MAPLE GROVE – A MODEL FRUIT FARM

[Welland Tribune, 29 April 1898]

To the Welland Tribune:

Your correspondent this week paid a visit to “Maple Grove” the extensive fruit farm of William Platts & Sons. The firm is composed of Wm. Platts, sr., Earnest, A.P. and William , jr. Their farm is the land of the late Samuel Rice and is situated in the picturesque village of Pelham Corners, and is adjacent to the celebrated Fonthill nurseries. We found Mr. Platts busily engaged in planting 9 acres of strawberries. They have 11 acres of last year’s planting, making in all 20 acres of strawberries. They are testing several new varieties, such as the Beeder Wood, Bon Ton, Bubach. But the Williams seems to take the lead as to hardiness, good growth and fruiting. They have 15 acres of fine, red raspberries and from present appearance will turn out well. Last year the insect did considerable damage to the foliage, but the plants have entirely recovered from the effects of their ravages. The 4 acres of blackberries look well and will no doubt yield heavily. They have 10 acres of fine orchard on the Bridgman farm in Thorold township, composed mostly of Baldwin, greenings and spies, and it is well trimmed and in good shape for a crop this year. There is also a fine pear and plum orchard on the Bridgman farm and a nice lot of grape vines.

The Messrs. Platts are great potato growers, and they usually plant from 25 to 30 acres. Last season the weather did a great deal of damage to their crop, but Mr. Platts is thinking perhaps this will be a more favorable year, and will plant the usual amount. Their chief market for potatoes is Thorold and Merritton, and they take large loads to these markets three times every week from the time the early ones are fit until all are sold right from the field, thus saving the additional cost of putting them in pits or the cellar. Their loads often average from 70 to 100 bushels. That is late in the fall. Earlier in the summer their loads will run 20 to 40 bushels to the load. They supply all the bakeries and nearly all the large dealers the whole summer. This spring the firm is trying a new experiment in potato growing, viz: Plowing three furrows and dropping a whole potato about two feet apart in the furrow, and then plowing three more furrows, dropping again, and so on until a field is finished, and put on the disc harrow and work up the ground well on top, and just about the time the potatoes begin to show through the ground, they go on with the weeder, purchased from R. Moore & Son. This weeder is an implement similar to a sulky horse rake, and does splendid work. Last year the weeder saved a lot of labor in cultivating, hoeing, &c.

In stock they have 10 horses, 50 sheep, several cows and 30 heads of hogs. Last fall the firm built a large hog house (not as expensive as the Humber one) and purchased several brood sows and they lately added an imported O.I.C. hog from the celebrated herd of John Stirtzinger. They intend to turn the hogs in a large clover field as soon as it is fit, and thus raise their pork at a nominal cost, as it does not pay to produce pork from grain alone. The O.I.C. breed of hogs seem to be taking the lead as a good selling pig at six month’s growth.

The old-fashioned way of cutting feed and chopping grain by horse-power was too slow for Mr. Platts, so they purchased a Chicago aermotor windmill from Mr. Johnson of Ridgeway, and it does first class work, chopping all their own gain besides doing considerable custom work for the neighbors.

Mr. Platts, sr., takes a deep interest in religious work, and is pastor of the society of Adventists, and he preaches every Sunday in Dalton’s Hall, Fonthill, to large congregations.