The use of shelterbelts was promoted and seedlings shipped to farmers.
trict, and carried out extensive horticultural experimentation.
Famous Manitoban horticulturists and nurserymen
Smaller nurseries and seed houses also contributed to horticultural research and propagation alongside their Dominion and CPR counterparts. One of the earliest nurs- ery operators was A. P. Stevenson of Mor- den. When he began planting his orchard in 1874 it was reported to be the first on the prairies. For nearly 50 years Stevenson specialized in the seed selection and culture of a wide variety of fruit species and varieties, chiefly apples and plums.
Another influential early nursery was Patmore’s of Brandon, established in 1883 and purchased by H. L. Patmore in 1889. After 1900 Patmore set up a second nursery in Saskatoon, and the two outlets distrib- uted all manner of plant material across the region. Among the competing seed houses,
the Steele-Briggs Seed Company in Win- nipeg (a branch of the Toronto company) and Mackenzie’s Seeds of Brandon were also prominent. Perhaps the prairies’ most famous horti- culturist was Frank L. Skinner who settled near Roblin, Manitoba in 1895 and subse- quently established a nursery at Dropmore. Skinner began to assemble a large array of seeds to show settlers that flowers could be successfully cultivated even in northern areas with short growing seasons. He also imported hardy free stock from northern countries such as Russia, Finland, Sweden and Norway, and introduced numerous rose varieties that could survive western Canada’s harsh winters.
By 1930 the accumulated results of con- tributions by individuals, both amateur and professional, governments, colleges, nursery operators and horticultural organizations were evident in the verdant character of many prairie cities and towns as well as ru- ral landscapes. In the more wealthy urban neighbourhoods, and on a few prosperous farms, landscape gardening and floriculture were sometimes practised on a grand scale, as the prairies’ new business and middle classes sought to emulate the garden fash- ions of Europe and eastern North America. In most rural areas and urban neighbour- hoods, much more modest planting conven- tions were pursued. Settlers grew vegetables as important and inexpensive additions to diet. In the cities, working class women also tended gardens to feed their families and planted flowers to make their often crowded surroundings more liveable. Collectively, these assorted participants demonstrated the potential for cultivating a wide range of plant material in the region. While horticulture carried different meanings for its various practitioners, few inhabitants of the region were not touched by its efflorescence in this formative era of Western development. x
This article was published originally in Manitoba History by the Manitoba Historical Society in the Spring of 1996 and has been adapted for Manitoba Gardener and reprinted with their permission.
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