BRITISH NORTH AMERICA 



BRITISH NORTH AMERICA 565 



province. The census returns for 1911 give the follow- 

 ing figures of the industry: 



No. Product 



Apple trees 205,979 160,124 bushels 



Peach trees 546 13 bushels 



Pear trees 2,439 773 bushels 



Plum trees 20,625 27,480 bushels 



Cherry trees 53,094 7,576 bushels 



Other fruit trees . 9,998 1,479 bushels 



Grapes 1,641 pounds 



Strawberries 186,692 boxes 



Currants and gooseberries 48,429 quarts 



Other small fruits 1,860 boxes 



THEODORE Ross. 

 New Brunswick. 



The province of New Brunswick (Fig. 657) lies 

 mainly between 45 and 48 north latitude, and 64 

 and 68 west longitude. Its boundaries are: On the 

 south the Bay of Fundy, on the east the Strait of 

 Northumberland and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, on the 

 north the Bay of Chaleur and the province of Quebec, 

 on the west the state of Maine. The greatest length of 

 the province from north to south is 230 miles, and its 

 greatest breadth is 190 miles. It has an area of 27,985 

 square miles and about 600 miles of seacoast. It is a 

 rolling country of no great elevations with the more 

 hilly sections formed by an extension of the Appala- 

 chian Mountains in the northern and northwestern 

 parts of the province. Few countries are so well wa- 

 tered as New Brunswick. Lakes and small streams are 

 numerous ah" over the country. The St. John River, 

 which flows into the Bay of Fundy, is 450 miles long. 

 The Miramichi and Restigouche Rivers, both of which 

 are over 200 miles long, drain into the Gulf of St. 

 Lawrence. The Petitcodiac and St. Croix are impor- 

 tant rivers situated respectively in the eastern and 

 western ends of the province and flowing into the Bay 

 of Fundy. The yearly record for continuous sunshine 

 is excelled by only one other province in the Domin- 

 ion. The average hours of sunshine recorded yearly at 

 Fredericton is 1,983. The average annual precipita- 

 tion for the last thirty-eight years at Fredericton is 

 45.6 inches. 



The province contains 17,393,000 acres, of which 

 7.750,000 are Crown land, 5,000,000 acres are settle- 

 ment land and 4,643,000 acres are private timber land. 

 According to the report of the Agricultural Commis- 

 sion, which investigated farming conditions all over the 

 province in 1908, there were at that time 32,480 

 farms, and 1,474,076 acres of cleared land. 



Potato-growing is the leading horticultural industry. 

 The province is particularly adapted for the produc- 

 tion of this crop, as the comparatively cool moist 

 climate enables the potatoes to grow for a long 

 period of time, and they are green and vigor- 

 ous until the frost comes, hence their firmness, 

 full starch content, good keeping quality and 

 pleasant flavor. An additional advantage is 

 the ease and cheapness with which the potato 

 can be shipped to tide-water, since the St. 

 John River and its tributaries water an area 

 of 2,000 square miles. Carried in scows, pota- 

 toes are delivered in St. John from York 

 County for 5 cents the barrel. Carleton 

 County on the western border, watered by 

 the upper reaches of the St. John River, has 

 long been the banner county for potato-grow- 

 ing. In 1910, it had 8,786 acres under culti- 

 vation, with a production of 1,127,680 bushels, 

 or 128.3 bushels to the acre. In 1909, from 

 V.MO acres, it derived 1,800,676 bushels, or 

 201.4 bushels to the acre. The same year the 

 province averaged 187.4 bushels to the acre. 

 Victoria County, to the north of Carleton 

 County and immediately adjoining Aroostook 



County. Maine, affords considerable excellent potato- 

 raising land. In fact, the entire valley of the St. John 

 River is well suited for this purpose and potatoes are 

 also grown extensively in the eastern counties of Kent 

 and Westmoreland. 



The entire acreage under potatoes in the province 

 in 1910 was 47,744 and the yield 6,067,276 bushels. In 

 1909 it was 47,853 acres and the yield was nearly 9,000,- 

 000 bushels. In 1911, the acreage was 47,304 and the 

 yield 8,493,212 bushels. Large quantities of potatoes 

 are now being shipped annually to Ontario, the West 

 Indies and Cuba. Experiments conducted during the 

 past few years by experimental stations and practical 

 farmers in Ontario show that potatoes produced in the 

 maritime provinces gave a much larger yield than those 

 from Ontario-grown seed. This has led to an increas- 

 ing demand from Ontario for New Brunswick potatoes 

 for seed purposes. 



Apples were undoubtedly grown in the province in 

 the early part of the nineteenth century, but it remained 

 for Francis Peabody Sharp, New Brunswick's pioneer 

 horticulturist, to demonstrate the possibilities of com- 

 mercial apple-growing in this northern climate. His 

 operations were conducted at Upper Woodstock on the 

 St. John River, and there, in 1844, he set out his first 

 trees. Sharp planted many large orchards, did exten- 

 sive work in hybridizing and introduced many of the 

 standard varieties into New Brunswick from the 

 United States and elsewhere. His death occurred at 

 Upper Woodstock in December, 1903. From that time 

 an impression that apple-growing could not be made a 

 success seemed to gain ground, but of late years this 

 has been swept away and the outlook for the future of 

 the industry is now very bright. 



The list of apples recommended for New Brunswick 

 covers the season and provides a class well suited for 

 export shipment, as well as for supplying the local 

 markets. With cheap and rapid transportation by 

 water, with an over-seas market close at hand, with 

 plenty of suitable land at a moderate cost, with the 

 knowledge that has been secured as to the proper 

 varieties to plant, and with the active cooperation of 

 the government, the success of New Brunswick as a 

 fruit-producing area seems assured. 



Many commercial orchards are now being planted, 

 chiefly in the St. John River valley and in the eastern 

 part of the province, and apple-growing bids fair in the 

 near future to take first place in the horticultural 

 crops of the province. The provincial Department of 

 1 .riculture established a horticultural division in 1910 

 ind there are now a provincial horticulturist and three 

 assistants actively engaged in promoting the fruit- 

 growing industry. Preparations for an export trade 

 are being made by experimental shipments of apples 



6S7. New Brunswick. The shaded parts represent the chief fruit-growing 

 and horticultural areas of the province. 



