2 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



area, so that this district is not consid- 

 ered in the production of what we call 

 winter varieties. 



The counties bordering on the north 

 shore of Lake Ontario, together with a 

 small portion of the county of Grey, 

 bordering on Georgian Bay, and one of 

 two townships in the county of Dufferin, 

 designated district No. 3, have that 

 happy medium climate that renders 

 them peculiarly well-fitted for the win- 

 ter varieties. The temperature is not 

 so severe as to cause serious loss from 

 winter killing, and the summer temper- 

 atures not so high as to prematurely 

 ripen these varieties. 



The counties bordering on Lake Huron 

 and the second tier of counties north of 

 Lake Erie, named district no. 2, are also 

 admirably suited in climate and soil for 

 the production of winter varieties, but 



orchards in this district. Some of the 

 finest of the apples, if not the very finest 

 exhibited at the recent Ontario Horti- 

 cultural Exhibition in Toronto, came 

 from this district. Such a condition of 

 affairs calls for some explanation. If 

 the fruit can be grown to perfection, and 

 if orcharding is profitable, why is it 

 that we find this waste of fruit and want 

 of confidence in the apple industry? 



CLIMATE NOT FAVORABLE 



The explanation is partly a question 

 of climatology and partly an economic 

 question. As a matter of climate, this 

 district No. 1 has a mean annual tem- 

 perature many degrees higher than dis- 

 tricts 3 and 4. The Fameuse apple will 

 be in full bloom in Chatham early in 

 May; the same variety will not be in 

 bloom in Lindsay for two weeks later. 



Map of Ontario showiug Four Divisions for Apple Culture 



the orchards of these districts were 

 planted under different conditions that 

 have induced me to place them in a 

 separate class. 



We come now to the counties border- 

 ing directly on Lake Erie, which I have 

 grouped under district No. 1 . This may 

 be called the tender fruit belt of Ontario, 

 where peaches, cherries, tomatoes and 

 all tender fruits are grown with the 

 greatest success. The apple also grows 

 here to perfection. Nevertheless, it is 

 a matter of notoriety that, though the 

 earliest orchards of Canada were plant- 

 ed in this district, and though it made its 

 reputation as an apple growing district 

 long years before the other portions of 

 the province were settled, of late years 

 the industry has fallen into disrepute. 

 Splendid old orchards in perfect health 

 and vigor and bearing a full crop have 

 been chopped down to make way for 

 ordinary grain crops, and even in years 

 -of comparative scarcity, as last year 

 and this, thousands of barrels of apples 

 have been allowed to go to waste in 



The fruit grower in Chatham does not 

 fear serious frost until the first of No- 

 vember, probably until November 10 

 or 15. The fruit grower north of Lake 

 Ontario is very anxious, indeed, if he 

 has any apples exposed the last week of 

 October. It will thus be seen that the- 

 apples north of Lake Ontario begin to 

 grow nearly two weeks later than in the 

 southern parts of Ontario. It will also 

 be noted that in district No. 3 they do 

 not have nearly so high a temperature 

 during the summer months and conse- 

 quently are nearly a month later in 

 reaching the same degree of maturity as 

 the varieties in district No. 1. In con- 

 sequence of this, all the common winter 

 varieties, such as the Baldwin, Spy, Rus- 

 set and King are ripe in district No. 1 

 early in October, and in the natural or- 

 der of things are subjected to the warm, 

 genial weather that prevails in this dis- 

 trict during the latter part of October. 

 At the end of three weeks of this warm 

 weather the apples are in a condition of 

 maturity when they must go at once 



into consumption. That is to say, apple 

 operators will not store these varieties, 

 or if owing to very favorable conditions 

 of temperature, they do attempt to store 

 them, the consequence is a very serious 

 loss when they come to be repacked dur- 

 ing the winter months. The growers, 

 then, of winter stock in this district are 

 forced to sell so as to go on the market 

 at least before Christmas, and they have 

 not the alternative of accepting this 

 market or the later winter market. 



CHEAP APPLES 



It might be noted just here that in 

 the apple industry it is always likely 

 that the cheapest apples will be those 

 that must go into consumption during 

 the months of October, November and 

 December. During these months there 

 will always be the fag ends of the high 

 priced early apples as well as the odds 

 and ends of the late winter varieties 

 that for one reason or another have to 

 be forced upon the market. These two 

 sources of supply, together with the 

 large volume of apples that ripen nor- 

 mally at this period, will always make a 

 surplus at least of No. 2 grade at this 

 time. Herein lies the reason for the 

 low prices and for the want of market 

 for the apples grown in district No. 1. 



Somewhat different conditions pre- 

 vail in the district which I have des- 

 ignated No. 2, including the second 

 tier of counties on Lake Erie and the 

 counties bordering on Lake Huron. This 

 district, of course, fades inperceptibly 

 into district No. 1 upon the south, but 

 upon the whole is admirably fitted for 

 growing the winter varieties. In 

 common with district No. 3 it has that 

 happy medium of chmate not so severe 

 as to induce winter kilhng and not so high 

 in temperature as to prematurely ripen 

 the apples. The standard winter varie- 

 ties are matured normally, so as to meet 

 the temperature approaching the freez- 

 ing point that prevails in these districts 

 after the first of November. These 

 apples go as it were into a natural cold 

 storage and, if harvested with care and 

 placed at once where they will be pro- 

 tected from the occasional warm days, 

 will be in the best condition to be re- 

 packed and shipped for the winter 

 market. 



FUTURE FOR EARLY APPLES 



What, then, should be the aim of the 

 orchardist in the counties north of Lake 

 Erie, district No. 1 ? One thing is cer- 

 tain, they can never compete under nat- 

 ural conditions with other portions of 

 Ontario in the production of winter 

 apples. It is very true that in this re- 

 spect they have conditions not dissimi- 

 lar to the orchardists in New York state, 

 and they may make orcharding as suc- 

 cessful in New York state by adopting 

 the same devices as have been adopted 

 there, namely, an extensive system of 

 cold storage. If, at some point, or 



