THE WINTER OF 1903-4 AND ITS EFFECTS 



R. W. SHEPHERD, COMO, QUE. 



THE disastrous effects of the severe 

 winter of 1903-4 on our orchards 

 were not fully understood or observed the 

 following spring. The damage was more 

 far-reaching than at first supposed. Trees 

 which were killed outright were replaced, 

 and the percentage of these, in some locali- 

 ties, was high — fully 10 per cent, in some 

 instances. But we also noticed that many 

 trees were injured, more or less, which we 

 hoped would ultimately survive. We ob- 

 served, also ,that the fruit of 1904, particu- 

 larly Fameuse and a few other varieties, 

 was considerably undersized. This was at- 

 tributable to the severe shock which the 

 trees sustained during the previous winter. 

 The trees, apparently, had not the vitality 

 and vigor to develop their fruit to the nor- 

 mal size of other seasons. 



During the 30 years I have paid attention 

 to the cultivation of the apple I do not re- 

 member having exported such small Fa- 

 meuse as those packed in 1904. In fact. 

 No. I Fameuse of last year would have been 

 considered No. 2 grade in 1903. Those 

 trees which bore a heavy crop in 1904 (I 

 speak for my own locality) m many in- 

 stances were so exhausted by the effort and 

 their vitality had been so impaired by the 

 severe winter, that they have succumbed 

 altogether. The past winter, although it 

 could not be considered a severe one, was 

 too hard for those trees which had strug- 

 gled through last season and had borne a 

 crop of undersized fruit. One has only to 

 go through orchards in districts such as the 

 Ottawa Valley, Lake St. Francis district 

 and Chateauguay to see the number of trees 

 that have succumbed after having feebly 

 tried to develop foliage this season. 



The varieties in these districts which have 

 withstood the winter are those to be recom- 

 mended and may be considered thoroughly 

 hardv. In mv orchard thev are few, and 



include Rochelle (very hardy), Gipsy Girl, 

 N. W. Greening, McMahon and Winter 

 St. Lawrence. The following were more 

 or less injured. Duchess, Wealthy, Scott's 

 Winter, St. Lawrence and Canada Baldwin. 

 Those considerably injured were Fameuse, 

 Mcintosh Red, Canada Red, Golden Russett 

 and Red Astrachan. Those very badly in- 

 jured were Ontario and Windsor Chief, (jf 

 20 trees of the latter, eight years planted, 

 only one survived, and it is not in satisfac- 

 tory condition. We had great hope of it. 

 The tree was vigorous and healthy and bore 

 regularly. The fruit is large, handsome, 

 and undoubtedly a long keeper of fair 

 quality, and an excellent apple for profitable 

 export in barrels. It is the apple our or- 

 chardists have been looking for, for a num- 

 ber of years, as one able to compete with 

 those grown in Ontario, such as Northern 

 Spy and Baldwin. I admit that the test 

 was severe, and it may be several years be- 

 fore we have such another. 



The Ottawa Valley and contiguous dis- 

 tricts, such as Lake St. Francis, sustained 

 an extra cold blast and a degree of exceed- 

 ingly low temperature which was main- 

 tained a longer period than we have hereto- 

 fore experienced, but the fact remains that 

 the late keeping varieties we have been wait- 

 ing for, and which we expected had arrived 

 when Windsor Chief was brought to the 

 front, has not stood the test. At Mr. New- 

 man's orchard, on the Lower Lachine road, 

 this variety has come through satisfactorily, 

 but his locality is favorably situated in hav- 

 ing the open water of the Lachine Rapids, 

 which has the effect of tempering the cold. 

 Mcintosh Red seems quite as hardy as Fa- 

 meuse. It is important to know that our 

 two most popular varieties are of equal 

 hardiness and can be planted with equal 

 hopes of success. 



One peculiar feature of damage done to 



* A paper read at the summer meeting of the Quebec Pomological and Fruit Growers' Society. 



