HOW TO MAKE AN ORCHARD 
IN BRITISH COLUMBIA 
CHAPTER I 
CHOOSING THE LAND 
ALL present indications point to the apple as likely to be 
the mainstay and chief source of profit in the orchards 
of British Columbia. Accordingly, in these pages it is 
the apple which I have principally in mind. 
NEED FoR PrRsonaL INsPECTION.—People, perfect 
strangers, write to me stating that they have bought 
fruit land in British Columbia, without ever having seen 
it, and without having any other description of it than 
the description furnished by the man or the company 
who is selling to them. How unwise a step this is needs 
no emphasizing. But what does need emphasizing is 
that it is especially foolish to buy land without seeing it 
in British Columbia, because of the mountainous character 
of the country. Owing to the irregular nature of the 
surface, the soil is apt to vary a good deal, even within 
short distances. One acre may be perfectly ideal soil for 
fruit-growing—red, sandy loam with a clay subsoil at a 
sufficient depth—while the next adjacent acre, or even 
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