Johnston Apple Farm Operated for More Than a Century

This winter scene from the early 1870s shows Benjamin Johnston’s barns on the west side of Kipling Avenue, just south of today’s Goswell Road. His youngest son, Benjamin Junior, holds a pair of horses and a sleigh – a popular form of winter transportation. The Johnston farm was founded in 1815 and specialized in apples. Benjamin Senior’s heir, James, became very skilled at grafting apple trees. He taught grafting at Guelph Agricultural College, and once successfully grafted 40 different apple varieties onto one tree. Johnston descendants produced apples on this farm until after World War II. [Courtesy: Tracy Johnston Robins]

​Researched & Written by Denise Harris, originally published by the Etobicoke Guardian and reprinted with permission.