from a cousin in the States.................. Rufus Greenes Apple Orchards Charlene Strout Custer remembers her mother going back to Nova Scotia to visit her cousins, Rufus and Hibbert Greene. Bertha Greene Strout came home and told of the fine apple orchards Rufus had in the Annapolis Valley area, so large that it took riding in a car to get across them. Charlene didnt go on the trip, but Evelyn did. It was around 1929. Evelyn remembers being chased by a goose on Rufuss farm. Barbara P. Fluck (a descendant of Rev. John Pineo) who lived in Annapolis valley during her childhood and who knew Rufe and Hib Greene, wrote on 3/3/2000: In 1928 the apple orchard was the main source of income in our neck of Nova Scotia. Unfortunately, the government passed restrictions which allowed for the apples to be sold only to England--none to the USA. The problems of shipping were many and spoilage was horrendous. By 1950 somewhat the NS government was paying the farmer $2 per tree to root them out. It was sad to see all the orchards with nothing but dead roots waiting to be burned. The farmer was only allowed to sell locally from his own land, so the farm stand worked only for the man who owned land on the main road. Bob Stirling took on the government single-handed and changed that one. The England thing fell apart also and now new orchards are being planted every summer. The difference is that these are dwarf trees with high yield which can be harvested from the ground--quite a difference from the old unwieldy apple ladder with inexperienced help climbing through the trees and doing more damage than should have been. In the old days on Blossom Sunday everyone tried to get up to the Look-Off on the North Mountain to see the spectacle of all the orchards in bloom. Fred says one could smell the fragrance from there..,,
Posted on: Sun, 26 Jan 2014 15:13:23 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015