The Canadian Horticulturist. 



3°3 



NOTES FROM GRAND ISLE, QUE. 



COUPLE of days recently spent with Mr. Loui s 



Simpson, the energetic and genial manager of the 



Montreal Cotton Company, at Valleyfield, Que. 



i full of interest to the visitor. Valleyfield is 



lanufacturing town made up of some six thou. 



id inhabitants, many of whom are employees 



of the cotton and paper mills. 



Grand Isle is formed by a division of the 

 channel of the St. Lawrence, and is about 

 fifteen miles long by two miles wide. The 

 soil is alluvial ; clay loam predominates, with 

 occasional gravel beds interspersed with 

 ooulders. The limestone bed rock rarely 

 appears, but here and there, in quarries, are seen excel- 

 lent examples of the abrading power of the ponderous 

 ice floes belonging to the ice age, the surface strata being 

 beautifully defined. The limestone is found in hori- 

 zontal layers of convenient thickness, is easily quarried, and is used in consider, 

 able quantities by the Cotton Company in its building operations. 



The presence of large bodies of open water during the entire year, has a 

 marked effect on the local climate. This is evidenced by the kind of fruit trees, 

 and the measure of their success, upon the island. For instance, no where in 

 Quebec have I seen the common red cherry — a form of the Kentish — succeed 

 so well, and with so little culture. The roadsides and gardens are sprinkled 

 with well laden specimens of this tree, which is quite remarkable, considering 

 the off year. Black knot has, so far, been unknown. Cherry slugs have seriously 

 denuded many good trees. This seems a pity, as the slug is easily destroyed 

 with weak applications of Paris green or hellebore, or with a sprinkling of dry 

 ashes or lime. 



Although natural conditions, such as soil and climate, are very favorable 

 for farm and garden crops, yet neither agriculture nor horticulture have been 

 developed to an extent justified by the evidence at hand. A very useful work 

 is being prosecuted by Mr. Simpson, in bringing under cultivation, and in 

 moderate sized blocks, quite an area of land adjoining the cottages of the fac- 

 tory employees. This land is being gradually brought into tillable condition ; not 

 by the expenditure of large sums of money in stumping and clearing, but by adopt- 

 ing the best methods ; the careful management of a limited farm force, and the 

 judicious expenditure of income arising from present cultivated areas. The 

 benefits derived from this system of management are two-fold, viz., economy 

 and the force of such an example upon the surrounding community. 



