NATURAL RESOURCES OF QUEBEC
Blackberries as now cultivated are a fruit equal to raspberries, and
owing to the heavy covering of snow in Quebec survive even in the hardest
winters. For protection in winter the tips are bent and covered with
earth. The warieties recommended for garden culture are Agawam,
Snyder and Eldorado.
The cranberry is a fruit which has not been grown commercially in
Canada, except in a few bogs in Nova Scotia and elsewhere, but, as 20,000
barrels are annually imported to the value of $200,000, its culture might
be given attention. All three species of this berry grow in Quebec in the
wild state.
Cherries might be grown more generally in the province for market.
At present the fruit is cultivated chiefly in Chateauguay, but in any section
where the climate is tempered by local conditions. the fruit can be profit-
ably grown.
Blueberries thrive.—In spite of the large quantity of wild blue-
berries in Canada that find a ready market in the late summer, there is,
as some growers have found, market room for blueberries of the size and
quality obtainable by careful cultivation. The plant requires an acid
soil and therefore can be cultivated on land otherwise of little value.
The special type of acid soil is that which consists of a mixture of sand
and peat. The soil should be capable of drainage and of surface aeration.
The swamp blueberry, which is the desirable species, prefers land which,
though submerged in winter and spring, rises above the water level in
summer. Valley bottoms liable to late spring frosts should be avoided.
Plantations may be made either by the careful tending of a wild
blueberry patch, or by transplantation of the better bushes, or by seed,
or by the special process known as ‘‘stumping”. In any case, commercial
crops would not be available for three or four years, but when once in
bearing the swamp blueberry may live and produce for a century.
Quebec province has a prosperous trade in blueberries Great quan-
tities grow in most parts, but the chief districts from which they are
marketed are Lake St. John, Charlevoix, Saguenay and Chicoutimi counties
on the north side of the St. Lawrence, and Temiscouata on the south.
The lake St. John country is famous for its blueberries and large quan-
tities are shipped everv summer, especially from Roberval.
BEE-KEEPING
[n quantity -of honey, the province of Quebec is one of the leading
producers. In 1926-27 there were 7,888 apiaries with 101,895 colonies
of bees in the provinces, having a production of 3,441,308 pounds of
extracted and 392,285 pounds of comb honey. The value of the honey
and wax being $600.104.
