This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
Great


names from Alberta’s


plant world


By Kathryn Chase Merrett, Tania Moffat and Sara Williams


uted to the plant heritage and wealth of this province. Many worked out of


S the public eye,


their contributions, though great, known only by a few. Others were recognized and honoured by the province for their work. All have furthered the develop- ment of Alberta’s plant heritage for the benefit of all Albertans. Meet a few of these individuals, giants in the horticulture world in days gone by, who have earned our tribute and thanks.


10 • Fall 2016


everal Albertans — teach- ers, breeders, explorers, and pioneers — have contrib-


Albright promoted the saskatoon and introduced his own cultivar ‘Smoky’ which is still popular today.


William Albright (1881—1946) William D. Albright was an agriculture graduate who


had served as editor of two Eastern Canadian farm jour- nals before settling in northwestern Alberta’s gently sloping Beaverlodge Valley at the age of 32 to homestead. There he began testing and successfully growing plants thought to be too tender for the region. The federal agriculture department took notice of his work


and offered him a small grant to use his farm as an experi- mental substation. As director of Beaverlodge, the newly dubbed Peace River lowland station from 1919 until 1945, Albright continued to try new varieties and techniques. By 1930 he had managed to establish 297 types of woody orna- mental plants, all flourishing in Alberta’s climate. A strong advocate for the use of windbreaks, he used them


shrewdly himself for the station’s ornamental, fruit and vege- table plantings. Albright’s tests ranged from forage and cereal crops to ornamental trees, bushes and garden plants. His passion, however, was small fruits. He promoted the saska- toon and introduced his own ‘Smoky’ cultivar which remains


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