16 FRUIT RAN'CHING. 



According to the information given me before- 

 hand, the winter in the Koutenays, especially along 

 the immediate shores of the lake, was relatively mild 

 as compared not only with that of the Dominion as 

 a whole, but also with that of the rest of the province 

 of British Columbia. During the ten years or more 

 that meteorological observations of any scientific 

 accuracy had been kept at Nelson, the lowest point 

 ever touched by the thermometer in the winter was 

 -6° Fahr. One or two cold snaps might be expected 

 every winter; but, as a general rule, they were of 

 short duration, and the thermometer seldom dropped 

 below zero. At all events, the frost was never severe 

 enough to do real injury to the fruit trees. Scientifi- 

 cally speaking, the thorough rest from all the various 

 phases of reproductive activity enforced upon the tree 

 by the comparative severity of the winter is of great 

 value to it, and, no doubt, counterbalances the 

 remarkably rapid manifestation of that same activity 

 during the summer months. However that may be, 

 it is indisputable that during the period from the 

 blossoming to the maturing of the fruit the trees 

 exhibit a wonderful display of vigour and an excep- 

 tional activity. The young twigs, representing the 

 season's growth, not uncommonly run to a length of 

 three, four, five, or even six feet. And this goes on 

 very often simultaneously with the production of such 

 a heavy crop of fruit as to necessitate the propping of 

 the trees. It is nothing unusual to see the larger 

 portion of the mature trees in a British Columbia 

 orchard surrounded with props — six, twelve, a score, 

 or more; and even quite young trees, five or six 

 years old, will, if allowed to carry all the fruit they 



