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A Fruit Grower's Retrospect. 



SiK, — Tin: amazing advauceinents iu the 

 methods and results in Canadian fruit grow- 

 ing today, appear to us as one of the most 

 prevalent evidences of real permanent ad- 

 vancement in all that goes to make life so 

 desirable in the historj' of any country. But 

 very few of our younger people to-day, can 

 have any proper conception of the early 

 struggles of their forefathers in their etiort* 

 to bring aljout what is now seen and enjoyed. 

 For purposes of salutary retrospect, allow ni» 

 to take rapid glances backward in the history 

 of this Western Ontario, and view the times 

 that are now very far oti V In 1847 much of 

 this great country was very new and much 

 not inhabited. Forests of great extent 

 abounded everywhere and the scattered in- 

 habitants were struggling with them to get 

 an opening to let in the life-giving sunlight. 

 It was then that the germs of what we now see 

 were first cast into this rich and fertile soil, 

 and began to show the beginning of fruitful 

 life. From that time to this the process has 

 lieen going on until all the wonders and the 

 beauties of to-day stand out fully before our 

 eyes. At that time I was aged 14 years, 

 having been brought 2 years before, a mere 

 strippling from the old shores across the 

 Atlantic. Then the attempts made in Agri- 

 culture and more especially in Horticulture, 

 were unmistakably primitive, but they had 

 the germs of promise in them. At that time 

 there was no .lames Dougall's Nurseries at 

 Windsor ; iio Arkona Nurseries at that 

 place : no Saunders' Test (^rounds at Lon- 

 don ; No Arnold's Nurseries at Paris ; no 

 \V . H. Holton, at Hamilton, and I very 

 much doubt that there were any Ur. Beadle's 

 Nurseries at St. Catharines, or Geo. Leslie's 

 Nurseries at Toront'o. All the nice things 

 that were wanted in the line of fruit trees, 

 ornamental shrubs or plants had to be brought 

 direct from the United .States, and many sad 

 disappointments we surt'ered thereby. But 

 we have outlived them and now smile at what 

 then caused us such vexation. 



The patient industry and growing intelli- 

 gence of the people, the agreeable, buoyant 

 and stimulating climate, the extreme virgin 

 richness and fertility of the native soil con- 

 tributed to the best results and filled their 

 barns with plenty, and their hearts with con- 

 Hdent satisfaction, and their lives with purest 

 enjoyment. Towns and cities were few and 

 market communication was dithcult. Kvery- 

 body grow their own as far as possible, and 

 so fruit and vegetables and whatever per- 

 tained to the ruclest gardening was of little 

 value and not esteemed as property. But as 

 the country and its people grew, which they 

 did apace, this state of things was soon 

 changed and a new era began to dawn upon 

 us. Cities and town.-; of great vigor and 

 forceful palpitating life began to be establish- 



d here and there over tlie land, on sure 

 foundation. The whole country soon felt the 

 force of this onward movement. Cood roads 

 were studied and prapared and "well main- 

 tained. Communication with the rising cen- 

 tres was so made easy and pleasant, and a 

 fine profitable intercourse was soon established 

 und Bo has come the state of things we see 

 around us to day. 



But the full development of what we now 

 have, has mostly been the steady onward 

 work of the past 25 years. The position of 

 fruit growing in 1872 was in no sense that of 

 a developed industry, at least in Western 

 Ontario. At that time fruit was not consid- 

 ered property and not suliject to the protec 

 tion of property. People considered that fruit 

 could be taken wherever it- was found acces- 

 sible and the owner's fences could be torn 

 down and the fruit plants pulled up by the 

 roots before his eyes or otherwise. Many a 

 time my wife and I have stood the most of 

 the night to try and protect our fruit pro- 

 ducts. All this, and much more, was largely 

 our personal experience in our incipient stages 

 of progress as Canadian fruit frowers. I am 

 now so deeply thankful to be able to say, that 

 I have lived to see all this sort of thing for 

 ever past, nothing of it is seen or felt now. 

 Our people, even to the very youngest of 

 them, know better, and the fruit grower is 

 not only recognized as an honorable citizen, 

 but he i,i protected and even profoundly res- 

 pected. Thanks for the growing intelligence 

 of our people for this state of progress and for 

 what we have attained. In this sense we 

 most sincerely prize a kind a,nd foslerinij pro 

 t.'clioii. 



In that year, 1872, "The Arkona Home 

 Nurseries," were established on a very favor- 

 able plot of soil well adapted to the inirposc. 

 This was the first thing of the kind in all that 

 part of the country and was lecognized, and 

 rejoiced in as a great public benefit to the 

 country. About that time or shortly after 

 otherswere established in diHerent i)arts of 

 the country and the time for homegrown 

 trees and plants now joyfully come Such 

 vexing inconvenience had been suffered by 

 the people from American agencies disposing 

 of their surplus stock. So when Canadian 

 nurseries became so well established as to 

 supply our own markets with home-grown 

 stock it was considered a great step in ad- 

 vance, or a movement onwards. From that 

 time to the present our progress has been 

 rapid and definite and the fruit products of 

 this region are now assuming imnien.se ])ro- 

 portions. Oreat nuantities of new and choice 

 fruit are now annually grown for home u.se 

 and for the foreign market, ami Mhere\er they 

 go they command a cautious and respectful 

 consideralion, 



I!. ( ioTT, 



SIralhrny. Out. 



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