64 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



March, 1908 



it is not capable of doing. This style machine 

 is adapted for fruit trees of all kinds, potatoes, 

 mustard, painting. It is easy working, dur- 

 able, and gives high efficiency. This machine 

 is only one of many kinds. We recommend 

 any who contemplate commencing spraying 



for the first time, or those desiring renewals, 

 to get the latest information of the Spramotor. 

 They make a full and reliable line of Spramotors 

 for all purposes, to be operated by hand, horse 

 power and gasoline power. Their address is 

 Spramotor, 1066 King St., London, Canada. 



Land Values in British Colximbia 



The fourth of a series of articles on fruit growing in British Columbia, written by a staff repre- 

 sentative of The Canadian Horticulturist, who visited the leading fruit districts of that province 



MANY intending purchasers of fruit land 

 in British Columbia are surprised when 

 they find the prices asked for orchard 

 lands. It is difficult to convince them 

 that there is a reasonable chance to secure a 

 profitable return upon the investment required. 

 Old rules for determining the value of an acre 

 of land do not apply. The best method is to 

 know what revenue the land will return to a 

 grower. 



Land suitable for fruit growing can be pur- 

 chased from ten dollars to $200 an acre. Some 

 land is ready for the plow at $150 an acre, 

 while other land is being sold at $150 an acre 

 that will require an expenditure of from $25 

 to $250 an acre to clear. On some of the land 

 near the coast the timber and underbrush is of 

 such a tropical nature that, in som^ instances, 

 it will cost $300 an acre to clear it. Land east 

 of the Chilliwhack Valley that requires clearing 

 can be put in shape at an average cost of about 

 $76 an acre. 



^There are several items of expenditure that 

 must be considered by the purchaser when 

 computing the price to be paid for land, such 

 as clearing, irrigation (which costs on an aver- 

 age of $2.50 an acre each year), taxes, trans- 

 portation charges, distance from markets and 



fencing. Ten acres of good fruit land can be 

 purchased, cleared and planted with apple or 

 peach trees, fenced and with an irrigation sys- 

 tem constructed, for $1,900. The cost of 

 irrigating and cultivating the land, and spray- 

 ing and pruning the trees for four years, would 

 amount to $800. Add to this $500 for interest 

 and taxes, and you have a net cost of $3,200 

 for a 10-acre block of land at the end of four 

 years. The crop of peaches Jpicketi from an 

 acre of land in Peachland last season, in its 

 fourth year, was sold for $300. At this rate, 

 the revenue to be derived each year after bear- 

 ing, is nearly equal to the total cost of the land 

 for the first four years. A well-cared-for orch- 

 ard, at the end of five years, is considered to be 

 worth $600 an acre; at 10 years of age, $1,000. 

 The revenue to be derived from the land de- 

 pends largely upon the individuality of the 

 purchaser. Intense cultivation of the land in 

 certain sections has returned a profit of from 

 $500 to $1,000 an acre. Offers of $1,000 an 

 acre for bearing orchards have been made and 

 refused. Land that can be secured at the prices 

 that are being asked for good fruit lands in 

 British Columbia is cheap, when the question 

 of what the land will produce is considered. 

 The prospects are that land never will be cheaper. 



Each year will see a gradual advance in its 

 value. 



The possibilities of British Columbia as a 

 fruit growing province are almost unknown. 

 The trade is yet in its infancy. Land that 

 can be purchased now for $150 an acre will, 

 with proper care, command $1,000 an acre in 

 10 years' time. 



The climatic conditions and the mountain- 

 ous nature of the land lend themselves admir- 

 ably to fruit growing. Other lines of agricul- 

 ture are almost impossible in most of the fruit 

 sections. In the future British Columbia will 

 be known, as California is in the United States, 

 as the greatest fruit producing province io 

 Canada.— W.G.R. 



Practical Labor Savers 



The Planet Jr. tools 

 for farm and garden 

 have an established 

 reputation for quality 

 as well as efficiency and 

 they are popular every- 

 where. They are used 

 as succes s f u 1 1 y in 

 Egypt and other for- 

 eign coimtries as they 

 are in all sections of 

 our own land. They 

 represent the most ad- 

 vanced thought and 

 ''" ideas in farm imple- 



ments making, and hardly a year passes without 

 the introduction of some new device or improTe- 

 ment to increase their usefulness to the man who 

 tills the soil. The No. 4 Planet Jr., which is a 

 combination of hill and drill seeder, wheel hoe., 

 cultivator, furrower and plow, is the most com- 

 plete tool a farmer or gardener can have on hte 

 place. With it he can do more work and keep 

 things in better condition with one-fourth the 

 work required without it. This is only one of 



STANDARD 



PEARS - 



AND 



WARFS 



APPLES CHERRIES PEACHES QUINCES 



AND SMALL FRUITS IN UNLIMITED QUANTITIES 



^ 



Write for Catalogue and Special Circulars dealing with 

 Spruce and Carolina Poplars — two of the quickest 

 growing trees we have for fence making and windbreaks. 



E. D. SMITH 



HELDERLEIGH NURSERIES 



WINONA, ONTARIO 



Mention The Canadian Horticulturist when writing 



