ORCHARDS and VINEYARDS of ONTARIO I Sol ■ I : b I d bid blc) bid bid b I d b I d bid bid bid bid bid bid bid bid bid bid bid bid bid bid bid bid bid w I * AND * ft Vineyards ONTARIO, )*- ^' >* The Premier Province of Canada. rp> gp> -^rp> «rp> *p> ^ q, Fruit Farming in Ontario^ >^ ^VNTARIO, the Premier Province of Canada, is noted for the variety and excellence of its fruits. Its capabilities in this important department of productive industry were strikingly shown at the World's Columbian Exposition. There the province secured the greatest number of provincial and district awards, and on the score of the judges succeeded in obtaining a position fully thirty per cent . higher than any other country or state as to the appearance and quality of its fruit. The proximity of the great lakes helps to render the climate of the southern or lake counties very temperate and suited to the growth even of tender fruits such as grapes and peaches. Grapes grow there as a field crop, producing enormous yields, and peach trees are planted out in orchards in a similar manner to apple orchards. The Niagara Fruit District. The Niagara District, which has been aptly termed 4' The Garden of Canada," comprises the counties of Lincoln and Welland, which form the peninsula lying between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario and are separated from the American frontier by the Niagara river. The farms along this river between Queenston and Niagara are among the finest in Ontario, and are nearly exclusively devoted to the raising of fruit of various kinds. From Niagara to Winona and Grimsby, a distance of about thirty-five miles, on the south shore of lake Ontario, the soil is also similarly adapted to the raising of fruit, and the immense quantities of peaches, grapes, plums and small fruits of every kind, which are shipped every season from this district, testify to the fact that this " Garden of Canada " is unrivalled for the mildness of climate and tbe fertility of its soil for fruit culture. The beneficial influence of the lakes upon the climate is there exercised to a marked degree, and gives to the region an advantage even over the adjacent section of New York State in the production of fruit. It is in the Niagara section of Ontario that the fruit industry lias achieved its greatest development, Electric cars from the city of Hamilton pass the Grimsby fruit growers' doors every hour, and telephones connect their homes and bring daily market reports. There are eight shipping stations of importance in the section, viz. : Niagara, Niagara Falls, Port Dalhousie, St. Catherines, Jordan. Beamsville, Winona and Grimsby. During 1896, 18,000 barrels of AN ONTARIO FAEM. apples alone were shipped from Grimsby and 6,000 from Winona : and the total value of all fruit shipped from each of these points i> upwards of 1100,000 per annum. Steps are now being taken by the Dominion Government to establish a cold storage warehouse at Grimsby, from which consignments of fruit will be made to Great Britain twice weekly. At Grimsby the fruit strip is about three miles long and one mile wide, lying under ithe shelter of the ridge of land known as the Niagara escarpment, and between it and the shores of lake Ontario. Unimproved portion,* have sold as high as $500 per acre within the last few years. Peaches, grapes, plums and raspberries and other small fruits are grown and shipped by rail and lake. The town of Niagara lies at the junction of the Niagara river and lake Ontario, and has daily steamboat communication across the lake with the city of Toronto. The estimated shipment from this port of peaches alone in 1896, a year of enormous yield, was 300,000 baskets. In the same year $20,000 worth of raspberries were shipped from Grimsby, and about 1,200 tons of grapes, plums, peaches and small fruits from Winona. KING STREET, TORONTO. To the extreme south west of the province there lies a somewhat similar peninsula of land between Lake Erie and lake St. Clair, consisting of the counties of Essex and Kent, and including Pelee Island. Along the Detroit river and on Pelee Island grapes are grown in enormous quantities, from which considerable wine is manufactured. On Pelee Island alone there are over 850 acres of vineyard, and in a recent season over 500 tons of grapes were pressed by the Pelee Island Wine Company. Asa grape and wine producing country the possibilities < >f ( hitario are great. As an indication of this it may be mentioned that one of the most prominent wine merchants of England, after visiting Ontario's fruit display at the World's Fair at Chicago was so impressed with what lie saw there that he decided to visit and examine for himself the vineyards of the province. This he did. and afterwards sent out two of his partners from London to inspect them as well. These three gentlemen afterwards expressed it as their opinion that, with a proper system of manufacturing, Ontario should be the greatest grape and wine producing country in the world. To the north of Pelee Island, in the neighbourhood of the town of Leamington, lies a section that is rapidly becoming famous for its peaches, the local growers claiming them to be the finest in North America. The orchards are young and just coming into bearing, but already quite an export trade has been established with Detroit city and elsewhere. Apples. Ontario is celebrated for the excellent quality and flavor of its apples. Besides provincial awrards, Ontario received nine district awards for apples at the Chicago World's Fair, and the opinion was there expressed th it for flavor Ontario apples were superior to any others exhibited. In all the lake counties, and indeed all the counties to the west, apples grow to great perfection. In favorable years the yield is sometimes phenomenal. Such a year was 1896, when the crop was greater than ever before known in Ontario, and apples became a glut in the market. The principal apple growing district is the Huron tract, bordering on lake Huron. Here the apple is king, and Huron apples bring top prices in Liverpool and London. In a favourable year this district will produce fully 500,000 barrels. Along lake Ontario also, apples of unsurpassed quality arc grown, and the region is quite as favourable to their production as the Huron tract. Other Fruits. Pears, plums, and cherries produce well in all the western counties, and in the counties bordering on lake Ontario, while smaller fruits, such as strawberries, raspberries, cherries, currants and gooseberries, grow well in almost any section of the country. Some ofjthe finest plums in Canada are grown in the valley of the Beaver river, which flows north to the Georgian bay through two ranges of hills. Here the plum-growing district extends for a distance of twenty-live miles. As yet disease is unknown, the yields are heavy and the quality excellent. Apples and some peaches also arc grown. One enthusiastic fruit grower of the Beaver Valley says he would rather have a plum farm there than an orange grove in California . MARKET PJLACEj BARBIE, ONTARIO. Another important fruit section exists at the eastern end of lake Ontario, in Prince Edward County, where for many years a great variety of fruit has been grown. Further east, along the St. Lawrence river, little except apples are grown, as early frosts render tender fruits precarious. The following will give an idea of the prevailing retail market prices for the leading varieties of fruit in Ontario : Peaches, from 50 cents (2s.) to $1 (4s.) per peck basket. Grapes, 20 lb. basket, wines, 20 cents (10d.), table, 25 cents, average first to last, 35 cents . Kaspberries, strawberries, currants, blackberries, etc.. .fl ( Is. 2d.) per dozen quart boxes. f) Gooseberries, in baskets equal to about one dozen boxes, 60 cents. Pears, per basket of one peck, 40 cents (Is. 8cl.) Apples : Northern Spies, Baldwins, Kings, Russets, Snows. Greenings, average for season about $2.00 per barrel. Fruit growing in Ontario is receiving more attention at the present time than ever before, and of the possibilities of the exten- sion of the industry there can be no doubt. Already Ontario apples are exported to Great Britain in large quantities, and command the best prices. With more careful selection and better packing of the fruit, together with better transportation and storage facilities, there can be no doubt this trade might be vastly extended and made more remunerative. Storage and transportation facilities are now being provided by the government. When they are completed, the exportation of fruit to Europe will not be confined to apples alone. There seems to be no reason why, with the necessary cold storage accommodation, Ontario's luscious peaches and other fruits of the more perishable kinds should not be laid down in the markets of Liverpool, Glasgow and London at prices that would place them within the reach of all. With a view to the promotion of the fruit industry, fruit ex- periment stations have recently been established by the Ontario government in the different sections of the province. At these stations tests are made of the different varieties of fruits, in order to determine the most suitable for that section of country in which each station is located. These stations annually report the results of their experiments to the government, when the information is published in the form of a report and publicly distributed for the benefit 'of those interested. The interests of fruit growing in the province are carefully fostered by the Ontario Fruit Growers' Association. This Association has a membership of 2,472. Its objects, like those of all similar associations in the province, are co-operative and educational. It disseminates information as to the best methods of fruit culture, and as to the proper handling, packing, and marketing of fruit, and also promotes legislation in the interests of the industry. Connected with the Association are the most prominent and scientific fruit growers of the province. The painstaking work of such men has resulted in the production of varieties of at least the hardier s<»rt> of ■■■■■■■ !;!.:i: