STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 55 



As an illustration of the methods, reference was made to the 

 Hillcrest orchards. owned and operated by Mr. Ralph S. Eaton, at 

 Kentville, which Air. Knowlton had the pleasure of visiting 

 with ^Ir. Eaton, who is the largest and one of the most intelli- 

 gent and skillful fruit growers in the Province. For several 

 years he was a successful teacher but his love for rural pursuits 

 and good health led him to purchase a farm some twelve years 

 ago. He now has sixty-two acres in orchards. One orchard 

 was set on land covered with a second growth of trees of vari- 

 ous kinds. It must have been a great task to accomplish what 

 he has in the years since he began. His orchards now contain 

 5,000 apple trees, 3,000 plum trees, 1,100 of which are Burbank; 

 3.000 cherries, 500 pears, 1,100 peach, 300 quince, and the same 

 number of apricot trees. 



In one orchard the trees have been set within ten years. The 

 oldest of these trees are beginning to bear. This orchard he has 

 plowed or cultivated five or six times during the past season, and 

 at the time of visit the clover sown for a green manure was just 

 making its appearance. Next spring he will plow the clover in. 

 Five times during the year he had sprayed his trees. On the 

 outer edge of this orchard was one row w'hich had not been 

 plowed, the trees standing in grass land and being thoroughly 

 mulched with hay. Air. Knowlton, when he saw the trees, 

 asked Air. Eaton why they were so inferior to the adjacent trees, 

 and was assured the culture made the difference, though the 

 trees had not been set quite as long. Down through the centre 

 of this orchard was one row that had not been sprayed at all. 

 First, the foliage of the trees was very different in its color and 

 perfection ; secondly, there seemed to be more inferior fruit on 

 this row of trees than on all the others. They were wormy and 

 scabby, and lots of poor apples were under these trees. The 

 lesson was indisputable, and would satisfy any observer of the 

 efficacy of skillful spraying. 



Air. Eaton in 1897 raised about 2,000 barrels of apples and this 

 year he expected about 500 or 600 barrels. 



Air. Knowlton in closing his remarks spoke of the important 

 agencies at work in the Province to encourage the indtistry. 

 First, there is the Nova Scotia Fruit Growers' Association, an 

 organization that is well officered with active fruit growers who 



