History

British Columbia

Records indicate that early plantings of tree fruits in British Columbia followed in the wake of movement of settlers into the interior. The earliest tree fruits are said to have been grown from seed brought to Fort Vancouver in 1826. Scions or seedlings of tree fruits, supposedly taken from these early plantings, were then established for local use wherever settlements occurred. By the 1850's, there were plantings of small orchards in the Lower Fraser Valley, and the first commercial orchard was said to have been established at Lytton, further north between 1870 and 1875 by Thomas G. Earl. However, due mainly to cold winters, this area did not prove itself to be a particularly favourable region for orcharding. In the meantime, an orchard established in 1867 in the Similkameen Valley by F.X. Richter did do well and from this beginning, the industry flourished. The Okanagan, as well, was discovered to have a climate favourable to tree fruit production.

The first apple trees in the Okanagan Valley were plants by an oblate missionary, Father Pandosy, in 1862, on the present location of the City of Kelowna. They were supposed to have orginated directly from trees planted at the Oblate Mission at Mission, B.C. When this first tree was planted, the area was semi-arid with insufficient rainfall to grow anything but sagebrush and rattlesnakes. With the discovery that tree fruits did well in the hot dry climate of the Okanagan-Similkameen Valleys, fruit orchards sprang up throughout the area. Obviously, many of these orchards did not survive due to unsuitable climate and/or soil conditions. But with the introduction of power pumps and open flumes, which could be used to direct water from lakes and rushing creeks in the foothills, orchards were planted inland along the length of the Okanagan-Similkameen and Kootenay Valleys. Now, 120 years later, with all of the modern methods for moving water not only inland but also to higher elevations, the slopes bordering these valleys have been planted to orchards and vineyards, and they now represent a veritable paradise on earth.

Ontario

Fruit growing in Ontario probably commenced with the culture of cherries and peaches in the Niagara Peninsula. Records indicate that these two fruits were being harvested at the mouth of the Niagara River as early as 1790. Early mentions of apple propagation in the area come to us from the diary of Charles Woolverton of Grimsby Township. He mentions that the sale of 200 acres of land to his grandfather, John Woolverton in 1796, was bound by the inclusion of 5 natural apple trees. By 1880, 84 apple varieties were being grown in Ontario with one notable exclusion. No mention is made at all of the McIntosh variety.

The first McIntosh tree was discovered in 1811 at Dundela, Dundas County, Ontario by John McIntosh, the son of Scottish immigrants to the United States. He immigrated to Canada in 1796 from New York State, and eventually settled on a farm near Ottawa. He discovered an overgrown orchard on this property and transplanted twenty of the healthiest seedlings to new ground, but only one survived. This tree produced apples that all his neighbours commented on. True to his Scottish origins, McIntosh tried to capitalize on his new find but it wasn't until 1835 when a peddler showed McIntosh techniques of bench grafting, that he succeeded in duplicating the famous McIntosh tree. However, the McIntosh was slow to gain acceptance by growers probably due to its susceptibility to scab. By 1900 with the new spray techniques becoming available to growers, McIntosh rapidly became an important variety. Today, McIntosh are cultivated in nearly every apple growing area of North America.

Quebec

Even before 1850 there were established orchards in several areas of Québec. Most of the trees were seedlings grown from seeds supplied by such countries as United States, France, England and Russia, and a majority of these early orchards were located on the slopes of the mountainous region surrounding Farnham and Abbotsford. Other important areas were located south of Montréal in Chateauguay County as well as west of Montréal in Deux Montagnes. Other fruit growing areas found in the Isle of Orléans near Québec City and in L' Islet County further north, date back to the days of France's presence in Québec. Fruit growing during the late 1800's was often a family affair consisting mainly of family-owned orchards usually having only 3 dozen trees of varying varieties. In 1875, 25,000 bushels of apples were harvested in Québec. Of this crop a large percentage was marketed in Montréal. M.B. Southwick of St. Hilaire reported 20,400 apple trees in that area in 1876. An equivalent number was reported in the Abbotsford region. Much of the harvest was marketed in populated centres on the shores of the St. Lawrence. Today that same marketing pattern exists with a large majority of the Québec crop moving to major urban centres such as Montréal and Québec City which border the St. Lawrence River.

New Brunswick

Fruit cultivation was probably introduced to New Brunswick in the 17^th century by early settlers from France who came out to settle Acadia. Nicholas Denys was one of these. He and his wife came to the New World to manage a string of fur-trading posts in Northern Acadia. Denys was also expected to bring out colonists. Unfortunately, he had difficulties doing this and as a result, he was dispossessed and lost most of his belongings. He finally retired with his wife and family to a small farm which he owned near Nipisiquit, New Brunswick. Here, he kept a garden with fruit trees in it. He left journals and information on fruit propagation in the area which provided important information for others in the fruit industry to build on.

New York State still supplied apples to Fredericton as late as 1856. However, the greatest advances in fruit cultivation in the province after this date must be attributed to Frances Peabody Sharp of Upper Woodstock. At an early age, Mr. Sharpe showed an interest in horticulture and by the time he was 25 in 1848, he had set out several orchards in the Saint John River Valley and had established a nursery. By 1891, he was reported to be growing 900,000 apple trees and 60,000 plum trees, and was shipping nursery stock all over the continent. Sharpe was also very interested in apple breeding and developed two varieties, the New Brunswick Apple and Crimson Beauty, which apparently had the Fameuse and the New Brunswick Apple as its parents. Today, the Crimson Beauty is still grown in many Canadian orchards and stands as a monument to one of Canada's early horticulturists.

Nova Scotia

As with the development of fruit culture in other parts of Eastern Canada, fruit growing no doubt was introduced to the area by early settlers and was necessitated by the need for self-sufficiency. That would date the beginning of fruit propagation in Nova Scotia to the early 1600's. As with Québec, fruit growing was a family affair with each homestead having several apple trees. In 1862, displays of Nova Scotia fruit at a London, England exhibition were widely acclaimed by all who saw them. By 1939, Nova Scotia was exporting 75% of its production to the British markets. However, from 1939 to 1965, the industry exports to U.K. went into a decline. Three things possibly caused this. As was the case during World War I, little fruit was exported to the U.K. during the second World War. By the time the war was over, fruit production and specifically apple production in England and Europe had reached significant proportions. Coupled with this was the shortage of exchange. The organization of the European Economic Community, and Britain's entry into it, did little to improve the status of Nova Scotia in a traditional market. The introduction of several processing facilities which take a large percentage of the crop has somewhat served to temper the blow that the industry suffered in losing this market, and together with added interest in the potential of apples for processing, has served as an incentive for increasing interest in fruit production in the province.