5IO 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



HOW FAR NORTH CAN THE APPLE BE GROWN. 



»N the spring oi the year 1855 a Mr. Hub- 

 Tl bard, 1 think his name was, had a nur- 

 tt sery near the town of Guelph. In a 

 conversation with him he made the state- 

 ment to me that he was so satisfied that the 

 County of Wellington was not and never 

 would be adapted for growing apples, that 

 he had concluded to sell off his stock for 

 what it would bring and ^o out of the bus- 

 iness. 



Now we can say that Mr. Hubbard was 

 mistaken, for the apple grows all right in 

 the County of Wellington, and much further 

 north. 



About the year 1865, Peter Henderson, of 

 New York, in an address I think at Roches- 

 ter in answer to the question, said certainly 

 not beyond the limit of where the beech 

 is grown. Now at this date we know Peter 

 Henderson was wrong; we are here in St. 

 Joseph's Island beyond the limit of the 

 beech, and still we find the apple growing, 

 I may say to perfection, or as near as insect 

 pests, rust, etc. will let it. 



Several years later a member of the Cab- 

 inet, in the town of Fergus, in course of his 

 speech made the following assertion, that 

 Owen Sound was the extreme point north 

 where a man could live and draw his sub- 

 stance from the soil. Some one of the au- 

 dience called out, " Won't Peaches grow 

 up there?" " No," was the reply, " if you can 

 grow potatoes it will be as much as you can 

 do." Now we know that if he was right 

 about the peaches he was wrong about 

 everything else. 



The first and greatest mistake I have 

 made, and I may say we have all made, was 

 getting it into our heads that we were too 

 far north to grow fruit, and if we bought a 



dozen apple trees it was to get the fruit tree 

 agent out of our home, for we never expected 

 them to grow; we might dig a hole and put 

 them in but that was the last of them. 



Now in 1 90 1 we know a good deal better 

 than that; we know that they will grow if 

 properly taken care of, and that the per- 

 centage of failure is as low as in what is 

 usually supposed to be more favoured dis- 

 tricts. 



A very few years ago if any one had asked 

 me if, as a commercial venture, it would be 

 wise to plant a few acres of apples, I would 

 undoubtedly havesaid no, I did thinkwe could 

 grow a few for our own use of some very 

 hardy varieties but nothing more; but more 

 interest began to be manifested in fruit cul- 

 ture, and this year when you people in east- 

 ern Ontario are lamenting your short crop of 

 apples and holding them up for a big price, 

 we have a splendid crop, and of course we are 

 taking advantage of your scarcity and raising 

 the price. I knew of two instances where 

 outsiders have come in and bought out the 

 whole crop. 



Now we are by no means at the outside of 

 the fruit belt here yet, for near Green Lake, 

 about latitude 46 may be seen or was a 

 year or two ago, two aged apple trees of an 

 inferior variety presumably seedlings ; and be- 

 yond the height of land on the slope toward 

 James Bay, wild currants and strawberries 

 may be found, while I have been told at 

 Batchawing Bay on the north shore of Lake 

 Superior about latitude 47, apples have been 

 planted a few years ago, and so far have 

 lived through the winters and made satis- 

 factory growth. 



Richard's Landing. Chas. Young. 



St. Joseph's Island. 



