32 



Early Pioneers. 



No description of the district would be complete without a reference to the 

 work of those pioneers in the industry, Mr. P. C. Dempsey of Trenton and Mr. 

 Thomas Beal of Lindsay. Mr. Dempsey's work as a hybridizer will live in the 

 history of Canadian horticulture. The Dempsey pear and the Walter apple 

 are now recognized as valuable varieties, but perhaps Mr. Dempsey as well as 

 Mr. Beal did greater service in their experimental plantings and in their teaching 

 of better methods in the care of orchards, resulting in an interest which showed 

 itself finally in the quantity of fruit produced in this district. 



Burlington District. 



West of Toronto to Hamilton, including parts of York, Peel, Halton and 

 Wentworth, we find a district that is unexcelled for small fruits of all kinds, 

 and is also noted for the quality and quantity of its apples, plums and pears. 

 The large cities of Toronto and Hamilton being within easy reach, the residents 

 of this entire district have been led to devote a very large portion of their farms 

 to the culture of fruits and vegetables, and perhaps nowhere in Canada is this 

 industry carried on with greater success. More than 25,000 acres are devoted 

 to this purpose, and on account of the intensive methods practiced, with the use 

 of a very liberal supply of fertilizers, the value of the crop per acre is quite large. 

 The towns of Port Credit, Clarkson, Oakville, Bronte, Burlington and Water- 

 down are all important shipping stations for the fruit produced here. A trip 

 along the main road westward from Toronto leads through an almost continuous 

 succession of strawberry and raspberry fields, interspersed with orchards of the 

 larger fruits and great stretches of vegetable gardens. Daily throughout the 

 season, by train and wagon, large quantities of fruit are being forwarded to the 

 above-mentioned cities and to more distant parts of the country. 



A visit was paid to the home of Mr. A. W. Peart at Burlington. This 

 gentleman was in charge of the Burlington Experiment Station for many years, 

 and like Mr. Jones of the St. Lawrence station, has given a great deal of attention 

 and devoted much time to the work of testing and proving the range of fruits 

 likely to succeed under his conditions. His reports have always been conserva- 

 tive, clear and full in regard to the fruits under investigation, and as the con- 

 ditions here apply over a wide territory, he has been able to perform a service 

 to Ontario in this respect not exceeded by any other station in the Province. 



Apples, plums, pears, cherries and grapes, of the larger fruits, with a very 

 wide range of the small fruits, have all been carefully watched and reported upon. 

 Many a prospective planter has started a successful career by availing himself 

 of the sound counsel and authentic information supplied by the reports from this 

 station. 



The fruit and vegetable industry throughout this section is extensive and 

 important. A marked appreciation has recently taken place in the value of land 

 suited to the purpose, and considerable activity in real estate is to be noted, 

 which, when not the result of manipulation, is a very fair index of the situation 

 in a given locality. 



Many other prominent men are located here, amongst whom might be men- 

 tioned Messrs. Geo. E. and W. F. W. Fisher, Messrs. J. C. Smith and Son, Mr. 

 A. C. Biggs, and Mr. Wm. Emory. 



It is quite opportune to state, in these days of co-operative movement, 

 that one of the first efforts on the part of fruitgrowers of this Province to join 

 forces in the way of co-operative shipments of fruit, began at Burlington. 



About 1885 the shippers in this section, under the direction of Mr. 

 George E. Fisher, began to ship apples to England in car lots. In 1892 box 



