iThe Canadian Horticulturi^ 



^ol. XXXI 



OCTOBER, 1908 



No. 10 



The Fruit Industry of British Columbia 



Frank J. 



'RUIT-GROWING is one of the 

 infant industries of British Colum- 

 bia, but it is growing rapidly and 

 Is quite certain, ere many years, to rival 

 (mining, lumbering or fishing. A few 

 years ago the man who would venture to 

 describe the Kootenays as fruit-growing 

 listricts, would be looked upon as a vis- 

 ponary or an imbecile ; to-day all south- 

 ern British Columbia is acknowledged to 

 the finest fruit country on this conti- 

 dent. Not only will it produce fruit in 

 "abundance, but the quality of the fruit is 

 superior to that grown in any other part 

 of America. 



In 1903, Messrs. Stirling & Pitcairn, 

 of Kelowna, on Okanagan Lake, shipped 

 a trial carload of apples to Grea^ Britain. 

 The shipment consisted of Spys, Baldwins 

 Ontarios and Canada Reds. They ar- 

 rived in Glasgow, Scotland, on Novem- 

 ber 9th, in splendid condition, and sold 

 It six shillings a box, or about $1 more 

 per barrel than the choicest eastern Can- 

 adian apples — reckoning three and a half 

 boxes to the barrel. The British Colum- 

 bia apples aroused much interest 

 amongst fruit dealers as well as con- 

 sumers, and many letters were received 

 by the consigners from persons eager 

 to secure shipments of the splendid fruit. 

 In 1904, the British Columbia Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture forwarded a collec- 

 tion of British Columbia fruits to Lon- 

 don, England, for exhibition purposes. 

 fit consisted of apples, pears and plums. 

 The exhibit was greatly admired, and 

 Jfvoked the highest encomiums from the 

 newspapers. The London Times, while 

 hesitating to declare the fruit superior 

 to the best English specimens, admitted 

 ihat they very nearly approached them in 

 color, shape and flavor, even after having 

 Iravclled '),ooo miles by railway and 

 Vteamship. The Royal Horticultural So- 

 ciety's appreciation of the fruit was 

 jhown by the award of the .society's gold 

 nedal and diploma. 



One result of the exhibit was the 

 Jeluging of the Agent-General of Brit- 

 ish Colurfibia (Hon. J. H. Turner, Fins- 

 >ury Circus, London,) with letters from 

 [>rominent fruit-dealers, anxious to do 

 Jusiness with British Columbia fruit- 

 growers. To momentarily satisfy the 

 Clamor for British Columbia fruit, and 



Clark, Bureau of Provincial Information, 



to emphasize the fact of its good quali- 

 ties, the department of agriculture, 

 shipped in cold storage a full car-load of 

 assorted fruits to London in the fall of 

 1905, in charge of Mr. R. M. Palmer, 

 provincial horticulturist. This fine col- 

 lection was the chief attraction at the 

 Royal Horticultural Fruit Show at Lon- 

 don, England, and at several provincial 

 shows, and was awarded many prizes. 



SUCCESSES AT EXHIBITIONS 



Following up the success of 1905, the 

 department of agriculture, forwarded a 

 commercial exhibit in 1906, consisting of 

 apples and pears, to Great Britain, in 

 charge of Mr. Palmer. This fruit was 

 shown at Edinburgh, York, London, and 



Excels all Others 



The Canadian Horticulturist 

 excels all United States fruit pa- 

 pers that circulate in British Co- 

 lumbia in that it gives more cul- 

 tural hints and discussions upon 

 markets, packages and other 

 questions from the Canadian view- 

 point. Your publication devotes 

 much space and energy to British 

 Columbian interests, which United 

 States papers do not. May it con- 

 tinue in influence and progress. — 

 Chris. Webster, Kelowna, B. C. 



other cities, and won praise from press 

 and public at every point. At Edin- 

 burgh, the gold medal of the Royal Hor- 

 ticultural Society of Scotland, was 

 awarded the collection, and at London 

 the province again won the gold medal 

 of the Royal Horticultural -Society for 

 the best x•()l^ccli()n of apples, while seven 

 silver and silver-gilt medals, and three 

 bronze medals were awarded to individ- 

 ual exhibitors, whose contributions made 

 up the collection. As in former years, 

 the Canadian Pacific Railway Company 

 co-operated with the government of Brit- 

 ish Columbia in the collection and trans- 

 portation of the fruit, generously furnish- 

 ing cool storage cars and cool storage 

 space on its Atlantic steamships, free <)f 

 charge. After going the rounds of the 

 fruit shows and .securing unqualified ap- 

 proval everywhere, this collection was 



20» 



Victoria 



broken up, and sold to fruit dealers at 

 the highest prices. 



IN NEW. ZEALAND 



An exhibit of apples was forwarded to 

 Christchurch, New Zealand, and made 

 one of the chief attractions in the fruit 

 division of the New Zealand Internation- 

 al Exhibition. Writing of this collection 

 Mr. W. A. Burns, Canadian Commis- 

 sioner for New Zealand, said: "The 

 shipment arrived in excellent order, and 

 the quality and range of varieties is most 

 creditable. The newspapers and the 

 public have gone fairly wild over the ex- 

 hibit, and now that it has been proven 

 that the Canadian apples can be trans- 

 ported safely to this market, a good 

 trade should follow. I may say that the 

 price of San Francisco apples at the pre- 

 sent time is eight pence per pound in the 

 local market, so you will see that there 

 is a good margin of profit." 



In 1907, a collection of over 800 boxes 

 of apples and pears was sent to Great 

 Britain, and shown at all the principal 

 exhibitions and horticultural shows — at 

 Edinburgh, Hereford, Tunbridge, Exe- 

 ter, Sheffield, Crystal Palace, London, 

 and Royal Horticultural Show, London. 

 Gold and silver medals and certificates of 

 merit were awarded to the exhibit as re- 

 presentative of the province, while indi- 

 vidual exhibitors won many silver-gilt, 

 silver, and bronze medals, and certificates 

 of merit. 



MARKETS AVAILABLE 



These repeated triumphs have resulted 

 in the establishment of a permanent mar- 

 ket in Great Britain, to which several 

 growers are now catering" exclusivclv. 

 Australia also wants British Columbia 

 fruit, one grower alone receiving an or- 

 der last season for 70,000 boxes of ap- 

 ples. Thus fruit-growers here have the 

 satisfaction of feeling that apart from 

 the unlimited market afforded by the 

 prairie provinces, they can also count 

 upon big orders and big prices from over- 

 seas. At present their's is an einbar- 

 rassmertt of riches, so far as markets go, 

 for they cannot possibly supply the de- 

 mand. 



At the fifteenth annual convention of 

 the Northwest Fruit Growers' Associa- 

 tion, held in Vancouver, December 5-8, 



