CANADA 



as leading fruit-growing centers of tlie province. The 

 standard commercial apples of Ontario and New York, 

 as Greening, Baldwin and Spy, do not succeed. Fameuse, 

 Wealthy and Duchess, with Canada Baldwin and Win- 

 ter St. Lawrence, do well, the latter two being natives 

 of the Province, and much appreciated. The fruit area 

 along the New York bound- 

 ary line is rapidly extending. 

 Apples and plums are sta- 

 ples, while pears and grapes 

 are grown for home use. 

 The earlier varieties of 

 grapes only are grown. Con- 

 cord does not ripen with 

 certainty every year. Dela- 

 ware, Lady and Moore's 

 Early are generally reliable 

 in this western region. 



Gibbland Farm, once the 

 home of Charles Gibb (de- 

 ceased 1890), a prominent 

 amateur fruit-grower and 

 philanthropist, is located at 

 Abbotsford, Que., and con- 

 tains a large collection of 

 Russian fruits. These fruits 

 were widely distributed in 

 Quebec through the efforts 

 of Mr. Gibb. A few of the 

 summer varieties have su- 

 perseded older kinds. The 

 only winter Russian apple 

 which has become at all 

 well known in Quebec is 

 Arabka of EUwanger & Barry 



CANADA 



235 



to 200 acres of land for a cow, but found no buyer. This 

 land is now valued at from $300 to $500 per acre. The 

 improvement of native fruits began in 1830 by the in- 

 troduction of foreign varieties, and by the establishment 

 of home nurseries. 



Commercial and statistical.— The peach industry of 



343. Apple orchards in the Annapolis valley. Nova Scotia. 



Longfleld is also suc- 

 cessful in eastern Quebec, where it keeps till midwinter. 

 Unless carefully managed, this variety soon deteriorates 

 by overbearing. 



Montreal is the chief apple shipping port during Sep- 

 tember and October. Later in the year Ontario and 

 Quebec apples go to Europe via Halifax, Portland or 

 Boston. For a number of years past fruit-growers in 

 the vicinity of Montreal have shipped Duchess and 

 Alexander apples to Liverpool and Glasgow. The un- 

 satisfactory feature about the commercial side of fruit- 

 growing in Quebec is the scarcity of good winter export 

 apples. The old standards are not reliable and de- 

 sirable substitutes have not been found. Canada Bald- 

 win, Scott, Winter and Pewaukee are generally rec- 

 ommended. 



Ontario.— From the standpoint of a fruit-grower, the 

 province may be divided as follows : 



1. An apple-growing region in the extreme east, on 

 the north side of the St. Lawrence. 



2. A pear, plum and apple-growing region between 

 Toronto and Kingston, along the shore of Lake Ontario. 



3. An extended and distinctively apple-growing area 

 between Toronto on the south, Owen Sound on the 

 north, Haliburton on the northeast, and Lake Huron on 

 the west. [In the vicinity of Owen Sound, on the south 

 shore of Georgian Bay, plums of P. domestica class are 

 extensively cultivated. ] 



4. A peach, grape, pear, plum and small-fruit region 

 in the Niagara peninsula, between the overlapping ends 

 of Lakes Erie and Ontario. 1, Fig. 342. 



0. A peninsula in the west, between Lakes St. Clair 

 and Erie— an area where fruits similar to those noted 

 in the last are cultivated. Pelee Island, in Lake Erie, 

 might be included in this fruit zone. 1, Pig. 342. 



Historical. —Along the banks of the Detroit river, in 

 the extreme southwest, are gigantic pear trees. These 

 are from seed planted probably by French missionaries. 

 One of the oldest trees Is said to date from 1705. These 

 trees are productive, but the fruit is not valuable. The 

 planting of apple orchards began in this region about 

 the year 1784. The planting of vineyards, for which the 

 region is noted, dates back about 40 years. The Niagara 

 Peninsula was settled somewhat later than the Essex 

 region. Here, between 1780-90, the United Empire Loy- 

 alists received grants of land from King George, and 

 planted 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 Ms claim 



the Leamington district, in the west (5), is growing 

 rapidly. Though not more than 20 years has elapsed 

 since its inauguration, the present annual output is 

 very large. In 1894, 35,000 baskets of peaches were 

 shipped from Leamington station, Essex county ; in 1895 

 more than double that quantity was sent out. In 1896, 

 more than half a million peach trees were planted in 

 that region. In the Niagara district the output of 

 peaches is much larger, and the fruit industry is more 

 uniformly diversified. The Niagara fruit-grower is 

 strictly up-to-date. Electric cars run every half hour 

 past the doors of the fruit-growers residing between 

 Hamilton and Beamsville ; telephones connect their 

 homes, and bring daily market reports. During the 

 shipping season, a fruit train leaving Niagara Falls 

 daily and, running to Hamilion, carries away such 

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

 are not shipped by boat jfrom St. Catharines, Port Dal- 

 housie, or Niagara on the Lake. 



The standard varieties of apples of the province are 

 Spy, Greening and Baldwin. Ben Davis, York Imperial 

 and Ontario are being widely planted— the latter a native 

 of the province. It is a cross between Northern Spy and 

 Wagener, produced by the late Chas. Arnold, of Paris. 

 Prmcess Louise and Mcintosh Red, supposed seedlings 

 of Fameuse, are beooming well known in the eastern 

 parts of the province. Among other fruits produced in 

 the province are the Moyer and Jessica grapes, the Fitz- 

 gerald and Longhurst peaches. 



C. C. James, Deputy Minister of Agriculture for 

 Ontario, gives the following estimated statistics regard- 

 ing fruits and fruit areas in the province in 1895. Area 

 in orchard, garden and vineyard, 320,122 acres; number 

 of apple trees of beariug age, 5,913,900; young trees not 

 bearing, 3,548,053. In 1896, the yield of apples in the 

 province was estimated to amount to 20,000,000 barrels. 



The Provincial Fruit-growers' Association has a mem- 

 bership of 5,000, and publishes a monthly Journal of 

 Horticulture. Secretary and editor, Linus Woolverton, 

 Grimsby, Out. 



A series of fourteen fruit experiment stations has re- 

 cently been established, so located as to cover the va- 

 rious climatic divisions of the province. The object is 

 to test and report upon all fruits, old and new. These 

 are under the joint control of the Ontario Agricultural 

 College and the Ontario Fruit-growers' Association, 

 with L. Woolverton as executive of&cer, whose duty 

 it is to make an annual report of the whole to the Min- 

 ister of Agriculttire. 



