NATIONAL COUNCIL OF HORTICULTURE 65 



these great moneyed men to buy these lands and donate them to the 

 public, we certainly would have made a wonderful step. If these for- 

 ests could be thus preserved for all time to come, they would be a 

 pleasure as long as our country lasts. 



HORTICULTURAL CONDITIONS IN CANADA. 

 W. T. MACOUN, OTTAWA, ONT. 



The title "Local Horticultural Conditions," given on the pro- 

 gram, seems too restricted to apply to a country so vast as the 

 Dominion of Canada; a country larger than the United States, includ- 

 ing Alaska, by nearly 200,000 square miles. It might be thought, how- 

 ever, by those not knowing the conditions that Canada was, for the 

 most part, a land of frost and snow, but when it is stated that in the 

 prairie provinces alone, which are now being rapidly populated, there 

 are estimated to be 171,000,000 square miles suitable for cultivation, of 

 which at least one-fourth could be planted to wheat annually, produc 

 ing an estimated crop of over 800,000,000 bushels, it will be readily seen 

 that the future possibilities of the country are great. The United 

 States at the present time produces less than 700,000,000 bushels of 

 wheat and supplies her population of over 80,000,000 and has some 

 for export. 



It may be asked, What has all this to do with Local Horticultural 

 Conditions? What we first desire to show is the great future of Can- 

 ada, which has much to do in shaping horticultural conditions as the 

 thousands of people who are pouring into the prairie provinces of 

 Canada want fruit and, with the exception of tropical fruits, it will be 

 grown for them in Canada. 



The fruit areas of Canada are large, large enough to produce 

 enough fruit to supply Canada, and the rest of the world for that 

 matter, with some kinds of fruit, and particularly the apple, for many 

 years to come. 



Beginning with the great province of Ontario, 220,000 square miles 

 in area, larger than the States of New York, Ohio, Illinois and Michi- 

 gan together, we have large districts where apples, pears, peaches, 

 plums, cherries, grapes and the small fruits can be grown to perfec- 

 tion. The province of Quebec is considerably larger than Ontario and 

 while the tenderer fruits do not succeed, apples are being grown in 

 increasing quantities yearly. From east to west in the provinces of 

 Quebec and Ontario there is a belt where apples and other hardy fruits 

 can be grown, of about 700 miles in length, while in the province of 

 Ontario alone the best winter apples, pears and plums can be grown 

 successfully over an area about 350 miles long by from 30 to 150 miles 

 in width. The successful culture of peaches in Ontarip is confined to 

 the Niagara district and some points along Lake Erie, but the area 

 suitable for growing this fruit is extensive enough to supply a large 

 population. 



