The Canadian Horticulturist. 



411 



FRUIT GROWING IN ANNAPOLIS VALLEY. 





(Concluded.) 



[|T has been already stated that there are about 12,800 

 acres now bearing apples, with 800 more planted with 

 young trees. But this is only the beginning. There 

 S= are at least 250,000 acres in this valley capable of pro- 

 | ducing fruit, and sooner or later the whole valley 

 will be covered with apple trees or other varieties 

 || of fruit, including the small fruits. Only a few 

 % farmers have ventured on an extensive planting. 

 It is usual for the farmers to have from one to 

 five acres covered with trees. Scarcely any of the 

 established orchards cover more than ten or 

 E twelve acres, whereas it is maintained by those 

 '-tfc qualified to form an opinion, that splendid profits 

 PI would be obtained by covering hundreds of acres 

 with trees. Judge Weatherbe, who has bought 

 a fruit farm in the valley, has covered 50 acres 

 with young trees, which are now five or six years 

 old, and will presently be bearing. It is contended, and not without reason, 

 that if there are large profits in one acre of fruit, there will be proportionally 

 larger profits from 100 acres. The reason that more men of speculative temper- 

 ment do not engage in fruit-growing in the valley, as an investment, is to be 

 found in the absence of the gambling element. Ten years at least must elapse 

 before the trees begin to bear, and at least twenty years must pass before they 

 are in full bearing. Most men who are seeking wealth prefer some enterprise in 

 which, coupled with greater risks, there are chances of more immediate profits. 

 Fifteen or twenty years seems a long time to wait for large returns from even 

 small investments. Nevertheless, fruit companies have already been incorpor- 

 ated in the valley, the object of which is to purchase large tracts of land and 

 cover them with fruit, and by cultivating plums and other varieties which bear 

 earlier, it is hoped to pay dividends in two or three years after the formation of the 

 company, though not relying upon larger dividends until the apple trees get in 

 full bearing. 



The scenery in the valley is extremely beautiful. Numerous roads extend 

 over the mountains, both north and south, and from the top of the mountain 

 the view is simply magnificent. Long ranges of farm houses can be seen, with 

 villages here and there dotting the valley. Farming in the Annapolis Valley is far 

 less toilsome than in other parts of the Province, or indeed in most parts of the 

 Dominion, and, as a consequence, there is much comfort and considerable 



