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Pictou is booming fruit culture, and proving that the 

 capabilities of the county only need skilful development to 

 place it in the front rank. It cannot be too strongly put 

 before farmers that the whole of the fruit growing part 

 of Nova Scotia is not confined to the Annapolis Valley ; 

 and the sooner we believe that fruit growing is possible 

 everywhere in the province, where soil can be found suitable 

 for trees, the more rapid will be our advance in fruit 

 culture. 



The following figures of profit on plums is taken from 

 paper on plum culture, read before the F. G. A. of Nova 

 Scotia in 1885 : 



"Sharp and Shea of New Brunswick, a year ago, from 

 their small orchard, sold 1,000 bushels of plums at their 

 own door for $4,000, and last year, 1,500 bushels for $6,000. 

 A Canadian farmer raised from ninety trees of the Lombard 

 variety, thethird year from transplanting, forty -five bushels ; 

 and the fifth year, ninety bushels. John A. Shaw and John 

 Publicover, of Kentville, sold Marsters plums for six dollars 

 a bushel. Fred. F. Mitchell, of Grand Pre, the fourth year 

 from planting, raised from one Weaver plum tree two and 

 a quarter bushels, and sold them for $10.69. R. D. G. Harris, 

 of Canning, raised the fourth year of the same variety, one 

 and onequarterbii hels,and sold themat five dollars a bushel. 

 Robert Spurr, of Round Hill, from four trees of the same 

 variety, and planted the same time, raised three bushels. 

 John Daniels, of Windsor, J. P. Chipman and Geo. Vaughan, 

 of Kentville, raised three quarters of a bushel from each 

 tree the fourth year. The price of plums has been extra- 

 ordinary when all other fruits have been so cheap. The 

 best of apples thirty-five cents per bushel, cranberries three 

 dollars per barrel, pears two to four dollars per barrel; 

 while plums, in all the markets of America, have brought 

 from $10 to $15 per barrel." 



There is not one plum orchard in Nova Scotia. 



We read in the Western Chronicle, of Jan. 13th, a letter 

 from Wanderer, of Citra, Fla., where a company will make 

 from 100 acres of orange grove a profit of $30,000 from 

 16,000 boxes. I will show you that a plum orchard of lOO 

 acres here will double discount that orange grove : 



Cost of ICO acres $ 2,000 



Cost of 2o,oc)o plum trees 10,000 ' v 



Interest, 4 years at 6% 2,880 ^^ 



Ashes, Salt and Mulch 5,ooo 



Labor (10 men and teams) 13,870 ,- 



Gathering and selling (45,000 bushels) 11,250 , , 



Total Cost $45,000 



