42 2 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
EDITORIAL WANDERINGS 
The Okanagon Valley of British Columbia 
The traveller from the east who visits the interior of 
British Columbia is forcibly struck with the resemblance of 
the lake region of that province to the fingerlake region of 
Central New York except that it is constructed on a larger 
scale. The inte- 
regionis tra- 
of the 
while 
former 
enough 
nor 
versed by its 
more or less 
parallel ranges of 
mountains, prom- 
i n e n t among 
which is the Gold 
Range, the 
Rockies and the 
Selkirks, and 
between these 
ranges lie in long 
narrow troughs 
the beautiful 
Kootenay and the 
Arrow lakes, 
these being' ex¬ 
pansions of the 
Columbia River 
and Lake Okan¬ 
agon. The latter 
lies in the so- 
called dry belt 
province, 
the two 
receive 
natural 
precipitation to 
grow certain 
crops such as are 
not likely to be 
seriously affected 
by occasional 
periods of 
drought. It is a 
fact, however, 
that no section 
in this interior region can be said to be entirely freed 
from the occasional desirability of artificial irrigation. 
In the early days wheat was grown without irrigation 
in most of the interior, but the vegetable grower, the small 
fruit grower as well as the orchardist regard irrigation as 
essential to success. 
The remarks in this article bear special reference to the 
Okanagon Valley, one of the most interesting of the province. 
The pioneer fruit grower of that section was a former 
Governor General of Canada, Lord Aberdeen. In 1892, he 
purchased a large tract of land at the head of the lake 
Okanagon near the town of Vernon, on which he planted 
A NEW RAMBLER ROSE. 
•New Rose Daybreak 
Our advertising columns announce the introduction of the new rose Day¬ 
break, an illustration of which appears herewith. As one of Jackson Dawson’s pro¬ 
ductions no doubt will be entertained as to the excellent qualities and permanent 
value of this latest progeny of the prolific W-ichuralana lineage. On the other 
side,.the parentage is also of a high standard. The Dawson has proved to be 
one of the hardiest and most prolific of pillar and piazza roses. 
extensive orchards of apples and the hardier fruits. These 
formed the nucleus of the famous Coldstream Ranch. The 
writer has had a rather personal interest in this Ranch for 
the reason that at the time of its organization he had an 
advisory part in 
the selection of 
the varieties of 
fruit which com¬ 
posed the original 
plantings. These 
varieties, so far as 
apples were con¬ 
cerned, were Spy, 
Greening, King, 
Golden Russett, 
Wealthy, Pewau- 
kee and Ben 
Davis. At the 
time of our visit 
to .this ranch late 
in August one of 
the cheering fea¬ 
tures was the 
magnificent crop 
of Spies which the 
16 year old trees 
were carrying. 
McIntosh was also 
bearing heavily. 
Greening and 
King, notably the 
former, had suff¬ 
ered consider¬ 
ably from Sun 
Scald. In the 
case of Golden 
Russett, while the 
trees had succeed¬ 
ed fairly well, and 
had been produc¬ 
tive, it did not 
seem to be 
adapted to the climatic conditions. The fruit showed 
a marked tendency to shrivel soon after picking. The 
orchard, at the time of our visit, was laid down in clover 
which had been cut twice during the season and was now 
bearing a heavy aftermath, which would be allowed to 
remain on the ground over winter. 
The financial success attending these original plantings 
has induced the rapid extension of orchard areas in the 
vicinity and several hundred acres have been planted and 
are now growing beautiful orchard trees, varying from three 
to six years of age. These later plantings are being blocked 
and sold in tracts of 10 to 20 acres, at prices ranging from 
I, 
