s Ml UC-NRLF B E PRIXTE1) JSY AUTHORITY OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY ' si BULLETIN No. 20.-22- ised July, 1910.) DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUR^ — OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, VARIETIES OF FRUIT RECOMMENDED. HONOURABLE W. J. BOWSER, K.C., Minister of Finance and Agriculture, Victoria, B. C. SIR, — I have the honour to submit herewith revised edition of Bulletin No. 20, " Varieties of Fruit Recommended for Commercial Plauting." The revision of this bulletin was undertaken by the Provincial Board of Horticulture and may safely be taken as representing those varieties from which the best returns may be expected, and which have already been proved commercially successful. I have the honour to be, Sir, Your obedient servant, WM. E. SCOTT, Deputy Minister of Agriculture. Department of Agriculture, Victoria, B. C., llth July, 1910. INFORMATION FOR FRUIT-GROWERS, List of Varieties Recommended for Commercial Planting by the Provincial Board of Horticulture, as revised April 14th, 1910. AT a meeting of the Provincial Board of Horticulture, held at Kamloops on April 14th, 1910, the list of varieties of fruit recommended for commercial planting, issued from time to time by the Board of Horticulture for the guidance of intending planters, was again revised. This was neces- sitated by the additional information which has since been acquired as to the commercial suitability of varieties, taking into consideration also their immunity from fungous diseases, the natural vigour of the trees, and their immunity from winter injury, etc. The varieties named below represent the consensus of opinion of many of the leading fruit-growers of their respective districts, and may safely be taken as those which sound experience and good judgment indicate to be the best. The list of varieties for each district is not large, and in each district certain varieties are indicated which are believed to be the very best commercial propositions for that district. It is a great mistake to plant too many varieties. To have fewer varieties permits the grower to study each separately, so as to get the most out of his trees, and greatly facilitates marketing the fruit, when trees come into bearing. At the same time, these lists do not contain the names of all the varieties which possibly may be safely, and probably in many cases profitably, grown. SELECTION OF SITE. In the selection of the site of the orchard, there are a number of influences to be considered which make for or against success. Shallow soils, those with hard-pan, or very open gravelly bottom, or very heavy clay subsoil, too close to the surface, should always be avoided, even for short-lived trees. In the irrigated districts, attention must also be paid to avoiding alkali. The site should always be chosen with reference to the preference of sun scald, protection from severe winds, and with good air drainage. Close personal observation of the surrounding orchards will teach the intending planter a great deal as to the suitability of the soils of the neighbourhood for the kind of fruit he wishes to plant. PREPARATION OF THE GROUND. More failures are made in planting the orchard through having the ground poorly prepared, than any other reason. Land recently cleared from heavy timber should not be planted until a crop of some legume, such as red clover, has been ploughed in. In the irrigated sections, it will generally pay 4 to do the same. Thorough drainage is essential, and if necessary artificial drainage should be given, though it is usually not wise to plant on soils which need tilling to make an orchard possible. The trees may be fall or spring- planted, depending on the climate. Generally speaking, on Vancouver Island and in the Kootenay, fall-planting is better, while on the Lower Mainland and in the Dry Belt, spring-planting is better. It is better even if one season is lost, to have the ground in thorough condition before planting, than to plant out on poorly-prepared land. The year lost will be more than made up before the trees come into bearing. SELECTION OF TREES. Where possible, the planter should inspect the trees at the nursery as he buys them. As a rule, good, well-grown yearlings are preferable, and the Board of Horticulture recommends that you deal with a sound, reliable nurseryman, who has a reputation to maintain, and who is under bond to the Provincial Board of Horticulture. For particulars regarding this bond, write to the Department of Agriculture asking for a copy of the Horticultural Regulations ; and as for further information with regard to the choice of sites and soil, the preparation of the ground, the selection of trees, and the proper planting and pruning of trees, a new bulletin will shortly be issued by the Department covering these points. Where and How to Buy. The following is an excerpt from a circular letter issued by the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and the Inspector of Fruit Pests, dated 8th November, 1902 :— " Unless a fruit-grower is undertaking experiments — and we do not for a moment attempt to discourage such enterprise — we would strongly urge fruit-growers who are starting orchards for commercial purposes to buy only those varieties of fruit trees which, from previous experience, have proved themselves to be of value, and to avoid all varieties which are unknown, or are not well known to be profitable. Do not trust to the word of a tree- pedlar ; the chances are that he is more ignorant of the wares he is attempting to sell than the prospective purchaser. In most cases those varieties of fruit trees for which extraordinary claims are made turn out to be worthless, and the unlucky purchaser finds himself out, first in the actual cost of the trees, which, after all, is the least; but, in the second place, that which is impos- sible to estimate, viz., the loss of years of waiting, to find out at last that the trees are worthless and have to be rooted out ; leaving him not only worse off than he wras in the first place, but without recourse against anyone." Whilst in no way depreciating the extra-provincial nurseries, it is a self-evident fact that acclimatised nursery stock is preferable to imported stock, and, therefore, it is recommended that, when possible, trees should be obtained from local nurserymen. The wisdom of this advice is, I believe* sound, for the following reasons: — Being acclimatised, no time is lost in adaptation to the new conditions; being freshly taken up and transplanted, the risk of loss by drying out and by frost are so minimised that very few 5 of the trees die. The principals being on the ground and having reputations to sustain, it is to their interest to sell only such stock as are true to name, and the substitution of other varieties than those wanted cannot be done without consent. In case of mistakes, they are more easily rectified ; the risk of diseases and .pests is minimised ; the opportunity of visiting the nursery and inspecting the stock before buying ; the necessity and expense of inspection is avoided, for it must be remembered that all nursery stock from any point outside of the Province must be sent to Vancouver and there inspected by a quarantine officer of the Board, and the fees paid before same is allowed to be moved. Prof. S. W. Fletcher, in Bulletin No. 53, on "Nursery Stock for Washington Orchards," decants as follows on this point : — "The distinction between nearby and distant nurserymen should not be made on the mere distance of the nursery from the proposed location of the orchard, nor should it be made on state lines. It should be drawn between well-marked geographical and horticultural districts. Thus the Coast regions of Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia naturally constitute one great horticultural district, the irrigated valleys of Eastern Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia another, and the unirrigated uplands in these same sections still another. Orchardists in each of these districts will gener- ally find it for their interest to purchase nursery stock which has been grown within the limits of the district. Of course, exceptions rise up on every side. Here are fine orchards in the Yakiina Valley which came from Eastern stock ; there are profitable Sound orchards which came from irrigated stock, and so on. But the general trend of evidence, and the opinion of some of our best fruit-growers, is that local stock is better. When its other advantages are considered, one comes to believe that in the end it is cheaper." As I said before, this advice is given, not with the object of injuring the reputation of extra-provincial nurserymen, but with the sole object of giving what I believe to be good, sound advice to those of our people who need it. When purchasing from nurserymen at points without the Province it is well that the point regarding inspection, previously alluded to, should be clearly understood. Attention is also directed to the provisions of section 17 of the " Horti- cultural Board Act," which reads as follows : — " No person, firm, or corporation shall engage or continue in the business of selling, as principal, agent, solicitor, or otherwise, within the Province, fruit trees, plants, or nursery stock, or of importing for sale fruit trees, plants, or nursery stock into the Province, without first having obtained a licence to carry on such business in the Province as in this Act provided." All 'persons authorised to sell nursery stock in this Province are required by their principals, or by themselves, to deposit bonds, in the Department of Agriculture, Victoria, for the faithful performance of their obligations. The public is, therefore, warned not to purchase nursery stock except from duly licensed persons. Licences expire on the 31st day of December of each year. The following, by George C. Atwood, in " Country Gentleman," is as applicable to the purchasers of trees, and to nurserymen and agents, in Canada as in the United States: — " Good Advice to Buyers of Trees. " The agricultural papers for October are repeating their perennial complaints against the 'tree agents,' and nearly every instance mentioned says that the ' victim ' bought, as he supposed, valuable varieties, and after they came into bearing they proved to be nothing but scrubs or inferior seedlings — sour apples should have been sweet, red currants white, etc. " Now, we have much sympathy for the grower who waits for years to get his trees into bearing, only to find that he has been victimised. Such experiences are disappointing, and in some cases attended with serious loss. The ease with which a label may be changed from one tree to another, and the long time it takes for a tree to bear, are inviting to an unscrupulous agent, and some fall into the temptation. " The majority of trees raised in the State of New York are grown by honourable and responsible nurserymen — men who know their business, and who keep their varieties ' true to name.' Some of these nurserymen employ agents to sell their trees, and are responsible for the acts of those agents. If a stranger calls on you to sell you trees, do not believe anything he says unless he proves it. If he claims to be ' one of the proprietors ' of a nursery, take his references and write to them. If he says he is a ' special ' or ' general ' agent, he can show a certificate of his agency, and you are to see that it is of recent date. If you make a purchase, have him to give you a duplicate of the order, and see that it is correct and that it has his name written thereon, and then write to the firm who sent him to you, giving a full account of the transaction, and they will acknowledge it. " Any one who buys trees should be as cautious about it as if he were buying any other commodity. Satisfy yourself that you are dealing with reliable, established, and responsible nurserymen or their accredited agents. Plant freely of varieties of established value, invest but little in new things until you have tested them on your own land, and avoid all pure-liases of varieties when unreasonable claims are made for them." VARIETY LIST. Districts. 1. Vancouver Island and adjacent islands. 2. Lower Mainland. 3. Lytton, Lillooet, and Spences Bridge. 4. Kamloops District. 5. Salmon Arm and Armstrong.