Some of the Delegates and Speakers at the Recent Convention of the Ontario Fruit Growers' Association in Toronto 



For the names of the persons numbered see page 305, 



Three Questions on Fruit Culture 



1HAVE catalogued nearly all the 

 questions put to me by corre- 

 spondents on fruit growing, con- 

 cerning the making of orchards, the 

 planting, size, and so forth. Among all 

 these different questions, three present 

 themselves to me most often. The first 

 of the three is : Who are the people 

 who should plant orchards? 



WHO SHOULD PLANT ORCHARDS? 



The reply is simple — everyone; that 

 is to say, all those who own more or less 

 land. One should not see in this prov- 

 ince farms without orchards; if not as 

 the principal undertaking, at least as the 

 first accessory, and the most beautiful 

 adornment. It is not necessary to 

 demonstrate that the apple thrives well 

 in our country. Without doubt, there 

 are districts in which they do not thrive 

 perfectly, but there is room to hope, 

 thanks to the persistent efforts of the 

 pomologists, that these districts shall 

 become apple-growing districts, if not 

 with already existing varieties, at least 

 with others which may be obtained and 

 which would thrive there. It is recog- 

 nized everywhere that by the cultivat- 

 ing of the soil, we are able, in a certain 

 degree, to help vegetation, so that the 

 wood ripens itself before the greatest 

 colds and thus diminishes the havoc 

 "-msed by our rigorous climate. 



• A portion of a paper read at the summer meeting of 

 tlic Pomological and Fruit Growing Society of the Prov- 

 ince of Quebec. 



Prof. G. Rexnaud, La Xrappe, Que. 



There is not a single farmer, to my 

 mind, who cannot have more or less ap- 

 ple trees on his place. What is more 

 beautiful than the neat, white home- 

 stead of the farmer, displaying itself on 

 a dark green ground, picked out with 

 spots of brightest vermillion. It is the 

 orchard which makes the finest adorn- 

 ment to this residence and the passer-by 

 will be captivated, in spite of himself, 

 with such an attractive landscape. 



We can, moreover, attribute to the 

 apple an economical part, very real and 

 important. It not only adorns the 

 country, but also it makes those having 

 other duties to love and often to return 

 to the fields. The development of horti- 

 culture, the cultivation of fruit, shall be 

 a means of overcoming the exodus to the 

 cities which we deplore so much This 

 would be a good statistic to establish in 

 those districts which are the most de- 

 populated. 



If I were a doctor, I would not hesitate 

 to affirm that, from a hygienic point of 

 view, the apple constitutes one of the 

 best foods, and that the father of a 

 family, who procures them for his chil- 

 dren during all seasons of the year, will 

 see his children grow in strength and 

 wisdom. Nearly everyone likes apples. 

 It is sufficient to prove this by referring 

 to the systematic plundering of the or- 

 chards in the neighborhood of cities and 

 populous towns. 



There is a class of people who are able 



293 



to render fruit-growing a great service 

 by bestowing on it a few crumbs of 

 their superfluous time and money. I 

 make allusion to those of the "liberal 

 professions," those who, following these 

 professions, exercise a considerable and 

 worthy influence amongst others in their 

 vicinity. What could they not do for 

 horticulture? As an example, take that 

 doctor who does not fear to plant 

 amongst the L,aurentians to the north 

 of Montreal, at Lac des Seize lies, an 

 orchard of 500 apple trees. His ex- 

 ample should be followed by a large 

 number of others. This, which to-day 

 is the exception, should become the gen- 

 eral rule. 



The classical colleges should, at the 

 commencement of their studies, incul- 

 cate a taste and love for this branch of 

 knowledge. Many of our classical and 

 commercial colleges do not own the 

 smallest orchard. The treasurer of a 

 college, to whom I made this remark, 

 replied that they had already tried the 

 planting of apple trees, but that the 

 plundering of the fruit had discouraged 

 the authorities and that the experiment 

 had not been tried again. I know how 

 this fallacy would appeal to a college 

 treasurer, when he would see the fruit 

 being gathered by those whom it was 

 not intended for. But how the fallacy 

 would be sweetened, if their highest 

 purpose was, in planting the orchard, to 

 give to the students the first notions of 



