126 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



May, 1912 



Fruit Growing in Ontario — Its Possibilities. 



W. H. Bunting, St. Catharines, Ont. 



I HAVE had an opportunity, by direction 

 of the Honourable Minister of Agricul- 

 ture, to visit during the last six months 

 every province of the Dominion in order. 

 In the course of this trip I have cxime into 

 personal contact with a great many lopre- 

 sentative fruit-growers in the different pro- 

 vinces, have visited them in their hones, 

 have looked over their orchards, and have 

 discussed with them many of the features 

 of the industry as it is being carried on 

 under varied conditions. I wish at the out- 

 set to express appreciation for the cordial 

 reception given me, and the interest dis- 

 played in my mission by these gentlemen. 

 The officials of the various Provincial De- 

 partments of Agriculture, of the Agricul- 

 tural Colleges and the Experimental Farms, 

 as well as the members of the .staff of the 

 Fruit Division, have t^ken every pains to 

 make my trip pleasant and to faci^tate the 

 securing of such information as I sought. 

 I am also deeply indebted to Mr. J. A. Rud- 

 ddck, the Dairy and Cold Storage Commis- 

 sioner, under whose direct supervision I 

 have been working, for much valuable assist- 

 ance, it being at his suggestion that the en- 

 quiry was instituted. 



The Province of Ontario, on nt;i;ount of 

 its geographical position, its large areas of 

 suitable land, and its general adaptaouity 

 for fruit culture, is easily the most impor- 

 tant province in the Dominion from the 

 standpoint of the fruit industry, commer- 

 cially and otherwise. This province com- 



•Extract from a paper read at the recent 

 Dominion Fruit Conference in Ottawa. 



prises four out of the ten districts which 

 have been outlined by Mr, Mo.'^Ipil!, Chief 

 of the Fruit Division, for the purpose of 

 defining fruit-growing conditions and pro- 

 duction throughout the entiri' Dominion. 

 These four districts, while differing in them- 

 selves and from each other, are all extremely 

 important. Every one of them produces 

 large quantities of fruit of a varied charac- 

 ter. In addition to supplying an extensive 

 local demand, these fruits must seek an 

 outside market for the immense surplus 

 grown annually. 



A short description of these districts may 

 be in order, so that we may obtain a better 

 idea of the province as a whole. Their loca- 

 tion may be briefly described as follows : 



District 1. Counties bordering on the 

 north of Lake Erie from Niagara River, m- 

 cluding western portions of Lake Ontario, — 

 to Detroit River and Lake and River St. 

 Clair. 



District 2. Countie>i on Lake Huron inland 

 to York, with the exception of parts of 

 Wellington, Grey and Waterloo above the 

 1,000 feet contour line. 



District 3. Counties bordering on Lake 

 Ontario, north to Sharbot Lake and Georg- 

 ian Bay. 



Distract 4. St. Lawrence and Ottawa 

 Valleys to Lake St. Peter and a portion of 

 south-western Quebec. 



These are simply arbitrary divisions and 

 do not differentiate the localities as being 

 entirely distinct from one another as a 

 whole. In fact they merge imperceptibly 

 one into another at their boundaries, and 

 can only be referred to as outlining in a 



modified way the genera! characteristics of 

 the sections of country included. 



DISTRICT NUMBER ONE 



District number one — In addition to large 

 orchards of apples, pears and plums, this 

 district contains the maioi portion of the 

 commercial peach orchards and grape vine- 

 yards of the Dominion. It is also largely 

 devoted to the production of cherries, both 

 sweet and .sour, small fruits of all kinds, and 

 early vegetables, as well as supplying the 

 greater portion of the products required by 

 the large number of canning factories sta- 

 tioned at strategic points from one end of 

 the district to the other. 



This district has b<'en the scene of many 

 changes during the past decade. The in- 

 festation of the San Jose Scale at several 

 important centres has led to the decline 

 and destruction of many of the large apple 

 orchards for which it was formerly noted. 

 This condition has turned the attention of 

 the people to the increased planting of 

 such fruits as are not so .susceptible to in- 

 jury from this cause or are more easily pro- 

 tected. In some cases, where conditions 

 warranted, the production of early vege- 

 tables on a large scale has also been under- 

 taken with splendid results. 



Experience gained in the treatment of 

 this once dreaded in.sect has, however, reach- 

 ed such a stage that its pre.sence is now 

 looked upon more as a salutary tonic than 

 an unmixed evil, from the fact that it com- 

 pels better and more careful methods of 

 orchard treatment if a healthy existence is 

 in any degree to be maintained. It having 

 been clearly demonstrated that even large 

 apple trees could be successfully protected 

 against thie enemy, and brought into 

 splendid condition for the production of 



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HentioD The Canadian Horticalturiat when wrttmi 



