VISIT TO FRUITLAND. 



HE small district now known as 

 Fruitland, comprising but a small 

 portion of the mountain valley 

 between Hamilton and Grimsby is 

 well named. The name should be ap- 

 plied to the whole section from Hamilton 

 to the Niagara river and it would be well 

 applied and full of significance. It would 

 be no reflection on the ancient land of Cana- 

 an to say that it was neither more fair nor 

 fruitful than the fruitland of Ontario, stretch- 

 ing between the cities of Hamilton and St, 

 Catharines, and including all the Niagara 

 district. And in its tillage this picturesque 

 and fruitful domain is a:s yet but few stages 

 beyond its primitive beginnings in the 

 husbandry of the vineyard, the orchard 

 and the peach grove. What its future 

 possibilities are he would be a bold prophet 

 who would attempt to predict. That future 

 depends largely upon human agency and the 

 energy and enterprise of the favored popula- 

 tion whose lot may be cast within its pleasant 

 and advantageous environments. 



In my recent visit to this fair and fruitful 

 district I found much togratify the occasional 

 visitor. And only the occasional visitor 

 can note at first sight how rapid has been 

 the progress in some localities and on some 

 farms ; yet observe with equal readiness that 

 the laggard is still a dweller in the land of 

 such advantages. It would be safe to say, 

 however, that the unfortunate son of unthrift 

 still to be seen here and there is not a reader 

 of the Horticulturist, and has not yet felt 

 the impulses of the progress and the civiliza- 

 tion about him. With the natural wealth of 

 soil beneath his feet and all the favorable 

 conditions surrounding him, the laggard 

 will have to move on, or th^ wave of pro- 

 gress, and the competition it brings with it, 

 will some day strike him and he will either 

 have to mount it or smother out, and give 

 way to the man with an idea and the energy 

 to turn it into thrift. 



But these observations are onlyspeculative 

 and too abstract for the practical character 

 of the Horticulturist, so I will get down to 

 more matter-of-fact things. The greates, 

 changes that I noticed in my recent visit to 

 Fruitland, in the way of increased produc- 

 tion, were in the lines of pear and plum 

 culture. The most pleasing sight that I saw 

 was a Kieffer pear orchard of 800 trees on 

 the farm of Mr. Murray Pettit. These trees 

 were about six years old, were handsomely 

 loaded, and if the quality of the pear is at 

 all commensurate with the bearing qualities 

 and handsome appearance of the orchard the 

 Kieffer has a promising future as a fortune- 

 maker for its grower. Mr. Pettit was in- 

 tending to ship the product of this orchard 

 to the British market in cold storage, and 

 since my visit I believe has done so. The 

 method of cultivation followed by Mr. Pettit 

 was to keep some green crop constantly 

 growing and turning it under. The ground 

 was scrupulously clean and ready for a fall 

 seeding during my visit. 



On one of the mountain ledges oh Mr. W. 

 M. Orr's farm I saw another orchard of 

 Kieflfers two years younger than Mr. Petitt's, 

 which presented a very attractive sight. 

 The trees being younger were not so heavily 

 laden, and stood more erect, bearing their 

 fruit more in the centre, and as a natural 

 consequence the pears were somewhat larger 

 in size. It was from this orchard that the 

 finest Kieflfers seen at the Pan-American were 

 picked. On a ledge still higher up the 

 mountain side Mr. Orr has a young peach 

 orchard planted, which will give on account 

 of itself in a couple of years more. This 

 farm I think is one ot the most attractive in 

 the Fruitland district owing to its many 

 mountain-side ledges on each of which Mr. 

 Orr has a large plum orchard in full bearing, 

 besides his several pear orchards. Whatever 

 went off this farm to the Pan-American, and 

 whatever goes off it to market, whether it 



