

 that is required to make their value ap- 

 parent. As it is they do not appreciate 

 their possibilities and consequently most 

 of these orchards could be purchased for 

 only a few dollars an acre. Money in- 

 vested in .some of these orchards, with .-i 

 little care and attention might soon be 

 doubled. 



The best of these orchards are located 

 in the counties adjoining the great lakes, 

 There are hundreds of them in the coun- 

 |ty of Prince Edward which is exception- 

 ally well adapted for the growing of 

 fruit. Others may be found in counties 

 all along the shores of Lake Ontario, 

 Lake Erie, Lake Huron, and the Georg- 

 ian Bay, as well as in some counties 

 situated further inland. 



There are sections where an awakening 

 has taken place. For the most part these 

 are where co-operative fruit growers' 

 associations have been formed, as at 

 Trenton, Newcastle, Oshawa, Simcoe, 

 Chatham, Forest, Walkerton, Meaford, 

 and elsewhere. In some of these dis- 

 tricts there are fruit growers who now 

 are making $100 and $200 an acre and 

 more out of apple orchards that a few 

 years ago they were planning to destroy. 



REASONS FOR NEGLECT 



Most of these neglected orchards were 

 planted many years ago. They pruved 

 profitable lor some years. Later, how- 

 ever, their output became greater than 

 the local markets could absorb. At that 

 time the great markets in Western 

 Canada had not been created, and the 

 population of the towns and cities of 

 Ontario was much smaller than it is 

 now. The co-operative handling of 

 fruit was practically unknown. The 

 growers were forced to sell their crops 

 to apple buyers. If they obtained 75cts. 

 to $1.00 a bbl. they generally considered 

 that they did well. These conditions 

 proved discouraging. In the course of 

 a few years thousands of these orchards 



were neglected. Most of them are still 

 in that condition. 



CHANGED CONDITIONS 



Within the past five or six years the 

 general situation has changed completely. 

 Over 1,000,000 settlers have come into 

 Canadk. Important consuming centres 

 have sprung up all over the great West, 

 and lately in Northern Ontario, as though 

 by magic. The population of the cities 

 and towns has increased greatly. To- 

 gether with this the co-operativ^ system 

 of handling the apple crop has bv,i;n 

 introduced, and has been proved to be 

 practical and profitable. About forty 

 co-operative apple growers' associa- 

 tions now save for their members the 



A Bond of Union 



It is well for the horticultural 

 interests of Canada that we have 

 such a publication as The Cana- 

 dian Horticulturist. It is the 

 bond that unites those interested 

 in horticulture all over the Domin- 

 ion, and thus it is a factor in 

 building up Canada. We should 

 all support it. — Thos. Delworth, 

 Weston, Ont., President, Ontario 

 Vegetable Growers' Association. 



proceeds from their fruit that formerly 

 were divided among two or three middle- 

 men. By means of their warehouses they 

 are able to store their apples, and thus 

 to sell them when the market is the most 

 favorable. Thus to-day there are many 

 hundreds of apple growers in Ontario 

 who receive two and three dollars a 

 barrel for their apples, and who thus 

 are making large profits out of their 

 orchards. And still there are thousands 

 of farmers in the province who do not 

 realize what the changes that have taken 

 place mean to them, and whose orchards 

 in consequence are an eyesore to them, 

 and even in some cases a source of loss. 



THE GEORGIAN BAY DISTRICT 



The Georgian Bay district is one in 

 which hundreds of neglected orchards 

 exist. In Nottawasaga township, Sim- 

 coe county, however, such an awakening 

 is taking place as is needed in the other 

 fruit sections of the province. There is 

 a prospect that within the next few years 

 it will become general throughout On- 

 tario. 



The section is well adapted to the 

 growth of apple trees and many of the 

 semi-hardy fruit trees. The so-called 

 mountains — a high ridge of land running 

 along the shore near the Bay, which is 

 a continuation of the Niagara escarp- 

 ment — together with the tempering in- 

 fluence of the Georgian Bay to the north, 

 renders the climate of the district most 

 favorable for fruit. Fruit trees do re- 

 markably well, and so far as apple trees 

 are concerned, it would be difficult to 

 find a place that by nature was better 

 adapted for their growth. 



START OF THE MOVEMENT 



Last year, the Fruit Branch of the 

 Ontario Department of Agriculture in- 

 terested itself in the district. During 

 the summer, considerable data relative 

 to the actual conditions of the orchards 

 was gathered. 



There is located at Collingwood one 

 of the Branch Offillices of the Ontario 

 Department of Agriculture. Its repre- 

 sentative, I. F. Metcalf, B.S.A., realized 

 that the farmers of the section did not 

 appreciate their opportunities. Actmg 

 on his knowledge of the district, along 

 with that obtained from the orchard sur- 

 vey work, he planned to conduct some 

 demonstration orchards this year in the 

 hope of improving the orchards generally. 

 His efforts are meeting with distinct 

 success. 



The start was made last spring in 

 the township of Nottawasaga. Six 

 orchards that were in a badly neglected 

 state were selected at favorable points. 

 Having gained the consent of their 

 owners, these were taken over by the 

 Department for a period of two years to 

 be used for demonstration purposes. The 

 orchards are located on the farms of the 

 following men: W. Hamilton, Colling- 

 wood ; W. J. Ovens, Duntroon ; C. Camp- 

 bell, Stayner; R. Steele, Cashtown ; S. 

 Blackburn, Creemore ; John Osborne, 

 Dunedin. These orchards are represen- 

 tative of orchards in the district. The 

 trees were pruned, scraped, and sprayed. 

 All of these orchards had previously been 

 in sod, as are most of the orchards in the 

 district. They were plowed and have 

 since been cultivated. 



The owners of the orchards assisted 

 with the work of pruning and spraying, 

 and did the manuring, plowing, and culti- 

 vating, as directed. The farmers who 

 owned the orchards will reap the full 



