History of Fruit Growing in the BC Interior

British Columbia is a young province. Pioneered first by the fur companies, little stress or encouragement came for other endeavours such as agriculture or mining, as these would detract from the companies' primary objectives. Nevertheless, as settlers appeared at the Coast, in the Fraser Valley, up the Fraser and Thompson Rivers and up the Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys, a self-sufficient type of agriculture became of primary importance to the stark fact of existence. Certainly the Roman Catholic missionaries, initially Father Pandosy of the Okanagan Mission and later his confreres, out of pure necessity blended successfully the art of farming with promulgation of the gospel and inculcation of the elements of education in the Kelowna area.

In the coastal regions of the province fruit plantings were made in the 1840's and onwards and by the 1880's a small but flourishing fruit industry was established in the Fraser Valley. The growing of apples near Lillooet is reputed to have been started by an Indian named Lorenzo in 1862. (It might be remarked that the summer heat unit accumulations in Lytton-Lillooet are the highest in Canada but winter cold has limited severely fruit production in that area.) The most famous early orchards were those of Thomas G. Earl (Earlscourt) of Lytton, whose acreage reached 300 by 1875. The earliness of maturity of crops and the fact that Lillooet was Mile on the road to Barkerville in the gold rush of 1858-1870, made Lillooet a very important fresh fruit and vegetable provisioning point for miners heading north. Chinese and other market gardeners flourished for a time in this boom period. There are to this day some very old apricot trees on the Indian Reservation at Lytton and several years ago the author saw cultivated (but now wild) grapes growing on the Lytton-Lillooet Indian Reservation. Some of the vines had climbed tall trees and bunches of grapes were hanging from the branches.

In the meantime, fruit growing was becoming established in the southern areas of the B.C. Interior around 1867. Mr. F.X. Richter brought in trees from the U.S.A. and established a small apple orchard in the Similkameen. Amongst those trees were Baldwins, mistakenly named Winesap, the former a variety of great popularity at that time in Eastern Canada and the U.S.A., but not a desirable commercial variety in the West.

From what source Richter obtained his tree is not known. They may have come from a famous character, Hiram F. Smith (1829-1893), more commonly known as "Okanogan Smith," a man of all trades, amongst them printer, pack train operator, fruit grower and state legislator. One account states that Hiram F. Smith brought in 1200 trees from Fort Hope, B.C. in 1856-57 and planted these on a 24-acre orchard north-east of Oroville. Included were apples, pears, peaches and grapes. The original homestead, now owned by Mrs. D.A. Thorndike of Oroville, contains some fifteen original trees including 120-year old Winesaps, Schwaar and Gloria Mundi apple specimens and what appear to be Beurre d'Anjou pears. The Okanogan County Historical Society has seen fit to erect on Highway 97 south of Oroville, Wash., an historical sign dedicated to Hiram F. Smith.

There also are some very old apple trees on the Stilkia property at the Inkameep Indian Reservation, Osoyoos, B.C. These trees appear to be close to 100 years of age and were visited by the author, Eric Sismey, Wally Smith, Stirling Hauser and John Price in 1972. It is not definitely known by whom these trees were supplied. One account states that they were purchased in 1890 from Murray's Nursery at Brewster, Wash., but judging from their age, they also could have been supplied by Richter or Okanogan Smith. At least one variety, Yellow Transparent, is identifiable. These are probably the oldest trees presently existing in the Okanagan, north of the international boundary.

However, the centre of the fruit growing enterprise in the Southern Interior in the early years seemed destined to be located in Penticton and the area to the north. In the Penticton vicinity about 1869 a planting of apples including the varieties Golden Russet, Rambo, Red Astrachan, Duchess and Greening was made on the famous Ellis cattle ranch. Further north, at the Okanagan Mission area of Kelowna, the Oblate Fathers let by the Fathers Pandosy and Richard planted in 1862, three years after their establishment of the Mission, a small orchard allegedly of seedling origin, derived from seedlings brought to the Okanagan from St. Mary's Mission, at Mission, B.C. Later, named varieties as well as other fruits were added to this orchard. The orchard suffered the usual vicissitudes of winter injury, drought and disease plus destruction by a fire which burned the old mission house, but one mighty tree survived until the famous winter freeze of 1955-56 following which it died. This seedling apple, a very large, green, late-maturing and late-keeping fruit of fair quality had been propagated by the author and a specimen tree stands at the Agriculture Canada Research Station at Summerland with a commemorative bronze plaque contributed in 1966 by the British Columbia Fruit Growers Association. The author also has a grafted branch of this variety in his home orchard and supplied two grafted trees in 1967 for planting at the original Okanagan Mission site in Kelowna.

Other early orchards and locations are noted here, the information derived from D.E.D. MacPhee's ( Report of the Royal commission on the Tree Fruit Industry of B.C., 1958 0 commissioned by the Province of B.C. It is recognized that this list is by no means complete.

1875-76	Kelowna (George Whalen and Alfred Postill)
1890	Salmon Arm (P.M. Parsons), Deroche, Agassiz (Thomas Sharp, Dominion Experimental Farm)
1890	Creston (C. Rykert)
1890	Vernon (Luc Girouard).
1890	Kootenay Lake District (Balfour Townsite, C.W.Busk)
1891	Kokanee Landing, Kootenays (Johnson Ranch, Hyslop Ranch, Ainsworth)
1891	Arrow Lakes-Fire Valley (Mr. Lowe and Mr. Dewar)
1891-95	Robson (Mr. Fowler and Mr. Foxlee), Renata (F. W. Nash), Deer Park (George Brigman), Edgewood (Captain Forsland)
1892	Kelowna (Geo. C. Rose, 40 Acres).
1892	Summerland (Mr. Gartrell and Messrs. Barkley, Garnett and Dunsdon in the Garnett Valley)
1892	Coldstream Ranch, Vernon (Lord Aberdeen, 200 Acres)
1892	Kelowna, Guisachan Ranch (Lord Aberdeen)
1895	Willow Point (Alec McDonald)
1896	Kaslo
1896	Creston (first plantings on high bench, Mr. Huscroft)
1900	Armstrong and Enderby
1900	Okanagan Falls
1901	Peachland (J.M. Robinson)
1901	Kelowna (Bankhead) (T.W. Stirling and Pridham Orchards)
1902	Rutland Flats
1902	Kamloops (Canadian Real Properties
1903	Westbank (D.E. Gellatly)
1904	Oyama (Mr. Irvine)
1905	Naramata (J.M. Robinson)
1905	Penticton (J.H. Latimer)
1905	Osoyoos (L. Hill)
1908	Walhachin (C. P. Barnes)
1909	Winfield and Okanagan Centre (Okanagan Land Co., Rainbow Ranch Co., and Duck Lake Fruitlands Co.)
1910	Kaleden (Kaleden Estates Co. Ltd.)
1913	Belgo

The late 1890's and early 1900's were boom days in the fruit belt of the Southern Interior. Some of the promotional efforts in selling orchard land to overseas buyers were highly questionable and the cause of great distress to many improperly informed, inexperienced purchasers encourage by pie-in-the-sky prospectuses of land agents. Nevertheless there also were substantial, dedicated and well-financed enterprises which tended to put the industry initially on a sound footing. Thus, Lord Aberdeen (Coldstream Ranch, Vernon and Guisachan Ranch, Kelowna), T.W. Stirling and Mr. Pridham in Kelowna and the Okanagan Land Co., Rainbow Ranch Co. and Duck Lake Fruitlands Co. in Winfield-Okanagan Centre, to name a few, were important pioneers in laying the basis of the present fruit industry.

The next big boost in fruit plantings came from the opening of new areas to returned soldiers after World War I. These plantings were financed under the Soldier Settlement Act and resulted, in particular, in extensive developments in the early 1920's, especially in the Oliver-Osoyoos area.

Great hardships were endured by the pioneer orchardists because of totally inadequate irrigation systems, recurrent winter freezes, the planting of numerous and unsuited varieties, minor element deficiencies, the invasion of codling moth which became epidemic by 1925, and above all, by repeated failures to establish a sound marketing system backed by unified grower support.

Growers planting orchards in the early days generally obtained trees available from the East. Innumerable kinds and varieties were planted including unmanageable quantities of early perishable apples such as Transparent, Duchess, Wealthy, Maiden Blush and Astrachan. With no cold storage and only limited nearby markets, such varieties spelled financial disaster to the grower. Whereas today approximately twenty varieties of all fruits are recommended for planting, at one time one Summerland packing house had 105 variety stamps to accommodate the crop it handled.

Great changes in the economics, philosophy and practice of fruit growing have occurred since the early 1900's. Land then could be bought for several hundred dollars per acre and with the wide tree spacings of 30 x 30 and 40 x 40 feet, interplanting of row crops was common to provide income for the first ten or fifteen years before trees came into bearing. Most fruit growers also carried some livestock since farming was looked upon as a means of subsistence and a way of life. Equipment was minimal; horses provided the horsepower for orchard operations and fruit hauling and packing often was done in the orchard.

The important advances of modern science did not start to impinge upon fruit growing until around 1930. Starting about this time, fruit farming gradually developed into a business, as labour-saving devices and increased knowledge and technology provided new solutions to old problems. Twenty-five cents per hour labour is now worth five dollars per hour. Machinery and chemicals have replaced hand labour. Barring unexpected winter freezes, the grower, by following the recommendations of federal research and provincial extension authorities, can exercise almost full control over all orchard problems and cultural operations. There is adequate irrigation water which is applied by permanent-set sprinkler systems, effective spray materials and machinery are available to control almost all insects and diseases, chemicals have replaced hoes to eliminate weeds, chemical materials are available to thin apples and pears, tractor-drawn mowers not only cut grass between trees , but also chop up prunings which previously were laboriously hand gathered and burned. Minor element sprays eliminate soil nutrient deficiencies. Stop-drop sprays applied prior to harvest prevent the frightful losses from windfalls once experienced by growers.

High density plantings of two hundred trees per acre have replaced the old twenty-seven and forty-eight trees per acre plantings. Apple trees planted densely on dwarfing roots reach full bearing in seven to ten years and gave the potential of producing one to two thousand bushels per acre as opposed to having to wait twenty years for full production of usually less than one thousand bushels per acre in the original orchards.

Apples and other fruits once picked in wooden bushel boxes are now hauled from the orchard in twenty-five bushel bins and transported quickly to modern, sophisticated packing houses.

Finally, the industry has largely eliminated all the old, inefficient, unwanted varieties and replaced them with new varieties or improved strains of old varieties. Thus, only red strains of McIntosh, Delicious and Golden Delicious, because of their compact tree size and early and heavy production, have in considerable measure, replaced the old standard strains.

Fruit growing has evolved from an art to a business. The purchase price of good bearing orchards is $10,000 or even more per acre. A fifteen acre orchard is considered a minimum economic unit and requires an equipment investment of at least $20,000. Government loans are available at somewhat reduced rates to growers with demonstrated potential and economic stability is assured to commercial growers by Income and Crop Insurance available under the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture programs.

A 750,000 box apple crop in 1913 had increased to 2.5 million boxes in 1925 and 4 million boxes by 1935. The production today is between 7.5 and 9.0 million boxes. Today the F.O.B. value of fruit and fruit products leaving the B.C. Interior is worth more than one hundred million dollars. When one adds the two to three times multiplier factor that all this production represents in the way of transportation, wholesale and retail mark-up, the dollar contributions of the B.C. Interior fruit industry to the Canadian economy is of important magnitude.

In all this review of the historical development of the fruit industry it would be remiss not to mention the evolution of the grape industry from the early commercial plantings of J. W. Hughes in Kelowna (1926) which increased by the 1940's to four hundred acres in the Kelowna-Westbank areas. Today, commercial plantings are centreed in Oliver, Osoyoos, the Similkameen, Kelowna and Westbank, and amount to 3,200 acres with an annual production of approximately 12,000 tons. These grapes, supplemented by American imports, have resulted in the development of three Interior and four Coast wineries. The first plantings were of labrusca (Concord or American type grapes) but now the vinifera and vinifera hybrid varieties predominate owing to their superior wine characteristics.

The history of the fruit industry has been one of economic ups and downs. The handling of highly perishable fruit crops demands organized sale strategies to avoid flooding markets with consequent competitive price cutting. As early as 1908 the "Okanagan Fruit Union" was formed by the grower body to provide a controlled marketing program. This and a number of other attempts were made to organize growers through voluntary cooperation. These attempts at voluntary cooperation were unsuccessful owing to the fact that the percentage of the crop sold under various cooperative schemes was insufficient to stabilize and develop markets to the fullest extent and often the grower got little, nothing, or red ink for his crop.

By 1926 the growers, realizing the perishable nature and rapidly growing volume of their products and in order to free themselves form ruthless speculators, sought legislation under which the entire production could be controlled and marketed in an orderly fashion. Early in 1927 the first Agricultural Products Marketing Act in Canada was enacted by the Province of B.C. but in 1931 it was ruled unconstitutional. Later, in 1934, federal marketing legislation was enacted, declared unconstitutional in 1937 and replaced in that year by a B.C. Natural Products Marketing Act under terms of which the present marketing system operates. This legislation gave growers the power to elect the British Columbia Fruit Board, comprised of three growers, to regulate the orderly marketing of the entire tree fruit crop and designate the agencies through which their products should be marketed. in developing all this legislation the British Columbia Fruit Growers Association provided the impetus and assured continuity of action.

After the Marketing Act was finally in effect, the B.C.F.G.A. proceeded to establish central selling. As a result, in 1939, the B.C. Tree Fruits Ltd. organization came into being as the sole marketing agency for the fresh fruit crop of the B.C. Interior area. Later, the B.C.F.G.A. organized Sun-Rype Products Ltd. to handle processed products, mainly process grade apples, but the company now merchandises a wide range of products: juices of all kinds, pie fillers, juice concentrates and solid pack fruit. For some years B.C. Tree Fruits Ltd. and Sun-Rype Products have been under joint management.

Recent changes in the B.C.F.G.A. marketing policy have resulted in the formation of the B.C. Fruit Marketing Board which includes strong packing house representation on the Board. Another important policy change allows growers to pack and market their crop outside the central selling agency. However, growers opting to operate on their own are not eligible for participation in the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture Income Assurance Plan.

Being geographically isolated from major continental and world markets, the industry has found it essential to maintain high standards of fruit grading and quality. Because, for example, it costs three dollars to ship a forty-pound box of apples to Toronto, this requires a very high quality product capable of commanding a price sufficient to compete successfully in such a market. For this reason, costly and sophisticated cold and controlled atmosphere storage plants have been erected throughout the fruit growing area. The Kelowna Growers Exchange erected the first cold storage in 1925 followed shortly by the Vernon Fruit Union, Penticton Co-op, Summerland Co-op and others. At one time (1957) there were forty cold storages in the industry. Some of these have been sold for other purposes, closed or converted to controlled atmosphere (C.A.) storage. Presently the industry has about a 1,700,000 bushel capacity in C.A. storage and a 6,500,000 bushel capacity in regular cold storage. The development of the cold storage program has been essential to regulating marketing and selling the crop on world markets for eleven months of the year.

The British Columbia tree fruit industry has been served well over the years by various government agencies. The Provincial Horticultural Branch appointed R.M. Palmer as Horticulturalist in 1895 and the present Horticultural Extension Service was organized in 1909 under R.M. Winslow. The University of British Columbia Horticulture Department (latterly Department of Plant Science) has provided leaders in the fruit industry starting with the first graduating class in 1921. The Agriculture Canada Research Station in Summerland opened in 1914 and has been prominent in fruit industry research since 1916. In 1966, marking the first fifty years of service, a publication "50 Years of Pomology" was produced by the Research Station.

The Okanagan fruit industry has come a long way in the last one hundred years. Its present stability is the result of the contributions of a remarkably able succession of leaders in the British Columbia Fruit Growers Association and the fruit packing industry. It makes its voice heard by the Canadian Horticultural Council and by all levels of government. If the intent of the B.C. Land Commission Act is sustained in preventing erosion of orchard land into non-agricultural uses, there is every reason to believe the industry will continue to thrive for the next one hundred years.