The Canadian Horticulturist 381 



FRUIT EXPERIMENTS — OTHER STATIONS TO BE 

 OPENED— THE BEAVER VALLEY. 



OR some time past the Board of Control of the Ontario 

 Fruit Experiment Stations has been desirous of estab- 

 b'shing a plum station somewhere on the southern shore 

 of the Georgian Cay, because this region is already 

 famous for its productive plum orchards. It, therefore, 

 seemed desirable that the growers of this fruit in that 

 and other sections should receive every encouragement. 

 A station of this kind, at which all the varieties of a single fruit are grown, can 

 accomolish much for the growers of that fruit in many ways. For instance, 

 (i) by correcting the misnamed varieties which are grown in the section, (2) by 

 introducing little known varieties which are profitable in other sections and 

 might possibly be remunerative in that section also, (3) by testing new varieties? 

 (4) by conducting various experiments in spraying, in fertilizing, in pruning and 

 in cultivation, the results of which will, in due time, be reported for the public 

 good. 



The Minister of Agriculture has placed this whole work under the joint 

 control of the Ontario Fruit Growers' Association and the Agricultural College 

 at Guelph, hoping in this way to attain the very best results. 



Mr. Woolverton reports the whole country along the southern shore of the 

 Georgian Bay as abounding in beautiful scenery and in suitable soil for the 

 growing of fruit, particularly the plum and apple. The Beaver Valley, especi- 

 ally, is most delightful. From Thornbury, near Meaford, this valley winds 

 among the heights of the " Blue Ridge," or " Mountain," as we call it in the 

 Niagara district, for twenty miles back to Eugenia Falls, affording some of the 

 most picturesque scenery in Canada. The finest plums in Ontario are grown in 

 this section, both in quality and beauty of appearance, and the yield of fruit is 

 most remarkable in quantity. 



It was on the invitation of Mr. C. VV. Hartman and others of Clarksburg 

 and vicinity that Mr. L. Woolverton, Secretary of the Ontario Fruit Growers' 

 Association, and Professor H. L. Hutt, Horticulturist at the Ontario Agricul- 

 tural College, Guelph, visited this section in order to locate a station for con- 

 ducting experiments in plum growing. 



Mr. Hartman very kindly engaged a carry-all, and, along with another 

 gentleman, piloted Messrs. Hutt and Woolverton throughout this whole valley. 

 Clarksburg is itself a small but prosperous town, founded many years ago by 

 Mrs. Hartman's father, Mr. Marsh. It has waterworks, drawing its supply from 

 the Beaver River, and shows other evidences of prosperity. According to Dun, 

 Wiman's report, there is more wealth in this small town of seven hundred 

 inhabitants than in any other town of its size in Ontario. 



