18 JOUENAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 
Nova Scotia Fruit Growers' Association, its school of horticulture, the 
Nova Scotia Office of Agriculture, and the Canadian Government Depart- 
ment of Agriculture : — 
The Nova Scotia Fruit Growers' Association 
Was formed in 1863, when the acreage under fruit was probably about 
2,500 acres. In 1893 it was estimated that there were 12,000 acres of 
bearing orchard, with 8,000 more of young trees. In 1871 apples were 
first sent to England. In 1896, a good year, it is estimated that 750,000 
barrels were produced, of w4iich 450,000 were exported to England. The 
Association has for its objects : — 
The increase of cultivation of the various kinds of fruit. 
The spreading of information as to the best methods of cultivating, 
packing, and shipping fruit. 
The discussion of subjects of mutual interest : as freight rates by rail 
and steamer, ventilation on steamer, handling of barrels on embarking 
and disembarking to prevent damage, condition of fruit on arrival in 
markets, possible new markets. 
Once a year, in January, it has a three days' session at ^Yolfville, at 
which papers are read and discussed. I attended it in 1898, and thought 
it must be very valuable to the farmers, who attend in large numbers. 
Each member receives the printed report. 
The yearly subscription is a dollar = 4s. Id. 
The Secretary is Mr. S. C. Parker, Berwick, Nova Scotia. 
At the Halifax Industrial Exhibition in October there was a fine 
exhibition of apples, plums, cherries, peaches, and grapes, from Nova 
Scotia and New Brunswick, under the management of the Association. 
The School of Horticulture, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, 
Was established in 1894 by the Nova Scotia Fruit Growers' Association, 
assisted by a Government grant. Horticulture, Botany, and Microscopic 
Botany are taught by an able professor, IMr. F. C. Sears. The school 
consists of a class-room, with a good collection of English, Canadian, and 
American books on horticulture, horticultural journals, about tw^elve 
good microscopes, and a collection of pressed wild plants. Beneath the 
class-room is a potting shed or workshop, and, adjoining, a glass-house 
with economic and ornamental plants and flowers, in which grafting, 
budding, and propagating are taught during winter. There is also a 
root cellar, in which apple stocks for root grafting during winter are kept. 
Surrounding the school are ornamental grounds, with a nursery of 
young fruit and other trees and plants close by. 
The horticultural course is at present confined mostly to the propa- 
gation of plants and to fruit-growing — dealing with wind-breaks, protec- 
tion from frost, setting out and planting, tillage, manuring, cover crops, 
renovation of old orchards, grafting, budding, the life histories of fungi 
and insects, spraying, harvesting, and packing of the fruit, cold storage, 
&c. The School of Horticulture is attached to the Wolfville University. 
The classes are held during the winter months, from the beginning of 
