ox AGRICULTURE TO CANADA 



165 



of existence, had grown and flourished and were producing abund- 

 antly. Things were not going well with mining at that time and 

 mining was then, as indeed it still is, the chief industry of the 

 Kootenays, and Mr Johnstone turned his attention to the develop- 

 ment of fruit culture, and most of what has been done is due to his 

 enterprise and energy. The holdings as a rule are small, due, no 

 doubt, to the comparatively limited area, and the high price, of choice 

 land, which sells at from £30 to £50 an acre, and also to the expense 

 of clearing the ground of timber. The holdings run from a few acres 

 up to sixty, but the sixty-acre holding is the exception. The soil 

 varies greatly, and in some places is poor in quality. Nowhere 

 is the cultivation noteworthy, but whatever the soil and however 

 indifferent the cultivation, the climate never fails, save some- 



YOUNG ORCHABD, KOOTENAY LAKE 



times from want of moisture. The luxuriant growth and 

 the amazing crops are due more to climate than to anything 

 else. The climate in west Kootenay, which lies between Kootenay 

 Lake and the Arrow Lakes is perhaps the most equable 

 in Canada. For some years the summer temperature has never 

 exceeded 94 degrees at Nelson, and the thermometer was only for 

 a short time during the same period six degrees below zero. The 

 only drawback is the deficient rainfall which in some places 

 necessitates irrigation. In west Kootenay it is about 19 inches, but 

 the snowfall is heavy and the annual precipitation is fully 27 inches. 

 It is possible to grow any kind of fruit suited to a temperate climate, 

 — apples, pears, plums, cherries, grapes, hops, and the bush fruits. 

 The more perishable fruits, however, are not grown extensively, due 

 no doubt to the fact that transportation from the Kootenay to the 



