A DRIVE THROUGH I HE FRUIT BELT. 



469 



llower buds of the plums and cherries com- 

 ing through nearly every winter uninjured. 

 Accompanied by Mr. F, T. Shutt, the 

 writer recently had the pleasure of visiting 

 this district and of learning from personal 

 observation what is being done in fruit cul- 

 ture there, and what are the possibilities for 

 the future. Landing at St. Denis wharf 

 from Alurray Bay, we drove to St. Denis, a 

 distance of four or five miles, and called on 

 Mr. J. C. Chapais, assistant dairy commis- 

 sioner, who has done much experimental 

 work in fruit culture. Mr. Chapais e- 

 ceiv^d us with great courtesy and after- 

 wards showed us over his orchard and gar- 

 den, in which were found many things of in- 

 terest. There was a good crop of apples 

 in the orchard, but we were surprised to find 

 how much later the season was than at Ot- 

 tawa, a month, as we were informed. 

 Duchess and Fameuse were among the more 

 prominent kinds of apples noticed. The 

 plum crop, which is usually very good, was 

 light with Mr. Chapais this year. Fine 

 strawberries are grown here, and as the sea- 

 son is so much later than at Montreal and 

 Quebec it should be profitable to ship this 

 fruit to those markets. There was a fine 

 vegetable garden kept in good order. Mr. 

 Chapais- has also a very interesting collec- 

 tion of ornamental trees and shrubs. We 

 were surprised to find the horse chestnut do- 

 ing better here than at Ottawa. Mr. Chap- 

 ais has one of the finest horticultural libra- 

 ries in Canada, some of his books being 

 valuable French works. There is apparent- 

 ly not very much good fruit land in the im- 

 mediate vicinity of St. Denis, which is on a 

 point of land with low ground on either side. 

 A drive of twelve miles brought us to Ste. 

 Anne de la Pocatiere, where, although com- 

 paratively little is done in raising fruit, it Is 

 cjuite evident good apples and plums can be 

 raised. After a drive of about nine miles 

 we arrived at Village des Aulnaies. a point 

 to which we had looked forward with grrcat 



mtcrest as being the home of that veteran 

 fruit grower, nurseryman, and experiment- 

 er, August Dupuis, director of the fruit ex- 

 periment stations for the Province of Que- 

 bec. We were fortunate in finding Mr. 

 Dupuis at home. He received us with great 

 kindness and entertained us well. One 

 would almost fancy himself in France here, 

 as the general character of the village, 

 houses and gardens partakes of that country. 

 Mr. Dupuis, who has been actively en- 

 gaged in horticultural work for nearly fifty 

 years, and who has conducted a nursery of 

 fruit trees and ornamental trees and shrubs 

 tor about forty years, is very enthusiastic re- 

 garding fruit growing along the south shore 

 of the St. Lawrence, particularly regarding 

 the cultivation of the European plum, tJ 

 which fruit he has paid special attention and 

 has tested a large number of varieties. In 

 1902 his trees were heavily loaded with fruit, 

 and although last winter was unusually se- 

 vere (the temperature falling to 30 degrees 

 Fahr. below zero), and spring frosts and 

 summer cracking did much damage, there 

 was a good showing of some varieties. 

 Varieties which are quite unprofitable at 

 Ottawa and only yield a good crop of fruit 

 once in three or four years, succeed admir- 

 ably here almost every year, and varieties 

 which are regarded as comparatively tender 

 in the best plum districts do well. Two 

 kinds which are giving the best results this 

 year, and. which are among the lyiost profit- 

 able are Washington and Grand Duke. 1 

 saw and tested ripe fruit of these and many 

 other kinds in 1902, grown by Mr. Dupuis. 

 The varieties found to be most profitable 

 anf' hardiest in fruit bud are : Lombard, 

 Moore's Arctic, Reine Claude, Montmo- 

 rency, Green Gage, Washington, Grand 

 Duke, and several varieties of damsons. On 

 November ist, 1902, Mr. Dupuis shipped 50 

 gallons of his Lombard and Grand Duke 

 plums to England, where they arrived in 

 perfect condition. Some of his Grand Duke 



