HORTICULTURAL COLLEGE AND STATION WANTED 



^T^HE fruit gTov\crs of the Niagara dis- 

 X trict 'have petitioned the Ontario De- 

 rartment of Agriculture to estabhsh a horti- 

 ;ultural college and fruit experiment station 

 for their benefit. One of the strongest 

 deputations of fruit growers that has ever 

 ivaited on the Department of Agriculture 

 interviewed Hon. Nelson Alonteith, Minis- 

 :er of Agriculture, April 19, and laid their 

 claims before him. Hon. J. S. Hendrie 

 assisted Mr. .uonteith in meeting the depu- 

 tation. 



The fruit growers of the southern frviit 

 belt of Ontario 'have long desired to have a 

 fruit experiment station, and horticultural 

 college, and recently they decided to bring 

 the matter to a head by having a deputation 

 wait on the Department of Agriculture. The 

 deputation, wnich was introduced by Dr. 

 Jessop, M.L.A., of St. Catharines, contained 

 many of the most prominent fruit growers 

 of the Niagara district and included repre- 

 sentatives of the Hamilton and St. Catha- 

 rines city councils, and ^boards of trade, as 

 well as representatives from the municipal 

 councils in the counties interested. 



" To show you 'how thoroughly unani- 

 mous is the desire of the residents of the 

 Niagara district that a 'horticultural college 

 and fruit experiment station should be es- 

 tablished for their benefit," said Mr. E. D. 

 Smith, ex-M. P., of Winona, to Hon. Mr. 

 Monteith, " I might state that all the muni- 

 cipalities in the Niagara district have passed 

 resolutions approving of the government es- 

 tablishing such a college and station. There 

 are five experiment stations in the Dominion, 

 but none in the Niagara district, which is 

 the most important fruit section in Canada. 

 At the stations already existing apples are 

 almost the only variety of fruit that can be 

 tested to general advantage. What we 

 need in the Niagara district is a station 

 which will conduct experiments in the pro- 

 duction of the varieties of fruit we grow and 



concerning" which we are unable to obtain 

 reliable information at the experiment sta- 

 tions which now exist. In the past our 

 principal markets have been large cities not 

 far distant from the Niagara district, to 

 which we could ship our fruit without dan- 

 ger of its being damaged. The supply of 

 fruit is increasing, which means that we 

 must extend our markets. 



" There has been a great growth in the 

 trade wuth the Maritime Provinces, and the 

 trade with the Northwest is rapidly develop- 

 ing. While we have been able to land our 

 fruit on the local markets in good condition 

 we find it is impossible to ship it to the dis- 

 tant markets although several varieties 

 stand the shipment better than ours. Cali- 

 fornia fruit growers are able to ship their 

 fruit to all parts of the world and we should 

 be able to do likewise. We need a fruit 

 experiment station which will experiment in 

 the production of varieties of fruit that will 

 stand long shipment, so that we can be as- 

 sisted in producing varieties that we can 

 ship to distant markets. We have not one 

 really good pear or grape. While some 

 varieties are good shippers they each have 

 some serious defects, such as poor taste, or 

 susceptibility to disease. There are one or 

 two good varieties of peaches and plums, 

 but there is great room for improvement 

 there also. 



" If such an experiment station as we de- 

 sire develops one good pear the revenue that 

 will be derived from it by the fruit growers 

 of the Niagara district would more than 

 meet all the expense of the station. We do 

 not want any 10 cent fruit experimental 

 farm. I cannot too strongly impress upon 

 vou the enormous value to the fruit grow- 

 ers of finding varieties that will meet the re- 

 quirements of the market. I believe the Do- 

 minion government should buy and equip 

 the farm, but if it does not take the matter 

 up there is a grand opportunity for the On- 



