THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
71 
CANADIAN FRUIT PROSPECTS. 
Professor John Craig in a recent lecture on Canadian fruit 
prospects gave the following information : 
The climate of this province favors a mixed husbandry. 
Small fruits grow in profusion. Apples may be grown success¬ 
fully in nearly all parts for home use, and large commercial 
orchards are being planted in the Valley of St. John River. 
The fruit harvest is later than the neighboring province of 
Nova Scotia. 
QUEBEC. 
The conditions in Eastern Quebec approach quite closely 
those obtaining in many parts of New Brunswick. The prin¬ 
cipal fruit areas lie along the south side of that great artery of 
commerce—the St. Lawrence. It seems to be a principle in 
plant growth, especially apple growth, that the further north a 
given variety may be grown to successful fruitage, the finer in 
quality will be the fruit. In LTslet county, seventy miles 
northeast of the City of Quebec, plum growing has become a 
si)ecialized industry. On the island of Montreal one finds a 
truly extensive style of fruit growing, and apples and plums 
are staples. 
ONTARIO. 
Along the banks of the Detroit river in the extreme south¬ 
west, are gigantic pear trees. These are from seed planted by 
French missionaries probably. One of the oldest of these is 
said to date from 1705. Tradition also states that a colonist 
brought three pear seeds in his vest pocket and planted them 
near Amherstburg. These grew, bore fruit, the seed of which 
produced the picturesque old trees marking the landscape of 
that region, at the present day. The planting of apple orchards 
began there about the year 1794. Since that time grape grow¬ 
ing has assumed enormous proportions. The manufacture of 
wine is a business of growing importance. On Pelee Island 
alone-there are 350 acres of vineyards. The peach industry is 
not more than twenty years old, yet in 1894 a single station, 
that of Leamington, shipped 35,000 baskets of peaches. Last 
year that number was probably doubled. It is estimated that 
half a million peach trees were planted last spring. There are 
those who would rather possess a plum orchard in the Beaver 
Valley, than own an orange grove in California. The apple 
region of Lake Huron produces about half a million barrels 
per annum. The Niagara Peninsula is one of the oldest fruit 
growing sections of the country. During the shipping season, 
a daily fruit train leaving Niagara Falls carries away such 
peaches, plums, cherries, pears and berries as are not shipped 
by boat from Hamilton or St. Catharines. A single firm paid 
three thousand dollars for fruit baskets in 1894, and these 
baskets cost about three cents a piece. The peninsula of 
Prince Edward county is famous for apples. In Ontario the 
area of orchard, garden and vineyard in 1895 was 320,122 
acres ; apple trees of bearing age, 6,913,906 ; young trees not 
bearing, 3,548,053 ; yield of apples last year, 55,895,755 bush¬ 
els, or about twenty million barrels. 
MANITOBA AND NORTHWEST. 
As far as tree fruits are concerned those which can be grown 
successfully without extraordinary care have yet to be pro¬ 
duced. Berries of all kinds may be grown. 
British Columbia offers a country full of resources for vast 
success in fruit growing. She can claim the proud distinction 
of numbering among her landed proprietors, the Earl of 
Aberdeen, who is the largest orchardists in the Dominion. 
A WOMAN’S WAY. 
“ Now, Alexander, ” exclaimed Mrs. Boggles, excitedly, 
“don’t you stir a step! I’ve seen enough of your gettin’ 
cheated by tree agents, and I’ll interview the rest of ’em that 
come along this season myself.” 
“But I’m only goin’ to the door jest to see”- 
“No. you ain’t; I’m goin’ to the door myself, and you kin 
jest set still where you air! That chap who has jest come up 
the walk and rung the bell is one of those ’ere slick-tongued 
tree-pedlers. I kin tell ’em fur’s I kin see ’em now, and if 
you’ll set right still, I’ll go out and shoo him off the premises 
in a hurry.” 
An interval of three minutes is supposed to have elapsed. 
Mrs. Boggles and her caller have both been doing some talk¬ 
ing, and it is now the tree agent’s innings. 
“But, madam,” he persists, in the oily and persuasive tones 
common to his kind, “ I am sure you do not wish to neglect 
this opportunity to secure one of these elegant and handsome 
andromeda floribundas. This cut will give you a faint idea 
of what it looks like, madam. It is an evergreen plant, you 
will notice, with rich, dark-green foliage, abundantly sprinkled 
with pure white flowers, and it will be just the thing to fill up 
that blank space to the right of the bay-window, and I’ll guar¬ 
antee that every time you gaze forth from your casement upon 
its chaste beauty and attractiveness you will bless the day you 
were lucky enough to secure it. ” 
“H—how much is it?” faltered Mrs. Boggles. 
“ Only ^2, madam; and you must remember, this elegant 
and handsome ornamental shrub will live for hundreds of 
years, if properly cared for, and the cost is a mere bagatelle 
compared to the enjoyment you will derive from it. I can 
see you are a lover of the beautiful in Nature’s works—all 
pretty women are—and in justice to yourself you really ought 
to have it. What do you say? Shall I send you one?” 
“You said the price was $2?” 
“Yes.” 
“ I wasn’t goin’ to buy anything, but I—I guess I’ll take 
one of them andromedarys, or whatever you call ’em.” 
“Andromeda floribunda is the name, madam.” 
“All right; you can send me one of ’em—and be sure to 
pick out a nice one.” 
“ Certainly, madam. You shall have one of the finest in 
the nursery. And now, allow me to call your sttention,”—et 
cetera, et cetera. 
And he kept right on “ calling her attention ” until he had 
sold her a list of nursery stock amounting to $17.50. 
There are a few women in this world who are frank enough 
to own up when they have made fools of themselves. Mrs. 
Boggles is one of the few. When the giib-tongued retailer of 
high-priced nursery novelties had secured her signature agree¬ 
ing to take these articles and left her with the duplicate bill 
staring her in the face, she looked at it for a moment, or say 
a moment and a half, in a dazed sort of way, footed up the 
figures to see that the total was correct, and then going into 
the house, she placed the self-accusing document in front of 
her worser and wiser half, and said: 
“ I got off as cheap as I could, Alexander; it does beat all 
what a talker that man was! and I don’t blame you half as 
much as I did for gettin’ roped in that last time; and, now, if 
you’ll keep quiet on the subject. I’ll do the same, and here- 
