THE ISLAND PROVINCES FRUIT CROP. 



415 



pany there is no waste. The fruit is put 

 directly into barrels and taken to the pack- 

 ing house. There, uniform grading and 



packing is done and the Old Country buyer 

 sees that he can get larger quantities and a 

 more uniform grade, and pays a better price. 



PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND'S POOR APPLE CROP 



REV. P'ATHER A. E. BURKE), ALBERTON, P. E. I. 



SELDOM or never has a more bounte- 

 ous crop been garnered into the 

 barns in Prince Edward Island than this 

 year. The fruit crop, however, is not 

 abundant, and, grateful as we are for small 

 favors, there is no ground for exuberance 

 on this count. 



Last year, when all the world enjoyed a 

 full measure of apples, ours was fairly good 

 too, but the conditions of the fruit market 

 gave only moderate returns for the orchard- 

 ist's toil. It was a very dry season — five 

 months of complete drought, where rain is 

 required every week for best results. The 

 trees bloomed profusely, and, though they 

 bore a'fair crop, strange changes in the size, 

 color and quality of the fruit were notice- 

 able. Owing to the extreme drought the 

 Ben Davis apples had become ripe enough 

 for eating by October, whereas, ordinarily, 

 they are not' so mellow until the following 

 June. The same changes were common to 

 all the winter varieties. The general result 

 was only a medium return from the or- 

 chards, and, naturally, fruit growers ex- 

 pected an average crop for 1905- 



Why, then, are we so stinted in the apple 

 production? The trees bloomed; there 

 were no frosts at the time to kill the blos- 

 som; the protection, defective enough, it is 

 true, was no worse than usual. There 

 must be some other reason for this dearth 

 of fruit. Here is the explanation. The 

 trees passing through such a drying-out 

 period in 1904 were engaged in a life and 

 death struggle. They were able to fix 

 fruit buds but had not sufificient strength to 

 vitalize them thoroughly. These buds were 

 sufficient to produce biossom but not strong 



enough to fix fruit. This year's famine, 

 therefore, is due to last year's drought. 

 Nay, more. In many cases the trees them- 

 selves were unable to store up sufficient 

 nourishment to hibernate, and hence the 

 many mysterious cases of what is called 

 " blasting," resulting in partial or com- 

 plete destruction of the tree. 

 THE REMEDY. 

 The natural question is, could these mis- 

 fortunes not be avoided? Might such con- 

 ditions not militate against the Island as a 

 fruit country ? No easier task could be set 

 than the conservation of our apple areas. 

 The trouble is, the orchards are not suffi- 

 ciently fertilized. With water, the soil will 

 give crops every season. In dry seasons 

 they grow where there is sufficient humus 

 in the soil. If the orchards had been well 

 fertilized, they should have been able to pro- 

 duce vital fruit buds for this season. In 

 fact, some of the well cared orchards did do 

 so. Protection must be found in this ex- 

 posed province every year and sufficient 

 fertilizers must also be added if prime fruit 

 is to be grown and money made. 



The far famed Annapolis Valley, too, is 

 comparatively bare of fruit. A study of 

 conditions there and a comparison of the 

 situation and soil with Prince Edward Is- 

 land shows that they have an advantage in 

 shelter. The valley is completely pro- 

 tected by a fringe of hills. On the island 

 the protecting forest has been shamefully 

 cut down until artificial windbreaks have to 

 be depended on. 



Despite untoward circumstances, Prince 

 Edward Island fruit at the Charlottetown 

 show excelled the exhibits at Halifax and 



