SOME RESULTS. 173 



(1) British Columbia produces some of the very 

 finest apples grown anywhere in the world. 



(2) Fruit growing can be, and is, carried on suc- 

 cessfully as a commercial enterprise. 



(3) The life is interesting, pleasant, and, after the 

 first year or so, easy. 



(4) The fruit ranch affords a satisfactory escape 

 from the stress and strain of city life, and gives 

 an added dignity and freedom to one's sense of 

 individuality. 



That British Columbia apples are not only superb, 

 but supreme in their kind, is abundantly attested by 

 the awards which they have gained before the expert 

 tribunals of the world. Each successive year since 

 and including 1904 they have won the gold medal 

 of the Royal Horticultural Society of England, the 

 highest award that Society has in its power to bestow, 

 an award that is not by any means lavishly bestowed; 

 in fact, nothing but real sterling merit is ever able 

 to win it. And, it is pertinent to remember, the 

 apples which have won this distinctive award have all 

 travelled over 5,000 miles before being placed under 

 the judge's eyes. The most famous apple-growing 

 region in the United States, where orchard work is 

 conducted on the most scientific principles, is the 

 Hood River Valley, in the State of Oregon. Yet in 

 December, 1907, in an open competition confined to 

 three classes, and held at New Westminster, in which 

 the Hood River Valley competed, British Columbia 

 was placed first in two out of the three classes, and 

 second in the third. For the best five boxes of apples 

 the first prize was awarded to Mr. J. D. Honsberger, 

 of Grand Forks, British Columbia; the second to Mr. 



