P6897

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Details

ID Number

P6897

Item Name

Image

Title

E.J. Atkin Greenhouses / Les serres E.J. Atkin

Title (Fre)

Les serres E.J. Atkin

Date

ca 1941

Description

Black and white photograph of the E.J. Atkin Greenhouses in Leamington; greenhouses stretch from the bottom up through the centre of the photograph; there is a tall brick tower or chimney running from the centre of the photo disappearing at the top; houses are visible in the background behind the greenhouses.

History

An important greenhouse industry developed in South Essex between Leamington and Harrow. This owed its inception to a combination of favourable soil and climatic conditions. Its latitude, which is the most southerly in all Canada, results in longer hours of sunshine in winter and earlier warming sandy soil in the spring. The first greenhouses were built entirely for the purpose of early plants for the field. Thus, the greenhouses were essential for the tobacco and early field vegetable industries. Later the greenhouse industry developed into a specialized line of its own, favoured by the growth of the Canadian market, improved transportation and during the 1930s by additional seasonal tariff protection. The chief products in this latter category are cucumbers, tomatoes and leaf lettuce. The spring season commences about the first of March and runs until early July. The fall season is after the first killing frost until mid-January. In the off season the operators are preparing their houses for the spring crop.

Place made

Canada - Ontario - Windsor

Collection Name

Museum Windsor

Subjects

Agricultural facilities / Installations agricoles

Agricultural industries / Industries agricoles

Atkin, E.J.

Buildings / Immeubles

Greenhouses / Serres

Leamington (Ont.)