Nova Scotia—where it all began: Larry Lutz will welcome IFTA members to Nova Scotia

摘要

So, this is where it all began—the North American apple industry, that is. Apples have been grown in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley since the French explorer Samuel de Champlain first settled at what is now Annapolis Royal in 1605. This was the firstpermanent European settlement in North America north of Florida. The British later took the province, and the French settlers (known as Acadians) were forcibly expelled. Nova Scotia was later resettled by British, Dutch, German, and American immigrants.The largest single influx of settlers (35,000) was from New England at the end of the American Revolution—people loyal to the British Crown who wished to stay in the New World. When these first French settlers arrived in the New World, it is speculatedthat they brought apple trees or seed with them. Their intention was not to produce shiny dessert apples, but rather to grow apples as a source of alcoholic cider to make the long winters pass more quickly. Apples also provided a source of vitamin C toward off scurvy. These are thought to be the first apple trees planted in North America, long before the larger apple-growing areas of North America were ever settled.