Octoljer, 1915. 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



231 



The Apple King of Eastern Canada 



L. D. Robinson, Berwick, N. S. 



THE story of the struggle of S. B. 

 Chute, of South Berwick, N.S., 

 or "Sam" Chute, as his warm- 

 est friends and admirers delight 

 to call him. to gain his present proud 

 position among 

 the fruit grow- 

 ers of Canada 

 is as interesting 

 as it is instruc- 

 tive. He is well 

 d e s erving of 

 the title, "Ap- 

 ple-King." ' No 

 man of his gen- 

 eration in the 

 Maritime Prov- 

 inces has had 

 an equal influ- 

 ence for good 

 upon the gro'\v- 

 ing and marketing of fruit. His suc- 

 cess in building up the greatest or- 

 chard industry in Eastern Canada 

 should be an inspiration to every fruit 

 grower. 



Mr. Chute 's work as manager for the 

 United Fruit Go's., Ltd., Nova Scotia, 

 is too well known to need any lengthy 

 notice. Suffice it to say that, despite 

 the opposition of speculators and pessi- 

 mists, he has carried forward the work 

 of this organization to a successful con- 

 clusion. To-day it stands unrivalled 

 by any similar organization in America, 

 and it is a matter of great regret to all 

 wellwishers of the United Fruit Com- 

 panies of Nova Scotia that he has re- 

 signed his position as manager. 



Loyally he stayed by his father dur- 

 ing his ups and downs, and at the age 



■Sam" Chute. 



of seventeen years we find him located 

 in South Berwick, his present home, on 

 a wornout farm, where the only thing 

 that seemed to thrive was the mort- 

 gage. The story of how, through in- 

 domitable pluck and tireless industry, 

 he has transformed this wornout farm 

 into a veritable Eden of beauty and 

 fruitfulness, is an inspiration to any- 

 one unacquainted with the facts. 

 Rescuing a few wretched plants from 

 an old strawberry patch, he began his 

 life as a fruit grower, and soon became 

 known as the "Strawberry King" of 

 the Annapolis Valley. And no king 

 on his throne was prouder than he as, 

 in overalls and battered straw hat, 

 lie drove to the station on top of wagon 

 loads of luscious strawberries. 



His ambition grew with success, and 

 he began to see visions of a great apple 

 orchard. Soon he began the planting 

 of apple trees in his strawberry fields. 

 They responded in a wonderful man- 

 ner to the care and fertilizer necessary 

 for the growth of large crops of ber- 

 ries. This work of orchard extension 

 has gone steadily on till at the time of 

 writing Mr. 'Chute's orchards cover 

 277 acres. Of these, 112 acres are in 

 bearing, producing in favorable years 

 some 10,000 bbls. of apples. 



Mr. Chute's optimism is not dampen- 

 ed by war depression or the dangers 

 of over-production. He feels that we 

 in Nova Scotia have such an advan- 

 tage over all competitors in the cheap- 

 ness of our excellent fruit lands, and 

 our nearness to the world's great mar- 

 kets, that we can defy competition. 

 This year, 28 acres of new orchard 



A McMahon white apple tree, well loaded, at the Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa. 



were set, besides 40,000 root grafts. 



Mr. Chute is something of a land- 

 lord in relation to his hired help. Most 

 of his helpers live in cottages, ten in 

 number, built on the premises for their 

 accommodation. Many of them work 

 with him year after year, one of his 

 employees, a boy of fifteen years old, 

 being born in one of these cottages, 

 where his father still lives, and takes 

 his place among the other workers on. 

 the farm. All these employees, fifteen 

 in number, receive a cheque for their 

 services every Saturday night. The 

 pay-roll during the summer season 

 averages about $100 weekly. Of course 

 the number of helpers, and consequent- 

 ly the pay-roll, are greatly increased 

 during the strawberry and apple pick- 

 ing. It is no uncommon sight at such 

 times to see one hundred workers on 

 this great farm. 



Pruning. 



In the early days of his experience 

 in apple growing, Mr. Chute gave little 

 attention to pruning, resting satisfied 

 with abundant crops of fruit and 

 healthy growth. But the demands of 

 the market for highly-colored fruit, 

 together with the ravages of apple 

 scab and insect pests, have caused him 

 to give the matter of pruning serious 

 attention. He has learned by experi- 

 ence the impossibility of producing 

 spot-free, highly-colored fruit in the 

 shade. S. B. Chute makes mistakes, 

 but unlike most people he does not 

 make the same mistake twice. He now 

 prunes systematically and thoroughly. 

 The work of pruning begins early in 

 March, and continues well on into 

 April. His general instructions to 

 pruners are : First, to remove all dead, 

 diseased, and crossing branches; and 

 second, to further thin the tree till 

 air and sunlight can freely reach every 

 part: this thinning to be effected 

 rather by the removal of small 

 branches than large ones. 



The low-headed tree with open top 

 has the preference, as this type of tree 

 facilitates all orchard operations ex- 

 cept cultivation. Canker has made its 

 appearance in a block of Wagener 

 trees, and is being vigorously treated. 

 All the diseased limbs, that can be 

 spared are removed. In other cases, 

 the sores are cut back with a sharp 

 knife (a drawing knife may often be 

 used to advantage) till healthy bark 

 has been reached. Under this treat- 

 ment, these sores as a rule will disap- 

 pear, especially when covered with 

 white lead paint. Mr. Chute has no 

 use for the pruner whose progress 

 through the orchard can be seen by 

 the long stubs he leaves behind him. 

 The limb removed must be cut parallel 

 to the one from which it is taken, and 

 as close to it as possible. 



(Continued on Page 244) 



