August, 1913 



THE CANADIAN HOETIC U LTU RIST 



191 



of worn out and neglected orchards, 

 buckwheat will usually give the best re- 

 sults for the first year or two for this 

 reason. The disadvantage of buckwheat 

 as a cover crop is that it does not live 

 •over winter, and when the soil is badly 

 in need of humus requires to be plowed 



under in the early fall. If the orchard 

 is on hilly ground there is liable to be 

 severe loss from wasting of the soil when 

 fall plowed. For adding humus to badly 

 worn out soils, however, there is no 

 crop that will do so as quickly as will 

 buckwheat. 



An Ontario Fruit Grower's Success 



NESTLING at its base and extend- 

 ing £ar up on the side of the moun- 

 tain that overlooks the little town 

 of Milton, in Halton county, is one of 

 the many fine fruit farms in Ontario. 

 The story of how its owner, Mr. W. J. 

 Hartley, transformed this farm from as 

 unproductive a piece of land as could be 

 found in the community, to one of the 

 most profitable fruit farms in the pro- 

 vince, reads like fiction. But it is bet- 

 ter than fiction ; it is true. 



When Mr. Hartley and his bride of 

 a day moved to Sunny side Farm twenty- 

 eight years ago, the prospect before the 

 young couple was not an encouraging 

 one. The farm was badly run down. 

 Mr. Hartley had no money to improve 

 it ; in fact, he was heavily in debt. The 

 part of the farm that he called 

 his own was really owned by his cre- 

 ditors. The rest of it he rented. The 

 soil was a heavy clay. No one thought 

 of it as adapted to fruit. Mr. Hartley 

 himself didn't. Fruit farming was then 

 confined to a few special fruit sections, 

 such as the Niagara Peninsula. Accord- 

 agly a start was made in general farm- 



For five years Mr. Hartley grew 



rain, fed steers, burned lime and cut 



|tone, while his wife fed chickens and 



Bade butter. They did not get ahead 



ery well, however. Such farming yields 



ily nominal returns under the best of 



jnditions, and they had a run-out farm 



id the interest on heavy debts with 



Ihich to contend. At one time they 



ere so nearly going under that had not 



l^sympathetic neighbor loaned them one 



Bousand dollars on personal credit, they 



>uld assuredly have given up in des- 

 [tir. 



ELike many another man, Mr. Hartley 

 laces the idea that finally brought him 

 liccess to the commonsense of his wife. 

 Irs. Hartley believed that so far as 

 bssible young people in debt should 

 |m to produce on the farm all of the 



3d consumed in the home. And there- 

 the fruit farming idea had its birth, 

 ^ne of the first purchases made that 

 rst spring consisted of three red cur- 

 int bushes, three black currant bushes, 

 ^ree gooseberry bushes, a crab apple 

 several apple trees, and one tree 

 ach of pear, peach, and plum. A 

 andiy neighbor gave them the privilege 



digging a supply of strawberry plants 



Dm his garden. Mrs. Hartley agreed 



to take on herself all the labor of caring 

 for their fruit and vegetable garden if 

 her husband would plow and make 

 ready the land. 



Mrs. Hartley's fruit garden thrived 

 exceedingly. The strawberries did par- 

 ticularly well. Mr. Hartley was quick 

 to see his opportunity. Half an acre 

 was set to strawberries. Fortunately 

 this first venture in fruit growing on a 

 commercial scale was a success. The 

 first crop was good, the returns large. 

 It looked like "easy money" to Mr. 

 Hartley, and gradually his interests were 

 transferred from the farm proper to his 

 fruit. 



DECIDES FOR FRUIT GROWING 



'T had always thought I would like 

 fruit growing," remarked Mr. Hartley, 

 "but I did not know that it could be 

 made a success with our climate and soil. 

 I soon found, however, that we could 

 get berries just as quickly as they get 

 them down on the lake front. In fact, 

 this year we had strawberries and rasp- 

 berries a week earlier than in the far- 

 famed Niagara district." 



A good-sized patch of raspberries was 

 soon added to the strawberry plantation 

 and they were soon yielding returns that 

 justified an increase in their acreage. 

 In the meantime a small apple orchard 

 had been set, and was growing so well 

 that more extensive plantings were made 

 each succeeding spring. Remember, 



the Hartleys were still in debt, still hav- 

 ing a struggle to make both ends meet ; 

 but their struggle was not now a hope- 

 less one. They could see the way out. 



A WORTH WHILE IDEA 



Probably it was about this time that 

 Mr. Hartley began to consider irriga- 

 tion. In good years he had good crops, 

 but so had all other fruit growers. If, 

 he thought, I could only get good crops 

 in a short year my returns would be far 

 greater. The Milton Mountain that 

 towers over his farm is noted for its 

 numerous inexhaustible springs. Mr. 

 Hartley made an agreement with one of 

 his neighbors whereby he was permit- 

 ted to dam back some of these springs 

 and make a reservoir. As the reservoir 

 is on higher land than the farm and only 

 a short distance from it, this irrigation 

 scheme did not represent any great out- 

 lay, and has proved decidedly profitable 

 from the first. 



For the last ten years the Hartleys 

 have had clear sailing. Sunnyside Farm 

 has now extended its bounds until it 

 contains two hundred and thirty acres. 

 Thirty acres of this is in bush ; one hun- 

 dred acres is devoted to general farming, 

 the remaining hundred, which represents 

 most of the value and from which Mr. 

 Hartley derives practically his income, 

 is in fruit. 



METHODS FOLLOWED 



In his orchard setting, Mr. Hartley 

 follows the "filler" system. In prac- 

 tically all of his orchards apple trees 

 of standard varieties are set thirty-two 

 feet apart each way. Alternating with 

 the apples and in the centre of each 

 square are plum, peach, cherry or pear 

 trees. Very few of Mr. Hartley's apple 

 trees are yet bearing. In a good part of 

 the orchard, however, the "fillers" are 

 returning profitable crops. 



When Mr. Hartley first started plant- 



Thinning Duchess Apples in the Orchard of Mr. Nicholl, Welcome, Ont. 



This orchard was one of tho demonstration orchards in Durham cotinty, Ont. Exporl 



mcntfi in thinning sBowcd a difl'eronce in profit between two trees in lavor of 



thinning of four dolla-re and twenty ceute. 



