The Canadian Horticulturist. 351 



THE HAMILTON FRUIT DISTRICT. 



N the 2 1 St of August, 1895, I stood upon the edge of the 

 bluff overlooking the City of Hamilton towards its eastern 

 ramparts. Near by me stood a party of tourists from 

 Cleveland, Ohio, who were returning from the east, having 

 visited Montreal and Toronto on the way. After gazing 

 for a few moments on the picture before and beneath 

 them, one of the party, a gentleman, remarked : " I have 

 " ' looked upon every city of importance on the continent of 



America, but never before have I stood upon a spot of 

 ^.-i-*^-.^/'^^:-^ earth that afforded so charming a prospect as this." 



There are really few Canadians who know the charms 

 of Hamilton, and few who do know them but would readily endorse and echo 

 the sentiments of the Cleveland tourist. 



But it is of Hamilton, as a fruit centre more particularly, that I would wish 

 to speak at present. The same language applied to the city, regarding its pecu- 

 liar and attractive situation, may be applied with equal force and aptness to the 

 district lying for miles to the eastward. One may stand upon the edge of the 

 bluff at any point between Hamilton and Grimsby, a distance of nearly twenty 

 miles, and, looking to the north, behold as charming a panorama of garden, 

 vineyard and fruit farm, as the city presents in an urban sense. And what lends 

 to this highly favored fruit district a special attraction this year, is, that it is 

 teeming with fruit, which all or nearly all other sections of Ontario were made 

 destitute of that highly-prized product, by the terrible frosts during the month 

 of May. 



I had the privilege, during the latter part of August, of making several trips 

 over the electric railway recently opened between the City of Hamilton and 

 Grimsby village, eighteen miles to the east. This trip affords a splendid view 

 of the numberless fruit farms lying between the two points named. To one 

 interested in fruit farming, we know of no trip of the same number of miles 

 more attractive and interesting. In many of the farms I noted vast improve- 

 ments since my visit to the same district three years ago. Orchards are better 

 kept, the fruit seems cleaner, larger vineyards planted, the soil is kept in better 

 order, and greater care is bestowed upon the home and its surroundings. The 

 opening of the electric line has in fact made this whole district but a suburb of 

 the City of Hamilton, and not only the handsome homes are assuming a city 

 aspect in their style and outward attractions, but their owners are beginning to 

 put on city airs. To describe the farms, and the fruit upon them, lying along 

 this trolley line, would be too great a task, and especially so since I dropped off 

 at only a few of them. Suffice it for the present to say, that within the distance 

 covered by this road are the farms of such well-known fruit growers as Murray 

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