APPLE GROWING IN THE ANNAPOLIS VALLEY, 



NOVA SCOTIA. 



Fig. 1700. — Clean Cultivation in an orchard set fifty years ago. 



& [^HE first beginnings of apple 

 orchards in Nova Scotia seem 

 to have been made as far back 

 as the days when the French 

 Acadians occupied the lands of the An- 

 napolis Valley, for no relics of old times 

 are so common as the old French apple 

 trees which stand, either singly or in 

 groups, in almost every locality where 

 French settlements are known to have 

 existed. Later the English settlers from 

 New England brought seeds and scions 

 and planted them about their homes, but 

 it was not until about 1850 that anything 

 was planted which would now be con 

 sidered as an orchard. Even as late as 

 1870 the whole valley exported only 

 about 17,000 barrels and the largest 



part of the orchards now beating were 

 set within the last twenty-five years. So 

 that in reality this industry has been of 

 especial importance only in compara- 

 tively recent years. 



Unquestionably natural conditions of 

 soil and climate are important factors in 

 producing the peculiarly fine apples 

 for which Nova Scotia is noted, yet to 

 growers themselves is also due a large 

 measure of credit, for they practice 

 the latest and most approved methods 

 in every department of this busi- 

 ness. Young orchards are cultivated 

 from the time they are set until they 

 reach a bearing age, the most common 

 practice being to grow some root crop 

 between the rows for a number of years 



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