Marcel Granger - FRUIT TREES

Série de timbres du Canada sur les arbres fruitiers en français

Page created on : January 15, 2004
Last updated : September 27, 2007

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Fruit growing was introduced to Nova Scotia by the early French settlers sometime in the early 1600s. They were a self-sufficient lot; each homestead had several apple trees. By drying apples, settlers could have the fruit available to them year round to make pies, puddings, tarts and many other dishes.

In 19th century Québec, seedlings were grown from seed imported from the U.S., France, England and Russia. Fruit growing was a family affair; most family-owned orchards contained about 40 trees of varying varieties. In 1875, 25,000 bushels of apples were harvested in Québec from about 21,000 apple trees. Most of this crop ended up in Montreal, and still today, most Québec apples are destined for markets along the St. Lawrence River.

Apples were introduced to Manitoba in 1874 using stock from Ontario and Russia. The harsh prairie climate discouraged growers, however in the 20th century, breeders at University of Saskatchewan and the Canadian Department of Agriculture research farm at Morden, Manitoba, developed some hardy varieties.

Tree fruits were introduced to B.C. by the early settlers with seed that they carried with them from Fort Vancouver as they explored the interior. By the 1850s there were plantings of small orchards in the Fraser Valley. A fellow named Thomas G. Earl established the first orchard at Lytton. Cold winters forced Earl out of business, but other growers, including an Oblate missionary named Father Pandosy, had discovered the okanagan Valley, an area boasting a warmer, although much drier, climate. Pandosy planted his first trees where the City of Kelowna now stands. Dry soil proved a barrier to production until growers rigged pumps and open flumes to direct water from lakes and creeks into the Valley.

Historical records in Ontario indicate that apples were propagated in the Niagara region as early as 1790. By 1880, 84 apple varieties were in production in Ontario, but the granddaddy of Ontario apples, the McIntosh, had yet to be discovered...

Source : History of Apples in Canada from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.