47 



areas of upper bench land adapted for orchard purposes, where irrigation is 

 not essential, there being sufficient precipitation. Some three or four hundred 

 acres of this land have already been planted, and further planting is going on 

 at the present time. 



At Armstrong we met several prominent gentlemen, among them Mr. W. F. 

 Brett, who has a young orchard ten acres in extent, andwhois extremely enthusias- 

 tic as to the likelihood of this section becoming an important fruit-producing 

 centre. From this town shipments of several hundred cars of vegetables, with 

 some fruit, are now annually being sent out, chiefly to the prairie markets, 

 there being three large distributing houses established here. 



Coldstream Estate. 



At the head of the lake the city of Vernon is located. This place is well 

 known as the site of the celebrated Coldstream Ranch, a large undertaking 

 established by Lord Aberdeen some years ago when Governor-General of Canada. 

 This estate has probably one of the oldest commercial orchards in the valley, 

 and at the present time has 548 acres of orchard in various stages of growth, 

 owned and operated by the company, with an additional three hundred acres, 

 one, two and three years old, planted for clients, and a further two thousand 

 acres ready for planting. A very extensive irrigation scheme has been developed, 

 which contemplates supplying water to the surrounding fruit district, comprising 

 several thousand acres of land. A considerable area of this has already been 

 planted, a portion of which is bearing profitable crops of fruit. 



Long Lake Subdivision. 



In addition to the orchards of the Coldstream Estate Limited, special 

 mention might be made of the property known as the Long Lake Subdivision, 

 consisting of a block of some 700 acres on the slope of Long Lake. This property 

 is one of the show districts of the West, and comprises an almost entire solid 

 block, consisting chiefly of apple, pear, plum and cherry trees which range in 

 age from two to seven or eight years. It was subdivided and planted by the 

 Coldstream Estate and is now owned by a considerable number of gentlemen 

 who are specializing in orchard culture. 



Land Companies and Co-operative Associations. 



Mr. John Kidston, a Director of the Okanagan Fruit Union, a co-operative 

 association of shippers, is probably the largest individual orchard owner in the 

 vicinity, having 120 acres in fruit, on which there are now planted about 14,000 

 trees of different kinds, chiefly apples. Mr. Kidston's crop in 1910 was 8,000 

 boxes, although at that time his oldest trees were only six years of age. 



In addition to the company previously mentioned, the Land and Agricultural 

 Company, a corporation under the control of a Belgian syndicate, has also 

 developed a considerable area of land and is planting fruit trees each year in 

 this immediate vicinity on a large scale. The Okanagan Fruit Union and the 

 Vernon Fruit Company, co-operative associations for the handling of fruit, 

 have headquarters in this city and have erected commodious warehouses for 

 the receiving and handling of large quantities of fruit, and are establishing an 

 extensive trade. The membership of these associations includes a large number 

 of the principal fruitgrowers of the Valley. 



The favourite varieties of apples are Jonathan, Wagener, Northern Spy 

 and Mcintosh Red. Cox's Orange and a number of other varieties are also 

 grown, but those previously mentioned seem to be the most popular and are 

 being most largely planted. A number of varieties of plums and cherries are 



