THE WONDERS OF THE NIAGARA DISTRICT. 



BY T. H. RACE, MITCHELL. 



ONE of the most interesting portions 

 of the Niagara district is Pelham 

 township. The great and fertile 

 fruit belt of the Niagara district is that 

 stretch of land from Hamilton to the Nia- 

 gara Riv6r lying between the lake and the 

 mountain. Up over the mountain on the 

 table-land vineyards and peach orchards 

 are the exception rather than the rule. The 

 surface, for the most part, is too hard a clay 

 for small fruits, and general farming — and 

 some very poor farming — is the rule. Pel- 

 ham township, however, lying right upon 

 the table-land, is an exception to this rule. 

 Pelham township resembles an extensive 

 mound of rich sandy loam, with a centre 

 ridge of water-washed gravel, as if dropped 

 from some stranded iceberg. From the 

 east, west, north and south slopes of this 

 township the most delightful views of the 

 distant lakes and landscapes can be had. 

 The soil, besides being warm and easily 

 worked, is wonderfully fertile, and every 

 variety of timber from oak to walnut was 

 found upon it, and still exists in its unbro- 

 ken forest lands. Here small fruits grow 

 in great abundance ; one man close by Font- 

 hill, Mr. A. Railton, devoting his whole 

 hundred acres to berries of one kind and 

 another, from which he has realized an easy 

 fortune. Among the farmers of this town- 

 ship there are eighty telephones in use, an 

 evidence of advancement not equalled any- 

 where in the Dominion. 



But it is as the great nursery district of 

 Canada that Pelham township has become 

 especially famous. On the east and south- 

 ern slopes the Morris & Wellington nur- 

 series, the largest in Canada, are situated. 

 These nurseries cover in all about eight 

 hundred acres, and nowhere in the world 

 are young trees brought more rapidly ':o 

 perfection with a less percentage of culls. 



This, of course, is owing to the most favor- 

 able conditions of soil and climate. Frost- 

 bite and black heart are diseases unknown 

 among trees grown in Pelham township. 

 The rapid growth of the ornamental depart- 

 ment of these nursery grounds is indication 

 of the great advancement made in later 

 years in home ornamentation, park and 

 lawn planting. A lesson in this depart- 

 ment is also learned of the changing tastes, 

 and greater knowledge, perhaps, of arbor 

 culture. The rowanwood, or mountain ash, 

 so well known in song and story in the days 

 of yore, has no longer a place in the nursery 

 row. The same may be said of the horse 

 chestnut. These have given way to the 

 more popular colored birches, maples, and 

 evergreens. To me the rose department 

 of these nurseries was also of special inter- 

 est. Morris & Wellington are easily the 

 largest growers of this choice of flowers in 

 Canada, and when I visited their rose 

 grounds, comprising several acres, there 

 were still thousands of roses in bloom, 

 though the season was well on into August, 

 On the western slopes of Pelham town- 

 ship are situated the Brown Brothers' nur- 

 series, the second largest in Canada. Just 

 on the west of the slope, to the west, stands 

 the handsome nursery home occupied by the 

 manager, Mr. E. Morris. From this 

 home can be seen both lakes, to the north 

 and south, with a commanding view also of 

 the landscape to the west stretching as far 

 as the eye can reach. This matter may not 

 be of actual value to the fruit grower ; but 

 it is of interest to all of us to know that we 

 have in our country a district so especially 

 adapted to nursery growing and a matter of 

 pride to them that we have a district of so 

 many natural charms, and so advanced in 

 all the developments of our higher civiliza- 

 tion. 



