STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 53 



AMONG NOVA SCOTIA FRUIT GROWERS. 



Secretary Knowlton has been making somewhat of a study of 

 fruit growing in Nova Scotia. His first acquaintance with 

 Nova Scotia fruit was three years ago at the International exhi- 

 bition held in St. John, where he acted as judge of fruit. The 

 two following exhibitions he served in the same capacity, and 

 this year and last he acted as judge of fruit at the Provincial 

 exhibition held in Halifax. At St. John there was a large pre- 

 dominance of Nova Scotia fruit, and at Halifax the fruit was all 

 from Nova Scotia save one exhibition from Prince Edward 

 Island. The excellence of the fruit the past two years, espe- 

 cially while in Maine the few apples raised were either wormy 

 or covered with scab, led him to the conclusion that Maine peo- 

 ple needed a better knowledge of cultural methods and care of 

 the trees. The purpose of the paper was to state some interest- 

 ing facts he learned from the fruit growers there and the 

 orchards he visited. 



As an illustration of the quality of fruit raised there this year, 

 he had before him an exhibition of thirty of the most popular 

 varieties of Nova Scotia apples put up for the occasion by Mr. 

 R. W. Starr, who for years has been identified with fruit grow- 

 ing in that province. 



The Annapolis and Cornwallis valleys produce more fruit 

 than any other section of the island, though some of the best 



fruit on exhibition was grown in other parts. In these valleys 

 conditions seem favorable for orcharding. On the north of the 

 island from Digby to the Basin of Minas there is a high and con- 

 tinuous hill along the coast. It is known as the North ]\Iotm- 

 tain, while a few miles away, running nearly parallel, are the 

 South Alountains. The two valleys lie between these moun- 

 tains, the Annapolis extending east from Digby until it merges 

 into the Cornwallis valley, whose outlet by sea is over the Minas 

 Basin out into the Bay of Fundy. These mountains protect, 

 in a large degree, the trees from the cold winds of the north and 

 the heavy winds from the south. 



For the most part the orchards are not very large, perhaps in 

 consequence of the high price of the land. The growers are 



