The Canadian Horticulturist. 373 



considerably more than one hundred years old. The land being fertile, all sorts 

 of agriculture can be profitably carried on, and during the period of Reciprocity 

 potatoes sold at high prices, very often as much as one dollar per bushel being 

 obtained. 



Potatoes can be produced with very great ease in the Valley, and were for 

 a time a source of large profit, many farmers growing wealthy from their produc- 

 tion and export. The splendid marshes along the banks of the rivers make it 

 also a cattle-raising country, and excellent specimens of fat beef have for years 

 been sent out of the Valley for market. It was not until the year 1S63 that any 

 genuine interest was taken in fruit-growing. Most of the farmers had some 

 apple trees on their farms, which supplied their own wants and afforded the 

 means of supplying the Halifax and St. John markets. In 1863 the Fruit 

 Growers' Association was formed, with Mr. R. G. Haliburton, a son of Judge 

 Haliburton — "Sam Slick" — as President, and Mr. D. H. Starr, as Secretary. 

 This society had a very small beginning, but its avowed aim was to stir up the 

 farming population to a sense of the importance of the fruit industry, and to 

 show that it could be carried on to a much greater degree. That Association 

 has continued ever since, and during the whole' period of its history there has 

 been a steady and marked increase in the production of fruit in the Valley, as a 

 few statistics which I shall give amply demonstrate. It must be understood that 

 in most cases the figures that are given are only approximate, but they may be 

 relied upon as being very nearly accurate, and have been verified by the highest 

 fruit authorities in the Province. The probable acreage in fruit culture in the 

 whole Valley in i860 was about 2,500 acres. Most of these orchards, however, 

 were old and not properly cared for, and were producing in a very limited way 

 and only a few varieties, and an inferior quality of fruit. The total acreage at 

 present is estimated at 12,800 acres, with at least 8,000 acres covered with 

 young trees which have not yet begun to bear. The product in barrels in i860, 

 as nearly as can be estimated, would not exceed 30,000. The product for the 

 year 1893 will be at least 300,000 barrels, and is necessarily increasing at a 



Fio. 390. — Blomidom and Minas Basin, from Wolfville 



