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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1961-04-06, Page 11• PEACHES GROW IN HURON? AREA FARMER SHOWS HOW (By L. A. LASSALINE) ' The narrow ridge of Burford gravelly soil parallels the south- • eastern shore of Lake Huron and runs due north from Ailsa Craig to Goderich. At" several points the ridge narrows down to a few rods and even at its widest point it is no more than half a mile. All told, the ridge covers about 1,5Q0 acres. Fourteen years ago it was re- garded as good vegetable land but today, because of the gambling instinct of a Goderich farmer, the area is classified as peachland and a potential source of peaches to supplement the dwindling supplies from the industrialized Niagara Peninsula. Back in 1944, Fred Bell, now • one of the few farmers in the God- erich area who can afford an an- nual vacation, decided to go into the fruit -growing business and build it up as one of the major enterprises on his farm. He con- tacted officials at the Ontario De- partment of Agriculture but they advised him against growing • peaches. Too far north, they said. Stick to apples, potatoes and the raspberries he was already grow- ing, they advised. Bell had decided to go into peaches because he knew that they could be grown successfully. His mother had always had a few on the old family farm where he now • lives, and one or two of his neigh- bors had tried them with favorable results. Bell was willing to gam- ble. So he ignored the depart- ment's advice and. ordered 24 trees. Since he knew practically noth- ing about peach trees at the time, • he chose his varieties by names which struck his fancy. Then with a characteristic display of energy, he plunged into a study of the peach. Books and pamphlets from the local liprary as well as from Guelph, gave him information on. their culture and spraying, plant- ing, pruning, and fertilizer require- • ments. Trees Survive His 24 trees survived the winter with no injury whatsoever. They were all .beginning to form buds later in the spring when he plant- ed another 200 trees. These all survived the replanting and grew considerably in their first sum- mer. His first winter .taught him that some form of protection was nec- essary against both mice and rab- bits. He controlled the damage from mice by wrapping old tin cans around the tree trunks at • ground level, Rabbits, he found, could be kept away by pieces of tin -foil tied to the lower branches of the trees. Apparently the light from the moon and stars shimmer- ing and flickering on the twirling, twisting tin -foil, scared the rab- bits away. The following spring Bell order • ed another 500 trees and with these safely planted, he had block of over 700. To whet his appetite, those trees first planted now pro- duced a few first quality peaches. By this time—in the summer of 1945—department of agriculture of- ficials at Guelph had heard with considerable interest of Bell's suc- cessful trial in an enterprise which they had originally brushed aside. Bell smiled with . satisfaction as he recounted how car loads of pro- fessors and students began show- ing up at all daylight hours during the growing season. "They could be found every- * where, taking measurements and making notes. Following a com- plete check for rate of growth on tree and fruit quality they were quite surprised to find that the trees and fruit compared very fav- orably with those growing in oth- er districts. "With the results from these • tests showing that their original assumptions had been wrong, they immediately acknowledged their mistake. Since then we have work- ed together and co-operated in -different tests, checks and experi- ments. Right now we have trees of different crosses for both Guelph and Vineland, and then we have some which are grafted on plum rootstocks." Sons In It, Too The land on both sides of Fred -» • Dell's farm has been taken up by his sons, Both have gone into peaches. On the one side, Arthur, a bricklayer by trade, has put in 750 trees. Qnly 250 of these are producing so far. "rve got to work out for a few years' until there's enough trees producing to furnish us with a living," said Ar-' thur. "I bought a new sprayer this year And have the house to pay for as well. I want to put :in .an- other 1,000 trees, but can't do so and pay for all this unless 'T Work outside." On the other side of Fred's place, Gerald, another son and a Korean War veteran, who is working in London at present, has put hi 500 trees. Last summer he had a well drilled as the first step towards building a house and taking up residence. All told, Fred Bell and his sons, Arthur and Gerald, now have a peach orchard of 3,000 trees. There's been no winter frost In- jury of any extent up to this time on any of the trees. There has been some bud damage from spring frost but never so severe as to kill all buds. J. R. Chard, an extension spe- cialist from the Fruit and Vege- table Extension Service Office at Forest, who has been following Bell's operation closely, pointed out that "in 1956 and 1959 when the peach crop in Ontario was gen- erally fairly light, Mr. Bell had e heavy enough crop, particularly on Red Haven, his principal variety. to require thinning. The winter of 1958-1959, caused some bud darn - age and also some wood injury, but no tree killing. The amount of damage was quite comparable to that in the Forest area. There was considerable peach canker pres- ent, particularly in the older plant- ings." The Moderating Lake A' glance at a map shows Gode- rich to be considerably further north than the other peach grow- ing districts. Lake Huron's mod- erating effect on winter tempera- tures seems to be responsible. It would also seem that the slope of the site is important for sufficient air drainage. One peach orchard located on suitable soil and at about the same distance from the lake as the Bell orchard but on a more level site had considerably lighter crops in 1956 and 1959. "To be successful with peaches in the Bayfield-Goderich area," said Chard, "careful attention should be given to fertilizing and other cultural practices. Nitrogen fertilizers should be used sparing- ly to .keep the trees from growing to fast and no cultivation should be attempted after late June so that the .trees will have an oppor- tunity to harden off before win- ter." Various members of the Depart- ment of Agriculture have inferred that the quality of the peaches grown on Bell's farm compare well with the best grown anywhere. Proof is to be found in the endless queues of cars faising cloudsof dust as they converge on the Bell Farm from all directions year af- ter year, There is no marketing problem here. The demand always seems to exceed the supply. Excellent Peaches "As you know," says Bell, him- self, "the customer is always right. They tell me year after year that for size, flavor and color, there's no bietter peach grown anywhere than right here in Huron Coun- ty. „ Ironically, the farmers in the immediate area have shown little interest in starting similar ven tures. . As yet, not much more than 50 acres have been planted. In an area of mixed farming— dairy cattle, grain, hogs and so on —the change to peaches is probab- ly too drastic for farmers not equipped with the machinery or the knowledge for this type of farming. Furthermore, not all farms have land meeting all the requirements for successful peach growing. Since the ridge of peach soil runs.. across the width of the farms, many farmers have insuf- ficient land for a profitable enter- prise, Other peach plantings in the area have all been started by commercial apple growers. Of course, there is no other area TENDERS TOWNSHIP OF HULLETT Tenders will be received by the Township of Hullett for a work of construction to be known as "The Van Baaren Municipal Drain," consist- ing of a construction of 1,600 lineal feet of open ditch, cleanout of 5,360 lineal feet of existing ditch, 1,000 lineal feet of 8 -inch tile, 828 lineal feet of 10 -inch tile, and the construction of one • catch basin. Tenders will be received and contracts award- ed only in the form of a lump sum for the coin- pletion of the whole work in accordance with the Engineer's plan, profile, and specifications. Tenders will be accompanied by a certified cheque for 10% of the tender and will be returned to the successful bidder on his producing a 100% contract bond, or, failing this, when the contract is completed. The Plans, Profile and Specifications may be seen at the Clerk's Office. .A11 tenders must be received by the Clerk not later than April 17th, 5:00 o'clock p.m. Lowest or any tender not necessarily accepted. HARRY F. PEBBUTT, Clerk, R.R. No 1, Londesboro, Ontario. CROMARTY The Saster meeting of the Wo- men's `Missionary Society was held in the church on Good Friday eve- ning. The theme was, "He is not here 'for Be is ,risen, as He said." Mrs. Lloyd S01' rsdahl prAssded.•' The Scripture ils:sson was teats 1hy Mrfi. Calder 'M aig, foljowad+with, prayer bye Mrs, ,Grace $goat. The " roll call, ejpice" was ,answered by 1,6 mernberS. The study +bock; was in charge of 'Mrs. T. J,.,cpit, who gave an outline of ttlte work. Miss Wive Spears *Otte of the hello being given Fttp the +f>at;sfstrentr nationalities kin "Cantona, And gtIrs. Lamont! ,also gave no :interesting address, ;denting with ,the uwor,k of> the WMS. Carol Ann Dow, Connie Sorsdahl, Sharon Scott and Karen Scott favored with an Easter song, accompanied by Mrs. Wm. Miller. Rev. S. Kerr showed a. film strip on the life -of our Saviour, and also the Crucifixion. Mr. Kerr pro- nounced the benediction. Miss Ina Scott, of London, spent the weekend at the home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Scott. Mrs. Filmore Chappel has left by plane to visit her parents and other friends in Saskatchewan. Mr. and Mrs. Riley, of St. Thomas, with Mr. and Mrs. Dodds. Mr. and Mrs. Frank Caddick and family, of Sarnia, with Mr. and Mrs. John Wallace and with Mr. and Mrs. Donnie Scott and family. Mrs. Jean Chalmers and son, David, of London, spent the holi- day with Mr. and Mrs. Tom Laing and with Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Laing. Miss Beth Christie visited with her grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. F. Allen, on Monday. Mr. and Mrs. Jack McGhee, of London, and Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Rhode, of Mitchell, with Mr. and Mrs. Roy McGhee over the week- end. Mr. and Mrs. Ken McKellar in Mitchell on Sunday with Mr. and Mrs. William Binning. Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Sorsdahl, AIice and Connie with Mr. and Mrs. John' Chessell and Robert in Mit- chell. Mr. and Mrs. William Chessell, of Stratford, with Mr. and Mrs, Robert Laing on Sunday. Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Currie and family, London, and Mr. and Mrs. R. Hulley, of Seaforth, with Mr. and Mrs. 0. Walker over the week- end. Mrs. Len Houghton, Leonard, Gordon and Peter, of Teeswater, anti Mr: and Mrs. Frank Hough- ton and daughter, Wanda Lyn, of Aylmer, with Mrs. M. Houghton on Sunday. Mr. Frank Stagg visited with Mr. and Mrs. Reg Stagg in Exeter on Sunday. TIMELY TIPS York barley will give you more bushels in the bin than any other variety of barley—even if it is susceptible to loose smut, says Dr. W. E. Tossell, of the 0.A.C. Field Husbandry Department, The loss from loose smut is easily overcome by the extra yield capacity of York. He suggests that Ontario farmers grow York if they want the highest i l i feed barley. Better hurry if you want to ap- ply dormant sprays to fruit trees. It has to be put on before the buds start to swell, says O.A.C. botan- ist C. B. Kelly. Spray when the temperatures are above freezing and when there is little wind. If a rain occurs before the spray dries, it will be necessary to spray again. Dormant sprays will con- trol leaf curl, red mite, scale and black knot. Write your county ag- ricultural representative for this year's spray calendar. in Ontario that can compare with the Niagara district for peach growing. But largely because Fred Bell was willing to gamble and go into peaches against the advice of the 'Department of Agriculture, Ontario peach growers have the choice of an added district to plant peach orchards.—The Family Her- ald. HORSE- DRAWN CULTIVATOR ATTACH TO THREE.-`OINT HITCN d1f hof a ,did_ ,tone 4 box you springave toothone ga n tc ,� ,tors around home 00. Ihi en't finind a use for it, ;gip tins in mind: the next Ow yolfre at en *notion sale look for :a ttoin mankep to your cultivator and aditpt Oa two of them .fp Attgat to a tractor with a tl> eTobit butch. t>§de Bell, of lanark t7p1EBtS'. Jl *ft. Clyde says kkis Isthgr 094,0 one tpf these horsesdrAWD ,ultiy„ t - :fors tfor longer than. d gegu m- tar�. "I was lucky to rpitnk another of the same make at a dealer's." First, Mr. Bell removed the han- dles and attached the cultivators`:;` to a frame ;made ,from the angler iron of an ,old dump rake. The tower of the three-point hitch was made from a three-inch wagon tire. He left the original wheels on both cultivators "to control the depth." "The cultivators can be adjusted for either 36 or 40 -inch rows," lie' claims. "And the levers adjust the width at one -inch intervals.. The inside foot is removed from each cultivator when used on ma- ture potato and strawberry rows. The hydraulic control on the trac- tor raises and lowers the cultiva- tor; the sway bars control the alignment." Mr. Bell's tractor has a clear- ance of about 14 inches and the cultivator frame has a clearance of 16 inches. But he has used it on corn from 18 -to 20 inches tall "without any, apparent damage to the crop." Costs? "It cost me 518.00 to have the cultivator made up at a local shop. Then there's the cost of the two old cultivators which would run $15 to $20 at a local auction sale. A new cultivator would have cost me a couple of hundred dollars." An interesting sidelight: Mr. first got :the idea almost .,t y,Rfis 4$0 ,while ; ttepding a Win- 411141 it}- 411141(course at the 1: