PROSPECTS. 191 



to the first outlay on land and the cost of local labour 

 conditions. Care and maintenance for five years, or 

 until the orchard begins to bear, would cost about 

 $2,500, less the value of small fruits and vegetables 

 planted between the trees, and the fifth year's return 

 of fruit, which in all should pay the original cost of 

 the trees. In the sixth year the orchard should pro- 

 duce $850 worth of fruit, in the seventh $3,200, and 

 in the ninth $5,800, after which it should pay a net 

 annual profit of $125 to $150 per acre, and assured 

 income for life of $2,500 to $3,000 a year. This esti- 

 mate is, it is stated, justified by actual experience. . . . 

 Fruit-packing has been brought to a fine art in the 

 province, the methods used being considered perfect 

 by experts. Careless or dishonest packing is not 

 tolerated, offenders being severely punished." 



Finally, Mr. Charles Lucas, Provincial Assessor 

 of Land and other Taxes for the Kaslo District, 

 writing in September, 1907, says: ** Good land under 

 cultivation, clear of stumps and stones, so that it can 

 be cultivated by horse power, with perpetual water 

 rights and ditches and flumes constructed, favour- 

 ably situated on Howser, Kootenay, Slocan, or Arrow 

 Lakes, or on streams emptying into or flowing out of 

 these lakes, is worth $150 (£30) to $250 (£50) an acre. 

 Unimproved land is worth the difference between 

 these figures and the cost of making these improve- 

 ments. A well-selected, w^ell-cared-for apple orchard, 

 five years old, is worth $500 (£100) to $600 (£120) 

 per acre, and at ten years $1,000 (£200) to $1,200 

 (£240). The districts named are, from a climatic 

 and soil point of view, particularly well adapted to 

 growing apples, plums, cherries, strawberries, and 



