The Canadian Horticulturi^ 



Vol. XXXI 



NOVEMBER, 1908 



No. II 



Possibilities of Fruit Growing in Alberta 



G. H. Hutton, Superintendent, Experinvental Farm, Lacombe 



IN DEALING with the subject, "Fruit 

 Growing in Alberta," one must of 

 necessity deal more in the somewhat 

 speculative possibilities of development 

 in the future, rather than the accom- 

 plished facts of the past and present. In 

 being, in a measure, speculative and op- 

 timistic as to Alberta's future success in 

 growing cultivated fruits of many kinds, 

 one is heartily in accord with the general 

 spirit of the west as applied to almost 

 every line of her effort. The west re- 

 veals her speculative tendencies in regard 

 to lots and lands and everywhere you go, 

 the optimistic man is met, who is full of 

 buoyant hope and lives in the future and 

 its possibilities. 



Alberta earnestly desires to be classed 

 among those happy provinces where the 

 clover blossom sheds its practical per- 

 fume, and where apples delight the eye 

 and appetite. One is justified i.i indulg- 

 ing the hope that her desire will be 

 realized when we consider that few coun- 

 tries or provinces can show a wider 

 range of wild fruits of good quality than 

 are produced here. The prairl in May 

 is covered with the bloom, and later in 

 due time with the fruit of the wild straw- 

 berry. This fruit is abundant and of 

 good size — such a size, in fact, that set- 

 tlers frequently gather plants from the 

 prairie and give them garden cultivation 

 with success. 



Cultivated varieties of the strawberry 

 have been tried here and there. These 

 attempts have been generally successful, 

 a gentleman of Red Deer claiming, under 

 the single hedge row system, one quart 

 to each plant. Another grower at Leduc 

 produced a very fine patch last year, 

 which gave good promise in May last. 

 The results in fruit I have not learned. 

 The size and quality of the fruit is all 

 that could be desired. While we have no 

 results from our work on the Experimen- 

 tal Farm to publish as yet, I am confi- 

 dent that good money can be made grow- 

 ing strawberries in Alberta with as little 

 risk as elsewhere. Bloom can be held 

 back slightly until danger of late frosts 

 is largely past. Wind breaks can be 

 provided so that the runners will root 

 and not be blown about by the wind. 



Following the strawberries, growing in 

 the wild freedom of the prairie, are 



gooseberries, currants and raspberries. 

 These not only grow well according to 

 nature's plan, yielding in quantities suf- 

 ficient to tempt the Indian lasses to in- 

 crease their worldly wealth by picking 

 and peddling, but where cultivated varie- 

 ties have been tried, success has attend- 

 ed every effort as far as I know. Red 

 currants in particular do well. 



All varieties of red, white and black 

 currants planted on this farm have done 

 well, though, since started in the spring 

 of 1907, they have not reached heavy 

 bearing age. Small quantities of fruit 

 have been produced this year and the 

 size and quantity is such that I feel war- 



A Credit 



I have received The Canadian 

 Horticulturist from the first 

 number of its existence, in 1878, 

 to the last number issued, being 

 over 30 years without intermis- 

 sion. I always keep the copies 

 of The Canadian Horticultur- 

 ist and have bound a large num- 

 ber of the volumes. They are a 

 credit to any book-shelf. — Daniel 

 B. Hoover, Almira, Ont. 



ranted in saying that these fruits should 

 be planted in every farmer's garden, and 

 that they can be counted on to give a 

 good account of themselves. 



In regard to the larger fruits, little 

 definite can be said as a result of our 

 work, except to say that we are trying 

 cherries, plums and apples, and expect 

 to succeed with some varieties of these 

 fruits. We lost only about eight or 

 ten per cent, of our trees during last 

 winter, and we have trees that wintered 

 through T906-7, at Red Deer, and are 

 vigorous. We have about 600 apple 

 trees made up of some 150 varieties, and 

 we hope to be in a position shortly to 

 speak more definitely in regard to the 

 varieties that will succeed. I have faith 

 in the Duchess, Yellow Transparent and 

 varieties of this class, while many of the 

 Russian cross-bred apples are almost sure 

 to succeed. I am informed on good 

 authority that apples have been ripened 

 at Medicine Hat, Magrath, Red Deer 

 and Edmonton. 



238 



Our chief danger in winter is from the 

 sudden spells of warm weather followed 

 by equally sudden cold waves. In this 

 vicinity and northward we are not as 

 much exposed to this danger as farther 

 south. Again, a danger to which we are 

 exposed in lesser degree than farther 

 south is the high winds. As time passes, 

 protection from heavy loss may be se- 

 cured through wind breaks of quick 

 growing trees, such as cottonwood, 

 Manitoba maples and so forth. 



To sum up, I believe a success can be 

 made of growing cultivated fruits of 

 many kinds: (i) Because nature produces 

 on the prairie in lavish abundance many 

 kinds of these same fruits. (2) Because 

 successes with strawberries, currants, 

 gooseberries and apples are beginning 

 to be recorded. (3) Because many of the 

 failures, in apples particularly, may be 

 traced to injudicious selection of varie- 

 ties ; (instances have been known where 

 Northern Spys and Gravensteins 'have 

 been planted.) (4) Because the climate 

 is no more severe (minimum tempera- 

 ture last winter being twenty-one de- 

 grees) nor changeable than many parts 

 of Ontario where apples are now regard- 

 ed as a safe crop. 



Thus the men who succeed in produc- 

 ing fruit in commercial quantities, will 

 have a market at their door where straw- 

 berries and other small fruits seldom sell 

 below fifteen cents a box (holding two 

 layers of strawberries thinly spread), 

 and where apples retail at $2.75 a bushel 

 box, to $7.00 a barrel for "seconds." 

 When one considers the enormous coun- 

 try to be supplied with fruit and the de- 

 mand there will be for home grown 

 fruit, trees and nursery stock, the pros- 

 pect certainly looks good for the careful 

 nursery man and fruit grower of Al- 

 berta. 



Great as are the opportunities along 

 many lines in this new country, one 

 should not be accused of undue optimism 

 or be charged with being carried away 

 by the speculative spirit of the west, 

 when he declares it is his belief that fruit- 

 growing presents possibilities equal to 

 .■my line of effort in pleasure and in pro- 

 fit — profit to the citizen who so succeeds, 

 as well as to his nation. 



