1897J Fruit Growing in Canada. 87 



weeks from Thornbury. Mr. C. C. James, Deputy cf Agriculture 

 of the Province, says : " There are those who would rather 

 possess a plum orchard in Beaver Valley than an orange grove 

 in California." The apple region of Lake Huron is well known 

 to buyers who cater to the demands of the European markets. 

 The handsome appearance and fine qualities of the fruit are duly 

 recognized. This region produces from 300,000 to 500,000 

 barrels of apples per annum. The staple varieties of this region 

 are Spy, Baldwin and Greening. 



Travelling eastward along the north shore of Lake Erie, we 

 come to another famous fruit growing region — the Niagara 

 Peninsula. This is one of the oldest fruit growing sections of 

 the country. Here, between 1780-90, the U. E. Loyalists re- 

 ceived grants of land from King George, and sowed seeds of 

 apples brought from their homes in the United States. Here, 

 we are told, that John Smith, in the early part of this century, 

 offered to sell his claim to 200 acres of land for a cow, but found 

 no buyer. This land is now valued at $300 to $500 per acre. 

 The improvement of native fruits by grafting and by the intro- 

 duction of foreign varieties began about 1830. Since then the 

 development has been amazingly rapid. Electric cars run every 

 hour past the doors of the fruit growers between Hamilton and 

 Grimsby ; telephones connect their homes and bring daily 

 market reports. During the shipping season, a fruit train leav- 

 ing Niagara Falls daily and running to Hamilton, carries away 

 such peaches, plums, cherries, grapes, pears and berries as are 

 not shipped by boat from Hamilton or St. Catharines. A single 

 firm paid $3,000 for fruit baskets in 1894, these cost from $3 to 

 $4 per hundred. Wine making is also an important industry. The 

 old town of Niagara-on-the- Lake is the shipping point for a 

 splendid peach section. In 1894 300,000 baskets, mainly peaches, 

 were sent out from this port. It is worthy of mention that figs 

 and black Hamburg grapes, both grown and ripened in the open 



