NEW ONTARIO, FROM A FRUIT GROWERS' POINT 



OF VIEW. 



HAROLD JONES, MAITLAND, ONTARIO. 



ON September 21st thirty-eight mem- 

 bers of the Canadian Press Asso- 

 ciation left Toronto on a tour of 

 inspection to that wonderful country lying 

 north of North Bay, known as New .Ontario. 

 We arrived at North Bay in the evening 

 after a very interesting trip through the hills 

 and lakes of the Muskoka region. The 

 next morning I went directly north for a 

 distance of 28 miles, on the government rail- 

 road now being constructed. Beyond the 

 first two or three miles north of North Bay 

 the road passes through an unbroken forest 

 of spruce, balsam, cedar, pine, birch, maple 

 and a little basswood. On this railway, ^t 

 Trout Lake, Sturgeon River, and on the 

 south side of Moose Lake, wild plums grow 

 successfully, also pin-cherries, choke cher- 

 ries, raspberries, blueberries, gooseberries, 

 elderberries, strawberries and high bush 

 cranberries. The land varies greatly from 

 rocky ridges (granite) to sand, gravelly 

 loams and clay loams. The most of this 

 section, as far as soil conditions are con- 

 cerned, will undoubtedly be adapted to fruit 

 growing when the forest is cleared away. 

 This section of the country is at a high ele- 

 vation. Sturgeon Lake, about 25 miles 

 north of North Bay, is 1,200 feet above sea 

 level and 600 feet above North Bay. I un- 

 derstand that portions of this forest I have 

 just mentioned are reserved by the govern- 

 ment as a timber reserve, and so will not be 

 open to settlement for some time. 



On September 22nd I took the train *^o 

 Mattawa, a point on the Ottawa river east 

 of North Bay. From there I went by rail 

 39 miles up the banks of the Ottawa to the 

 foot of Lake Temiskaming, from which 

 point I went to New Liskeard, a distance of 



85 miles, on one of the Lumsden Company's 

 steamers. The banks of the Ottawa and of 

 Lake Temiskaming are abrupt cliffs, mostly 

 of a rocky formation, covered with soft ma- 

 ple, silver birch, poplar, balsam, spruce and 

 pine, with some burr oak. These cliffs are 

 rich in scenic grandeur, but very little, if 

 any, fit for cultivation. 



At Haileybury, 6 miles south of New Lis- 

 keard, the . rocky formation abruptly stops, 

 and we enter into the great clay belt of the 

 north, which is said to be 600 miles long, of 

 about 200 miles wide and of unknown depth, 



I stopped over night at New Liskeard, a 

 thriving little town of 1,000 or 1,200 inhabi- 

 tants, who have great expectations. The 

 next morning, September 24th, I drove out 

 on the East road, along the north end of the 

 lake, for a distance of six miles. I found the 

 land here all clay, with the exception of two 

 limestone ridges. 



My first stop was at S. S. Ritchie's, five 

 miles east of New Liskeard, whose land i* 

 on the banks of the lake. This farm is a 

 rather high elevation above the lake, and 

 upon examining the soil in a cellar that had 

 been dug for a dwelling, I found it sandy for 

 a few inches, with a clay to gravelly subsoil, 

 which would give good natural drainage. 

 At this place I found a Hyslop crab, and 

 what was evidently a Duchess about four 

 years old, in a healthy thriving condition. 

 The natural forest on this farm is deep 

 rooted, and there was no evidence of root- 

 killing, even in varieties of apples that he had 

 planted that were not hardy in wood and 

 branch in that northern country. 



I also visited C. W. Tucker, adjoining 

 Ritchie, with soil conditions similar to those 

 just mentioned. Here I found a Hyslop 



