'h::l

t-n %

.<^^:

^L£f 3t K G 3o ^ c v^ Q

METROPOLITAN

TORONTO

LIBRARY

789

YONGE

TORONTO

M4W 2G8

/3 /^/^iu

THE

CANADIAN

HORTICULTURIST.

PUBLISHED BY

THE FRUIT GROWERS' ASSOCIATION
OF ONTARIO.

VOLUME VIII

D. V/, BEADLE, Editor.

ST. CATHARINES, ONTARIO.

COPP, CLARK & CO.
GENERAL PRINTERS, 67 & 69 COLBORNE STREET, TORONTO.

18 85.

//C //y

"RTnTvTnMT A RA-nirATsrc;

THE

ttt 80

VOL. VIII.]

JANUARY, 1885.

[No. 1.

THE TEITMPET FLOWEK.

We call the attention of our readers
to this beautiful climbing plant, not
only for the purpose of assisting those
who may be seeking for attractive
plants to train over sci'eens and lattice,
but also to request those who have
grown it to give our readers the results
of their experience. More especially
do we desire the experience of those
who live in the colder parts of the
Province, that we may be able to as-
certain, if possible, the northern limits
of its successful cultivation.

It will be noticed that the name
given to it on the colored plate is Big-
nonia radicans. This was the name
originally assigned to it, and by which
it is yet very generally known. Later
botanists have placed it in the genus
Tecoma, and it is by them called I'e-
corna radicans. The plant belongs to
the natural order of Bignoniads which
furnishes probably the most gorgeous
climbers in the world. By far the
most of these are natives of tropical
regions, and consequently cannot en-
dure the rigors of our climate. In-
deed, we believe that the species shown
in the plate is the only one that has
been grown successfullv in Canada.

It is a native of North America, and is
found growing wild from Pennsylvania
to Illinois and southward. It is said
to bear the climate perfectly as far
northward as the Lake Superior region.
We trust that our readei's will enable
us to verify this statement, for if this
be so, it will be gratifying to know
that a climber as showy and desirable
as this, can be confidently planted over
the greater part of this Province.

This species was introduced into Eng-
land in the year 1640, where it is very
generally cultivated. It continues in
bloom for several weeks, is a very
healthy and vigorous grower, requires
no special care, being fully able when
once established to take care of itself.
It throws out rootlets fi-om every joint,
whereby it fastens itself to any support
provided for it, and will soon cover any
desired object. If it is prefexTed to
train it in bush foi-m, it can be allowed
to fasten itself to a stake, and the
shoots pinched in when they reach the
top. This will cause it to throw out
numerous branches, which will hang
gracefully from the centre in every di-
rection, and give in the flowering sea-
son a profusion of bloom.

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

THE WINTER MEETING
Of the Fruit Growers' Association of
Ontario will be held in the City of
London, on Wednesday and Thursday,
the 28th and 29th of January, 1885,
in Victoria Hall, Clarence Street. The
opening Session will begin at 1 0 o'clock,
a.m., on Wednesday.

Favorable arrangements have been
made with the hotels. The Tecumseth
House will accommodate any members
attending the meeting at $2 per day.
The Grigg House at $1 50 per day.

Delegates from the Michigan and
New York State Horticultural Societies
have signified their intention to be pre-
sent.

The evening Session of Thursday will
be devoted to short addi-esses on dif-
ferent subjects by delegates from abroad
and members of the Association. Good
music will be interspersed with good
speeches.

Arrangements have been made with
the leading Railways for the usual re-
duction of a fare and a third for the
round trip.

Members will receive certificates en-
titling them to reduced fare on applica-
tion to D. W. Beadle, Secretary, St.
Catharines. The certificates must be
presented to the railway agent when
purchasing the ticket on going to the
meeting.

Specimens of fruit in season at that
time will be exhibited in connection
with the meeting. Members are par-
ticularly requested to send samples of
any new fruits tliey may have, and
especially of any seedling fruits of
value.

THE MARLBORO' RASPBERRY.
This new raspberry has been highly
recommended as very valuable on ac-
count of the great vigor and fruitful-
ness of the plant, and the large size,
bright color, firm texture, and very
early ripening of the fruit. Its quali-
ties are fully stated at page 196, vol.
vii., of the Canadian Horticulturist.
The plants are now oflPered for sale by
those nurserymen who are so fortunate
as to have them at one dollar each.
We have made an ari-angement with
the Rural New-Yorker to present to
all subscribers to both publications
who prefer to pay three dollars instead
of two dollars and sixty-five cents, as
mentioned in the advei-tisement on the
second page of the aoYer, four plants
of the Marlboro' raspberry //-ee of cost
to the subscriber. Hence we announce
that any person sending us three dol-
lars will receive both the Canadian
Horticulturist and the Rural New-
Yorker during the year 1885, and all
the free seed and plant distributions
mentioned on the second page of cover,
and four plants of the new Marlboro'
raspberry, that could not be otherwise
procured for less than four dollars.
Those of our subscribers who have al-
ready sent xis two dollars and sixty-five
cents can avail themselves of this un-
paralleled offer by remitting to us the
further sum of thirty-five cents. Were
ever such advantages ofiered before?
Two of the leading rural publications
of the day, the Report of the Fruit-
Growers' Association for the year 1884,
the ivQQ seed and plant distribution of

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

both, and four plants of the Marlboro'
raspberry that alone would cost four
dolkrs ; all this for only three dol-
lars ! Only tliiuk what this is really
worth.

OUR PREMIUM PLANTS FOR 1885.
The Fruit Growers' Association will
send by mail, post-paid, to every sub-
;soriber to the Canadian HorticiUticrist
for the year 1885, your choice of any
one 01 the live following articles,
namely : —

A yearling tree of a Russian apple ; or,
A yearling tree of the hardy Catalpa ; or,
A yearling plant of Fay's Prolific Cur-
rant ; or,
A tuber of a choice double Dahlia ; or,
Three papei-s of Flower seeds, one each
of the il)iadem Pink, Salpiglossis and
Striped Petunia.

These will be securely packed and sent
by mail in the spring to each subscriber,
if he states which is desired. When
no choice is indicated, none will be sent,
it beiu": understood that none is wanted-

TO OUR LADY READERS.
PREMIUMS FOR NEW SUBSCRIBERS.

For every new subscriber to the Can-
adian Horticulturist, accompanied with
cue dollar and thirty-seven cents, we
will send not only the Canadian Horti-
cidturist for 1885 and the Report
of the Fruit Growers' Association of
Outai'io for 1884, now in press, and
the premium chosen from among
those offered by the Horticulturist,
Ijut also the " Floral World " for
1885, and sixteen packets of choice
Jiovoer seeds. Remember that this offer
is made only for new subscribers. The
ladies have here an opportunity of

securing a collection of seeds of boauti-
ful flowers, and a monthly magazine
devoted to floriculture for the present
year.

CLUBBING RATES.
The Canadian Horticulturist and
American Agriculturist for
1885

The Canadian Horticulturist
and American Agriculturist
for 1885 and American Agri-
culturist -'Family Cyclopedia"
of 700 pages and over 1 ,000
illustrations, for

The Canadian Horticulturist and
jFloral Cabinet, with premiums
of both magazines, for

Canadian Horticulturist and
Rural New Yorker for 1885..

Canadian Horticulturist and
Grip for 18S5 (without pre-
mium)

$2 00

2 40

1 80

^2 65

2 00

CANADIAN APPLES.

Messrs. Keeling and Hunt, of Pud-
ding Lane, London, England, report
that on the 12th and 13th of Novem-
ber, 1884, they sold 873 barrels of
Canadian apples at public auction, with
the following result : Greenings brought
14s. to 15s. 6c/. sterling per barrel.
Northern Spy, 14s. M. to 15s. Bald-
win's, 15s. to 17s. Fameuse, 13s. 6c;.
Golden Russet, 21s. to 14s. Roxbury
Russet, 14s. 6cZ. to 1 6s. Ben Davis,
12s. Qd. Pomme Grise, 17s. (id. King
of Tompkins, 18.b\ 6c/. Ribston Pippin,
22s. to 22s. M. Montreal Fameuse,
16s. 6(/.

They had for sale on i8th November,
1,516 barrels of Nova Scotia apples.
These brought good prices. Greenings
selling at 12s. 6 J. King of Tompkins
at 19s. 6c/. Baldwin's at 14s. Qd.
Ribston's at 22s. to 25s. 6c/. Blenheim

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

Orange at 24s, and Gravenstein at 14s.
sterling. Some No. 1, Extra Ribston
Pippins, went as high as 28s. They
report 2,052 more barrels of Nova
Scotia apples to be sold on -JSth
November.

SCOTCH DICTIONARY.
The Editor acknowledges, with many
thanks, the giacious gift of a Scotch
Dictionary from Mr. John Croil. It
is an old saw, that it is hard for
old dofs to leai'n new tricks. He
will study the dictionary with care,
but feai-s that it is too late for him to
acquire such a taniiliarity with this
most beautiful language as to enable
him to pass for a Scotchman. Thanks
too, a thousand thanks, for the poems.
Many of them are rich in beauty of
thought and expression. We copy one
for the benefit of our readers, who,
though not Sons of Scotia, will not
need the dictionary to appreciate its
touching tenderness.

THE ROWAN TREE.*

Oh Rowan tree ; oh Rowan tree, thou'lt aye be dear

to me,
Intwined thou art wi' mony ties o' hame and infancy.
Thy leaves were aye the first o' spring, thy flow'rs the

simmer's pnde ;
There was na sic a bonnie tree in a' the countrie side.

How fair wert thou in simmer time, wi' a' thy clusters

while,
How rich and gay thy autumn dress, wi' berries red

and bright ;
On thy fair stem were mony names, which now nae

niair I see,
But they're engraven on my heart, forgot they ne'er

can be

We sat aneath tliy spreading shade, the bairnies round

thee ran ;
They pu'd thy bonnie berries red, and necklaces they

Strang ;
My mither, oh, I see her still; she smil'd our sports

to see,
Wi' little Jeanie on her lap, an' Jamie at her knee.

Oh, there arose my father's prayei-, in holy evening's

calm.
How sweet was then my mother's voice, in the martjT's

psalm ;
Now a' are gane ; we meet nae mair aneath the Rowan

tree,
iJut hallowed thoughts around thee twine o' hame

and infancy.

* Dictionary. — Rowan tree, the Mountain Ash.

SMALL-FRUIT GROWERS' ASSOCIA-
TION.

The annual meeting of the Small-
Fruit Growers' Association of the
Counties of .Oxford and Brant will be
held at Burford Village, County of
Brant, on January 16th, 1885. All
who are interested in fruit growing ai-e
invited to attend and take part in the
discussion

NEW MEAT CHOPPER.

Having used the meat chopper made
by the Enterprise Manufacturing Corn-
pan}^ of Philadelphia, Penn., whose ad-
vertisement appeared in the December
number, we take the liberty of calling
the attention of those of our i-caders
who have occasion to chop meat of any
kind to this chopper. It is just com-
plete in every respect, doing its work
to perfection, simple in construction,
easily kept clean, and a great saver of
labor.

THE AMERICAN GARDEN.

It will interest all fruit, flower and
vegetable growers to learn that the
American Garden of New York has
been sold to E. H. Libby, the well-
known agricultural journalist. Estab-
lished in 1872 as a quarterly, the
American Garden has become a hand-
some monthly magazine, and a leader
among horticultural publications. Un-
der its new management it is an inde-
pendent, illustrated, beautifully printed
magazine, still ably edited by Dr. F. M.
Hexamer and numbering as contribu-
tors many of the most successful fruit
growers and gardeners in this and
other countries. The coming volume
will be greatly improved in many wa5'S,
and worthy of the earnest and hearty
support of all who love fruits, flowers
and nice gardens, and all who make a
business of their culture. The price is
only $1 a year, including some choice

THK CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

seed and plant premiums. Piiblisbed
in New York and Greenfield, Mass.

WHAT THE PSOPLP: SAY.

1 tliink the Horticidturist Report
and Premium big value for the money.
Samuel H. Kerfoot.
Minesing, December, ISSl.

I like the Horticulturist, and a little
more floral culture, as it would make it
more interesting for the young people.
Tho-mas Gordon.
Bobcaygeon, Dec, 18S4.

[Thanks for this suggestion. Will
endeavor to meet the wishes of the
young people. We ai-e always very
glad to receive suggestions from our
readers that shall help us to make the
Horticulturist more acceptable.]

Most of the plants received from the

Fruit Growers' Association are doing

well ; and I think the paper improving

all the time, and enjoy it very much.

Geo. E. Fisher.

Freeman, Dec, 1884.

There is a great deal of useful in-
formation in the Canadian Horticul-
turist for any one who grows fruit for
pleasure or for profit.

W. Brockie.

Pinker ton, Dec, 1884.

Mr. Editor, — I am much pleased
with the Horticulturist. It encourages us
to grow an abundance of fruits, flowers,
vegetables, ornamental trees and shrubs,
tells us the varieties ada]:)ted to our
locality, and shows us the modus
operandi. All of us need the Horti-
culturist.

W. S. Forbes.

Ancaster, Dec. loth, 1884.

QUESTION DPvAWER.

Will you or some of your readers
give us a plain article on the manage-
ment of grape vines 1 It would be a
great benefit to new beginners like my-
self In summer pruning we cut within
two buds of the fruit. What are we
to do with the growth that has no
fruit 1 Shall we cut these close to the
old vine, or let them grow 1 Of all
the articles that I have seen on grape
culture, I have not yet seen one that
my thick head could work from.

Also, could you give us an article on
budding and grafting 1 My good
friend, A. McD. Allan, was to come
and bud for me last August ; but un-
fortunately for me, and more so for him,
he was taken ill about the time he was
to come, so I got none done.

A. C. McDonald.

Reply. — Perhaps the short article
by Matthew Crawford in this number
will help you. We advise you to read
Beadle's Canadian Fruit, Flower and
Kitchen Gardener, which treats of bud-
ding, grafting and pruning the grape,
with illustrations showing the whole
process.

FAMEUSE— SNOW APPLE.

At page 70 of the Canadian Fruit,
Flovjer and. Kitchen Gardener, I find,
" Fameuse — Pomme de Neige — Snow
Apple"- — from which I inferred that it
was three names for the same tree ; but
I have been informed by dealers in Ot-
tawa that it is not so ; that the Snow
Apple can be grown in that vicinity,
and that the Fameuse cannot.

W. P. T.

Reply. — If you will look at the
" Fruits and Fruit Trees of America,"
by A. J. Downing, revised and cox'-

6

THE CANADIAN HOBTICULTUKIST.

lected by Charles Downing, the ac-
knowledged American authority, you
■will find that he also says that Fanieuse,
Snow and Pomtne de Neige are three
names for one and the same apple.
Which will you believe, our leading
pomologists or dealers in Ottawa ?

Mr. Editor, — I have before me a
Liverpool wholesale fruit dealer's price-
list, 1882, and I find that the apples
that fetch most money are Newton
Pippins, quoted at 37s. per barrel,
whereas finest New York Baldwins are
down at 22s. per barrel. Will you
kindly describe the former apple and
its keeping qualities, and if fall or win-
ter ; and is the tree hardy and suitable
to plant in our township l

I can only find a casual reference to
it in " Beadle on Gardening," etc.

I have heanl and read a good deal
about Wealthy and Walbridge apples.
Are they in any way superior to the
well tried Baldwins for this county ?
Yours truly,

BOSANQUET.

Reply. — The Newton Pippin does
not gi'ow to pei'fectiou in Ontai-io, or
even away from the Hudson River.
It is a winter apple. The Wealthy
and Walbridge are more hardy than
Baldwin, and on that accouiat better for
cold sections where Baldwin fails.

Sulphur Fumes for Curculio. — John-
ston Eaton, of Pennsylvania, writes of his
experience witli plum trees : — For nearly
twenty years I had plum trees on the
farm, but not a plum to eat, when a lady
told me to smoke the trees when the fruit
was set, and continue for two months,
once a week, witli sulphur. This I did,
and have had an abundance of fruit ever
since. Sometimes put a little coal tar in
a pan with the sulphur. — Fruit Recorder.

CORRESPOND ENCE.

SOME OF THE NEW STKAWBERRIES.

Mr. Editor, — At the fall meeting of
the F. G. A., held in Bariie on the 1st
and 2nd October, I suggested as a sub-
ject for discussion, '' The most desirable
new varieties of Sti'awberries, and
their particular merits;" and my reason
for doing so was because the past
winter and summer have been so ex-
ceedingly trying to that plant, that :i
better opportunity is not likely to occur
for testing their power of resisting both
frost aud drought. J knownothowit may
have been in other parts, but as regard.s
this locality a more destructive winter,
or rather spring, and a more disastrous
drought than the one that visited us last
June, have never occurred in my ex-
perience here or elsewhere ; and should
I live to attain the age of one himdred
years I should never again exi)ect to
see the sti-aw berry growers afflicted
with two such calamities in one yeai-.
More than one-half of my previous
spring's plantation were killed as dead
as a dooiMiail immediately after the
snow melted in the spring, and those
left living were so weakened that they
did not set more than half a crop ; and
they had no sooner recov(-red from the
effects of the frost as far as possible,
and had pr pared to ripen the few
berries that had been formed, than the
heat and drought of June wilted the
plants and dried up the fruit, till the
prospects of a profitable yield aud the
spirits of the cultivator went down to
zero. Surely then such a season as this
was favorable for testing the hardiness
of any new varieties, and of such 1 had
seven kinds that were at least new to
me, viz.. Bidwell. Finch's Prolific, Mt.
Vernon, Arnold's Pride, James Vick,
Manchester, and Jersey Queen. Of
these, the Bidwell, Finch, Arnold and
Vick wliere badly winter killed, the two
last so badlv that I only got two

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

berries from the two lots, and those
were Arnold. Vernon came through
the winter all right, but I regard it as
worthless, and I may say the same of
Bid well as far as I can judge from a
first crop. One or two only of the
Finch plants proved very prolific. The
few of Arnold and James Vick that
were left have been trying to make up
their losses, and have sent out a splendid
lot of new plants. Manchester and Jer-
sey Queen came through the winter ahead
of all other varieties, new or old. The
Jersey Queen had sent out the most i
runners, and looked the brightest after
the snow was gone. In regard to the
yield of fruit, Manchester and Queen
are the only ones that need be men-
tioned, and these I watched with con-
siderable interest as the fruiting season
approached. Manchester made a good
show of fruit stalks and blossoms,
which in due course developed into a
fine show of fruit. Jersey Queen was
later, and did not make as good a dis-
play. When Manchester was at its
best it was a splendid sight to look at,
every plant appearing to have five or
six fine berries in different stages of
ripenes.*?, and it was at once pronounced
an acquisition, and worthy of culti-
vation ou a larger scale. Jersey Queen
was later, and did not look so promising
as to receive an immediate endorse-
ment, Vjut was voted worthy of further
trial. When the Manchesters were
nearly done the Jersey Queen began to
show up a little better, and produced
some splendid berries, but its habit is
quite different to the other, in that you
scarcely see the fruit till you look for it
under the leaves, whereas the Man-
chester holds its berries up to the gaze
of every passer-by. Comparison, there-
fore, of the two by appearances is very
deceptive. As compared with the
Wilson, the Manchester commences
ripening later and is done earlier ;
therefore at a certain period it shows to

better advantage, and gives rise to ex-
pectations that are not quite realized by
the number of baskets picked. On the
contrary, the Jersey Queen yields more
baskets than its appearance would lead
one to expect. It commences perhaps
three days after Manchester, but it
holds out a week after Wilson, and con-
tinues all the time slowly but surely
bringing its ben-ies to perfection — and
such berries ! They are as much ahead
of the Manchester as the Manchester is
of the Wilson, and neither of the two
produce anything like the same pro-
portion of small berries. The fine
berries of the Jersey Queen soon fill up
a basket ; and although there did not
appear to Ije so many of them as of the
Manchester, they continued, in spite of
the drought, in furnishing fine berries
for repeated pickings, till from a row
three yards shorter than that of its rival
we had picked one basket the most.
This was certainly unexpected. I am
satisfied that I could not have selected
in any part of my field a section of
a row of Wilsons of the same length
as the i-ows of those two kinds, and
planted at the same time, that yielded
as much fruit. But it must be recol-
lected that the Wilsons had suSered
very much the worst by the spring
frosts, therefore the comparison another
year might be quite different. As these
two varieties escaped the frost better
than the Wilson, so also they appeared
to sufier less from the drought. All
these new varieties were planted on
sandy soil.

Now as regards the keeping and ship-
ping qualities of these two varieties, or
I might sa}^ of the Jersey Queen only,
for of the other I took no notice ; but
happening to put a basket of the
former in a case I was sending to a
friend, that had to travel on two
lines of railroad and lie over for several
hours at a station because trains did
not connect, I was surprised to learn

THE CAN API AN HORTICULTURIST.

that when they i-eached their destina-
tion they appeared as fresli as though
they had just been put in the case. I
was sur[)rised because they had not the
appearance of a fii-m berry ; in fact
they are very easily bruised, and I
siioukl have called them rather soft ;
but I did not then know that the
hardest or firmest berries are not al-
ways the best keepers ; but I know it
now. I know that the Wilson twenty-
four hours after picking has lost both
appearance and flavor, and that the
Jersey Queen, in the same time, has
suffered no perceptible change in either
respect. I know that the latter can be
kept three or four days without losing
its gloss, although if left in a box that
length of time the lower half of the
berries will get mouldy ; and it is quite
remarkable that though it is not possible
to handle them without in some cases
breaking through the glossy varnish
that covers them, the bruised spots do
not appear to discolor, though they
would of course more quickly get
mouldy. This is certainly a remark-
able quality for any berry to possess,
and I shall look with considerable in-
tei'est to its behavior another season.
At present my Jerseys certainly are the
liaest row in the field.

Yours, &c.,
Barrie, 15th Dec, 1884. A. HoOD.

TO PKEVENT THE GRASS FROM
GROWING AROUND TREES.

Dear Sir, — You ask for the ex-
perience of subscribers. Mine is not
worth much, as I am a novice at the
business. I have only a small garden
and orchard, probably about two hun-
dred trees, and about one hundred and
fifty goosebei-ries and currants together,
and hfty-five grape vines. I have
tried an experiment this summer : it
may be of benefit to some of your
readers, if it is beneficial to trees to

have no grass growing around them.
The expei'iment is this : I sawed a
piece off from the end of a log twenty
to twenty-four inches in diameter, and
an inch and a half or two inches thick,
then split it through the centre and
made a hole to fit the trunk of the
ti'ee, and then closed the two pieces to-
gether, leaving them on the ground
around the trunk of the tree. This
will entirely kill all grass and weeds
around the tree.

Yours truly,

A. C. McDonald.
Dunlop, Nov. 19th, 1884.

SUMMER WEATHER.

Fruit growers are more interested in
the climate of any given locality than
are most other cultivators of the soil in
that locality, as with the fruit growers,
especially the growers of the more ten-
der varieties, such as grapes, tomatoes,
strawberries, &c., the lowering of the
temperature two or three degrees below
the fx'eezing point at a time when such
a decline is unusual, or at any unusual
period, often makes all the difference
between financial success and failure,
while the ordinary farm crop might not
be seriously affected. A case of this
kind occurred in this locality on the
30th of May last, when we had our
last spring frost (two weeks later than
it has occurred for many years pre-
viously). It did not seriously injure
farm crops, but very materially injured
the fruit crop generally, and caused
nearly a total failure of the grape, pear
and strawberry crop.

Believing that a record of some of
the leading features of the climatic con-
ditions prevalent in this locality during
the past five years may be of interest
to your readers in this neighborhood,
and also be of service to such other
persons who may desii-e to compare the
peculiarities of the climate in their
several localities with that of this place.

THK CANADIAN HORTICULTUKIST.

I subjoin the following table. All the
data given refer only to the seasons
from the 1st May to 31st October for
the last five years, viz., from 1880 to
1884, inclusive : —

1 ■gju^Bjgduia^ ^s8a\.ot

•*

"^

CM

■*

Date of

LAST
SPRING

frost.

•Jiva

o

>o

s

s

o

•qjuois

■S.VK

■8SBI9AB
UBll^ SS81 .10 8.t0K

!0

+

+

7

1

1 •8jn:}T3J8(Im9; utjajv

00

o

o

o

o

•o

C)

o
'^

•q^^uoui :jS9tujBAV

>>

"3

•-5

"3

1-5

50

<

>-5

3

1-5

'

•Xbg

C

o

•-o

2

o

:

Date

•q^noi?

O!

to

3

<3

t^

tb

3

<

! 'aSBjaAH
UBq^ ssa^ JO ajopi

+

o

1:-

+

T

CO

1

ci

+

nt iv.p ^sauMt^w

CO

°.

o

■-0

o

■'t'

CJ

a

H
<

•q;noiv

s

V^

g

t-

<M

•Jf>

io;oo

■

•9SBJ9At!
UBq^ SS91 JO 9J0H

1

+

i

00

•J9tuiuns qoi!9 jo

^-

o

o

-*

•£

Date.

•Xbq

7

o

g

?!

CO

•q'jnoH

<

1-5

tb

3

tb

<

t •9SbI9A'B

nvm SS9I JO 9J0H

o

7

o

+

7

7

+

1 ■J9muins qoiia jo
ajn^BJ9diu9HS9qSiij

s

o

s

CI

00

CI
CO

:■?

•9SBJ9AB

UBq'j SS9[ JO gjopi

o

+

**
IN

+

00

o

1

+

I •9Jn|'BJddui9:) UB9I^

en

00

§
O

■*

>«

1

•aaww.ig

o

CO

CO

CO

CO

1

to

«

■5

From the foregoing it may be seen
that the summer of 1881, judging from
the temperature thi'oughout, sliould

have been the most favorable fruit sea-
son of the )ieriod referred to, and that
1883 should have been the least favor-
able. It will also be noticed that the
summer of 1884 was in every important
feature a little above the average,
excepting the last spring frost, which
was very severe, and about two weeks
later than usual. This frost was pretty
genera], and was undoubtedly the prin-
cipal cause of the partial failure of the
fruit crop in so many localities.

The summer seasons of 1881 and
1883 were dissimilar in almost every
respect. The highest temperature re-
corded during the whole period was on
the 30th August, 1881. The summer
having the highest mean tempei-ature
was 18x1. The lowest temperature
recorded for the summer of 1881 was
above that of either of the others. The
warmest day of the whole period, Sep-
tember 6th, and the warmest month,
July, were both in 1881, while the
temperatures of all the corresponding
data and events for the year 1883 wei-e
lower than for either of the other sum-
mers.

It is also on record that the average
summer rain-fall for the five seasons
referi'ed to was 17.34 inches. In 1881
only 1 6.44 inches fell, or .90 inches less
than the average. In 1883 there fell
22.35 inches, or an excess of 5.01 inches.
The average number of days on which
rain fell for each season was 69.6. In
1881 rain fell on 70 days, and in 1883
on 85 days. Neither the extra num-
ber of days on which rain falls, nor the
extra quantity deposited during the
season, seems of itself to have much
influence in providing a fruitful season.
In the summer of 1882 rain fell on
only 57 days, and the total deposit was
only 14.81 inches, or 2.53 inches less
than the average, and yet, although
noted for having fewer rainy days and
a considerably less z'ain-fall than either
of the other seasons, it was a f\iirly

10

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTCEIST.

good season for fiuit in this neighbor-
hood. • J- R
Lindsay, December, 1884.

FRUIT AT BRUSSELS.

Dear Sir, — The arrival of tlie De-
cember.number of the Canadian Horti-
cutturlst reminds nie that it is about
time to renew my subscription, and also
tq report to you about the premiums
you have sent me, and a little of my
experience in fruit culture.

And first let me say that I prize the
magazine very much, and always look
for it with interest, and would be glad
if it were larger. I think it would be
well if the members of the Association
would write more for it.

The Niagara Raspberry sent me in
the spring of '83 grew nicely ; but in
the winter it froze nearly to the ground,
so there was but one small branch that
had a few berries on. The fruit ap-
peared very well. Last spring I set
out the young ])lants growing fron) the
roots, about thirty of them, and they,
with the first bush, have grown well
thi'ough the summer, and I hope, if
they do not freeze down again, to have
some more fruit next season.

The Worden Grape, sent at the same
time, grew middling, but was frozen to
the ground, as were most other young
grapes, in the early fall. This spring
it started to grow again, and when the
growth was about two inches long it
was killed off again by frost. It grew
a second time, and made about 18
inches of vine.

The Prentiss Grape, sent last spring,
grew, making about one foot of vine.
I have my doubts whether grapes will
succeed in this part. I have several,
and the best growing one has only
made about four feet of vine in two
summers.

I had two ki»ids of Black Cap Rasp-
berry fruit this season, the Mammoth
Cluster and Gregg. They fruited fairly

well. The Mammoth Cluster stood the
winter best, it not being h;irt much.
The canes of the Gregg were hurt con-
siderably by the winter frost.

I have also .several kinds of straw-
berries. The Sharpless does very well.
The Bid well is a good grower, and
forms a good plant, but I am disap-
pointed in the fruit, there being not
much of it and very imj*?rfect.

I am trying several kinds of cur-
rants and gooseberrif^s. The trees are
young, not much fruit yet, but it is
good.

I am but beginning small fruit
raising, but am tindin« a j^rowinij in-
terest in it, and purpose, if spared, to
report as I find interesting and profit-
able matter.

Yours truly,

Samuel Fear.

Brussels, Dec. 10th, 1884.

MUSIC FOR THE WINTER MEETING.

To THE Editor of the Canadian Horticdttdrist.

Dear Sir, — How fast the months
go by, so say you, and so, methinks, do
all of 3^our readers who, like you and
me, have jiassed the sixtieth mile
stone.

Your retrosi)ect of the ])ast in con-
nection with our journal is a pleasant
one. Many a compliment you have
been paid, many an encouragement
given, to persevere in a good work,
though at times with wearisomeness
and worry.

Surely the Horticulturist has been a
good investment to many a one. It
seems to me scai-cely can that reader be
a man ava who has not profited by its
perusal. But I find myself wandering
into my mother tongue, and think I
hear you saying, " There goes Croil
again in his broad Scotch ; he has never
yet sent me his promised Scotch Dic-
tionary."

But I am in earnest to-day, and send
you herewith a nice volume of Scottish

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

n

songs, at the end of which yon will
find a miniature Scottisli Dictionary.
Small thougli it is, loelt studied there
is enough in it to pass you for a fair
sami)le of a Scotchman. But what of
songs, you say 1 I'll tell you about
that too. A new feature promised at
our next meeting is good music. I go
for that, and so well have you re-
minded us of passing years you must
be just in mood to give us in. all its
beauty,

" John Anderson, my Jo."
Friend Goldie will surely enliven us
with " The Dusty Miller." I only give
you the concluding verse :

" In winter when the wind rai.l rain

Blaws o'er the hoose and byre,
He sits beside a clean hearth stane,

Before a rousing tire ;
With nut-brown ale he tells his tale,

Which rows him o'er fu' nappy.
Who'd be a king — a petty thing,

When a miller lives so happy ?"

Mrs. Saunders, I hope, will favor us
with the song, the most beautiful in
the Scottish or any other language :

" There's nae luck aboot the hoose."
And before she gets through with it,
her worthy husband, / know he s full of
music, will be so worked up with the
music of the good old land as to lead
off in lively style in

' ' Auld lang syne, "
Scott Act notwithstanding.

Wisliing you and your readers a
happy Kew Year, and many returning
ones,

Dear Sir, yours truly,

John Croil.

THE NIAGARA RASPBERRY.

The Niagara Raspberry ^received
from the Fruit Growers' Association)
did very well this summer. It had
quite a lot of berries, and very large.
I think it will do well.

Edward Ryerse.
Port Dover, Di-c, 1884.

REPORT OF FRUIT TREES RECE1VEI>
FROM THE ASSOCIATION.

The Flemish Beauty Pear sent out by
the Fruit Growers' Association some
years ago has blighted badly this sum-
mer, but had a heavy crop of fruity
bearing about four or five bushels.
The Glass' Seedling plum, also sent
out, is about the only plum tree which
stood the blight last year out of three
liundred, and had a very fair crop this
season. The Swayzie Pomme Grise
apple has fruited the last two years,
but not very well. The Ontario a,pple
had twenty- five large apples the next
season after planting, which proved to
be good keepers for so young a tree.
My raspberries and grapes proved a
total failure.

Wm. Ross.
Owen Souii-.. ecemher, 1884.

THE NIAGARA GRAPE.

In reading your article on the Ni-
agara Grape, I notice that you are
under the impression that the vines of
that variety planted in Canada are
mainly in the neighborhood of Grimsby.
I doubt if that is the case, as I think
Oakville comes to the front in the Ni-
agara Grape as well as in strawberries.
I think there are about four thousand
vines of Niagai'a planted in this
vicinity. I have two thousand five
hundred of them, and if you want to
see some thrifty vines, come during the
growing season and take a look at them.
Yours truly,

R. POSTANO.

Oakville, Dec, 1884.

IsHAM SwfSET is a Wisconsin apple of
decided value. My own trees have give n
me a barrel this year, and it has been the
first winter sweet that has proved hardy
enough for this climate. It is of mediu m
size, nearly round, dark red, yellow flesh,
and a very rial I sweet, — a very good des-
sert fruit of its class. It keeps quite
well. — Dr. Hoskins, in Home Farm.

12

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

THE GRAPE.

[A paper read before the Summil County Horticultural
Society, by if. Crawford, of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio]

There is a ])ressing need of more
light on grape culture, for the reason
that such knowledge can be turned to
good account by nearly all classes.
We can not all have an orchard, or
•even a single fruit tree. Some have
not room for a row of currant bushes
or a strawberry bed ; but who has not
room for a grape vine 1 Its branches
may be trained on a building or fence.
Its roots will run under the sidewalk,
along the foundation, beneath the build-
ings— anywhere and everywhere — in
search of plant food, which, dissolved
in water, is carried to the leaves and
boiled down, as it were, and converted
into grapes. What an opportunity
this is for every man and woman to
add to the comfort, health and happi-
ness of those dependent on them !
Horticulture gives to working men
almost the only opportunity of adding
to their income outside of working
hours, and this branch of it is especially
inviting. I once knew of a large vine
in a city lot that produced over a hun-
dred dollars' worth of grapes eack
season for several consecutive years.
How much is it worth to have all the
grapes one wants for himself, his family
•and his friends for even three months
in the year 1 And this is within the
reach of nearly all, without making
any effort to keep them beyond the
season. The vine, besides furnishing
such delicious fruit, adds greatly to
the attractiveness of home. Even the
name, "vine-covered cottage" or "vine-
clad hills," suggests that which, once
jjossessed, can never be fortgotten.

WHERE IT FLOURISHES.

Grapes may be grown in all parts of
the United States and Canada, where-
ever a grape grower can be found ; and
the more unfavorable the locality, the

better will be his success, for this
reason : the greater the difficulties to
be overcome, the greater effort is put
forth. If he lives far north, he will
cover his vines in winter ; if too far
south, he will grow them on the north
side of a hill or building. If his ground
be too wet, he will drain it, or grow
his vines in a raised border. Michigan,
cool and level, the last place one would
expect this warm-blooded fruit to flour-
ish, sends hundreds of tons to Chicago
and other markets, and sends cuttings
to France. Campbell, of Delaware, O.,
has the meanest place in the country
to raise grapes, but he has splendid
success, and long may he flourish !

Some parts of the country are so
favorable to this industry that success
comes almost without an effort, but
people are slow to learn that it may be
carried on successfully almost anywhere.
Dr. Buckley, now travelling in Europe,
writes of a noted vineyard where the
vines are all planted in baskets and
fastened to a bare rock, six or seven
hundred feet high.

WHEN TO PLANT.

The vine may be planted after the
leaves fall, and at any time before
growth commences in the spring. A
stronger growth will follow fall plant-
ing, provided the vines receive no injury
during the winter.

HOW TO PLANT.

If the vines be strong, it is only
necessary that their roots be spread in
a natui'al position, and a little deeper
than they were before, and that fine,
rich soil be bi'ought in close contact
with them, and the hole tilled up. If
weak, single-eye vines be used, greater
care must be given. Fine roots that
have grown in a mellow bed, and Avithin
an inch or two of the surface, should
not be covered to a great depth at first.
This is true even of asparagus. The
roots of a plant must have air or die.

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTUKIST.

IS

It is very important that tlie roots
of no other plant occupy the soil near
the newly planted vine. Its roots will
stand a poor chance among those of
an established tree or vine Neither
should strong growing varieties be
planted near weak ones. Many a grape
of real merit has been condemned as a
poor grower because such gross feeders
as the Concord have robbed it. I have
an Isabella vine that has struggled
between two Concords nine years, and
has made but little headway, while
they are increasing in strength. Few
people have any idea of the distance a
tree will send its roots. I read of a
gardener who cut down a row of elms
because their roots interfered with the
flower beds three hundred feet distant.

DISTANCE APAHT.

That vines may be set three feet
apart each way, and be kept in bearing
condition, I have no doubt. Thirtefn
years ago I planted a lot of vi-.es in a
row thirty inches apart, and tv/o in a
place. The second year I allowed one
in each place to bear a large crop, and
then cut it away in the fall. These
vines have remained in good condition
ever since, although as much fruit
might have been produced if they had
been thinned first to five feet apart
and then to ten.

The above cases are given to show
what may be done — not what should
be done. My experience leads me to
believe that a vine is more likely to
continue in health if it be allowed to
increase in size — to have more room
each year. In nearly every instance a
thinning of the vines in a vineyard has
been followed by satisfactory results.
One grower who has thinned till his
vines stand IT) feet apart each way,
claims to have found the best distance.
For a viueyard I prefer about eight
feet each way, and for a town lot I
■would stick them wherever I could find

room. It is well, when vines are worth
but a few cents apiece, to plant two or
three times as many as are wanted, and
the extra ones may be allowed ta
bear heavily — one-half the second year,
and the other the third, and then he
cut away. This gives the permanent
vines a fine chance to get strong before
they bear. A vine may be extended ta
any distance along a trellis or support,
but it requires time. It should not be
lengthened more than two or three
feet in any direction in a single season.

CHOICK OF VARIETIES.

What to plant is an important ques-
tion and should be carefully considered.
Very much will depend on the grower.
If he understand the wants of the
vine, and can supply them, he can raise
any variety, and should choose only
such as are desirable. It is very un-
satisfactory to spend money, time and
skill in raising an inferior article —
especially if it be for one's own. It is
always well for beginners to plant some
Concord and Worden vines, for they
are very reliable and quite good.

PREPARATION OF THE SOIL.

To prepare the soil for grapes is to
make it dry and rich. If you want to
do more than this, make it drier and
richer. It is not suflicient that it be
well under-di'ained, so that water will
not lie, but the surface water should be
allowed to get off before the ground
becomes saturated. Then plow and
harrow thoroughly, as for any other
crop.

FERTILIZERS.

Thoroughly decomposed barn-yard
manui-e is sufficient for the grape or
any other crop we cultivate. In its
absence, bone dust and ashes answer
all purposes. Nitrogenous manures
cause a rapid growth, but they should
never be used where the highest flavored
fruit is desired. The choicest wine is
made from grapes grown on poor, rocky

14

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

hillsides, and when it becomes necessary
to use a fertilizer the next crop is made
up and sold under an assumed name,
lest the brand be brought into dis-
repute.

Manure should be applied in the
fall after the grapes are gathered, so
that it may leach into the soil during
the winter. Grape roots have a s[)ecial
liking for bones, and seem almost to
know where to go to find them. A
Delaware vine sent a root some distance
to a hole in which bones had been
buried, and then it branched, and
nearly surrounded every bone with
roots. The owner prized tlie vine, and
would not have injured it willingly,
but in spading he accidently cut the
root leading to the hole. The vine
died, and he ascertained that it had
drawn nearly all its food through that
one root.

Eight or nine years ago, when the
Lady grape was introduced, I obtained
one and planted it as follows : I dug a
hole four feet in diameter and two feet
deep, and nearly filled it with cows'
heads from the slaughter-house. I
then tilled in among the bones some
good soil and planted the vine, and
then sodded it over. The turf has
never been removed since, and the vine
has done well from the tirst, althoijgh
I have no doubt but that the roots of
the Concord and Worden near by are
trying to get the bones away from the
Lady.

Is it not encouraging to think that
on ten feet square of ordinary land, a
boy may dig in a wheelbarrow load of
bones, and a bushel of ashes, plant a
vine worth 10 cents, and then cover
the space with grass, and that vine will
go on changing those bones into fruit,
producing bushels evei'y year until the
boy becomes an old man. All the vine
will need is a little trimming and a
place to hang out its leaves.

CHOICE OF VIXES.

The majority of vines are grown in
the open air from cuttings. If they
have ripened at least a foot of wood,
and their roots have received no injury,
they are safe to plant. Layers of the
best quality, from bearing vines that
have not been weakened in any way,
are still better, while those made from
green wood, late in the season, are
almo.st worthless.

Vines made from single eyes, started
under glass early in the season, and
grown with skill and care, are su])erior
to those grown in the ojien air. New,
high-i)riced varieties are usually grown
in this manner. * *■ *

SUMMER PRUNING.

A vine needs some summer pruning
— enough to regulate its growth. No
matter what care and skill may have
been exercised in pruning and tying up
before the growing season, some buds
will start with greater vigor than
others, and unless they be stopped
eaidy in the summer, they will appro-
priate to themselves more than their
share of sap, leaving other parts of the
vine in a starving condition. It is the
vine grower's place to see that all have
an equal chance, and he should be on
the lookout and nip the ends of these
would-be-monopolists, and while they
are recovering the weaker shoots will
catch up, and perhaps hold their own.
This much seems necessary to equalize
the growth. Besides this, we must see
that the truit has a fair chance to ripen,
and that good bearing wood be [)rovided
for the next season ; for without such
provision, fine fruit can not be pro-
duced. A vine in vigorous growth
sends out a lateral at every joint, and
these should be nipped off beyond the
first leaf when the best results are
desired. This should be done early.
By this means the main cane with its
leaves and fruit will receive the sap

THE OA.NADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

15

instead of its being wasted in the
production of useless laterals. This
will greatly enlarge and strengthen the
leaves, and give more chance for light
and air among them.

Some varieties keep on growing
until quite late without ripening their
wood. This can be remedied by stop-
ping the shoots when they have grown
far enough. Unripe wood accompanies
unripe roots, and neither are desirable.
The above, if faithfully carrried out, is
the perfection of summer pruning, and
is really nothing but the prevention of
useless growth. The removal of any
considerable amount of foliage in the
growing season is weakening to the
vine.

PRUNING AND TRAINING

Constitute the important part of grape
culture, and without them there can be
no permanent success. A vine on trees,
with plenty of room, will flourish with
little or no pruning ; and a young vine
on a trellis will endure bad pruning for
a time ; but a poor method, or a good
method poorly carried out, will ulti-
mately result in failure. We prune to
enable the vine to mature the greatest
amount of fruit, with a satisfactory
amount of wood for the following year.
To do this intelligently, one must know
something of the habits of the vine, the
treatment to which it has been subject-
ed, and the fertility of the soil in which
it grows. There is enough in the sub-
ject for an entire essay, and I can do no
more here than to give a few sugges-
tions.

Before a vine can produce fruit, it
must have bearing wood; i. e., well
matui-ed canes of the previous year's
growth ; and as the sap tends towartls
the extremities, especially the top, this
bearing wood must be left on a level as
far as possible. Otherwise, the sap will
flow past the lower buds and force the
top ones into a rampant growth. For

this reason it is entirely useless to at-
tempt to cover any considerable amount
of vertioal space with a single vine, and
expect it to bear above and below at the
same time. With a majority of people
it requires but a few years to get all the
bearing wood to the top of the trellis.
Where a cane of even two or three feet
is left to bear, it must be bent to impede
the flow of sap, in order that all the buds
may start alike. If this be properly
attended to, each bud will get its full
share, the growth will be uniform, and
but little summer pruning will be
needed.

The proper amount of wood to leave
for bearing depends on the age and
strength of the vine, the fertility of the
soil and the trellis accommodations, and
can be best learned by experience. If
allowed to over-bear, the wood and fruit
will fail to ripen and the vine will be
weakened, if not permanently injured.
If pruned too close, a vigorous growth
will follow, but little fruit will be pro-
duced, and, unless well summer-pruned,
the usefulness of the vine will be injui-ed
for the following year, and the evil tends
to perpetuate itself. The bearing wood
should be evenly distributed over the
vine and about the same amount on
each arm.

DISEASES.

The grape, like all other fruits, is sub-
ject to disease, especially if its vitality
be lowered by any means. Mildew and
rot are most to be feared.

Mildew is caused mainly by too much
moisture in the soil, and is augmented
by a lack of air and sunshine on the
foliage. Rapid and perfect drainage
is the remedy.

The rot is caused by the spores of a
fungus, which, though invisible to the
naked eye, are carried by the wind and
deposited on the fruit, where they ger-
minate and gi'ow, causing the rot.
These rotten grapes lie on the ground all

16

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

winter, and when the warm weather
comes tlie spores are a,i,'ain sent out, like
" smoke " from a puti'ball, and are de-
posited on green grapes, where the same
process is repeated. Now, to prevent
this, we must either destroy the spores
before they reach the grapes, prevent
their germinating on the gra})es, or ))re-
vent their growth after they germinate.
If the rotten grapes could be swept up
and burned in the fall, tlie number of
spores would be greatly diminished,
especially if our neighbors do the same.
No matter how many s^iores there may
be they cannot germinate without mois-
ture. This is why grapes never rot
when grown on a building under a cor-
nice. A Avide boai'd nailed over the
trellis answers very well, and paper bags
put over the clusters, when the berries
are small, and fastened with a })in or
tied on, are effective. It has been
known for years that no fungus growth
can take place in the presence of car-
bolic acid. One ounce of carbolic acid,
dissolved in five gallons of water, and
sprayed over the fruit when the rot
appears, will stop its farther progress.
This disco vei-y, like all others in horti-
culture, is given free as air, although
no man can estimate its value.

^ # # * -jf *

TESTING NEW GRAPES.

People should exercise some common
sense in buying new varieties of grapes
or other fruits. If one can afford the
outlay — which of necessity must be con-
siderable— it is a pleasure to test the
new varieties as they come into the mar-
ket. He is then qualified to report for
the benefit of those Avho may profit by
his experience. Until a variety has had
a fair trial no man has any right to
speak against it. The fact of its being
new argues nothing ; all were new once.

If one can not afford to buy high-
priced varieties, he should in all fiiirness
withhold his testimony in regard to

them. It is worthless to others and
damaging to himself. It is very unfor-
tunate that in this matter — and most
others — those who know the least make
the most noise.

The originators of new fruits have
done more to advance the cause of hor-
ticulture than any other class, and they
are clearly entitled to a reward for their
labors ; and this they can not get with-
out charging a seemingly high price.
With the introducer the case is the
same. He must publish lengthy des-
criptions and testimonials, and this is
costly and must be met by high prices.

WHAT HAS BEEN DONE.

A few years ago I planted fifty very
small Concord vines four feet apart.
They received no extra care, and the
third year, while yet on stakes, they pro-
duced over 400 pounds. I have often
known vines to yield over 60 pounds
the third year. I once planted an lona
vine four years old, that had been three
times transplanted and root-pruned.
It was cut back to three eyes, each of
which sent out a shoot bearing three
clustei-s. One-thii'd of the fruit was re-
moved, and quite early in the summer
the shoots reached the top of an eight-
foot stake. They were then allowed
to grow seven feet further on twine
stretched horizontally, at which point
the ends were nipped. The vine ripened
the 45 feet of wood and six fine clusters
of fruit. The next season two of the
canes were shortened to three feet, and
the other to two buds. The three-foot
canes were laid down horizontally and
allowed to bear over 25 pounds of fruit.

VALUE OF FOREST PRODUCTS.

The " Working " Report of the For-
estry Division at Washington (revised
in the Report of the Commissioner of
Agriculture) fixes the estimated value
of the United States forest products at
§700,000,000, which is more than the

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

17

value' of the corn crop, nearly twice
that of the wheat product, ten times
the output of the silver and gold mines
or the value of the wool product, and
three times the value of the output
from all the mines of the United States
put together.

WATERING SMALL GARDENS.

A rubber hose is generally the most
available means for watei'ing gardens
in towns and villages in which there
are public water-works. But this is
so expensive that people of moderate
means do not use it extensivel}'. As
a substitute for rubber hose I have
employed half-inch iron pipe, with very
satisfactory results. From the water-
pipe in the street to the rear end of
my garden, the distance is over three
hundred feet. Last year there Avas
not a day, during the entire growing
season, when any portion of the garden
needed water ; but tlie season previous
we had no rain for more than six weeks.
During s\ich dry and hot weather the
garden needed water almost every day.

As a substitute for hose, I purchased
two hundred feet of half-inch iron pipe,
in lengths of about sixteen feet each,
at $3.75 per hundred feet. Galvanized
pipe usually costs twice as much as the
plain iron. To keep the pipe from
rusting, a heavy coat of paint was
applied to the outside ; but pitch or
coal-tar, applied boiling hot, will be
cheaper and moi'e durable than paint.

Now, instead of l)urying the pipe in
the ground, 1 laid it on the surface and
screwed the lengths together, thus form-
ing a line of pipe from a faucet in the
kitchen to tlie rear end of the garden.
About every fifty feet, there is a T
coupliuir, provided with a short piece
of ])ipe, say six inches long, the ends of
which are closed by an iron cap screwed
on tlie end of each short piece where
there is a T. By opening the faucet
2

in the kitchen, water will rush in a
minute to the farther end of the garden.
Now we attach a hose, ten feet long,
to any part of the pipe where there is
a T, and with that an abundant supply
of water can be directed to any pax-t of
the grounds. As soon as one part of
the garden has been watered sufficiently,
unscrew the short hose from the T,
screw on the iron cap, and carry the
hose to the next T, remove the cap
and screw on the hose, and throw water
fifty feet or more on both sides of the
line of iron pipe. At the close of the
growing season, unscrew the lengths of
iron pipe and store them under the
floor of a veranda or in the garret until
wanted another season. — Am. Garden.

SHAFFER'S COLOSSAL.

The editor of the Rural Home re-
cently visited some of the farms in
Western New York belonging to the
Wayne County Evaporated Fruit Com-
pany, and says as follows :

Mr. Van Dusen has taken a great
fancy to the Shaffer raspberry, and is
planting them as fast as he can make
l)lants. As we saw it bearing on the
T./yons farm we are not surprised at his
enthusiasm in its favor. It was bear-
ing an immense crop. The Shaffer
was, evidently, a chance hybrid of the
red and black found on the farm of a
Mr. Shaffer, of Wheatland (we think),
Monroe County. Was introduced by
Chas. A. Green, of Clifton, in the same
county. When we first saw it on Mr.
Green's grounds, about four yeai-s since,
we said that it was the largest rasp-
berry we ever saw, but thought its
color - a dark purple — would prove an
obstacle to its i-eady sale in market.
But that objection has been avoided by
not offering for sale in its' fi-esh state,
but by canning or evaporating. Mr.
Van Dusen evaporated his crop last
year, and disposed of the dried fruit at

18

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST,

50 cents per pound, 20 cents more than
he received for bhick caps diied. He
was oflfered, this year, 10 cents a quart
for his Shaffer's for canning. So it
would appear that no difficulty need be
feared in disposing of the fruit. It
loses considerable more in drying than
Ohio or the juciest black cap.

We believe that it will yield as much
or more than any other variety and as
it is perfectly hardy and a wonderful
grower, it will readily be seen that it
has strong claims. We have seen no
other red raspberry which equals it for
canning purposes.

COAL ASHES.

A correspondent of the Country
Gentleman tliinks that coal ashes are in
some as yet unexplained way beneficial
to garden vegetables. This is what he
says :

It has been long known that coal
ashes have the effect of mellowing the
soil, particularly clay. A rigid clay
may thus be greatly improved in its
texture. It has been held that the
fertilizing properties of coal ashes are
small ; repeated analyses have shown
this. Yet, used as they have been here
in gardens, without other manure, the
effect has been such as to lead irresist-
ibly to the conclusion that they de-
velop in some way a considerable
amount of fertility. All cannot be
accounted for by the mechanical im-
provement, as in oases where this is not
lacking the eftect is still present, and
apparently undiminished, if not some-
times increased — in this case acting
seemingly as wood ashes do, requiring
other (organic) fertility to aid, if full
results would be obtained.

I was suT'prised, early in the spring,
on seeing unusually thrifty tomatoes
and beans, to learn that the only manure
used was coal ashes, scattered in the
garden to get them out of the way.

This was practiced for several years,
and no manure other than this had
been used. I was shown another
garden to-day which was treated exactly
in the same way the only dressing
being coal ashes. Here the growth
seemed all that it could be. I was
shown a potato grown here that
weighed one pound eleven ounces and
a half. It was the early Vermont, a
variety not noted, I believe, for its
large specimens. But they were all
large, averaging from half a pound to a
pound ; no small ones among them, and
many exceeding a pound. They were
planted fifteen inches apart in the
rows, a small potato dropped in each
hill. The owner of this garden lays the
success to the coal ashes, and says there
can hardly be any mistake about it.
This is the opinion of others also. My
own experience is confirmatory. But
the efiect I find is not immediate. It
is more tardy than with wood ashes,
whose potash and soda act promptly.

I would advise by all means, that
coal ashes, instead of being thrown
away, be used in our gardens, removing
the coarser parts; also on potato ground,
always mixing well with the soil, and
as early as the ground will admit, and
so be repeated yearly, giving thus time
for effect upon the soil. I find the best
success where the ashes have been ap-
plied for several years. The second
year is sui'e to tell, even when thrown
upon the ground and left to lie there un-
disturbed, as I have abundant evidence.
But the place for full action is in the
soil.

I should have stated that in the
second garden mentioned, where the
ashes were omitted, as was the case with
a small space, there was a uniform lack
in the growth, being seen in the size of
the vines and tubers. About a quarter
of the soil of this garden was composed
of ashes. In places where the proportion
of ashes was the greatest, the largest

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

19

tubers were raised. There is no doubt
of the general benefit of coal ashes in a
garden, and their decided efiect upon
the tomato and potato family. They
doubtless affect more or less favorably
all plants, in the improved texture of
the soil, which most of our old culti-
vated fields need. Add to this their
well known manurial properties which
science has j)ointed out, little though
they be, and there is no reason why
coal ashes shouM not be used on our
land, to say nothing of what may seem
an occult influence when they are put
in union with the fertility of the soil,
resulting thus, as appeal's to me, in an
increased growth. I have faith in the
discarded coal ashes, and I am using
them to advantage.

STRAWBERRY NOTES.

(By Hon. M. P. IVildei; in Green's Fruit Grower.)

How has the James Vick done with
you this season 1- It is a beautiful
plant with noble trusses and a super-
abundance of bloom, but cannot cai-ry
out the croj) to perfection without high
cultivation and plenty of water. It
throws up too many fruit stalks. It is
a pity that the fruit is not larger. We
have had frequent rains and a good
season to test a large numbei- of the
new varieties, some of which I think
well of. Primo is a tine, large, uni-
form, bright, prolitic, and late variety ;
very good. The Prince of strawber-
ries! )>lante'J last fall made large stools
— some with four or more trusses and
produced much handsomer and higli-
flavort^d fruit. Mrs. Gartield and
Jewel! make good plants and are
promising, but Iron Clad has not been
clad with much fruit. Bouquet (a new
variety from the Hudson River) is rich
and high-flavored. Crescent and Dun-
can (the former fertilized by the latter)
are my most useful early sorts. Dun-
can is healthy, jiroductive and aroma-
tic : excellent for home use. I still

hold on to many of the older sorts
for a general crop, such as Charles
Downing, Seth Boyden, Kentucky,
Sliarpless, Triomphe de Gand and Cum-
berland, nor would I omit the Hovey
and Wilder, as grown by the originat-
ors, and as always shown at the annual
strawberry exhibitions of the Massa-
chusetts Horticultural Society. Strange
indeed that these varieties are not
more grown, l)ut a neighbor of mine
has an acre of the Wilder and finds a
ready market previously engaged at
twenty-five cents per quart. Mr.
Hovey has some new plantations of his
strawberry of great vigor, and I think
he will be heard from next year. The
Early harvest blackberry is two weeks
earlier than any other I have.

THE EULALIAS.

Eulalia Japonica variegata and E. J.
zebrina are, in my opinion, two of the
prettiest and most desirable ornamental
grasses we have in cultivation, and both
should be gi'own by all who possess the
necessary facilities. They do best when
grown in a rich, deep soil, and aftei-
they have become well established, so
that it is well to avoid frequent remov-
als. Propagation is effected by divi.sion
of the plants early in the .spring, just
before they start into growth. I know
that seeds of these Eulalias are often
advertised; but as far as my experi-
ence has extended I have never been
enabled to I'aise a plant of them with
variegated foliage.

For the beneflt of those who are not
acquainted with the Eulalias, I would
say that they are reed-like plants, at-
taining a height of from four to six
feet. E. J. variegata has foliage that
bears a striking resemblance to the
old ribbon or striped grass of the gar-
dens ; while the foliage of E. J. zebrina
has the striping or marking across the
leaf instead of longitudinally. On this
account, it is a plant that will always

20

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

attract attention; but I will here say
that I consider the former the prettier
and more desirable of the two.

The Eulalia usually flowers about
the middle of September, the flower
panicles being produced from the sum-
mit of the stalks. At first they are
brownish, and not at all showy ; but as
the flowers open the branches of the
panicles curve over gracefully in a one-
sided manner, thus presenting the ap-
pearance of ostrich plumes. If the
flowers are cut when fully developed,
and dried in a dry, airy situation, they
will be found to be very desirable for
decorative purposes during the winter
season. — Rural New Yorker.

BEST HARDY SPIR^AS.

BY PROF. J. L BUDD, IOWA AC!R. COLLEGE.

As some of the best spiraeas found
on Eastern lawns are not hardy en the
prairies north of the 41st parallel, a
few notes on the finest '• ironclads "
may bo useful to propagators and
planters.

Spircea opuUfolia : A lai'ge shrub
with bold outlines. Its light green,
lobed leaves give a pleasing expression
through the season, and its abundant
crop of white flowers in June is followed
by showy seed capsuks which in the
latter part of the season are shaded
with deep crimson. It ij easily prop-
agated by cuttings of the new wood.

S. trilobata : This is a special
favorite in Michigan, Ohio, and the
Eastern States, and seems still more
beautiful on the prairie. Its branches
?pread out laterally, with recurved tii)S
goaded in May with com[)act corymbs
of pure white flowers. Its glaiicous,
lobed leaves are pretty through the
season, It is propagated from cuttings
with base of two-yeai*-old wood.

S. Van Houtteii : Much like trilo-
bata in leaf, expression, and flower,
but the habit of the plant is more grace-

ful, and the pure white flowers are
larger. It is propagated the same as
trilobata.

S. Douglasii : An erect, handsome
shrub, with oblong lanceolate leaves
with a white down beneath. The
flowers appear in July and often con-
tinue to middle of August. The long,
dense panicles of bright pink flowers
form on the terminal points of the sea-
son's growth of new wood. Where the
wood of the preceding year's growth is
cut back in early spring or autumn, as
practised with the roses, the exhibit of
bloom exceeds even that on the spircpxh
callosa, which with us fails to endure
the winters. Propagated from cuttings
as above.

S. Kobhana : Much like Douglasii
in habit and foliage, but with broader
and looser racemes of purplish red
flowei's in July. In all respects a fine
showey variety. It is propagated from
cuttings.

S. hyperici folia. : A larger growing
shrub than the four preceding. It runs
into many varieties varying in leaf and
habit of floweiing. The variety best
known with us is acuta, sometimes
giown as S. Sibiri'-a. The flowei'S are
white, in small terminal umbels on
short spring growths from the new
wood. Properly shaped and cot back
it becomes a sheet of l>loom in early
May. It is pi'opagated from cuttings
of new wood, or from suckers or root
cuttings,

S. chamcedri folia : This is a beautiful
species running into a number of va-
rieties, all hardy so far as tried. It
has small, wiry branches covered in
June with clusters of white flowers.
In Northeast Europe it is much used
for oniamental hedging. In this form
it becomes literally a wall of pure white
flowers and its foilage is pretty through
the season.

The fine Japanese species are not

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

21

noted, as my purpose is to direct atten-
tion to shrubs that will live and thrive
in all pai'ts of our interior prairies.

CHINESE PRIMROSES.

For a neat flowering plant in the
window, there is nothing which Avill
repay so well for the space occupied
as one or- two of the Chinese Prim-
roses. They are natives of China, and
are not adapted to out-door culture.
They bloom freely under glass, but
unlike the other classes of pi'imroses,
require sun, and if properly managed,
flower all the year round, although their
most flourishing season is through the
winter and early spring. All that is
necessary for their cultivation is a
moderately warm situation, close to
the glass, medium moisture, and good
drainage, which is secured by filling in
the bottom of the crocks with pieces of
broken crockery. It is not well to
sprinkle the plants with water, as the
leaves and flowers will be speckled
easily and soon decay. The leaves and
flower stalks seldom grow higher than
about six inches, and if the plant grows
top-heavy, it should be supported by a
few little sticks placed near the collar
of it. As the plants do not flower so
well after the first year, it is therefore
advisable to procure young plants eveiy
year, or to raise them from seed. This,
however, is not easy ; the seeds being
veiy fine, if carelessly watered, or
allowed to dry out, they will be lost.

In sowing the seed, care must be
taken to cover them lightly with the
soil, or what is better, not to cover
them at all, but to press them gently
into the surface of the soil with a smooth
piece of wood. The watering sliould be
done by saucers placed underneath the
pots, or by very fine sprinklers, so as
not to wash the soil ; but even after
the young plants have developed two
or three leaves, they require careful
watering ; if the soil is permitted to get

dry, the very tender roots may be dried
up in a few hours. Our way of treating
the seed is this : We water the lower
body of earth in the pot by a saucer,
and cover the surface from time to time
witli a wet cloth, so as to leave the seeds
undisturbed.

Of the Chinese Primroses, we have
now some most beautiful varieties,
double and single ; the double white is
certainly a beautiful plant, although it
does not bloom so continuously as the
other. The fringed flowers ai'e con-
sidered the very best. — California Hor-
ticulturist.

THE APPLE CROP OF 1884.

Gardening Illustrated, an English
horticultural publication, thus speaks
of the apple crop: — Messrs. J. \V.
Draper and Son, Covent Gardens,
have kindly furnished us with the
following particulars respecting the
present aj)pearence of the Apple crop
in Europe and America : United King-
dom— Ci'op much below the average,
France — An average yield of early
kinds, especially in the Gironde ; late
and better descriptions somewhat short.
Germany — Short crop generally. Bel-
ginm — Short crop. Holland — very
light crop. Spaiyi and Portugal — Crop
short, description common. America —
There are indications that the crop will
not equal in bulk that of 1880, yet the
yield in some of the best pnducing
localities is likely to be very abundant,
and superior in quality to the past two
seasons. After mature consideration of
the various reports there is little doubt
that the croj) of Euro[)e is considerably
under that of many years ; thus it will
be fi'om America that the supply for
the United Kingdom will be derived.
The prospect of shipments being advan-
tageously made to England were never
more promising, particularly for better
and later descripton of Apples.

22

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

BOTTLED GRAPE JUICE.
An industry which has steadily gained
ground for some years is that of making
unfermented wine. True, it is a sort
of misnomer to speak of " wine " as un-
fermented, but in the absence of a better
term it must pass at present. It is the
pure expressed juice and " blood " of the
grape, prepared in such a way that it
can be used as a safe beverage in any
season, with no danger of intoxication,
nor any awakening of an old appetite
for it. It first came into demand to
supplant the use of intoxicating wine
at the communion service, but it has
found a demand outside of that field
because it is agreeable and healthy.
The steps regarding its manufactui-e
are much the same as for ordinary wine,
up to the point where fermentation
begins ; then various processses are used
for " clarifying " it, so that it shall be
free and clear from sediment. Any
broken clusters of sound grapes will
answer, and for that reason the manu-
facturer furnishes a market for niany
grapes that can not wisely be shipped to
the great cities, though of course a
rather low price is paid — two and three
cents a pound.

The process used in finally closing the
bottles or vessels in which it is to be
kept, is like that of canning fruit, corked
when at '" a boil," and then sealed. It
must be treated much the same as
canned fruit, and when opened for use
in warm weather it must be speedily
consumed or kept on ice to prevent
fermentation. Old wine bibbers do not
always take to it readily, but most other
people like it amazingly, women par-
ticularly, after or during a fatiguing
day's work, as it warms and refreshes,
and leaves no "bad feeling" as a pen-
ance. One of our manufacturei-s has
shipped a good deal to Eng and, and
also has orders from long distances.
Wine already fermented can be made
into an unfermented brand of virtually

the same quality, by placing it in open
bottles in boilers filled with cold water,
gi'adually heating it to the boiling ])oint
and then scalding ; but it is trouble-
some and expensive, and attended with
a good deal of breakage. This has been
called " driving the devil out." The
cost of Tinfermented wine in bottles is
usually about $6 a doz — Rural World.

BOOKS, ETC., RECEIVED.

Illustrated Catalogue ot Trees,
Plants and Vines for sale by Green's
Nursery Company, Rochester, N.Y.,
with hints on fruit culture ; small
fruits a speciality. Copy mailed free
on application.

The Rural New Yorker is a weekly
of sixteen pages, published at 34 Park
Row, New York City, at S2 a year.
The Editors are practical farmers, who
write of that which they know from
experience. Every new thing is tested
on their experiment farm, and the re-
sults of the trial given to their readers
without fear or favor.

The Fruit Recorder axd Cottage
Gardener, published monthly b}' A.
M. Purdy, Palmyra, KY., at $1 a
year. Mr. Purdy has devoted his life
to horticultural pursuits, making a
specialty of small fruits, which he
grows on an extensive scale. His
readers get the benefit of his large ex-
j)erience, besides the hints and sugges-
tions of numerous correspondents.

Alden's Literary Revolution. —
John B. Alden's Literary Revolution,
though, possibly, not making so large
a " noise " in the world as three or four
years ago when its remarkable work
was new to the public, is really making
more substantial progress than ever
befoi'e. A noticeable item is the im-
proved quality of the books issued.
Guizot's famous " History of France,"
not sold, till recently, for much less
than S50, is put forth in eight small
octavo volumes, ranking with the hand-

THK CANADIAN H0RTICULTUKI8T.

23

somest ever issued from American
printing presses, including the 426 full
page original illustrations, and is sold
for $7. Rawlinson's celebrated "Seven
Great Monarchies of the Ancient
Eastern World," is produced in elegant
forai, with all the maps and illustra-
tions, reduced in price from $ 1 8 to
$2 75. These are but representative
of an immense list of standard works,
ranging in price from two cents to
nearly $20, which are set forth in a
descriptive catalogue of 100 pages, and
which is sent free to every applicant.
It certainly is worth the cost of a postal
card to the publisher. John B. Alden,
393 Pearl Street, New York.

How THE Farm Pays, by William
Crozier and Peter Henderson. Pub-
lished by Peter Henderson &. Co., 35
and 37 Cortlandt Street, New York.
We have very carefully perused this
book, and unhesitatingly commend it
to our readers as a most practical guide
to successful farming. It is not a book
of theories hatclied in the brain of some
agricultural quill driver, but the out-
come of the actual experience of two
men who have been successful tillers of
the soil, and who herein give to others
the methods and practice which have
laid the foundations of their success.
Mr. Crozier is widely known as a farmer
who for the past twenty years has taken
more prizes than any other working
fai-mer in America for fine stock and
farm products. Mr. Henderson is as
widely known as a successful gardener,
and is an acknowledged authority on
all matters connected with tlie growing
of vegetables and small fruits. The
book is handsomely illustrated with
engravings of implements found most
desirable, and of animals of the most
approved breeds. It is nicely piinted
on fine paper and strongly bound in
cloth. Believing that many of our
readers will desire to possess this valu-
able work, we will undertake to have a

copy sent, post-paid, to any person who
shall remit to us the price of the book,
which is $2 50.

The December issue of the Floral
Cabinet opens with a drawing made
especially for it, entitled " Christmas
Greetings," and is followed by some
pleasant words from the editors regard-
ing their plans for the new year. Among
other illustrations are two new and dis-
tinct varieties of well known plants,
viz.: Begonia Seeptrum, a handsome
species recently introduced from Brazil ;
its beautiful foliage will bring it at
once into favor, and Sjni'sea Astilboides,
which bears its flowers in plumy
clustei's, composed of myi'iads of white
blossoms, which will be welcomed by
all admirei-s of this hardy plant.
"Comicalities of Plants," " Some Christ-
mas Greens" and '" A Christmas Violet"
are interesting contributions to the
literary department, and the pages de-
voted to Houie Decorations are filled
with descriptions and illustrations of
such fancy work as can be put to prac-
tical use. The managers hope to at-
tain for 1885 a greater degree of per-
fection as a floral magazine, and to this
end new names will appear among its
contributors, and the number of illus-
trations will be increased.

The publishers of the Floral Cabinet
supply to their subscribers each year
premiuuis of a floral nature ; and for
1885 they announce six difterent
premiums from which subscribers may
take their choice, embracing ten packets
of flower seeds and some choice bulbs,
details of which may be had on ap-
plication to the publishers at 22 Vesey
Street, New York. They will also send
an}' of our readers a sample copy at
half price (six cents), if this paper is
mentioned.

We have arranged to furnish the
Floral Cabinet for 1885 with choice oi
premiums together with our own pub-
lication at a combined price of $1.80.

34

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

THE RENFREW FRUIT GROWER'S
ASSOCIATION

Will hold its annual meeting in the
Town Hall, Renfrew, on Friday, the
16th of January, 1S85, commencing at
one o'clock p.m. At this meeting the
officers for the ensuing year will be
chosen, the President deliver his an-
nual address, and other business affect-
ing the welfare of the society will be
transacted.

The County of Renfrew Fruit Grow-
ers' Association is a live society, and
doing a good work. It is the only one
that sent a report of its transactions to
be published with that of the Ontario
Association.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Corliss' Matchless Potatoes. — The
greatest yield of potatoes produced upon
the B. N.-Y. experiment plot, up to and
including 1883, was at the rate of 1 ,140. 33
bushels per acre. The variety was Cor-
liss' Matchless.

The St. Hilaire Apple. — Dr. Hoskins
writes to the Home Farm that this apple ;
is larger than the Fameuse, more free
from spots, more acid, and having per-
haps slightly less flavor. It keeps five or
six weeks longer, and is recommended by
the Montreal Horticultural Society for
those localities where the Fameuse spots
badly. He adds that he regards it as pre-
ferable to the Fameuse as a market fruit.

Forest Influence on Rainfall. — A
forest does cause rain to fall, says the
Forestry Bulletin, or at least it does not,
as does the open plain, prevent rain from
falling. This meteorological influence of
the forest is due to the moist condition of
the air column above tlie forests which
tends to saturate any clouds moving
through this area, thus facilitatuig preci-
pitation, wliile the heated air over the
plain tends to increase the relative capa-
city of an air cohunn for moisture, there-
fore decreasing the chance for discharge.

The Bangok Blackberry. - This new
blackberry originated on one of the islands
of the Penobscot River, acd was brought
to notice by the late Hon. Geo. P. Sewall,

of Oldtown, who was an enthusiastic ama-
teur fruit-grower. The variety is per-
fectly hardy, enduring the severities of
the Maine winters perfectl}' without pro-
tection ; it is productive, yielding regular
and abundant crops, and is a very early
sort. The berry is large, growing in clus-
ters of ten or twelve ; stem stout ; has no
hard core, and in flavor it is rich and
good. Ripe early in August. — The Home
Farm.

Shiawasse Beauty. — This apple (a
Michigan seedling) almost exactly dupli-
cates the Fameuse in tree and fruit, yet
with a distinguishable difference in the
young wood. It is claimed never to spot,
and Secretary Garfield of the Michigan
Horticultural Society places it among the
two best seedling apples of that State for
excellence and profit. It seems strange
that as yet it has not been more widely
distributed, seeing that it obviates the
Fameuse's only defect. I have the va-
riety top-grafted, but it has not yet pro-
duced its fruit. It seems to be about as
hardy as the Fameuse. — Dk. Hoskins, in
Home Farm.

Japan Lilies. — Among the many beau-
tiful lilies introduced from Japan, none
are more worthy of cultivation than
Lilium riibrum. The blossom is large, of
elegant iovm, pure pearly white, richly
studded with bright crimson, and it is ex-
quisitely fragrant. The bulbs are chsap,
hardy and easily cultivated. A single
bulb, costing about twenty-five cents, will,
in a few years, multiply sufficiently by
" offsets to fill quite a large bed. Once
planted, it needs no further attention,
growing better from year to year. A light
soil for it is prefei'able, but it will do well
in any rich, well drained ground. Drain-
aae is indispensable, for the bulbs decay
if kept water-soaked. They should be
planted four or five inches deep, and care
taken that no fresh or heating manure
comes in contact with them. This Idy
blooms iri the open ground from the mid-
dle of August to the middle of September,
a well-established plant producing from
six to fifteen blossoms. Otlsets are formed
every year around the parent bulb and
the underground joints of the stems.
These bulblets grow to flowering bulbs
the thu'd year. — Prairie Farmer.

PRISTED AT THE STEAM PRESS EdTABHSHMEXT OF COPF, CLARK t CO., COLBOKXE STREET, TOBOSTO.

Double Dahlias,

FORBES CO BOSTOM & NY

THE

%Um MmtlmUmU

VOL. VIII.]

FEBKUARY, 1885.

[No. 2.

THE DAHLIA.

Mexico is the native land and
home of the Dahlia. But think not
that the dahlias which there grow on
the sandy plains bear mi^ch resemblance
to the exquisitely colored and perfectly
formed flowers shewn in the beautiful
colored plate which embellishes this
number. It is now almost a hundred
years since Alexander von Humboldt
sent the tirst dahlia tubers from Mexico
to Madrid, in Spain. The flowers were
something like a small purple sunflower.
From Spain it was cai'ried to France,
and at length, in 1814, some roots were
brought from France to England. From
England it was introduced into the
United States, about the year 1825.
Since then the skill of the gardener has
been improving the form and coloring,
until we have such perfection of form
and elegance of coiox-ing as are seen in
our plate.

In order to assist those of our readers
who may choose a tuber of double-dahlia,
to grow it successfully, we subjoin a
few hints on its cultivation.

The dahlia flourishes best in a moder-
ately cool and moist summer. Such was
the summer of 1883, and those of our
readers who attended the meeting of the

Fruit Growers' Association, held that
autumn in St. Catharines, will not have
forgotten the magnificent display of
dahlias in the grounds of the writer. It
is not possible for us to regulate the
character of our summers, but knowing
the kind of weather and general sur-
roundings that suit them best, we can
give them measurably such environ-
ment as will, under all the circum-
stances, produce the best possible re-
sults.

The soil best suited to the dahlia is
one that has been made rich, has been
deeply cultivated, and is quite friable.
Even then it is well to put a shovelful
of well-rotted manure into the hole, in-
corporate with it some of the best of the
surface soil, scatter a little surface soil
on that and plant .the dahlia tubers so
that the neck or collar of the plant will
be just slightly below the surface of the
ground. Drive a stout stake beside it,
to which you can tie the dahlia as it
grows, for it will need this support lest
it be broken to pieces by the winds.
Give the plant abundant room, say from
five to six feet in every direction, and
if you have several plants, set them that
distance apart each way.

26

THE OANA-DIAN HORTICULTURIST.

Do not plant your dahlias in the
open ground until the summer has fairly-
set in, and all danger from frost is
passed, for it is very sensitive to frost.
"When the season has advanced and you
find that the weather is becoming hot
and dry, then mulch your dahlias by i
covei'ing the ground over the roots for *
the distance of two feet around the
plants with two or three inches of half-
rotted stable manure, and if you wish
to hide this from view, throw a slight
covering of surface-soil over it. This
will keep the moisture that is in the
soil from evaporating too rapidly, and
when there is rain, it will afford some
additional stimulant and nourishment
to the plant. Should the weather con-
tinue dry, your dahlia will well repay
you for your trouble if you will water
it every evening aft^r the sun is down,
pouring the water all over the plant
through the fine rose of a watering pot
that will hold a good pailful of water.

After the season is over, and the
aiitumn frosts have blackened your
beautiful dahlias, then cut them off at
about four inches from the ground, take
up the tubers, let them dry for a couple
of hours, then pack them in a box of
dry soil and store them away in a per-
fectly frost-proof cellar until wanted for
another season.

If it is desired to multiply the num-
ber of plants, this can ho done by split-
ing the stalk down, in the spring, just
before planting out, taking care that
there is a bud on each piece. These
buds will be found at or near the collar
of the old stalk that you will split up

to increase your stock of plants. They
may be also increased by cuttings of
the young shoots. To do this advant-
ageously, cover the tubers of the old
plant lightly with soil, leaving the
collar exposed, and place it where it
may have light and heat sufficient to
induce growth. When the young shoots
have grown to the length of three or
four inches, cut them off so as to leave
a couple of buds on the part remaining
attached to the plant. Set each of these
cuttings in a thumb pot filled with pure
sand, place them on a gentle bottom
heat and shade them from the sun. In
a fortnight or three weeks they will
have emitted roots. They should be
then re-potted into three-inch pots,
filled with light, friable soil, and kept
well shaded from the sun until they be-
gin to grow. During all this time,
water cautiously, keeping the sand or
the soil moist but not wet. The buds
left on the portion of the shoot attached
to the old plant will grow into other
shoots in due time ; these may be cut
off in the same manner and rooted in
the same way, and the process repeated
as long as desired.

When these rooted cuttings have be-
come well established, they will no
longer require shading from the sun,
but should be gradually inured to the
sun and air, or as the gai'deners term it,
" hardened off," so that when the sum-
mer has come and all danger of frost is
over, they may be planted in the open
ground in the manner already above
mentioned, and tranted during the
growing season in the same way as

IHE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

27

directed for the tuber. If well cared
for and well fed, these cuttings will
soon become large plants and yield an
abundant bloom.

WANTED.

The Editor of the Canadian Horti-
culturist desii'es to obtain a few copies
of the April number of Volume V., that
is, April, 1882. Any one having a copy
to spare will confer a favor by mailing
it to D. W. Beadle, St. Catharines. In
return for it, he will be happy to mail
a copy of Volume IV. complete, if de-
sired.

WHAT THE PEOPLE SAY.

Find enclosed one dollar, my subscip-
tion for this year to the Horticulturist.
I was near forgetting it, as I was burned
out lately, but I could not do without
your valuable monthly.

Tho.s. Kent.

Peterboro', Jan. 7, 1885.

Dear Sik, — I find the Hortictdturist
as interesting as ever. The Society is
doing a work which is not sufficiently
appreciated by the farming community.
Your effort to test and disseminate in-
formation i-egarding hardy fruits is of
priceless value to this northern country.
I believe that in twenty years will be
seen fine flourishing orchards on every
farm. Even in this village, which at
the present time is almost destitute of
fruit, I am farming on what was once
an island, in the valley of the ISTottawa-
saga. I planted a small orchard ten
years ago, and have met with a fair
measure of success. I should be glad to
write my experience if I thought it
would be of any service to your readers,
but really the articles from your num-
erous correspondents are so practical

and far-reaching that little is left to be
said by an amateur.

Yours, &c.,

Minesing, Ont., Dec. 14, 1884. F. F.
[Please give your exjDerience to our
readers.]

The Canadian Baldwin you sent us as
a premium last spring, grew nicely last
summer. We are very much pleased
with the Horticulturist, and can only
expness my astonishment that you can
aflbrd to send such valuable premiums
to your subscribers. Please accept my
best wishes for your future success.

Sarnia, December, 1884. P. W.

I shall look forward to receipt of the
annual Report of the Fruit Growers'
Association of Ontario. Last year's
report was very interesting, as also I
find the Canadian Horticulturist. I
will endeavour to send you a new sub-
scriber or two. You certainly give
good value for subscription, and should
be well supported.

Geo. Hallen.

Oakville, 31st December, 1884.

I have been much pleased with the
magazine, Canadian Horticulturist, and
have derived many hints from it that
have been worth far more than the cost
of the periodical.

T. J. Wheeler.

Georgetown, December, 1884.

I think that the best dollar I ever
expended was when I subscribed for the
Cayiadian Horticulturist. It contains
a greal deal of information to all lovers
of fruit and flowers. I hope it may
long succeed.

Yours very truly,

S. J. Smith.
Wingham, January, 1885,

28

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

QUESTION DRAWER.

1. — I have about two acres of land
which I intend planting with apple
trees. It is limestone gravel mixed
with sandy loam to a depth of from a
foot to eighteen inches, under that a
strong whitish clay. I want to plant
about five kinds, to be at their best or
ripen as follows : — Some in January,
some February, some March, some
April, some May. I want a fair sized
apple with an attractive appearance
and good quality, that will hold on to
the tree till they are palled off. What
kinds would vou recommend to fill the

biin

2. — I also have a piece of land I want
to plant with asparagus. I have read
a good deal about growing asparagus,
and still I am ])artly blind. I would
like to know why it should be planted
deep in the ground. I think it is un-
natural. When you raise plants from
the seed do you put the seed six or
eight inches under ground 1 I don't,
because it is contrary to Nature's laws ;
and why put the plants so deep in the
ground 1 One man says don't cut your j
asparagus under ground because it is ^
hard and stringy. If it is not fit for '
use under ground what is the use of
growing six or eight inches for noth-

intr ? Yours, SUBSCRIBER.

Reply. — 1. If "Subscriber" had
added the place of his residence at the
foot of his inquiries it would have been
of great service in giving a satisfactory
reply. As it is we are ignorant of the
peculiarities of his climate. If the fol-
lowing varieties will thrive at his place
we think they will " fill the bill," pre-
suming, from his condition that they
must have an attractive appearance,
that he wants them for market pur-
poses, which fact modifies the meaning

of the expression " good quality." For
January, Hubbardston Nonsuch ; for
February, Wagener; for March, Bald-
win ; for April, Golden Russet ; for
May, Roxbury Russet. If the Russets
are not sufficiently attractive in ap-
pearance substitute for them as follows :
— For April, Ben Davis ; for May,
Northern Spy. It will nevertheless be
found in practice that we cannot divide
off our winter apples into separate
months in this way with precision.
They will vary somewhat in their time
of coming to perfect maturity accord-
ing to the variations in the seasons,
and the manner in which they are
treated, especially the temperature of
the place where they are stored.

2. Asparagus — " Subscriber " asks
why should it be planted deep in the
ground] We would ask, who says it
should? Certainly not the author of
theCanadian Fruit, Flower and Kitchen
Gardener. He says, page 195, "the
crown covered about two inches deep
j with earth." If the crown is only two
or three inches below the surface there
will not be six or eight inches of stalk
crown for nothing. The same writer
says, page I 96 : — " It is the practice of
many to cut the buds two or thi-ee
inches below the surface ; but why we
should take so much pains to secure a
long, white, woody stalk which no
cooking will make tender and no per-
son can eat, is more than we can un-
derstand. It is the practice of the
writer to cut the buds, when three to
five inches long, just above the surface
of the ground, thus securing for the

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

29

table all the green portion, and leaving
the white part in the soil. In this
way there is no danger of injuring the
buds yet below the surface."

Mr. Editor, — 1. Tell me the best
dressing to put on apple trees for pre-
venting the boi-ers. Will tar and clay,
as spoken of in July numbei-, page 157,
or would clay and cow dung be a pre-
ventive 1

2. What could now be applied to
apple trees to kill or destroy the eggs
of the aphides 1 I know they can be
destroyed in summer with tobacco
water, but what will destroy the eggs
now without injury to the buds of the
trees 1

3. How the best way to pack small
plants to send to England, and what
weight is allowed and what rate of
postage is required l

4. How best to prepare pyrethrum
powder from the pyrethrum flowers.
I believe it is made fx'om them.

Muskoka, Jan., 1885. H.

Reply. — 1. At page 39 of the Oan-
adian Fruit, Flower and Kitchen Gar-
dener the author says : — " There is a
simple method of keeping them out of
the trees. Strong alkalies will destroy
the vitality of the egg. The most effi-
cient method of applying this alkali is
in the form of a ropy soft soap, rubbed
upon the body of the ti-ee with a swab,
particularly at the collar. A solution
of potash at the rate of a pound of
potash to two gallons of water will be
found to answer the purpose in the
absence of soft soap, but will need to
be oftener applied." We have more
confidence in the alkali preventive than
in the gas-tar and clay, or cow dung
and clay.

2. The same alkaline application can
be safely applied to the trees before the
buds swell, and will destroy the insects
or their eggs.

3. Make a thick puddle of clay and
puddle the roots well ; then pack in
moss that feels dry when pressed in
the hand. The weight allowed to the
United Kingdom for samples is eight
ounces ; size, 24 inches in length, and
twelve inches in breadth or depth ; rate
of postage is one cent for every two
ounces or fraction thereof.

4. It is ma.de by drying and pulveriz-
ing the flowers. Cannot give any par-
ticular method as beincj the best.

I like the Canadian Horticulturist
very much and find it quite a help.

I have a small garden and only cul-
tivate for my own pleasure and family
use. I try to have a little of every-
thing that is going if possible, but some
things fail me ; perhaps you might be
able to give me a few hints.

1. I have about one dozen apple
trees now seven years old, but as yet
have never borne fruit. They are
pruned every spring and the earth
stirred slightly, and to look at them
they are as healthy and luxuriant as
one could wish for.

2. Are some grape plants. I have
six kinds of Rodgers' grapes ; they are
now five years old, and have not borne
anything worth speaking of; they are
inclined to run to wood and foliage.
They are beautiful to look at. I think
they are properly cared for as far as
pruning and winter protecting are con-
cerned, [t may be that the climate is
too cold for them and tlie season too
short, away up here on the shore of
Lake Huron.

3. I have some window roses that
give me a great deal of trouble. They

30

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

are attacked by the red spider about
every month, which destroys the leaves
as well as keeps them from blooming ;
and one of them is all covered with a
flat sort of a louse that sticks tight to
the branches and under side of the
leaves. I wash them off every two or
three weeks, but they are as bad as
ever by two or three weeks again.
Strawberries do well up here.

I have the Wilson, Sharpless, New
Dominion, and Early Canada. The
Wilson is the most productive ; the
others are about alike in fruitage al-
though differing in flavor.

Currants and gooseberries also do
very well, but I fear I am trespassing
on your time and patience.

Wishing for the Canadian Horticul-
turist an increased circulation during
the coming year,

I am, Sir, respectfully yours,

Mrs. John George.

Port Elgin, January, 1885.

Reply. — The probability is that the
apple trees have been so well fed and
cai'ed for that they are growing too
fast to bear fruit. Try what a little
neglect will do for them — no pruning
and no cultivation for a year, and see
if they do nob form blossom buds.
Strong wood growth and fruit produc-
tion do not go together.

2. Probably your grape vines have
been pruned too severely. Leave more
wood on the vines, more buds on the
canes of last summer's growth. The
Rogers varieties are usually rampant
growers, and fruit better with moderate
pruning. Try Early Victor and the
Brighton.

3. You keep the atmosphere o? your
window too dry, hence the red spider.
Put an open pan of water on the stove

and keep up a good supply of vapor.
Put your lousy plant under a barrel
filled with tobacco smoke, or Wash it
thoroughly twice a week with tobacco
tea, until they disappear.

NIAGARA AND JESSICA GRAPES.

Mr. Editor, — Will you have the
kindness to inform the readers of the
Horticulturist what description of soil
is best apapted to the gi'owth of the
Niagara Grape, as well as that best
suited to the Jessica ; and also whether
the Niagara ripens its fruit as early as
the Jessica.

Can you name any sections of the
Province of Ontario where the Catalpa
speciosa has been sufficiently tested to
prove ib sufficiently hardy to endure
our climate 1

Respectfully yours,

JOHX KXOWLSOX.

Lindsay, 17th Dec, 1884.

Reply, — The writer has never grown
a plant of the Niagai-a grape. The
company controlling it would not allow
nui'serymen to have it except on con-
ditions that made it of no value to
them, hence we have not sufficient
knowledge on the subject to frame a
I'eply. Your neighbor, Mr. Thos.
Beall, has a number of the vines ; he
can tell you that the vines flourish
finely in his soil.

The Jessica flourishes best in a well-
drained, rich, loamy soil, especially one
that is of a limestone character. In
point of quality it is far finer and
jiurer than the Niagara, being wholly
free from foxiness, which cannot be
said of the Niagara, and ripens before
it. The crop of Jessica can be mar-
keted before the Niagara makes its
appearance.

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

31

STRAWBERRIES AND GRAPES.

In your next number please tell
what varieties of (1) strawberries and
(2) grapes would prove most satisfac-
tory for this part of Ontario As I
grow the fruit for home use only I care
nothing about carrying properties.

S. Warren.
Brooklyn, Jan., 1885.

Reply. — 1. For crop, Wilson and
Crescent ; for quality, Jersey Queen,
Mrs. Garfield, and Triumph de Gand.

2. Worden, Early Victor, Moore's
Early, Brighton, Jessica, Lady, Niagara,
Delaware.

What soil would be the best in which
to plant the hardy Catalpa 'I

W. SWITZER.
Anderson, Ont.

Reply. — We have only had experi-
ence with it in sandy and gravelly loam.
They do well in such soil.

I have been very anxious to find for
some years back if the system of prun-
ing and training grape vines practised
by the Italians employed by the late
Mr. Decourtney at Cooksville has suc-
ceeded ultimately. Perhaps you would
put the question in your next issue
under the head of " Question Drawer,"
and oblige an old subscriber.
Yours truly,

T. D. Lloyd.

P. S. — I should have said the system
did very well here for a couple of years
after the vines commenced to bear good
crops. After that the infirmities of
old age (as with myself) began to show.
— T. D. L.

Reply. — Will some one who knows
please to reply 1

CORRESPONDENCE.

HEDGES.

An excellent defensive hedge for the
orchard and fjirm can be made of our
native crab apple {pi/rus malus odorata),
capable of keeping out cattle, and par-
ticularly the ubiquitous boy, who wants
to help you, by disposing of your choice
pears, apples, &c.

It is certainly superior to the Buck-
thorn, Osage Orange, Honey Locust,
and all the varieties of the Hawthorn
(crat(egus) foinily. The European var-
iety (oxycmitha) is too tender, and very
subject to the downy aphides, and our
natives of this genus, although hardy
and bear shearing or pruning well, are
subject to suckering.

For ornamental hedges, there is
plenty of material suitable to the taste
of the planter, such as White Cedar
(arborvitte), Hemlock Spruce, Tartarian
Honey-suckle, Japan Quince (pyrus
Jciponica), Privet {Lygustram vul-
gar e), Barberry [Berheris).

For evergreen hedging, or wind-
breaks, nothing that has as yet been
tried is equal to the Norway Spruce ;
of deciduous trees, the Beech {Fagus
feruginea) might be used advantageous-
ly, as it retains its browned foliage dur-
ing the winter. The European Beech
(^Fagus sylvatica) is used for this pur-
pose, and also for ornamental purposes,
I have tried it, but find that the young-
shoots are apt to be irozen back during
winter.

For ornamental hedges, there is
plenty of material suitable for this pur-
pose to meet the taste of the planter,
such as oiir common Ai'borvitfe, Hem-
lock Spruce, Tartarian Honey-suckle,
Japan Quince, Privet, &c. I have also
seen, when residing in the Lowlands of
Scotland, the old-fashioned, original
Fuschia {var. coccinea), used for this
purpose, but it was protected in winter

32

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

by broom botigtis. It would scarcely
be hardy enough in this climate.
^ The native crab apple grows singly on •
the lawn, is a beautiful object when in
blossom, the flowers are very fragrant,
and it will certainly vie with any of the
fancy hawthorns, which are tender and
only short-lived. I am astonished that
the crab apple has never appeared in the
select lists of ornamental small trees.
It may possibly be that it is because it is
a native — foreigners being preferred.

Berlin, January, 1885. R-

APPLES FOR MARKET.
The best varieties of apples for a
town or city market, and to realize the
best prices for summer and early fall,
are in their order of ripening, the fol-
lowing, viz.: — Tetofsky, Early Harvest
(when grown without spots), Duchess
of Oldenberg, Red Astrachan, Benoni,
Keswick Codlin, Hawley, Porter, St.
Lawrence, Gravenstein, and Colvert.
The new Russian varieties lately intro-
duced— the Grand Sultan and Yellow
Transparent — have not as yet fruited,
but from what I learn, they will be an ac-
quisition to our very early varieties, and
likely to throw the Early Harvest out
of cultivation, as it cannot now be de-
pended on. Late fall or early winter
are comparatively worthless for market-
ing, and are only tit for making cider,
feeding stock, and evaporating. The
Ribstone Pippin, Blenheim Orange,
and Dutch Mignonne, all belonging to
the same type, are the only exceptions.
Late winter varieties, such as the fol-
lowing : — Golden Russet, Baldwin,
Northern Spy, Rhode Island Greening,
and Grime's Golden, are good value in
either a home or foreign market, being
generally well known.

I know that a large number of varie-
ties of apples may suit the tastes of
amateurs, exhibitors at shows, and ex-
perimentalists, but to the party who

wants to make apple-growing profitable,
the varieties alluded to are all that ai'e
necessarily required.

Simon Roy.
Berlin, January, 1885.

PEARS.

I am of the opinion that if a differ-
ent mode of propagating our choice
pears from what is generally practised,
namely by working close at the gi'ound,
is not inaugurated, there will be very
few left escaping the blight.

Amongst some thirty varieties which
I have tried, being root-worked or near
the ground, I find only a few that can
be really relied upon, and these are the
Rostiezer, Clapp's Favorite, Vezouziere
(a Bergamot shaped fruit). Ananas
D'Et^, Doyenne D'Et^, and Belle
Lucrative.

If worked at standard height, say
about four feet, on wilding stocks, the
more thorny the better, almost all
varieties do better ; fine specimens of
the following varieties can be grown in
this way, such as Bartlett, Bosc,
D'Anjou, Superfine, Buffum, Mount
Yernon and Giffard, which latter is
particularly adapted for this manner of
propagation, as it is a poor grower
when worked at the ground.

The Flemish Beauty is generafiy
considered a hardy and very thrifty
growing tree ; the latter I will admit,
but it is a tree as subject to blight as
the Dearborn Seedling.

I examined some trees which were
badly blighted and found that the
heart of the trunk was rotten ; so also
of some others, such as Lawrence,
Clairgeau, Easter, and Onondaga, all
were blighted and prematurely afiected
internally. Has this internal condi-
tion of the ti-ee anything to do with
blight 1 I am persuaded it has.

Only a limited number of varieties
of the pear are successfully grown on
the quince stock, and these are Louise

THK CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

33

Bonne, Clapp's Favorite and Ananas
D'Et^.

When the pear is budded at or near
the ground upon a very thrifty stock
the first year's growth is too rapid,
and it seldom matures sufficiently,
especially if the summer is short.
This evidently is the cause of the de-
bility of the tree.

I think of working at standard
height some of our valuable apples,
such as Baldwin, King of Tompkins
and Chenango Strawberry, they being
too tender when low worked.

Berlin, January, 1885. R.

THE RUSSIAN MULBERRY.

No doubt some who have planted
only single seedlings of the famed Rus-
sian Mulberry will be disappointed in
not getting fruit. The fact is the tree
is disecious, either being a male {stani-
mate) or a female (pistillate), and when
grown apart at a distance from the
efiects of insects or the wind, the fe-
male tree will bear fruit, but no seeds ;
the male will blossom but have no
fruit. This peculiarity is often wit-
nessed in the vegetable kingdom. For
example, our cut-leaved Weeping
Birch is a female and cannot be pro-
pagated from seed if separated from a
monsecious bix'ch. The Lombardy Pop-
lar is a male tree, and both are or can
be propagated artifically, either by cut-
tings, suckers, or budding, or grafting,
as is the case with the former. A not-
able instance of the sexual character of
plants may be seen in the hemp ; in a
clump, you will find both male and
female plants growing together.

What has led to the supposition that
this variety of Mulberry, being a native
of Russia, must therefore be hardy, is
that the Duchess of Oldenburg is also
Russian and is very hardy. But this
is a mistake. This apple comes from
the confines of Siberia, from a latitude
as far north as Quebec or Labrador.

The Russian Mulberry is indigenous to
the South of Russia, near the sea of
Azov, the climate being as warm as
that of Ontario in summer, and not so
cold in winter. I find the tree no
hardier than either the Asiatic or
American varieties, and where either
cannot be grown successfully, neither
will the Russian succeed.

Seedlings of all cultivated fruits can-
not be depended on. One in a thous-
and may be good, and the only way to
perpetuate good varieties is by artifi-
cial processes. The cultivated Mul-
berry, either for feeding the silk worm
or for fruit, is grown artifically. The
majority of seedlings of the Russian
variety produce fruit no larger than a
common raspberry.

All Mulberries are more or less in-
jured in this locality by late spring
frosts, the young shoots being killed
back to the branches.

Berlin, January, 1885. R-

A PLEA FOR THE CHAMPION GRAPE.

To THE Editor of the Canadian Horticutturist.

In 1878 your correspondent planted
six grape vines. The smallest among
them was a Champion. In three yeai's
it had far out-grown all the others, and
commenced to bear. The year follow-
ing it was so loaded with fruit, as to
make the impression it woidd sui-ely
die from over-beaiing. But no ; for it
has gone on increasing ever since. In
1883, while the grapes on all the other
vines were badly mildewed, the Champ-
ion was completely free. Last year it
x'eached twenty-five feet on the trellis,
covering it ten feet wide, producing
140 pounds of good, sweet grapes.
From the 25th Aiigust they were
eaten freely, sold, given away, while
the seeds were removed from a sufii-
cient quantity to fill twenty quart cans.
After being boiled down with sugar,
the expressed juice of the remainder
was put up as unfermented wine,

34

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTUKIST.

which, without one particle of alcohol,
keeps well, making a refreshing, whole-
some beverage. In drinking it no
danger of imitating Noah.

In flavour the Champion grape may
be inferior : yet in the three essential
particulars of being very early, wholly
free from mildew, and immensely pro-
ductive, is has no compeer ; for every
year it bears twice the quantity of all
the other vines put together.

True, one thing in its favour must be
mentioned. It happened to be planted
oil the edge of an under -ground pool,
caused by water from the kitchen sink. !
But even hei-e its benefit is apparent, I
for it certainly absorbs the noxious j
qualities of the pool, thus promoting
health. Who wishes a full supply of .
ripe, sweet gi-apes on his table two j
weeks earlier than the Concord comes ;
in, let him plant the Champion, i
Surely this is the grape for the million i
Fra^s'Cis Colemax. '
Hamilton City, Ont. i

REPORT OX PLANT RECEIVED FROM
F. G. A. j

The grape vine (Prentiss G. ) you
sent me last spring has done well, j
Before I got it I had planted the Pock-
lington. Lady and Lady Washington,
still it seemed to take root sooner and
send out vines faster than any of them.
By the fall it had produced more per-
manent wood than any of the others.
Another feature about the plant I
noticed compared to the othei's was that
it stood the autumn frosts better than
the others. My soil is very warm and i
dry, there being onlv about eight inches
of earth on solid limestone rock, with ,
here and there fissures running through :
it. In the very dry season I have to
water all my plants, and while I
noticed some of my other grape vines
with their leaves softened the Prentiss j
remained fresh and green all through I

the season. I may be able to report
further after another season's trial.
Yours respectfully,

A. C. Sloan, M. B.
Annan, Dec. 29th, 1884.

BLACK KNOT.

Scientists haA^e demonstrated that
the Black Knot, affecting the plum
and cherry, is a fungoid epidemic, and
I think this theory is correct. Trees
of the Damson type are more subject
to it, and all the hybrids are moi-e or
less affected, particularly the Lom-
bard, Purple Gage, and Early Or-
leans ; others not having so much of
the Syi'ian element in their composi-
tion, are not quite so bad, such as
Pond's Seedling, Bradshaw, Glass'
Seedling, and Imperial Gage. The
only varieties that are exempt on my
grounds are the Prince's Yellow Gage
and Yellow Magnumbonura, evidently
having a hardier element in their com-
position, probably from some of the
wild varieties indigenous to Europe.
I think the liability of trees to be af-
fected with the Black Knot is exactly
in accordance with an unsound condi-
tion ; the trees which I cut down w^re
all rotten inside, having only a small
rind of sound wood next to the bark,
illustrating that an unsound condition
is more subject to the attack of epi-
demics than a sound one.

Plum growing has hitherto been a
profitable business, but since the ad-
vent of the Black Knot, orchardLsts
will have to substitute something else.

A field is now open for hybridists,
and I have no doubt but that a hardier
race can be produced, admixed with
some of the European and American
varieties of plums. The hybrids now
pi'oduced between the European and
American grapes are a success,
why not the plum.

Berhn. R-

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

35

THE ENGLISH SPARROW.

Alas for the poor Sparrow, whose
services by some are lightly thought
of, and who is discarded as a nuisance.
But such is the way of the world gen-
erally. A good and faithful servant,
after years of faithful and honest en-
deavors to perform the duties assigned
to him, is not unfrequently shown the
cold shouldei", and sometimes kicked
into the bargain. So it is precisely with
the Sparrow. After he has cleared the
orchards of caterpillars and our orna-
me:ital trees of these and other injuri-
ous insects, he is shown the cold
shoulder. The clamor is now for his
extermination ; but like the rat, who
is also useful in his way, both being
associates of man, who have followed
him from Asia in all his migrations,
neither now ai-e quite so easily got rid
of. having once obtained a foot-hold.

Arguments have been adduced of
rather a hypothetical character, and
theories advanced that the decrease of
insects is diie either to insects or fungoid
parasites, pi-eying upon them. This
may all sound very plausible in theory,
but more enlightened investigation is
required to make reasonei'S believe.

One fact is certainly patent, that with
the introduction of the Sparrow, bugs
of almost all kinds injurious to trees,
have gradually disappeared. Our native
insectivorous birds not being adequate
to the emergency, lience the importation
of the Sparrow was necessary.

In some places in Europe birds were
slaughtered indiscriminately, and the re-
sult was a pest of caterpillai'swas allowed
undisturbed sway, and the birds had to
be brought back again.

If the Sparrow is annihilated, a new
era of bugs will be inaugurated, perhaps
worse than what we have experienced,
then we will liave a confirmation of his
former usefulness.

His musical talents have not as yet
been developed, but his song, although

short, is often repeated, giving quantity
for quality. Neither is he gaudily at-
tired, his forte is use and not ornament.

The Coney (rabbit), a native of Africa,
at one time over-ran Spain, committed
great devastation, just such as is done
in the Australian Colonies at present.
Some Savan advised the introduction
of another African animal, the Ferret,
the natural enemy of the Coney. The
country was soon cleared of the destruc-
tive nuisance, but when the Coney was
destroyed and the Ferret had no more
to live on, he fell back on the hen-roosts
for a living ; but the last evil was of
minor destruction than the first, and
more easily kept in control.

So it is with the Sparrow, his natural
food is almost exhausted ; he must live ;
he will naturally fall back upon grain,
and is but poorly remunerated for his
services.

Evils apparently exist in the moral
as well as in the natural world, and of
such choose the least ; it is better to
submit to a minor evil, provided it pre-
vents a greater. The Sparrow is, of
course, a grain eater when he cannot
get bugs to eat, but his good services
amply repay all the depredation he
does ; besides, if too numerous, the
Sparrow is more easily controlled than
the bug pest, which has as yet de-
feated human ingenuity, especially the
tent caterpillar, span-worm, codlin
moth, and fall web-worm.

The introduction of the Sparrow as a
vermin destroyer, is due to James
Goldie, Esq. He at the time residing
at Elizabethtown, New Jersey. Some
parties interviewed him, representing
the ravages done by the span-worm to the
trees in the avenues, parks and squares
of New York, and asked for a probable
i-emedy ; the reply was given to intro-
duce the European Sparrow, advice
which was acted upon ; and as the
Sparrow began to increase, a corres-
ponding decrease took place in the

36

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

span-worms. Otliei- cities, Boston,
Philadelphia, &c., followed suit, with
equally favorable results.

Simon Roy.
Berlin, 5th -Jan., 1885.

SMALL FRUITS.

(For the Canadian Horticidturist.)

Some of our friends often ask us is
the growing of small fruits profitable?

In reply we say," Yes," under cei-tain
conditions.

There are two kinds of mistakes
which people make whei^ they begin
the cultivation of small fruit.

One is to devote the entire attention
to one kind, and the other is to attempt
the cultivation of too many kinds. If
we have only one kind under cultiva-
tion, and that kind fails (as the straw-
berry did nearly so last season owing
to the frost ip. the latter end of May
last), we are in a bad fix. The secret
of profitable small fruit culture is to
provide a succession of crops, then the
income will be steady, and some of the
necessary things about the business,
which cost money, can be in steady use.
Really profitable and reasonably sure
small fruit culture, we see therefore,
will be found in strawberries, rasp-
berries, goosberries, currants and black-
berries.

As to the varieties of the different
fruits to be cultivated, it will depend
altogether on the market. The indi-
vidual taste of the grower has nothing
to do with it. He is growing fruit for
profit ; he is growing it for othei*s to
buy and eat, and he must satisfy them,
and, too, he must regai'd the shipping
quality of his fruit. I have seen fruit
shipped to St. Mary's Market, and you
could track the express waggon from
the station to the store, the juice run-
ning from the crates. A good shipping
variety, although it does not biing so
so much in price in the market as
some other variety, is, of course, better

to grow than a variety which is really
superior otherwise, but will be worth-
less by the time it reaches the con-
sumer. The main point in all market-
able things is, the better it looks the
better it will sell ; and this is true in re-
gard to the small fruits, the better it
looks the better it will sell. The public
know nothing about quality, species,
and colour that people are after. Those
about to engage in small fruit culture
in the spring, should decide on a suffi-
cient number to last through the sea-
son, and next select varieties the
market demands, keeping in view their
shipping qualities and productiveness.

If spared, my next paper will be my
experience in these varieties.

Fish Creek. JoHN Little.

PLUM CUKCULIO.

Mr. Editor, — I have been a mem-
ber of the Fruit-Growers' Association
for a number of years, and have had
the benefit of many writers.

As I have read so many requests to
write experience of any fruits or vege-
tables, I venture to contribute my mite.

I read on page six of your monthly,
of 188."), what Mr. Johnston Eaton, of
Pennsylvania, writes about his experi-
ence with plum trees ; he says " take
sulphur and smoke the trees once a
week for two months." Now, Sir,
I raise good crops of plums each alter-
nate year. The way I do, I take air-
slacked lime when the plum ti'ees are
in full bloom. When the bloom begins
to fall, in the morning, when the dew
is on the trees, make the trees white
with the lime ; three times in two
weeks is plenty, or when you think
proper.

CABBAGE WORM.

Last year, 1884, I have grown the
best cabbage for years. My experience
is to take air-slacked lime when the
worm is eating the cabbage, an<l also

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

37

when the butter- fly is laying its eggs ;
watch for the young worms, put on the
air-slacked lime ajl over the cabbage
when you see them on the cabbage, and
yoxi will have a good crop.
Yours truly,

George Taylor.
Scarboro' Junction, Jan. 15, 1885.

CELERY.
I raise a great deal of celery and llnd
good market for it. I find Saudring-
ham and Boston Market the best I
have had. Wm. Turley.

Lucknow, Dec, 1884.

FRUIT GROWING IN COUNTY OF
GREY.

Dear Sir, — Last summer was a bad
year for fruit. We had neither plums
nor peaches. Plum trees were badly
killed around here. We had not very
many apples, but we had a great crop
of grapes and cherries. All the plants
I'eceived from the Association have
done well. The Glass Seedling plum
is quite healthy.

William Brown.

Annan, Jan., 18S5.

VEITCHE'S PERFECTION PEA.

Dear Sir, — I have read of this and
that best pea, but I think they must
be out and out best peas that can beat
Veitche's Perfection as a fine large
table pea, splendid flavor. It is a late
pea. I think if it was better known
it would be more grown. The only
catalogue that mentions this variety in
Canada as I see is Bruce & Co., Ham-
ilton. I wish I could get a good early
variety of tomato as reliable as the
above pea. T have purchased tomatoes
from time to time but cannot yet get a
reliable early tomato for the cold North.

T. A. H.
Muskoka.

GRAPE VINE FLEA-BEETLE.

In order to lessen the grape vine
flea-beetle an excellent plan for this
purpose is to provide some fly-paper
prepared with boiled linseed oil, etc.
These may be placed at the base of the
vine, and when the insect is disturbed
the natural course of protection is the
ground, and by this means is very
easily captured.

This plan may be very effective for
only a few vines, but may with ingenu
ity be applied on a large scale by plac-
ing the papers on a stretcher and
moving along from vine to vine.

Berlin, Jan., 1885. P--

MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL
SOCIETY.

Progi-amme of Meetings for Discus-
sion during the season of 1885 :

Feb. 7. — Methods of Fruit Growing, by
Prof. S. T. Maynard, Am-
herst.

Feb. 14.— Garden Flowers, by Mrs. T. L.
Nelson, Worcester.

Feb. 21. — Discussion on such subjects per-
taining to Horticulture as
may be suggested.
Feb. 28.— The Leaf as a Study, by Dr. G.
Austin Bowen, Woodstock,
Con.
Mar. 7. — Propagation of Trees from
Seeds, by Jackson Dawson,
Jamaica Plain.
Mar. 14. — Nomenclature of Fruit, by Hon.
Marshall P. Wilder, Boston.
Mar. 21. — Heating Greenhouses, by Joseph

H. Woodford, Newton.
Mar. 28. — A Comparison of Manures for
the Orchard and Garden, by
Prof. G. C. Caldwell, Ithaca,
N.Y.
The meetings will be held at Horti-
cultural Hall, Treraont Street, Boston,
at 11 o'clock. All interested are freely
and coi'dially invited to attend.

38

THE CANADIAN H0RTICDXTURI8T.

THE YELLOW TRANSPARENT APPLE.

The tree is a free and symmetrical
grower, upriglit when young, but
spreading as it becomes older under the
loads of fruit. TJie bark is of a light
cinnamon color, almost yellow on the
young wood, and the leaves are light
green, being slightly pubescent, and
whiti.sh beneath. It is a healthy tree,
and like most of the Russians, ' iron-
clad " against cold, enduring 40 deg.
below zero without injuiy. It is a hea^y
bearer annual. y in rich gardens, but
biennially on poorer soils, or in sod.
The fruit, faii-ly grown, is medium in
size, though specimens that would rank
as large may often be found on young
trees in good soil. But the tendency to
overbear is likely to make the fruit
small when not thinned, especially on
poor soil. The tree is of dwarf growth,
and, when branched low, nearly all the
fruit may be gathered by hand, even
from an old tree. My oldest trees ( 1 5
years old) have little fruit out of reach.

In delicate, waxen beauty, Lhe Yellow
Transparent, especially when allowed
to mature upon the tree, is unequalled
among American apples. It is soft-
fle.shed, and of a mild, delicate, but not
very high flavor —not equal to the Early
Harvest. But the fruit is always fair,
and its attractive appearance, joined
with its very good quality, makes it
extremely saleable. As an early mai'ket
apple, it has great merits. If gathered
just as the seeds begin to color, it bears
transportation well, and will keep two
weeks or more, before showing any signs
of deterioration. How fai- south it will
succeed, I cannot say ; but have no
doubt that in the mountains it may be
successfully grown nearly down to the
latitude of New York city.

There are at least two other Russian
apples which are nearly, if not quite,
identical with the Yellow Transparent.
I have them growinsf and bearing in the

same orchard, and cannot distinguish
any positive difference in tree or fruit.
These are the Grand Sultan and the
Charlottenthaler. The Grand Sultan
does not appear to be quite as hardy a
tree as the other two, or perhaps I should
say not quite so healthy, being subject
to bark-blight upon the trunk; by which
the young trees are destroyed, I have
in one place two parallel rows of Yellow
Transparent and Grand Sultan, set nine
years ago. The first are all perfect, but
of the latter two-thirds have died from
bark-bHght. The remaining trees of
Grand Sultan, however, cannot be dis-
tinguished in any way from their
neighbors. The Charlottenthaler was
at first thought to bear larger fruit than
the Yellow Transparent ; but my ex-
perience with the trees as they get older
does not sustain this belief. The young
trees of all three often bear very large
apples, but as they get older they all
come to about the same size. — J. H.
HosKiNS, M. D., in Rural New Yorker.

FAMEUSE SUCRE.
This " Sugared Fameuse '" is an apple
in which I have been very much inter-
ested since I first saw it, some six or
seven years ago. In quality for dessert
I consider it the best apple I ever met
with, decidely superior to Primate,
Garden Royal, Early Harvest, Early
Joe, or any of the highly and justly
admired American dessert Apples. In
size it is about with the Fameuse, but
more flattened. In color it is a dark
rosewood red, with a thick, firm skin.
It is in eating all through October.
The flesh is white, tinged with red or
pink, in quality soft, perfumed, and of
an indescribable luscious flavor, more
like some imaginary tropical fruit than
an apple. It is not sweet, having a de-
cided but delicate acid, yet shot through
with a fine, sugary sweetness and spici-
ness that must be tasted to be imder-
stood, but is something like sti-awberr}-

THE CANADIA.N HORTICULTUKIST.

39

ice cream. The tree is as hardy as
Fauieuse, an early and excellent bearer,

and the fruit is even and fair,
in our cities it wovild easily
dollars per barrel. — J. H.
M. D., in the Borne Farm.

If known
bring ten

HOSKINS,

SAPIEGANKA PEAR.

BY PRO. J. L. BUDD, IOWA AGR. COLLEGE.

The impression prevails that the
pears of Russia are coarse and unfit for
dessert use. With a view to removing
this impi'ession I send another note
from Mr. H. Goggener, of Riga, Russia,
on the pear bearing the above name.
In many places in Iowa it has shown its
ability to carry healthy foilage during
our changeable summers and to endure
our recent test winters :

" This is a pear from Lithuania, and
probably comes from the gardens
of the family of the Prince after whom
it seems to have been named. It is
found generally in Lithuania and Pol-
and. It is also found in the countries
belonging previously to Poland ; and
attains its highest point in the Govern-
ment of Vilna.

It has not, as yet, been described in
the works on German Pomology, and is
not known in other countries. In the
Baltic Provinces it is known as the
Courland Bergamot, or Round Berga-
mot. In form it is like a Bergamot, de-
creasing towards the stem ; towards the
calyx it is more flattened, and may be
mistaken for the Summer Bergamot. The
color is green when on the tree ; later,
light yellow, with red cheeks if exposed
to sun. It has many marked dots, and
is russety only at the calyx and stem.
The flesh is yellowish- white, juicy and
of fine Bergamot flavor. It should be
gathered early in September. It is a
good fruit for shipment, and in the
markets always meets with a ready sale.
The tree grows to a large size, usually
healthy. As it seldom suffers from
frost when blossoming, it usually bears

every year. It does not seem to suffer
from underground water, but does
poorly in sandy soil. The leaves ai"e
round, shiny and leathery, on long, red
stems. This is one of our best fruits.
It can be used for all purposes, and
therefore should be generally culti-
vated— Prairie Farmer.

ONTARIO'S CHOICE FRUIT.

MAGNIFICENT COLLECTION OF APPLES FOE THE
world's FAIR AT NEW ORLEANS.

Prof. William Saunders, the well-
known entomologist of this city, is at
present engaged in preparing for ship-
ment a collection of apples designed to
i-epresent at the great world's fair in
New Orleans some conception of the
i-esources of Western Ontario as a fruit-
growing district. It will be remem-
bered that in consequence of the apathy
displayed by the two Governments in
regard to having a good representation
at this exhibition, the directors of the
Ontario Fruit Growers' Association de-
termined to send a collection of fruit
that might in some degree do credit to
the Pi'ovince. Mr. Saunders entered
into the project with his characteristic
energy, and with the ass!.istance of Mr.
J. M. Denton, a grand success has been
achieved. Through the medium of the
press voluntary contributions of choice
fruit was solicited from the western
district, and the response has been a
liberal one ; in fact Mr. Saunders ex-
presses his conviction that the assort-
ment of apples is one of the finest and
most complete that he has ever seen.
The best fruit is being arranged into
fifty distinct varieties — four of each
kind being included therein — besides
which there are samples comprising
twenty-five, ten, five, and single varie-
ties respectively. In addition, two or
three bushels of good fruit will be sent
for the purpose of assisting in decorat-
ing the tables and enlarging the display.
Extra apples of each kind, of the

40

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

choicest varieties, will Vje forwarded, so
that any fruit injured en route may be
promptly replaced. The collection is
now being carefully packed, and will be
shipped to its destination not later than
next Monday. There is no doubt that
this magniticent display will i-eflect
much credit on the western district,
and it is a cause for congratulation that
the city possesses a gentleman of such
enterprise as Mr. Saundere. — London
Free Press.

LE CONTE PEAR.

A gentleman residing in Floi-ida
writes to the Country Gentlenuin that
this pear, by its superior vigor, rapid
grovvtli, early bearing and abundance
of fruit, which sells at satisfactory
prices, is making for itself a reputation
second to no pear before the public.
He says : I can show your readers trees
one year old from the cutting — we
i-aise them all from cuttings — cut back
to two feet last winter, that are now
(Sept. 1st) twelve feet high, with from
four to six branches, and larger trees
with proportionate growth. Some idea
of the size of a fruiting tree of twelve
years old may be obtained from one I
lately measured : Spread of branches,
35 feet ; height, about 20 feet ; circum-
ference of trunk, one foot above the
ground, 42 inches. Another, of the
same age, produced 45 bushels of fruit,
which sold on the tree for $26 before
it was gathered. The fruit sold from
here this season, in New York and
Boston, for $2.75 to $5 per bushel. It
improves in quality with the age of the
trees. Some of the best nui-serymen in
the South think that growing the Le
Conte here will, in the near futiu'e, re-
volutionize pear growing, using it for a
stock for others. One thing is certain
— we can now, with the Kiefler fol-
lowing, have pears for home use from
June to October in abundance, and

one of the most profitable market pears
known.

We desire to caution our Canadian

readers by telling them that this pear

tree will not endure our climate.

PERMANGANATE OF POTASH AS A
PLANT-FOOD.
A writer in the London Garden

gives the following interesting account
of his experiments with permanganate
of potash as a fertilizer : —

" I had been using a solution of this
for some time as a deodorizer and dis-
infectant, and as such recommended it
to a fi'iend. For convenience sake he
kept the liquid in an old watering-can
in the potting-shed, near to which was
growing a houseful of pelargoniums in
pots. It happened one day that a very
young practitioner watered the plants
on one side of the house with it ; dire
results being, of course, anticipated.
Such was not the case, however, but
quite the reverse, for the dosed plants
showed increased instead of diminished
vigour. I at once commenced a series
of experiments, using an unvarying
strength of as many crystals of per-
manganate as covered a six-penny piece
to a gallon of water for watering the
soil with, but for ovei'-head syringing
using double the quantity of water.
Rare ferns in a Wardian case four feet
by two feet have been syringed once a
week for some time with this, and are
to all but myself a mystery of luxuri-
ance. From ticuses to fuchsias, aspi-
distras to adiantums, tender grasses,
seedlings in pans, and roses in pots —
all without exception seem to derive
much benefit from its administration.
In order to ascertain its fatal strength,
I planted two plants of Tropceolmn ad-
uncum, one in sand saturated with a
strong solution repeatedly passed
through it, the other in the liquid
itself, covering the surface with cork to

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

41

keep the roots in and light out. Both
plants are alive and vigorous after two
months.

" Both manganese and potash," the
components of permanganate of potash,
are essential fixed elements in the
sti'ucture of plants. Manganese occurs
in small quantities ; and, although its
benehcial propei-ties have not yet been
definitely ascertained, it is doubtless
taken up by the rootlets in solution
with other matters. Of the absolute
necessity of potash for plant-food there
is not a shadow of doubt. In short, it
is essential to the life of a plant, and
there seems to be no end to its power
of combining with other substances, in
most cases rendering matters solvent
and assiinilable which without its aid
would have remained useless. The
liquid permanganate of potash certainly
looks a very risky thing to water plants
with ; but it is not so, for adiantums
dipped overhead in it gave no unfavour-
able result. Poured through a pot
tilled with pure sand, it filters through
as pure, colourless water of beautiful
softness. For flowers in vases it is evi-
dently good ; the water does not re-
quire changing or become offensive, and
the plants preserve an unusual fresh-
ness and vigour. I have used it for
some time in a glass button-hole holder,
and the flowei--stalks seized and ab-
sorbed the colouring matter in about
an hour. This was especially the case
with yellow flowei's. Overhead water-
ing with this liquid is disasti-ous to our
common enemy, the green fly."

APPLES IN THE LONDON MARKET.

Keeling & Hunt, at Moniiment
Buildings, London, England, on 30th
December, 188i, reported the following
sales, viz : — Choice selected Greenings,
10s. 6c/. sterling; Baldwins, 14s. 6c/.;
Roxbmy .Russets, 10*-.; Golden Russets,
12s. Qd.; Ribston Pippins, 13s. Qd.
2

THE YELLOWS.
The Gardeners' Monthly notes the
success which has attended the experi-
ments of a Mr. Miller in staying the
ravages of the " yellows," or a kindred
disease, which attacks the Rhododen-
dron, Norway Spi'uce, White Pine, and
other things, by the application of sul-
phur to the roots. " That the fungus
which causes the peach yellows," says
the editor, " is the same as that which
works injury in other cases has been
positively proved by exjieriments re-
corded in our pages, where a spadeful
of soil near a diseased peach tree per-
meated by the fungus spawn, placed
around a Norway Spruce produces the
disease in that tree also, and a micro-
scopic examination of the two fungi
shows them to be the same. A species
of fungus ferment seems to permeate
the whole tree after these attacks, and
buds taken with the ferment fungus in
the tissue and used for inoculating
other stocks will spread the disease.
Even seed taken from such diseased
trees carries a portion of the ferment
with it, and the disease is spread in
other directions." The editor then re-
fers to a visit to Mr. Miller, the con-
sulting landscape gardener, of Fair-
mount Park, N. Y., and says: — " Every
practical gardener knows that sulphur
is always fatal to the lower organisms,
though wholly innocuous as against the
higher forms of life, and it i-equired
only the suggestion to use that on
fungus below ground, which had been
fovmd so effectual on fungus above.
The sulphur application was quite as
effectual here, and Mr. Miller was quite
enthusiastic as he pointed out his Rho-
dodendrons and Pines,once so thorough-
ly disease-stricken that most gai'deners
would have at once committed them to
the flames, now as green and healthy
as the best. The only wonder is that
no one has thought to try sulphur on
the root fungus as a remedy for the

42

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

* yellows ' before. Probably it has
come about because those who have
suffered are chiefly among those who
have no regard for those who are
' fungus-mad,' and who are quite sure
that nothing is known regarding the
disease. For our part we regard the
successful experiments of Mr. Miller
as entitling him to a wide appreciation
by his fellow-cultivators."

CARE OF SCIONS OF THE STON E
FRUnS.

A student came to me to-day with a
copy of the Rural and directed my at-
tention to your advice to E. K. T. in a
late issue. Said he :■ — ■" Our class notes
say pack all scions in dry forest leaves."

The subject is worthy of more atten-
tion and careful experimentation than
it has yet received. An experiment
like the following will be conclusive : —
Pack away a bundle of cherry .'^cions in
November in moderately moist moss in
a moderately moist cellar. In January
use these for putting up say 500 root
grafts. At the same time and with the
same roots put up 500 grafts with scions
of the same variety packed in Novem-
ber in dry leaves in a box in the same
cellar. Set by the same man in similar
soil, it will always happen that the
stand will be from twenty to fifty per
cent, better with the dry scions. If the
scions be used for top-grafting or crown-
grafting in the open air the difference
in the stand will be far greater in favor
of the diy scions.

My attention was first called to this
subject in Mai-ch, 1870. The cherry
scions I was using in top-working were
cut in November and kept in the cellar
in quite dry moss. They were nice
and plump, with a show of callousing at
the base. I was sure they were in fine
order, yet less than five per cent, of
them grew. The same day it happened
that I put in a dozen or more scions re-
ceived by mail from the old homestead

in New York. These were so dry that
the bark was shrivelled, and I only ex-
pected to save the variety by the pos-
sible growth of one or two specimens ;
but they all grew. Since that time I
have experimented largely with the
stone fruits, and am certain that the
scions should be kept as dry as is safe.
In ail cases — unless the scions be scarce
and valuable — they are thrown away if
they show the least trace of the start-
ing of a single bud or of callousing at
the base.

The principle involved is the reverse
of our attempts to graft the cherry
after the water coming up from the
roots has commenced to change the
starch of the cell structure of the stock
into sugar water. If we expect a uni-
form and satisfactory union of scion and
stock both must be in dormant condi-
tion. The scions of the apple and pear
do not absorb water so readily ; yet
with these I have known many poor
stands to result from the use of water-
soaked scions. — Prof. J. L. Budd, m
Rural New Yorker.

AMMONIA FOR FLOWERING PLANTS
AND STRAWBERRY PLANTS.
A writer in the London Gardeners'
Chronicle says : — Last year I was in-
duced to try an experiment in chrysan-
themum growing, and for this purpose
purchased one pound of sulphate of
ammonia, which I bottled and corked,
as the ammonia evaporates very rapid-
ly. I then selected four plants from
my collection, putting them by them-
selves, gave them a teaspoonful of am-
monia in a gallon of water twice a
week. In a fortnight's time the result
was most striking, for though I watered
the others with liquid cow manure,
they looked lean when compai'ed with
the ammonia watei-ed plants, whose
leaves turned to a very dark green,
which they carried to the edge of the
pots until the flowers were cut. As a

THE CANADIAN HORTICTTLTUEIST.

43

matter of course the flowers were
splendid. The ammonia used is rather
expensive, as I bought it from a chem-
ist's shop ; this year I intend getting
agricultural amaionia, which is much
cheaper. I have also tried it on straw-
berries with the same satisfactory-
result, the crop being nearly double
that of the others. It is very power-
ful, and requires to be used with cau-
tion.

NATIVE AND FOEEIGN CHESTNUTS.

Among the later novelties in the
way of chestnuts the Japan varieties
are well worthy of attention. They
are probably of the same origin as the
common European chestnut, although
some of our botanists claim that they
belong to a distinct species, to which
the name of Gastanea Japonica has
been given. But whether originally
from the same species or not, the Japan
varieties, or at least the kinds that
have been introduced, appear to be far
more hardy and productive than the
varieties usually imported from Europe.
The trees grow rapidly when worked
on stocks of the American chestnut,
and usually commence bearing when
three or four years old. One of the
first varieties introduced produces a
large nut of a rather light mahogany
colour, with quite distinct dark lines
running from base to apex of the nut.
The leaves of this kind are also quite
distinct, being narrower than the ordi-
naiy European chestnut, and of a pale
yellowish green, the underside being
covered with a whitish pubescence.
The quality is also good for so large a
nut, but not quite so sweet as the best
of our native varieties. Another Jap-
anese chestnut, of which I have seen
only a few specimens, has from four to
eight nuts in each burr, the more usual
number being six. As might be ex-
pected with such a number of nuts

crowded into one burr, they are not of
a uniform size or shape, and the centre
one is often of a triangular form re-
sembling a large beechnut. There are
usually three or four large nuts in each
burr, and the others smaller and of an
irregular shape. The trees of this curi-
ous variety are very hardy and won-
derfully prolific. Three nuts in a burr
appears to be the normal number for
the chestnut, but it is not a fixed num-
ber either in the cultivated or wild
species of this country, at least ; for in
the Chinquapin {Gastanea pumila) the
nuts are mainly solitary or one in a
burr. We really do not know but this
is merely a variety that has been pro-
duced from the larger or sweet chestnut
of our northern forests. The Chinqua-
pin is a smaller tree — in fact in some
pai'ts of the South where this species is
indigenous, it is sometimes only a
small shrub, bearing abundantly when
but three or four feet high. — A. 8.
Fuller, in American Agriculturist for
February.

PROFITABLE GARDEN CROPS.

Wherever there are manufacturing
villages, early cabbages are always in
demand, and bring good prices. Spin
ach is another saleable vegetable. Beets,
parsnips, carrots, turnips, onions, etc.,
as well as spinach, may be sown in
I'ows far enough apart, to be worked by
horse implements. The distance be-
tween the rows is to be governed by
the width of the horse-hoe or cultivator,
which should close up as narrow as
twenty inches. A market-gardener
sows such crops twelve or fifteen inches
apart, but the farm -gardener has
cheaper land, and can give more space
if he can save labor, and substitute
horses for hands. Those who propose
to undertake farm-gardening, will do
well to begin with sweet corn and early
potatoes, and not undertake other gar-

44

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

den-crops until the land has been in cul-
tivation with these for one season. An-
other way to pi-epare the land for gar-
den crops is, to plough, harrow, and sow
it to buckwheat. When this is in flower,
plough it under, and sow it again to
buckwheat. Turn this under at the
proper time, and in September, or at the
usual time, sow the land with rye, to
be plowed-in next spring. The object
should be to bring the land, a few acres
at a time, into condition to raise any
garden- crops. The rai)idity with which
this can be done will depend upon the
amount of manure at command for the
purpose. It will be worth while for
all farmers, who are within easy reach
of a market, to give this subject proper
thought, and be ready to commence the
coming spring to make a farm-garden.
— Dr. Thurber iri American Agricul-
turist/or February.

THE BEST AUTUMN-FLOWERING
SHRUBS.

If we had to name the best spring-
blooming shrub, a fii-st choice among so
many beauties, might be hard, but
among fall-bloomers the Hydrangea
panicitlata grandijlora stands supreme
above all competitors, and. considering
its many excellent qualities, it seems
strange that it is still compai-atively
rarely found in cultivation. For small
inclosures it is rather large, and not as
well adapted as for large, open lawns,
where its effect, especially when seen
from a short distance, is I'eally grand.

In a neighboring lawn, in full view
from the window near which we write,
and several hundred feet distant, stands
a group of half a dozen large bushes in
full bloom, completely covered by their
large panicles of white and rosy pink.
A superb specimen of Abies Nordman-
niana, with its deep-green, glossy leaves,
furnishes a splendid back-ground ; on
one side stands a Magnolia raacrophylla,
which by the slightest breeze turns the

under side of its monstrous leaves to
view, giving a peculiar shining, glaucous
tint to the entire tx'ee. A little further
distant on the other side, is a beautiful,
well-shaped Kentucky Coffee-tree, the
tips of its branches just changing to
golden yellow in pleasing contrast to
the bluish-gi-een of the main foliage. It
would be useless to attempt to describe
in words the imposing effect of this
magnificent combination of rich colors
and graceful forms, which, we fear,
shows to better advantage from our
window than from the proprietor's own
grounds. — Am. Garden.

FARM-GARDENING.
The farmer who continues to i-aise
the same crops that he grew before
towns and manufacturing villages
sprang up all around him, makes a
great mistake. In the older States, at
least, there are but few farms not
within an home's or two houi's' ride of
a market. It is worth while for
farmers in such localities, to consider if
they can afford to raise field corn, when
sweet corn will pay them much better.
It is true, that sweet corn needs high
manuring, but when the ears are off,
there will be a heavy crop of the very
best fodder. The ears will bring in
ready money, just how much will
depend upon the market, but safe to
say, more than any ci-op of ripe corn
would be worth. It is a mistake to
grow late ])otatoes, to be dug when
eveiy one else has potatoes, anl prices
are low, while early potatoes will bring
several times the price of late ones. It
is so with other crops. There are but
few garden vegetables that may not be
grown as farm crops, and it is a mis-
take to raise produce that will bear
transportation from a distance, instead
of that suited to a near market, and
must be disposed of at once. A farmer,
on the other hand, would make a mis-
take, were he to devote his land to a

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

45

new set of crops at once. He shonld
determine to grow those things that
pay the best, and to gradually work into
a more profitable kind of farming.
Those who propose to do this, will find
sweet corn and potatoes excellent crops
to begin with. Others will pay better,
but these are best to prepare the land
for other and more profitable crops.
It would have been better had the land
been prepared for these last fall, but as
this was not done, make it ready as soon
as it is safe to work it. — American
Agriculturist.

THE CONCORD AND OTHER GRAPES.

Newport, Vermont, is in about the
same latitude as Kingston, but without
the ameliorating influenee of the water
which Kingston enjoys. Doctor Hos-
kins writes to the Rural New Yorker
as follows : —

" Here the Concord ripens about once in
five years, while the Salem is fit to eat
every year, and ripens well two years in
three. Salem lias one advantage over
most grapes, in being quite eatable before
it is ripe. But I begin to think both
Merrimack and Massasoit would have been
preferred to Salem if they had become
well known sooner. They are both a little
earlier than Salein. But our earliest good
grape is Brighton. If it would keep like
the three Rodgers' grapes named, I would
grow that only. Long-keeping gi-apes are
as valuable as long-keeping apples, and
that is where Vergennes takes ' the whole
bakery;' but it is too late here."

GREGG RASPBERRY.
Piirdij's Fruit Recorder says of this
black raspberry : — " This year's experi-
ence has satisfied us that there is no
black raspberry grown in this section,
and especially on our grounds, that will
yield equal to, and such uniform large
berries, as the Gregg. Our pickers can
pick, on an avei-age, the season through,
two quarts of them to one and one-
fourth quarts of any other sort, and the

reason for this is they hold out large to
the last picking, and, too, withstand
drouth better than any other sort.
Show us where an acre (we don't mean
an acre estimate by a few rods' yield)
has yielded one hundi'ed bushels of
fruit, as have the Gregg's. Persons
living in sections where land is fiat and
needs draining, and where Tylers will
stand and Gregg's have been killed back
some, can of course tell about ' Tylers
yielding as much as the Gregg,' but it's
not true with us.

" The Tyler and Hopkins are both
splendid sorts, and we shall set heavily
of all three."

PLUMS FOR A COLD CLIMATE.
A gentleman residing near Portland,
Maine, asks the editor of the Home
Farm for the best varieties of plum for
him to plant in his locality, to which
inquiry Mr. S. T. Cannon replies : —
For an orcliard of 100 trees I would
recommend the following soits : Lom-
bard, 25 ; Imperial Gage, 20 ; Brad-
shaw, 15 ; Yellow Egg, I 0 ; Gen. Hand,
8 ; Jefferson, 6 ; Shropshire Damson,
5 ; Fellenberg, 5 ; Monroe, 4 ; Mooers'
Arctic, 2. The fii'st five named in the
above list ai-e old, popular, and well
known sorts. The Shropshire Damson
is esteemed for its preserving qualities.
In regard to the Mooers' Arctic, I
think it not so good as most other
kinds, below medium in quality ; its
chief merits ai'e its earliuess in coming
into bearing and eailiness in ripening.

TULIPA GREIGL
Of all the known species of tulip this
is perhaps the most showy and desirable
as a garden plant. It blooms freely in
April or May, its large goblet-shaped
flowers being generally of a vivid scarlet
color ; but there are also purple and
yellow flowered forms. The bulbs are
so extremely hardy that they will with-
stand with impunity freezing and thaw-

46

THE CANADIAN H0RTICULTUKI8T.

ing, and even when the leaves are half-
grown they will endure a temperature
as low as zero without any protection.
The plant is a vigorous grower, attain-
ing a height of from nine to fifteen
inches, and bearing flowers from four to
six inches in diameter, when fully ex-
panded ; and three or four lance-shaped
glaucous leaves, with undulated mar-
gins, the whole of the upper surface
being boldly blotched with purple or
chocolate brown. Varieties occur with-
out spots ; and others with yellow and
spotless flowers. It grows freely in any
light rich soil, in an open sunny position,
and rarely requii-es transplanting. Any
one who admires handsome flowers
should not fail to get at least a half
dozen bulbs.

EARLY RICHMOND, OR KENTISH
CHERRY.

Doctor Hoskins says, in the Rural
New Yorker, " that at Newport, Vei--
mont, the tree is hardy enough to grow
to a large size, but it seldom bears, the
bloom being heavy, but a slight chill —
less than frost — prevents the fruit from
setting. By the way, will some reader
give his experience (as far north as
possible) with Lieb, Lai-ge Montmoi-
ency and Ostheim 1"

We would emphasize the Doctor's re-
quest and ask our readers to tell us
what success they have met with in
fruiting the Lieb, or the Large Mont-
morency, or the Ostheim. If our
readers will refer to page 166 of the
Report of the Fruit Growers' Associa-
tion for 1880, they will find that, at
Lindsay, Mr. Beall says the Kentish
Cherry grows well, and blossoms, but
will not set much fruit, and that what
does set falls ofi" when about the size of
peas. If a light chill, less than frost,
will prevent the fruit from setting, it
may be that a similar chill is the cause
of the premature dropping of the fruit.

BOOKS, &c., RECEIVED.

Science, an illustrated weekly, pub-
lished by the Science Company, at 4
Bond Street, New York, for $5 a year,
devoted to scientific subjects.

Canadian Breeder is published
weekly, at tlie corner of Church and
Front Streets, Toronto, S. Beatty, man-
ager, at $2 a year. It is devoted to the
stock and farming interests of Canada,
more especially in the live stock de-
partment.

Floral Cabinet is a magazine of
floi'icultui'e and domestic arts, published
monthly, at 22 Vesey Street, New
York, by the Ladies' Floral Cabinet
Company, at $1.25 a year, or it may be
had in connection with the Canadian
Horticulturist at $1.80 a year for the
two.

American Garden, an illustrated
journal of horticulture, published by E.
H. Libby, Greenfield, Massachusetts, at
one dollar a year, is edited most ably by
one of the most interesting of horticul-
tural writers, Dr. F. M. Hexamer. You
can obtain a specimen copy on applica-
tion to the publisher, and be able to see
how good it is for yourselves.

ViCKs' Illustrated Magazine is
always full of information for every one
who is interested in the cultivation of
flowei-s. The New Year number is very
handsomely illustrated with a colored
plate of Canna Ehemanni, and numer-
ous eugravings. It is published monthly
by James Vick, Rochester, N. Y., at
$1.25 a year, or will be sent with the
Canailian Horticulturist for $1.75, for
both magazines.

Gardener's Monthly is a well-
known standard publication, now in its
27th volume, published by Chas. H. .
Marot, 814 Chestnut Street, Philadel
phia, Penn., at $2 a year. It is still
edited by Thomas Meehan, so long and
so favox-ably known as both a scientific

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

47

and a pi'actical liorfciculturist. More
need not be said to denote the character
and vahie of this publication to all who
would keep abreast of the times in hor-
ticultural matters.

Scientific American is devoted to
the dissemination of information in re-
lation to art, science, mechanics, chem-
istry and manufactures. It is very
fully illustrated and of especial value
to every one interested in the mechanic
arts. Published weekly by Munn &
Co., 361 Broadway, New York, at $3.20
a year ; by arrangement with the pvib-
lishers, we can supply it with the Can-
adian Horticulturist for $3.50 a year
for both publications. See advertise-
ment in this number.

The American Agriculturist is a
monthly periodical of established repu-
tation, devoted to agricultural pursuits,
published by the Orange Judd Com-
pany, at ISTo. 75 1 Broadway, New York,
for $1.50 a year. It is ably conducted,
and numbers among its regular contri-
butors some of the best and most prac-
tical agricultural writers of the United
States. We club this with the Gana-
adian Horticulturist at $2.00 a year for
both papers, and for $2.40, the "Agri-
culturist Family Cyclopaedia," a valu-
able work of reference and general
information, will be sent in addition.
See advertisement in this number.

Southern Cultivator and Dixie
Farmer. — We are in x-eceipt of the
January number of this sterling Agri-
cultural Joui-nal. It has been changed
in form, being made more compact —
magazine size —and can be handled
with greater satisfaction and preserved
in better condition than the old form.
This issue numbers over seventy
\)ages, and in quantity it is ahead of any
agricultural publication that comes to
our office, while in quality it is the
only journal of the kind that is fully
adapted to the needs of Southern

farmers. The very best Southern
talent is employed in its columns. The
" Thoughts for the Month," and the
" Inquiry Department," are alone
worth the subscription price. The
jmper has pages for special departments
of farm work, and they are full and
interesting. Without enumeration of
the excellencies of this magnificent
journal, we advise each and every one
not a subscriber, to send $1.50 to Jas.
P. Harrison & Co., Atlanta, Ga., for a
year's subscription, or if they prefer,
we will send our paper and The Culti-
vator one year for $2.15.

Educational Weekly, published by
the Grip Planting and Publishing Com-
pany, at $2 per annum, is devoted to
the educational interests of Ontario,
and will receive a hearty welcome from
all those that take an interest in the
education of the youth of our Pi'ovince.
We have been very fond of boasting of
oar system of education as unsurpassed,
and flattering ourselves that we had
attained to perfection in educational
matters. This is far from being the fact,
however. Our educational system is
very faulty, and needs the careful atten-
tion of our educationists. We are wast-
ing the time of the average child on
things of no practical use. Careful and
well considered reforms are very greatly
needed, and a decidedly more practical
turn given to the common school in-
struction of our children to fit them for
the battle of life. To do this, we will
have to reform our Normal Schools, and
fit our teachers for the work they should
do, for we submit that our teachex'S
have not been properly instructed in the
true object of teaching, namely, to fit
boys and girls for the realities of life in
this eminently practical age. How far
this new Canadian publication will con-
tribute to the accomplishment of much
needed improvements, remains yet to
be seen.

48

THE CANADIAN H0RTICULTUEI8T.

"THE EMIGRANT'S NEW YEAR."

Fare-weel to the year thnt's fast wearin' awa',

Fare-weel to its pooriith and sorrow.
The fortune it brouj,'ht, wae's lue was but. sma'.

The new ane may glint on us to-morrow !

Last year I was hanie on my ain heather hill,

In our wee theekit house by ihe burn,
'Maiig neehors I lo'ed, an' lo'e them a' still,

An' I'm deein' o' grief to return !

I ken they a' wish ine a Happy New Year,

And speak o' the friends far awa' ;
But little they ken o' what I thole here.

Or the heart that is burstin' in twa".

Oh, why did I leave our snug " But an' Ben,"
Our bonnie kail-yard and the Smiddy?

Or wliit g^r'd me sell, to help us out here.
My twa grancie kye an' the cuddy ?

Had I the wit then I think I ha'e noo

I wadna be sabbiu' an' miirnin'.
But dark days may brighten e're the next j'ear is
through,

It's " a lang lane that hasna' a turnin'."

The Lord has been kind to spare my guid-man

Through s ckness that fell "U us sair.
He weighs a' our burdens, an' wunna' lay on

But just what He kens we can bear.

There was plenty o' room in our ain native soil

For John an' the callants an' mt.
And John and the callants w«re willing to toil

If the laird had just let us a-be.

But the laird o' the manor maun hae braw hanting-
gr^unds,

And earid mair for his " game" and his "deer " ;
He wanted the land for " Preserves" an' his hounds.

And expatriated us here !

They say the "guid folk" will make hames for the
jioor,

God send it were this very day.
For wi' strugglin' sae hard, wi' " the wolf at the door,"

Like the year we're fast wearin' away.

Oh, if they'd begin what they said they would do.
An' no daidle, but " do with their might,"

Many blythe hames where dark forests grow
Would shine m God's blessed sun-light !

And my three bonnie laddies wha' weary an' yammer.
An' greet for their parritch an' kail.

Would dance at the sound o' Dad's auld smiddy ham-
mer-
It's for them I am makin' this wail.

Yes : Geordie an' Jamie an' Sandy will grow
Brave men, an' stalwart in body an' mind.

And pride whispers fondly auld Scotia may know
What she's lost by losing sic men o' their kind.

Hope bids me cheer the incoming year

May chase a' our sorrows awa'.
And the joy it may bring will gar the " bush " ring

Wi' praise frae the hearts o' us a'.

Montreal. Grandma Gov/ax.

Shaffer's Collossal. — The season for
this monster ra,spberry is about the same
as the Gregg Black Cap, and the product
about twice as much. Our row of two-
year-old plants is a wonder indeed. The

bushes stand full six feet high, and heavily
loaded with fruit. The size is sustained
after all suitable nipping and cutting back
has been done ; the bush being perfectly
hardy and sufficiently sturdy and strong
to withstand winds. They should be
planted about eight feet by four ; 1,300
plants to the acre. They have the red
raspberrj;^ flavor to a large degree, particu-
larly if picked in the red stage. When
fully ripe they form a reddish purple, the
proper condition for the table, when they
are generally well liked ; but for market
or evaporating they should be handled
when red. As they lill the place of the
red sorts very well for common use, and
perfectly so for evaporating, they are
coming into very general use and demand.
The evaporated article is produced at much
less expense of time and amount of fruit,
and is of excellent quality, lience market-
able at paying prices. — Robtrt Johnson.

Keeping WATEI;MELo^s and Squashes.
— We ate the last of our watermelons Dec.
8th, a large one, a descendant from seed
brought from Virginia a dozen years ago
or more. This fruit, as itsually managed,
lasts only three or four weeks in the
Northern States. The season may be pro-
longed through October and November
with a little painstaking. >'?pecimen3 for
late u.se should be picked about a week
before they are in their best eating condi-
tion, carefully handled, and placed in a
cool dry room, where there will be no
danger of frost. By the first of October
they should be packed in dry saw-dust ;
clean, dry haj', or cut straw ; kept in a dry
room and used as wanted. The old-
fashioned way of keeping crook-necked
squashes, hanging up in the kitchen by a
loop of woolen listing, is still in use, and
is effective when the room is safe from
frost. When the coal is not sufl'ered to
go out, they keep w'ell through the winter.
The Hubbards and the Marbleheads are
good keepers under similar conditions.
Where there are closets against the chim-
ney, these and other hard-shelled squashes
keep well. The great secret of success is
in very careful handling. As a table
vegetable, and in pies, these winter
squashes are hard to beat. — Wm. Clift in
American Agriculturist foi- February,

PRINTED AT THE STEAM PRESS ESTABLISHMENT OF COPP, CLARK i CO., COLBOKSB STREET, ToROXTO.

Q^

f •

r

0

NARCISSUS.

THE

itt Sitttttlt

VOL. VIIL]

MARCH, 1885.

[No. 3.

THE NAECISSUS

The times change and we change
with them. We seem even to tire of
beautiful and pleasant things, and put
them away because they cease to in-
terest. Flowers become old-fashioned,
and in our love of new things the old-
time favorites are neglected, and for a
while forgotten. But by-any-by memory
recalls her long-forgotten joys, and we
go back again to our old favorites, and
plant anew the neglected flowers.
Thirty years ago nearly every garden
had its clumps of dafibdils, jonquils
and narcissus. And now, after many
years of neglect, these old-time favor-
ites are being sought for again. Exlii-
bitions are held expressly to display
their beauty and scatter their fragrance.
Attention is being called to their many
excellencies, and for a time they will be
again planted and admired ; and we
shall wonder that we could ever suffer
them to die out.

The pretty colored plate which en-
riches this March number will recall
familiar loveliness to many of our read-
ers, while to others, doubtless, it will
possess the charm of novelty. To
which will be given the greater plea-
sure; to those who look upon these
flowers with cui-ious interest, feeling

that there are in store for them new
sensations of delight in watching their
unfolding beauty and inhaling their
delicious fragrance for the first time ; or
to those in whose hearts deep memories
are stirred, to whom they speak " of
life's morning march, when their bosom
was young," of the home of their fore-
fathers and the friends of early days'?
Ah ! well, let there be joy to both and
to all in the culture and the gathering
of these spring-time flowers, we need
not question whose is the riclier if so be
that the cup of each is full.

Our plate represents three varieties
of narcissus. The largest flower, with
the bright pink or bright scarlet edge
upon the crimped crown, is known as
narcissus poetica, or the poet's narcissus.
It is generally esteemed the most beau-
tiful. The large petals are of the purest
white, the small crown in the centre is
of a light yellow, edged with very bright
pink. The flowers are very sweet-
scented. The bulbs may be planted in
clumps in the garden, in rich friable
soil, and allowed to remain undisturbed
for several years. Eventually the bulbs
will become too crowded, when they
should be lifted, after the leaves have
died down, separated and re-planted in

50

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

fresh soil. The flowers appear about
the end of May. They give a bright,
cheerful appearance to the vase or table
bouquet, and fill the x-oom with delight-
ful odors. This species is a native of
the South of Europe, but is siifficiently
hai'dy to enchire our climate.

The two other flowers, one of them
double and the other single, belong to
the species known as the paper-white
narcissus, N. 2^<^Pl/'>'C'Ceus. They are
both very fragrant and exceedingly de
sirable for window culture, but are not
.sufficiently hardy to endure our climate
in the open border Three bulbs may
be planted in a live-inch pot, in rich,
friable soil, with plenty of drainage in
the bottom of the pot. They should be
planted deep enough to bring the neck
of the bulbs just at the surface. After
planting, water sufficiently to moisten
the earth thoroughly, and then set the
pots away in a cool, dark place, until
they are filled with roots. This will
take place in about three weeks. When
the soil in the pots is well filled with
roots, they should be brought into the
light and kept in a temperature as near
sixty degrees (Farenheit) as possible.
If the heat be much greater, the flowers
will not be so well developed. As the
{jlants grow they need watering, jiist
often enough to keep the ground moist.
The beauty and fragrance of the flowers
will amply repay the care required.

There are many other species and
varieties of narcissus. Johnson, in his
" Gardener's Dictionary," ennumerates
upwards of ninety. The two-flowered
narcissus, iV. hiflorus, so called from its

producing two or more flowers on each
stem is also perfectly hardy in our
climate. The flowers ai-e white or pale
straw color, with a short, yellow crown,
having a white rim, and very fragrant.

N. hulhocodium is the handsome
hoop-petticoat narcissus, known in
France as " Medusa's trumpet." The
flowers of this species are bright yellow,
the cup is very conspicuous, widening
rapidly toward the brim. It is a native
of Portugal, and needs a light protec-
tion of leaves in winter and to be planted
in a sheltered situation.

The jonquil, N. jonquilla, produces
bright yellow, fragrant flowers, two to
five on a stem. It is quite hardy and
thrives well both in the open border
and as a window plant. There is also
a double-flowered variety.

The dafibdil, N. pseudonarcissus, is
also hardy, and very showy, coming
into bloom about the end of April.
Thei'e are numerous varieties. The
type is a single large flower with a
large cup, and both of a yellow color.
One of the varieties has white petals
with a yellow cup ; another has a yellow
flower with a deep golden cup ; and
another has several cups, one Avithin
the other.

The polyanthus narcissus, iV. tazzetfa,
is considered the most desirable of them
all, but it is not hardy in this climate.
We must content ourselves to employ
it for window gardening, for which it
is well adapted. The flowers are borne
in trusses of from six to twenty in a
truss, are large and very fragrant.
There are many varieties, some white

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

51

with yellow cup ; some white, with
orange cup ; others yellow, with orange
cup ; others all white or all yellow.
There is also a variety of double
flowers.

The President of our Association has
planted a large number of difl:erent
species and varieties the past autumn,
and it is expected that he will give us
the results of his experience with them
as soon as they have done flowering.

MARLBORO' RASPBERRY.

SPECIAL NOTICE.

We are instructed by the Rural
New-Yorker to say that those subscrib-
ers to the Canadian Horticultnrist who
have paid us three dollars in order to
club with the Rural New-Yorker, will
receive TWELVE plants of the Marl-
boro' Raspberry instead of four, as pi'e-
vibvisly promised ; and that any one
who may at any time during the month
of March send to this oflice three dol-
lars, will receive the Canadian Horti-
culturist during the year, with all of
its plant distribution, and the Rural
New-Yorker for a year, with its free
seed distribution, and TWELVE
plants of the Marlboro Raspberry,
together with the Report of the Fruit
Growers' Association of Ontario for
1884, now in press.

NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS.
If any numbers of the Canadian
Horticulturist fail to reach you regular-
ly, at the proper time, you will confer
a favor by at once informing me of the
fact by postal card or otherwise, and I
will have another copy forwarded to

you at once, and will endeavor to ascer-
tain the cause of the irregularity, and

apply the remedv.

D. W. Beadle,

Editor.

CANADIAN PLANTS IN JAPAN.

The following letter, addressed to the
President of the Fruit-Growers' Asso-
ciation of Ontario, announces the safe
arrival of the plants sent by him to Mr.
Tsuda, of which we gave a brief notice
in the February number :

Wm. Saunders, E;jq. — Dear Sir, —
How can I sufficiently thank you for such
a lot of valuable plants, which reached me
from you the last mail. The plants you
sent are most interesting, and I shall be
delighted to try them, and to propagate
them. They reached here in excellent
condition, the young shoots just ready to
come up, and I have placed them in the
ground and shall expect, in due time, good
results. Of course 1 shall let you know
how they do, and what success I have with
them, later on. I am almost certain they
will do well ere, as most such small fruits
do, and, in fact, in any part of Japan.
The weather is not yet very cold, and now
is the best time to plant them, which I
have done, duly and according to your ad-
vice as to the number of feet apart. I
shall be greatly interested to know how
they do, and shall take great care to culti-
vate them well.

I should be very glad to give you any
information about the native plants, and
as to the grape plants, 1 should be glad to
send you any variety. Just now is too
late to send, so I ^vill wait until the spring.
I will enclose you some seeds of various
trees, and more from time to time, as I
can get them. If T can do anything else
for you in my hne, I shall be most glad to
do it for you.

Many of the American fruits do well
here. The apple in the northern part of
Japan grows very well. I think, too, that
our Japanese Persimmon does very well
in your country. I shall be very glad to
receive any of the publications of your

52

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

Fruit-Growers' Association, and shall be
pleased to hear of the good work you are
doing in extending fruit culture among
the people of your country. If 1 have any
reports of the work here, I sliall be most
glad to send them to you.

And now allow me to extend you my
very best thanks for the interest j'ou have
taken in Japan and, thi'ough this interest ,
the favor you have done to me.

Yours, very truly,

T. T.SUDA.

Azabu, Tokio, Japan,
Dec. 3rd, 1884.

McINTOSH RED APPLE.

We have received from Mr. Allan
Mcintosh, of Duudela, Dundas Coiintj,
Ontario, a box of the Mcintosh red
apples, -with the request that we would
test them and let the readei-s of the
Canadian Horticulturist know what we
think of them. He remarks that the
spots on them, at his place, the past
season have been very light, and if the
next spring is not too wet and col^-
there will be no spots on them the com-
ing season.

In point of appearance we must say
that these apples are very handsome
indeed, that their beauty is enough to
sell them in any market. They very
much resemble very large and very
high-colored Snow apples. The form of
the apple is somewhat more flattened
than that of the Snow, but in other
respects the general shape of the fruit
is very like that apple. The color is a
rich dark red, relieved with lighter
coloring on the shaded parts, and thte
whole is covered with a thin bloom,
like the Red Astrachan. The flesh is
nearly white, not quite so white as that
of the Snow, nor quite so melting, yet

very tender, juicy and of excellent
flavor ; more highly flavored than the
Snow. It is a far handsomer and very
far better apple than the Ben Davis.
The specimens received were in fine
eating order, hence we infer that this
apple is at its best in January and
February when grown in Dundas
County, and if intended for the English
market, should be shipped in the fall in
preference to a spring shipment.

A HANDSOME SEEDLING APPLE.

We have received from Mr. M. E.
Park a couple of apples of great beauty.
He writes that they are from a seedling
ti'ee, grown in the same latitude as
Montreal, which is about six years old,
its trunk of the diameter of a tea cup,
and that it boi-e fully two barrels of
apples the past "season, which was its
second season of bearing. The apples
I'eceived were of large size, resembling
in form well grown samples of Northern
Spy, only not quite so conical. The
stem is about an inch long, very stout,
and set in a deep cavity. The calyx is
set in a basin of moderate depth, slightly
corrugated. The ground color is a veiy
light lemon, beautifully marbled and
shaded with bi-ight carmine, and the
surface sprinkled with minute grey dots.
It is one of the most attractive in ap-
pearance of any we have seen, rivalling
in beauty the beautiful Louise, which
was exhibited some years ago at one
of the winter meetings of the Fruit-
Growers' Association, in Hamilton.
The flesh is almost white, fine grained,
quite acid and not rich. It is too acid,
as tested by us, to be generally relished

THE CANADIAN HORTICCLTUKIST.

53

as a dessert fruit ; perhaps later in the
season the acidity may become less
prominent. We think it would make
an excellent cooking apple. If the tree
be extremely hardy, capable of endur-
ing the extreme cold of Northern On-
tai'io, this seedling will be very valuable
as a winter apple for those parts of the
country where our higher flavored
varieties utterly fail.

APPLES IN ENGLAND.

Keeling & Hunt, London, England,
report sales, Febriiary 6th, 1885, of
Baldwins at 15s. 6c?. to 1 9s. sterling,
the latter price being for high-colored
fruit ; R. I. Greenings at 8s. to 18s.;
Roxbnry Russets at 23s. 6fZ.; American
evaporated apples at 40s per hundred
weight.

Green &, Whineray, K. 30, Exchange
Buildings, Liverpool, England, report
on 7th February, as follows :

The following quotations are for tight
barrels : Baldwins, Boston, 14s. to 17s.;
do., Maine, 16s. to 17s. 6d.; do., New
York, 15s. to 16s. 6fZ. ; do., Canadian,
16.'^. to IDs.; Greenings, 13s. to 16s. Qd.;
Black Oxford, 1 4s. to 15s.; Newtons,
20s. to 25s.; Rox Russets, 12s. to 15s.;
Golden Russets, 17s. to 19s.; Golden
Russets (Canadian), 22s. to 26s.;
Northern Spy, 13s. to 18s.; Kings, 20s.
to 23s. Slack packed, 12s. to 14s. (id.
Slack and wet, 9s. to 12.s-. Qd.

Arrivals for the week are as follows :
Wyoming, at New York, 812 brls.;
Britannic, at New York, 2,215 brls.;
Sardinian, at Portland, 3,993 brls.;
N'orseman, at Boston, 4,850 brls.; Vir-
ginian, at Boston, 2,439 brls.; Samaria,
at Boston, 1,414 brls.; Istrian, at Bos-
ton, 2,146 brls. Total arrivals for
week, 17,869 brls. Total arrival to
date, 409,070 brls.

CHARLES DOWNING.

The Fruit-Growers' Association of
Ontario, at its winter meeting, passed
the following resolution, expressive of
their sense of the loss sustained by rea-
son of the death of this eminent horti-
culturist :

Moved by Alex. McD. Allan, seconded
by P. C. Dempsey, and resolved "that the
Ontario Fruit-Growers' Association have
learned with feelings of the profoundest
regret of the death of the venerable Charles
Downing, of Newburg, N.Y., one of the
most unselfish of men ; in his writings
pointed and always reliable ; in his cor-
respondence prompt and obliging ; charit-
able towards all men, yet firm in all good
principles. There is, we believe, no hor-
ticulturist of the present century who has
left behind him so valuable a work of
reference ixpon frviits and fruit culture,
and at the same time retained so warm a
place in the hearts of all true friends of
horticulture. A man possessed of the
finest traits of character that combme to
make a perfect model of the true horticul-
turist, the man and the Christian. In
placing upon record our sentiments at
parting with one of so great value, not
only to horticulturists, biit to humanity at
large, we know that the gain is his while
we deplore the loss, and that he is now
reaping the rewards of so pure a char-
acter."

THE LONGFIELD APPLE.

Doctor T. H. Hoskins, of Vermont,
writes to the Rural New-Yorker that
this is the only winter apple of the
Department of Agriculture's import-
ation, that has fruited sufficiently with
him to give an idea of its merit. It is
of the size, color, form and general
appearance of Fameuse, but covered
with a heavy blue bloom. Tlie stem is
short and slender, inserted in a small
but i-ather deep cavity. The calyx is
closed and in a very shallow, regular
basin. The core is rather large for the
size of the apple. The flesh is much
like that of Fameuse and of very good

54

THE CAJ^ADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

quality. It keeps well into March.
It is a productive and valuable apple of
the ii'on-clad class, lacking only in size
for market.

Our readers will remember that we
gave some account of this apple last
year, see page 136 of Volume VII., and
that Mr. D. H. Carpenter, of Wis-
consin, speaks in very high terms of
this apple, saying that, when everything
is taken into consideration it is decidely
the best winter apple they have in
Wisconsin.

WHAT THE PEOPLE SAY.

You deserve all the support we can
give you. You are improving every
year, and I feel as if I must have the
publication. Rev. Dr. Armstrong.

Moore, February, 1£S5.

The vine received from the Fruit
Growers' Association last spring grew
nicely. We like the Canadian Horti-
culturist very much, and think the col-
oured plates alone are worth the sub-
scription. R. W. Bass.

Oxford Centre.

You give good inducements for people
to subscribe, but I am sori-y to .say there
is not any of my neighbors take any
interest in fruit-growing ; but some of
them like fruit, which T know to my
cost. W. J.

Huron, February, 1385.

I am happy to see the Canadian Hor-
ticulturist getting on so well, and trust
the Society is still doing better, as it
certainly deserves every encouragement,
for it is doing a good work, and is not
yet half appreciated. J. R. Cotter.

Barrie, February, 1885.

I am very much pleased with your
valuable monthly, and wish it all suc-
cess. I consider the twelve colored

plates alone worth the subscription
price, saying nothing of the excellent
and instructive reading matter. Hop-
ing each year will bring you increased
prosperity, I remain.

Yours, &c. ,

W. J. Patterson.
Binbrook, Februarj-, 1885.

I took the Canadian Horticulturist
last year for the first, and was very
much pleased with it. It is a pity that
the fruit growers of Canada are not
enough interested in the Horticulturist
to give it the support necessary to en-
able you to publish it weekly. The
age in which we live is a fast one, and
the old monthly system is too slow to
satisfy a fast people.

Robt. Sloan.

Clarkson, Feb., 1885.

I did not intend to subscribe this
year, for I am sick of attempting to try
to grow fruit for other people's children
to steal. Last summer I had 78 Flem-
ish Beauty pears stolen from me in one
day, it was done by neighbox-s' children.
The laws in this country are such that
a premium is given to young people to
steal, for if you prosecute, the parents
are fined, instead of giving them a good
birching, the same as they do in the old
land. But I will try another year.
Toronto, January, 1885. A. B.

Sir, — Please find 81 enclosed for the
renewal of the Horticidturist. I choose
for my gift the Catalpa. Please to re-
member that the January number has
not been sent. Being only an amateur,
with a small garden, I thought I ought
to do without it ; but I have come to
like it and long for it, and believe there
would be quite a blank if it were not
a regular visitor. It is well gotten up
and interesting, although I think a gi-eat
fault of you regularly-bred nui'serymen
is that you don't seem to know the
wants of us less skilled in the art. Bot-

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTUPIIbT.

55

anical names are seldom explained. For
instance, how could it be expected of
us to know the meaning of globular
glands, reniform glands, and the like 1
And when you talk of using the tap-
root, what do you think we know about
the tap-root 1 We may guess at it, but
that would be all. There is seldom
even a hint given why one kind of a
tree should be grafted and another
budded. It would also be very inter-
esting to read a chapter on the art of
hybridizing ; but as I have said enough
for the present, I will stop by wishing
you success in your noble work.

F. W. P.

CORRESPONDENCE.

THE STATISTICS OF FRUIT-GEOWING
IN ONTARIO.

The statistics of fruit-growing is an
interesting as well as an important sub-
ject, but it is not one to be easily dealt
with in so far as relates to the Province
of Ontario. The fact is that such re-
turns as have been obtained are conflict-
ing, and it is yet too early to express a
positive opinion as to their accuracy.
According to the census, the area in
orchard and garden in 1881 was 281,-
541 acres in the rural municipalities,
and 23,264 acres in the urban — making
a total of 304,805 acres for the Pro-
vince. According to the municipal re-
turns, which were collected by assessors
for the first time in 1883, the area in
rural municipalities ^vas 197,450 acres,
and in 1884 it was 192,837 acres. The
discrepancy between the census and the
municipal enumerations is nearly 90,-
000 acres, and is too large to be readily
accounted for. The source of informa-
tion is the same in both, for the census
collectors and the township assessor.s I
make a house-to-house canvass alike.
Why should there be so great a dis-
parity in the results^ Why should the

census for 1871 give as large an acreage
as the assessment for 1883 ? I cannot
answer, but upon comparing the asses-
soi's' returns for the two successive
years, 1883 and 1884, I am disposed to
think that they are more reliable than
those of the census. Between these
years the difference is only 4,600 acres,
and when one considers that there are
about 200,000 farmers in the Province,
it is obvious that a very slight change
in the returns of one-tenth of their
number might account for the aggregate.
There are not many farmers, even in
tlie oldest settlements, who know the
exact area they have in orchard and
garden ; but it is a reasonable supposi-
tion that when they find the question
asked by the assessor year after year,
as it now is, they will, in a growing
number of instances, endeavor to answer
it by actual measurement. Four or five
years hence we shall doubtless knoM^
the area of orchard and garden in the
Province with almost as near approach
to accuracy as we now know the area
of cleared land.

Assuming that there is uniformity in
the system of taking each decennial
census, the returns have at least the
value of enabling us to show the rate of
progress made. Thus we know that in
1851 there was in Ontai-io, on every
hundred acres of cleared land, an aver-
age of one and a half acres in oi-chard
and garden ; that in 1861 the average
was about the same ; that 1871 it was
two and a thii'd acres ; and that in 1881
it was two and three quarters. The last,
it must be allowed, is a very good aver-
age for the whole Province, and even
according to the assessoi's' returns of
areas, it is an average of nearly two
acres for every hundi'ed cleared.

Tn the following table the acreage at
four decennial pei'iods is given by
county groups, arranged as nearly as
mav be according to their climatic con-

56

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

ditions — the figures being for rural
districts only :

•<*< GO CC CS — '

^

■*

o 1

•O 05 fi O CO

^

r- C5 c-j

t^

t-^

1 '~'

in

'

o

r-^

C-l

vn

— < CI

1 "^

t^ O to CO IM

00

IM «0 OO

c^ 00 o t^ lo

00

eo F-^ >o

'

O »C O Tj< -^

00

00

1 "*

CO ec —

C5 GO

00

t-»

i>^ '

C-l

00

CO t- eo c-

cc

GO

Cl 5-

o

O G5 m m 00

^

O IT

C5

^

c

«£

n

CO o

lO

-i

»—

50

GC

■J-

c

00 o

o

o

t-

tr

-1

lO

c^

CJ

1

■X

cr

^^

ri

t^

(y>

f'

5£

1

^

r-

CO

or

CC

^^

c<-.

-^

«:

t-

e^

C"

la

00

" ^

rr

t^ ts

yi

IC

r_

,—{

iC

^

>c

t-

(M

iM

»3

<D

-ti

o

C

1

tS

K

-M

9S

ffl

.s

a;

CJ

■-*3

'■+3

o

j

6

c
>

o
O
c

'^

73

r2

O
T

^

C-;

2

J

P

H 1
1

&3

"5

S

ID

is

c

r

C.

c«

1-1

^

c;

>

"-^

02

w

??;

•-C

CO

■M

t^

r:

-

•t

^

These statistics furnish us with a
succint history of fiiiit-growing in the
Province, and they are of still greater
value in this I'espect if studied by coun-
ties. In the County of Middlesex, for
instance, the ai-ea in 1851 was 2,388
acres; in 1861 it was 5,030 acres ; in
1871 it was 11,908 acres ; and in 1881
it was 15,576 acres. In the County of
Bnice the area increased from 38 acres

in 1851 to 8,401 acres in 1881, and in
Gi'ey it increased in the same period
from 56 acres to 10.408. As evidence
of progress, these figures are very valu-
able, assuming even that they are cor-
rect in a relative sense, and if the same
rate of progress be maintained in the
next thirty years, Ontario's position
will be a proud one among the fruit-
growing countries of the world.

The statistics of acreages, as collected
by township assessors in 1883 and 1884,
are given by county groups as follows :

1884.

6 Lake Erie Counties.,
.3 Lake Huron "

2 rieorgian Bay " . .

7 West Midland " . .
9 Lake Ontario " . .

1 1 St. Lawrence and Ot-
tawa Counties . . . .
4 E. Midland Counties. -

3 Northern Districts . ,

Totals 192,837

1883.

39,952

40,084

19,952

19,907

11,577

12,22 -i

41,628

42,800

55,112

57,358

14,320

14,760

9,780

9,950

516

363

197,450

The greatest discrepancy in the areas
of these two years occurs in the Lake
Ontario counties, and is largely owing
to the recent extension of the limits of
Toronto ; the annexed lands being
chiefly occupied as nurseries and market
gardens. In the West Midland coun-
ties the returns of decreased acreages
are confined almost wholly to the coun-
ties of Brant and Perth. With refer-
ence to the Northern Districts, it should
be remarked that no returns have been
received from settlers in the unorgan-
ized municipalities, but their total is
pi'obably less than 1,000 acres.

As I have already intimated, it is yet
too soon to say definitely which statis-
tics are the most reliable — those of the
census enumerators or those of the as-
sessors ; but in calling attention to the
wide difierence which the returns pro-

I'HE CANADIAN HORTICULTUKIST.

57

sent, it may be possible to arouse an in-
terest in the subject that will soon
terminate the doubt.

Concerning the quantities of fruit
grown in the Province, we are practi-
cally limited to two soui'ces of informa-
tion, neither of which are wholly satis-
factory. We have in the census returns
for 1871 and 1881 statistics of fruit
under three heads, viz., apples, grapes,
and other fruit. We have also in the
trade tables of the Dominion the quan-
tity and value of exports of green fruit
from year to year ; but in consequence
of the practice of crediting a Province
with all exports made from any port in
its territory, i-egardless of the place of
production, it is not possible to ascer-
tain definitely how much of the total
exports of fruit are the growth or pro-
duct of Ontario. The nearest approach
to definite figures is to be obtained by
comparison of the census and the trade
tables. Having ascertained Ontario's
proportion of the total fruit crop of the
Dominion, we can form an idea of lier
share of the exports. The census re-
turns gave the crops of 1870 and 1880
as follows, for Ontario and the whole
Dominion : —

, 1880— Outario —1870 ^

Apples, bush .... 11,400,517 5,486,504

Grapes, lbs 3,697,555 1,028,4.31

Other Fruits, bush 644,707 242,878

,, — 1880— Dominion— 1870-^

Apples, bush .... 13,377,655 6,,%5,315

Grapes, lbs .3,896,-508 1,126,402

Other Fruits, bush 841,219 358,963

N"ow, for both of these years Onta-
rio's produce was about 86 per cent, of
that of the whole Dominion, and if it
be assumed that her proportion of the
exports is about the same, we can esti-
mate with some degree of accui-acy the
progress made by our Province in fruit-
growing from year to year. The fol-
lowing table gives the quantity and
value of Canada's exports of gi'een

fruit for the sixteen years 1868-83,
grouped in periods of four years each,
and the annual average for each pe-
riod : —

FIRST PERIOD.
Year. Barrels. Value.

1868 34,405 .$87,333

1869 11,310 30,150

1870 20,810 58,811

1871 45,920 98,857

Averages 28, 1 1 1 S68, 788

SECOND PERIOD.
Year. Barrels. Value.

1872 106,568 .$264,015

1873 61,243 18.3,348

1874 51,084 128,915

1875 6.3,.397 176,295

Averages . 70,573 .f 188, 143

THIRD PERIOD.
Year. Barrels. Value.

1876 84, 107 $170,005

1877 77,888 194,942

1878 53,213 149,333

1879 87,101 157,618

Averages 75,577 .$167,974

FOURTH PERIOD.
Year. ' Barrels. Value.

1880 146,548 $347, 166

1881 334,538 (>45,658

1882 212,526 540,464

1883 158,018 499,185

Averages 212,907 $508,118

The progress of our fruit-growing in-
dustry which these figures clearly indi-
cate is very gratifying, and there can
be no doubt that the fruit-growers of
Ontario deserve in large measure the
credit for it. The climate of the Pro-
vince— more especially that portion of
it encircled by the three great lakes —
is admirably adapted for the maturing
of the finest qualities of fruits ; and
possessing the natural' conditions for
the production of fruit that has an
established reputation in foreign mar-
kets, the energy and intelligence of our
people may be depended on to make the

58

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

greatest possible use of our splendid
opportunities.

A. Blue.

Toronto, February, 1885.

The following list shews the counties
as o-rouped under the heads referred to
in the foregoing paper :

Lake Erie. — Essex, Kent, Elgin, ISorfolk.
Haldimand, Welland.

Lake Huron. — Lambton, Huron, Bruce.

Georgian Bay. — Grey, Simcoe.

West J/i/ifoHrf.— Middlesex, Oxford, Brant,
Perth, Wellington, Waterloo, Duflferin.

Lake Ontario. — Lincoln, Wentworth^ Hal-
ton. Peel, York, Ontario, Durham, >orth-
umberland, Prince Edward.

St. Lawrence and Ottawa. — Lennox and
A'ldiugtou, Fronteuac, Leeds and Grenville,
Dumlas, Stormont, Glengarry, Prescott,
Eussell, Carleton, Renfi-ew, Lanark.

East -Midland.— \ictoT\a., Peterborough,
HaUburton, Hastings.

Northern Dm^^Wc^s. — Muskoka, Parry
Sound, Algonia.

FALL PLANTING.

Dear Sir, — I beg to acknowledge
the receipt of the Canada Bakh^in
Apple-tree from the Fruit Growers'
Association, which was received some
time ago. I planted it at once, believ-
ing that to be the proper time, without
waiting to " heel it in," as some do. A
friend once told me it was much better,
when trees were obtained in the fall, to
heel them in, to keep them there until
spring had warmed the soil, " For," said
he, " you will then see the hue, haii'like
roots just starting out, and when put
in the ground wQl grow at once." To
tliis 1 said, " Why not plant them in
the fall, in the place where they are in-
tended to grow, and then the very
small rootlets will not be in danger of
being disturbed, and will be solid in the
ground and ready as soon as the ground
is warm in the spiing to grow f In
niv opinion, the only argument that can

be brought against planting in the fall
is, perhaps, when trees have been taken
uj) in the nursery from a thickly shaded
place tliere may be some slight danger,
when planted at a proper distance in
the orchard, of their not being able to
resist the cold of winter as well as when
they were in the nursery. On this
score I never had any difficulty, and
when I buy trees in the fall and they
arrive at a proper time, I plant them
at once, and they grow.

GRAPES.

One of my neighbours complains
about his grapes not doing well. To
this I have to say. mine have done well.
I have, amongst others, the Isabella,
which is considered a rather late grape,
and it ripened and was just as sweet as
many much further south. If you
have a stone wall, plant grape-vines on
the south side of it. It makes all the
difference in the world to have a proper
place to plant them. If you have a
big, . unseemly rock or stoneheap on
your farm, plant grape-vines about
them, and the unsightly places will be-
come profitable. Some say that such
and such kinds of grapes will not ripen
with them, or that they are much later,
(fee. Much of all this depends on the
situation in which they are placed.

FRUITS IX GEXERAL.

We have had a very dry season, and
fruit in general has not done as well as
usual : but taking one year \vith an-
other, I believe we have as fine a fruit
producing county as most in Canada.
Tempered as it is by the waters of
Georgian Bay, we have no trouble with
early and late frosts. We have lost
some plum trees, but this has been
general all over. All the fruits of a
temperate climate flourish here. Fear
ing I have trespassed too long.
1 am, j'ours truly,

Timothy Chambers.

Presque Isle. Nov. ISth, 1SS4.

THE CANADIAN HOKTICULTUEIST.

59

MEETING OF WINONA AND STONEY
CREEK GRAPE GROWERS' CLUB.

fFrom Our Own Correspondent.)

A meeting of the above Society was
held in the old church, School Section
2, Saltfleet, on Feb. 11th, but owing to
the bitter cold, the mercury being 19°
below zero, with a hard wind blowing,
only a small attendance of members
was the result. However, after lunch
and a warm cup of tea, the programme
of the afternoon was taken up, the
officers for the ensuing year having
been elected as follows : — President,
Wm. Orr ; Vice-President, Geoi-ge
Slingerland : Secretary-Treasurer. E.
D. Smith ; Board of Directors, F. M.
Carpenter, Isaac Smith, Joseph Tweedle,
Wm. Spera, Murray Pettit, J. W.
Smith and Robert Dewnr.

Tlie first thing on the programme
was a paper on " Small Fruits " read
by A. M. Smith, of St. Catharines,
which was very interesting to those
present. Mr. Smith advised growers
to study the market and the soil and
climate of the localit}^ before planting.
If one had early land let him plant
early varieties, and if anothei" had late
land let him plant late varieties, thus
avoiding an overstocked market. Again,
if it was found that there was a better
local market for one kind of fruit than
another, other things being equal, plant
the kind in most demand ; for instance,
if one lived near an evaporator where
certain kinds of fruits were wanted, it
would be wise to plant with a view to
working off* any surplus, at least, to
the evaporators. If the local market
was as good as any other for straw-
berries, it would pay better to plant
some of the soft but heavy yielding
varieties, as Crescent Seedling or Man-
chester.

For successful small fruit culture
would lay down the following rules : —

Select the best soil, climate and
varieties. Shelter as much as possible

from extreme cold of winter and drouth
of summer by mulching and other
means. Secure all moisture possible
during fruiting season. Feed liberally.
Pick and handle carefully. Use good,
clean, attractive packages. Put just
as good fruit in the bottom of the bas-
ket as on top, so that you can sell
twice to the same party, and you will
succeed.

Would recommend the following
varieties in order of ripening : — Straw-
berries— Early Canada, Crescent Seed-
ling, Wilson's Albany, Manchester,
Sharpless, Arnold's Pride, Jersey
Queen and James Vick. Black rasp-
berries— Souhegan, Tyler, Mammoth
Cluster and Gregg. Red raspberries —
Highland Hardy, Hansell, Cuthbert
and Niagara. Blackberries — Dorches-
ter, Snider and Ivittatinny. Goose-
ben-ies — Houghton and Downing. Red
currants — Victoria, Versailles, Cherry
and Fay's Prolific. White currants —
White grape. Black currants — Black
Naples and Lee's Prolific. And would
recommend for ti-ial : — Strawberries —
Mrs. Garfield, Dan. Boone and Cor-
nelia. Raspberries ~ Reliance, Marl-
boro' and Ohio, and the Agawam black-
berry.

In answer to questions Mr. Smith
said gooseberries thrived better and
mildewed less with plenty of moisture.
Had noticed this in gardens near the
Falls, where the spray kept the ground
damp. Thought Lee's Prolific prefer-
able to Black Naples, especially on
sandy land, as they do not grow so
rank, and fruit is of a milder flavor.
Thought highly of Fay's currant ;
thought it had not been overrated.
Thought James Vick had been too
highly praised ; though under high
cultivation it would yield immense,
otherwise fruit would be too small.
Thought Caroline best yellow rasp-
berry. Shaffer's Colossal, a heavy
bearing rasj)berry, but fruit a bad color.

60

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

Pride of the Hudson raspberry a fail-
ure. "Would prefer unleached ashes as
a fertilizer on his sandy loam at pre-
sent prices. Thought rust on raspber-
ries and blackberries was not caused by
wet land. Had found the best remedy
to dig up and burn the affected plants,
as rust spreads like yellows in peaches.

E. D. Smith thought growers should
be careful to do this, as this is acknow-
ledged to be the only cure.

As there were other important sub-
jects to discuss, the chairman limited
the time for a short discussion on "Ap-
ples and Peai-s," that were to have been
discussed in the morning, to fifteen
minutes.

Regarding the best two varieties of
pears to plant for profit, Mr. A. M.
Smith thought Flemish Beauty had run
its course, as it now spots and cracks
too much ; would name Bartlett and
Beurre D'Anjou, and for a dwarf.
Duchess DAngouleme. Mr. Pettit re-
commended Beurre Gifford as a dwarf.
Mr. Orr liked Louise Bonne as dwarf.
Mr. Smith thought Duchess and Seckel
most exempt from blight. Mr. House
bad found Beurre D'Anjou most
exempt.

The next subject taken was "Grapes,"
regarded here as of more importance
than all the rest, as there are planted
out already in the township nearly two
hundred acres, mostly in small vine-
yards from 10 acres downwards, and
the area is increasing rapidly.

E. D. Smith introduced the subject
by asking a series of questions, among
others. What is the best red grape for
profit ] What is the best early grape ?
Said he had foixnd ashes beneficial.
Believed the Prentiss gi-ape a failure,
as the vine is not strong and healthy.
Was very favoi-ably impressed with the
Niagara, had not fruited it yet, but
vines were very healthy and stx-ong,
robust growers. Had planted Concords

and Niagaras alternately, and found
Niagaras not only to grow better, but
to recover from any drawback quicker.
Believed it would pay to ship fine
grapes in 10 lb. baskets instead of 20
lb. ones. Thought we should have
better baskets than at present. Liked
Roger 9 and 15. Found Salem tender,
and the berries bad to burst duriner
warm, damp weather. Found it paid
to lay down tender varieties, but would
not plant such knowingly. Thought
we should raise a grape to pack and
sell in winter, as our market is at pre-
sent supplied with foreign grapes dui'-
ing nine months of the year. Would
like to know if any one had had any
experience -wdth the Vergennes.

Murray Pettit had found Prentiss
and Pocklington both failures. Found
Duchess, Lady Washington and Noah
all good white grapes — the latter as
good as Niagara, except in quality, but
would place Niagara first among the
white gi'apes. Had known of others
having good success on rich sandy land
with Pocklington. Would rank the
Delaware as the most profitable red
grape if pruned severely and all to
young canes, and heavily manured and
thoroughly cultivated. Found the
Rogers' varieties to mildew if manured
heavily.

For early gi-apes likes Red Wyoming
and Dracut Amber among the new
kinds. The latter a healthy, strong
gi'owing, productive variety of medium
sized bunches of medium sized red
grapes of medium quality. Had made
most money oiit of Champions, but
would not think of planting them
except on very early land. Believed
that no one would buy Champions if
they could get Moore's Early. The
latter he found not a very heavy bearer,
nor a very strong grower, but medium
in these respects, the fruit, however,
extra fine, not quite so eax*ly as Cham-
pion. Worden, a grape very nearly

THE CANADIAN H0RTICULTUKI8T.

61

resembling the Concord, and two or
three days earlier.

If planting a vineyard would recom-
mend, say one-third Concord ; one-third
Champion, Moore's Early, Worden and
Niagara; one-third Delaware, Rogers'
9 and 15, and Salem; but would not
recommend this selection for all locali-
ties.

A. M. Smith liked the Brighton very
much, but it needs marketing as soon
as ripe. Thinks the Vergennes a very
desirable grape, being a long keeper
and of good quality, and the vine a
strong, healthy grower.

Mr. House would recommend letting
Rogers' 9 and 15 run long arms. Had
them with arms seventy (70) feet long.

Mr. Orr had found Champions pay
best, Delawares next, and then Con-
cords. Rogers' 9 and 15 also paid.
Believed the Niagara the king of grapes.

THE CHINESE PRIMROSE.

Mr. Editor, — Your clipping from
the California Horticulturist on
Chinese Primrose culture in windows,
is misleading to the lovers of that use-
ful winter window decoration.

With your permission, I will give
%he mode of culture we have practiced
the past twenty years, with good results.
As it is costly and troublesome to raise
seedlings on a small scale, and not very
satisfactory if but two or three plants
are required, we purchase good quality
of plants of the colors wanted, and
they last a number of years by dividing
the old plant to single crowns, in the
month of June. We do it with a small
knife. S[)lit the plant from crown to
root, shorten back the old root, plant in
five-inch pots but two thirds full of
earth. By September the plants will
have grown so much as to stand high
above the soil. We fill the pot with
earth, just leaving room to water ; take

these into the house and let them bloom
all winter, which they never fail to do,
to the delight of all who see them. By
this treatment the plants do not become
top-heavy, as our California friends do,
but steady themselves by the old leaves
turning down until resting on the rim
of the pot, thus bracing the plant. We
prefer to keep the plants in a cool room,
with plenty of light, and keep the earth
moist.

Mary A. Hall.
Woodstock, Jan. 28th, 1S85.

RHUBARB WINE.

Noticing an article on unfermented
wine in the January number, I thought
it good, now we are deprived of a little
luxury that way by the Scott Act. I
am no friend to that Act. I look on it
as arbitrary ; and as we are not all
growers of grapes, but most eveiy one
with a garden, however small, grows
rhubarb, and a very good wine, with a
good body, can easily be made. To
every gallon of cold 'water {rain-water
is best) add five pounds of ripe rhubarb
cut into thin slices ; do not peel it ; let
it stand a week or nine days, stirring
it every day, and cover it with a cloth
or blanket ; strain the macerated sub-
stance through a coarse cloth. Now,
to every gallon of the liquor thus pro-
cured add four pounds of sugar and the
juice of a lemon and the i-ind of one ;
now cask it ; when fermentation is over
bung it down ; bottle in March, and by
June it will be fit for use.

Rhubarb makes also excellent jelly.
Cut the rhubarb up, and put it in an
enamelled kettle, with very little water
— enough to keep it from burning —
until the juice comes ; when tender,
strain it, and to every pint of juice add
one pound of sugar, and boil until it
jellies. T. A. H.

Medoi'a, Muskoka.

62

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

JUDGING FRUIT.

Doubtless one of the most important
matters in connection with any exhibi-
tion is the appointing of competent
judges There was a time when this
Ontario of ours was in its infancy and
exhibitions wei'e entirely local, with
but veiy little competition in any class:
that, as a rule, judges were expected
only to decide upon the excellence in
appearance of specimens before them
without regard to varieties, how gi'own,
or whether or not possessed of quality,
or actually valuable as a crop for mar-
ket. A black Gilliflower was likely to
receive the highest award with Baldwin
and ^'Esopus Spitzenburg in competi-
tion. While another class of judges
would give preference to the largest
specimens without regard to points of
excellence. A Gloria Mundi would far
excel an American Golden Russet in
their estimation, and a Louis Bonne de
Jersey, or even Flemish Beauty, would
not be considered for first place if the
portly Souvenir du Congr^s appeared
in competition. But there was not
much chance of any immediate loss
from this bad system of judging in
those days, as there was a ready demand
for the small amount of fruit grown,
and all varieties were easily disposed of
or Tised at home. This state of affairs no
longer exists, and in many sections we
find gi-owers top grafting old orchards,
so as to get only such varieties as are
of value both for home and foreign
consumption.

There has been some improvement
in the method of judging, which, so
far as it has gone, has had a beneficial
effect in inducing growers, in many
instances, to discard worthless varieties.
Possibly few consider the responsibility
of judges as they make awards now-a-
days at our leading, or indeed at all
our exhibitions. The general public
looks up to them as being possessed of
superior knowledge, and quite capable

of dealing correctly and fairly with
the subject. Thei*e may be ten, fifty,
or more growers who desire to plant
orchards of various fruits, and they are
all watching ^\^.tll much interest the
awards of these judges in order that
they may select varieties receiving the
highest awards. Generally speaking
such growers will make their selections
from the various collections on the
tables, hence the great importance of
care and skill in making aw^ards in
such cases, and that such awards should
be in writing, containing full and
explicit reasons.

We have arrived at a time when I
believe it is necessary for the public
benefit to look more particulai'ly into
the matter of judging fruits, and, if
possible, to establish a scale of points
and set of rules by which j udges should
act in arriving at awards, and if all
Societies that hold annual exhibitions
would publish such rules and directions
to judges in their prize lists, much good
would be accomplished.

Look at our several large fall exlii-
bitions, and we find that in the past
few years there has not been much im-
provement in the system of judging,
or perhaps more correctly speaking
there has not been a system at all, for
although the awards are generally more
correct than they would stand by the
judgment of fifteen or twenty years
ago, yet we find the same differences in
the various exhibitions between dif-
fei'ent sets of judges as of old. Xow,
while it would be unreasonable to ex-
pect all judges to agi-ee precisely on all
points, I do think that in many leading
important points all should agree.

Competent judges should possess a
thoroughly practical knowledge of the
whole subject, beginning with the tree
and vine, its growth and habits, soil
and cultivation requu-ed, general care,
the market values of the various fruits
upon which they are called to pass

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

68

judgment, and the most desii-able varie-
ties for the various soils and climates
in this Province. They should be able
to make their awards in writing, setting
forth the points of superiority in the
collections or plates )-eceiving awards,
and in every case give the number of
points awarded to each variety. They
should also be possessed of solid back
bone, and so strong a sense of justice
that thei'e would be no inclination to
favoritism.

Unless a judge has an extensive
knowledge of his subject, he is apt to
judge the specimens before him by the
result of his experience upon his own
grounds, which may not be extensive,
or fair, even as a general test for his
own neighborhood. He might awai'd
tirst prize to four vaiieties of Pears,
consisting of Tyson, Osband's Summer,
Stevens Genessee and Duchess, simply
because he knows thes', and they have
suited his taste very well, whereas
another four in competition consists of
Bartlett, Flemish Beauty, Ducliess and
Josephine de Malines, which should
generally have had first place on a scale
of points of excellence and value in
market.

In judging at a Township exhibition
it is necessary to consider awards in
accoixlance with the capabilities of soil
and climate within that territory. But
at a Provincial exhibition a large
variety of soils, and especially climatic
capabilities, should be considered, if
complete justice is to be meted out to
all exhibitors.

A committee of three judges will do
more work in a day than five judges,
and, as a rule, their work will be better
done. Many advocate the appointing
of one judge only on each section, and
doubtless it has advantages, and chiefly
that where one has the entire I'esponsi-
bility cast upon his own shoulders, he
will not accept the position, in the first
place, unless he feels satisfied he can

do the work properly, and then he will
exercise every possible care in examin-
ing specimens before placing awards.

Then, again, judges should be paid
properly for their services, and then
they would take more time and exercise
more care in making awards.

If properly j)aid. Associations could
reasonably require judges to make all
awards in writing, giving the scale of
points of merit in every case, and also
giving reasons for casting out any varie-
ties they may think proper so to do.
In awarding upon collections a great
variety of points occur besides passing
upon the condition of specimens making
up such collections. For instance,
every general collection should contain
such varieties as will cover the longest
possible season both for cooking and
eating, besides being those the grower
considers of the highest market value.
Where collections receive no award,
the reasons should be noted in the book
of awards, and if any collection is con-
sidered of almost equal merit with
another that has received an award,
the point or points in which it is lack-
ing should be specially noted.

In judging collections the first point,
after seeing that the proper number of
varieties are entered and correctly
named, is to compare the specimens in
each collection, after which points
should be taken, adopting five or ten
as a maximum. Then, again, while
one collection may scale a larger num-
ber of points than some others, so far
as perfection of specimens is concerned,
yet it may lack varieties which are of
a much higher market value than any
in it, and hence it is important that
home and foreign market value be
taken into account. In fact every
point connected with growth, produc-
tiveness, genei-al value, cjuality and
hardiness, should be considered in
coming to a decision. In the past too
much weight has been given to the

64

THE CANADIAN H0RTICULTUM8T.

appearance of specimens upon the table,
and there is always a tendency this
way, especially among amateur judges,
which I believe is often fruitful of a
great amount of damage, as growers
ai'e so apt to adopt varieties thus ap-
proved of by judges. A. comparatively
worthless variety may be so grown as
to appear magnificent, as a tree that out-
wai'dly seems healthy and flourishing
may be rotten at the heart. We gener-
ally find that specimens of fi-uits being
newly introduced are very fine, simply
because the introducer wishes to make
a good impression, and hence grows
specially for the purpose of advertising
his goods without regard to immediate
cost. In these cases judges should
carefully scrutinize the quality, and
state in their report any other facts
found, so that the public interests be
properly guarded.

Alex. McD. Allan.

ORAFTING AND PRUNING GRAPE
VINES.

Your correspondent wishes to know
how to graft his vines. I suppose why
not inarch them, that is, grafting by
approach. Yery suitable and safe.
Have your new or superior kind in a
pot or box ; place it near and securely
— near enough to be in a convenient
position to form a junction with the
stock. Then pare oflf with a sharp
knife a slice from each of equal size.
Bring the two wounds together as
exactly as possible, fitting bark to bark :
hold them firmly and tie them together,
not so tight as to bruise the bark of
either. Now tie some moss around the
junction and moisten it every day, or
cover it with grafting clay or wax.
When firmly united to the stock the
new vine in the pot or box may be cut
off at the junction and be planted out.
You can do the work later in the vear

if you like on the young wood of the
present year's growth, when it has
acquired some solid wood, just when it
is beginning to change color. This
way requires care, for the wood is ten-
der and more liable to break than year
old wood. This young wood unites
more quickly than older wood. There
are so many ways of training vines I
think the simplest the best. For a
vine on a wall or building or trellis, I
think this is as good as any : — First
obtain two shoots from two buds left
on when the vine was planted. Train.
these upright, and in the autumn bring
these two shoots down and train them
right and left horizontally a foot from
the ground. In the spring, when they
begin to grow, select three buds on each
main stem, two feet apart ; rub all the
other buds off. Now let these three
buds on each main horizontal arm grow
up perpendicularly. During the sum-
mer stop all the laterals at the first
joint, and stop the leading shoots when
at the top of the trellis ; tie the lead-
ing shoots as they grow, or the wind
will break them. Now in the autumn
the vine will have two canes to bear
fruit ; that is, one upright cane on each
arm to fruit. The other two will be
cut down to two buds close to the main
horizontal stems. These will send up
shoots to be trained between the fruit
beai-ers, while the two end shoots will
be trained down in the line of the
horizontal ones. Now the third sum-
mer the last year's horizontal trained
shoots should have all the buds rubbed
off except two on each, two feet apart.
Train them up as the others to the top
of the trellis or wall. So now there
will be four fruit-bearing upright shoots,
and four to bear the following year. In
the autumn those that have borne fruit
should be cut down and the others left
nearly their whole length to bear fruit.

T. A. H.

iledora. Muskoka.

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

65

HARDY PERENNIAL PLANTS.

{Read at the recent winter meeting of the Fruit-Growers'
Association of Ontario.)

I wish to bring before the Associa-
tion the importance of encouraging the
cultivation of liardy perennial plants
for the garden. The old system of
raising annuals and tender bedding out
stuff every year is both troublesome
and unsatisfactory, and to those who
have no proper houses or frames for
propagating it is also expensive, as they
have no other means of filling their
borders except by purchase ; and to
those situated in the country this is
not always possible. The mania for
gaudy bedding and carpet work is
happily dying out, and a taste for the
beautiful Alpines and other hardy
classes of jiei'ennials is taking its pro-
per place. To my mind there is some-
thing in the individuality of the beau-
tiful spring bulbs and Alpines that
quite casts into the sliade all the ribbon
and carpet bedding of the fashionable
garden. From early spring till late in
fall a continual succession of flowers
can be obtained from the hardy garden
without the annoyance of raising the
young plants every year, and watching
the weather for a favorable time after
the late spring frosts are over for their
bedding out. Then again some of
them are hardly well into flower when
the dreaded early fall frosts come, and
the work of the summer is destroyed
in a night. Not so with the hardy
garden. In the eai-ly spring the
Snowdrops, Crocus, Snowflakes, Scil-
las, Narcissus, Hyacinths, &c., fol-
lowed by other spring and summer
flowering plants in rapid succession,
keep the borders gay all the time.
While the hardy gai-den must be
ill a great measure filled with for-
eigners, yet there are many natives
that are equally as well worthy of cul-
tivation ; in fact, so much is this the
case, that in Europe a garden of any

pretentions without a border for Am-
erican plants and shrubs would be
looked iipon as wanting in one of its
greatest attractions. They consider
our Cypripediuuis, spectabile and pu-
bescens, as the most magnificent herba-
ceous plants in cultivation. Then we
have the Ti-illiums or Wood Lilies,
Liliums, Hepaticas, Erythronium,
Sanguinaria or Bloodroot, Asclepias,
Aquilegias, Violas, several species of
Phlox, Lobelias, Gentians, Asters, and
an innumerable number of other things
which would look well in any garden.
With these and a proper selection of
plants of foreign birth, no garden need
be without a good display of flowers
from eai'ly spring till late in the fall.

It would extend this paper too much
to go over a long list of names which
can be got out of any descriptive cata-
logue. I will only mention a few
natives, some of which should be found
in every garden. If some florist or
nurseryman would take to growing and
putting on the market a good selection
of perennials, he would be doing a
good work, and no doubt it would go
far to create and perpetuate a taste for
hardy garden plants, which once ac-
quired will never be given up while
life lasts. In preparing a border for
perennial plants it is of as much im-
portance to have it deeply dug or
trenched as it is for any vegetable crop
whatever. If possible, incorporate
some leaf mould and a small portion of
very rotten manure, and if the land is
heavy a quantity of sharp sand will be
an improvement.

Most bulbs require a good, rich,
deep soil. Hyacinths, for instance,
cannot be grown to perfection without
plenty of manure and depth of soil,
and when once a bed of them is
planted under these conditions they
will last for several years without fur-
ther care, except to give them a good
mulching with well rotted manure every

66

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

fall. Above everything follow nature
as close as possible in soil and situa-
tion. One class of plants likes a shady
situation and moist soil ; another will
stand the hottest midsummer sun and
delight iu it. So according to the situ-
ation a proper selection should be made.
That this may be the means of
drawing attention to, and creating an
interest and love for the beautiful
hardy flowers of the garden, will be
my prayer.

LIST OF HARDY PERENNIALS.

Anemone .... Nemorosa.

Asclepias .... Tuberosa, Orange Milkweed.

" .... Quadrifolia, "

Asters A great many species.

Aqailegia .... Canadensis, Cohimbine.
Campanula . . Eotundifolia.
Cypripedium.. Spectabile.

" .. Pubescens.

" .. Parvidora.

" .. Acaule.

" .. Arietinum.

" .. Candidum.

Dicentra .... Cucullaria.

" .... Eximia.
Erythronium. . Americanum.
Gentiana .... Andrewsii.

Alba.

Hepatica .... Triloba.

" .... Acutiloba.
Lithospermum Canescens.

«' Hirta.

Lobelia Cardinalis.

" Syphilitica.

Lilinm Canadense.

" Philadelphiacum.

• ' Superbum.

Phlox Divaricata.

Sanguinaria . . Canadensis.
SisjTinchum . . Bermudiana.
Thalicteriiuii. . Anemonides.
Trillium . . . Grandiflorum.

" ... Erectum.

" .... Erythrocarpum.

Viola Pedata.

Uvolaria .... Grandiflora.

James Goldie.

Guelph, January, 1885.

SAUNDERS' RASPBERRIES.

I do not know if Saunders' Rasp-
berries are very widely known. If not,
I think they ought to be, for their

cropping properties are extraordinary.
They would be very useful where other
kinds are difficult to grow.

Allen Chapman.
Deans, Haldimand Co., Ont.

McINTOSH RED APPLE.

To THE Editor of the Canaei.^n Horticutturist.

Dear Sir, — I send you a few apples,
which are the apple called the Mcin-
tosh Red. Perhaps you never had
them in winter. Please test them, and
let your many readers hear what you
think of their flavour and of their
keeping through the winter season,
which, I judge, will be a benefit to the
community. I have stated in years
past that the Mcintosh Red was the
hardiest tree and best flavoured winter
apple known on the continent of Amer-
ica. I am the owner of the original
tree. Last year you stated that the
Mcintosh Reds spotted. I have lived
70 years within 60 feet of the original
tree, and to my knowledge the apples
were not spotted till 1882 and 1883.
In 1884 some of. the apples were a
little spotted, but in some localities,
where the soil is high and dry, they
were not spotted.

NOW FOR THE CAUSE OF BLIGHT.

During the spring of 1882 and
1883, in eastern Ontario, there was
almost daily rain, with cold wind
from the north-east. When the trees
were in bloom the ground and trees
were drenched with water. The trees
could not get sufficient nourishment
from the soil to feed the young ap-
ples ; they starved neaily to death ;
and owing to the I'ain-water soaking
the young apples, together with the
cold wind, they could not thrive ; they
lacked nourishment. The black knot
has arisen from the same cause. I have
had cherry and oilier trees for fifty
years, and the black knot in Eastern
Ontario has done no damage till 1883.
As above, the wet aiid cold are the

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

67

cause. There is no remedy for it but
good spring weather. It is from Pro-
vidence. 'Now, sir, November 11, 1884,
I shipped a few barrels of the Mcintosh
Reds to Glasgow, Scotland. The sales-
man sold them at $10 per bai'rel. I
told him to let me hear what he thought
of them, and how they stood the ship-
ment. He stated they were the best
apples he had ever eaten, but said they
were bruised, and that I should have
sent them before they were so ripe or
soft. The remainder of my Mcintosh
Reds I sold here in these townships for
$3 50 per barrel. Cau any other
apple compete with this 1

Allan MoIntosh.
Duiulela P. O., Out., Jan., 1885.

FRUIT IN ALGOMA.
Dear Sir, — Please find enclosed one
dollar as subscrij)tion to the Canadian
Horticulturist. I cannot do without it
and the annual report, for after we get
more clearing done here I am in hopes
that fruits of hardy domestic kinds can
be grown. My Wealthy apple, after
three years' fine growth, died last spring.
The cause Avas, I think, from the in-
tense frost of last March, and then a
hot sun coming out. The Canadian
Baldwin made a fine growth last sum-
mer. We had a great crop of wild
raspberries, strawberries and blueber-
ries, but no cranberries. I will choose
the flower seeds this year.

Yours, with respects,

W. Warnock.
Bliud River, January, 1885.

RASPBERRY SAW-FLY.
The raspberry saw-fly (selandria ruhi)
is not a difficult insect to keep in check
if noticed in time. It is very incon-
spicuous on account of its colour and
appearance. A weak mixture of about
an ounce of hellebore to a pailfuU of
water, syringed onto the plants, will
easily destroy the larvae. This shovild

be done in the beginning and middle of

June, and is quite safe.

Yours obediently,

J. Fletcher,
Ottawa, Feb., 1885. Entomologist.

WILL GARDENING PAY.

" There is money in fruit growing,
a plenty of it, for the skillfiil, thought-
ful grower. There are thousands of
dollars in strawberries, or raspberries,
if rightly grown; but ten acres of either
are better then fifty or a hundred slov-
enly tended. There is money in melons,
in cucumbers, in potatoes, in rhubarb
and asparagus, in onions, in almost
anything you can raise, if you will only
raise a lietter article than anybody else.
There is the secret. Men foolishly lie
awake o' nights racking their brains to
find some new crop that will bring
them in a fortune at a dash, instead of
studying how to better the crop they
already have in hand.

" As to the business being overdone,
it is all a delusion. The horticultural
rank and file is not near so crowded as
are the professions, into which so many
farmer's' sons are continually struggling
to enter. You will find a hundred starv-
ing lawyers, preachers and doctors to
one starving fruit grower. What we
need is more system, more thoroughness.
The farmer must be more liberal with
his land, his live stock, his fruit trees ;
must feed them all better ; must feed
himself better and his family better,
and he will feel better and succeed bet-
ter. Tell your readers to stick to the
farm." — Farmer and Fruit Grower.

SEED POTATOES— HOW TO SELECT
THEM.

N. Y. AoRiciii/rDRAL Experiment Station.

In the fall of 1883 we selected and
laid aside for seed the largest and the
smallest tubers from the most produc-
tive and the least productive hill of ten
varieties growing in the Station garden.

68

THE CANADIAN HOBTICTJLTURIST.

On the 8th of May, 1884, this seed
was cut into single eyes and planted,
each selection by itself in the garden, so
that we had four short rows of each of
ten varieties. The first row containing
the cuttings of the largest tuber fi'om the
most productive hill, the second those
of the smallest tuber from the most
pi-oductive hill, the third row the cut-
tings of the largest tuber from the least
productive hill, and the fourth those of
the smallest tuber from the least pro-
ductive hill.

The cultivation was alike and the
treatment was alike during the whole
period of growth, and when the tops
were dead the rows were dug, and yield
of merchantable and unmerchantable
potatoes carefully noted.

In order to bring the results into
comparison we calculated the yields
obtained to the 100 eyes, and arranged
the varieties in the oi'der of merchant-
able yield, omitting one which is not
entirely comparable. We have, then,
in contrast nine varieties, the yield from
the largest tuber from the most produc-
tive hill and the largest tuber from
the least productive hill, the smallest
tuber from the most productive hill
and the smallest tuber from the least
productive hill, as shown in the follow-
ing table :

TABLE I.

From most

productive hill.

Largest tuber.

Lbs.

From least

productive hill.

Largest tuber.

Lbs.

Merch.

Total.

Merch.

Total.

Rural Blush

Early Sunrise ....
Conqueror

116
109
94
93
91
75
62
57
51

138

123

103

130

103

92

86

71

106

102
51
56
90
64
55
48
73
54

123
62
62

116

Adirondac

Walls' Orange ....
Beauty of Hebron.
Crandall's Seedling
Early Mayflower . .

86
72
73
88
83

Average

83

106

66

85

TABLE I. — Continued.

From most

productive hill.

Smallest tuber.

Lbs.

From least

productive hill.

Smallest tuber.

Lbs.

March.

Total.

Merch.

Total.

Rural Blush

Early Sunrise ....
Conqueror

96
82
65
57
67
55
80
64
54

119
102

78
88
79
70
105
72
84

52
27
27
26
70
51
59
61
34

79
55
42
72

Adirondac

Walls' Orange

Beauty of Hebron.
Crandall's Seedling
Early Mayflower . .

91
73
79
69
61

Average

69

88

45

69

We will now re-an-ange this table in
order to bring out a most important
conclusion. We will bring in contrast
the merchantable and the total yield
from the smallest tuber of the most
productive hill and that of the largest
tuber from the least productive hill.
Whereby it will be seen that the
smallest tubers from the most produc-
tive hills yielded more crop than did
the largest tubers from the least pro-
ductive hills.

TABLE II.

Smallest tuber

from most

productive hill.

Lbs.

Largest tuber

from least

productive hill.

Lbs.

Merch.

Total.

Merch.

Total.

Rural Blush

Early Sunrise ....

Conqueror

Defiance

Adirondac

Walls' Orange

Beauty of Hebron.
Crandall's Seedling
Early Mayflower . .

96
82
65
57
67
55
SO
64
61

119
102

78
88
79
70
105
72
84

102
51
56
90
64
55
48
73
54

123

62
62
116
86
72
73
88
83

Average

69

88

66

85

These tables (the more they are ex-
amined the stronger does the evidence
appear,) furnish an important clue for
progress in the improvememt of the
potato. They seem to indicate very

THE CANADIAN H0RTICULTTIRI8T.

69

clearly that in order to increase our
yield of potatoes, it is only necessary
in digging our crop to expose the hills
separately, and then before harvesting
go through aud select our seed potatoes
from those hills which show the most
abundant ci'op.

The experiment also seems to indicate
that deterioration in a variety, whereby
a good variety tends to become less
and less profitable to grow, arises from
the entire lack of selection from the
point of view of the prolific plant, and
that to obviate this deterioration it may
only be necessary to yearly select our
seed from the more prolific hills, instead
of hap-hazard from the harvested crop.

The importance of this experiment
perhaps justifies the massing of our con-
clusions in another table.

TABLE III.

Lbs. per
Avei

100 hills
age.

Merch.

Total.

From largest tubers from most pro-
lific hill

83
66
09
45

100

From largest tubers from least pro-
lific hill

From smallest tubers from most
prolific hill

From smallest tubers from least

85
88
69

From this table it appears first, that
the merchantable and the total yield
from the seed taken from the most pro-
lific hill, yielded in excess over the seed
taken from the least prolific hill ; second,
that the yield of the largest tuber from
the most prolific hill exceeded the
yield of the lai-gest tuber from the
least productive hill ; third, that the
yield of the smallest tuber from the most
prolific hill exceeded the yield of the
smallest tuber taken from the least
prolific hill ; fourth, that the smallest
tuber taken from the most prolific hill
exceeded in yield the largest tuber
taken from the least prolific hill ; fifth,

that the largest tubers from the most
prolific and the least prolific hills yielded
more crop than did the smallest tubers
from the same hills.

These differences in yield appear
more clearly if we arrange the figures
obtained in the order of their mag-
nitude without regard to variety, and
this leads us to table 4.

TABLE IV.

The question may arise whether the
smaller size of the cuttings from the
smallest tubers may not account for the
difference in yield. The smallest tubers
from the most productive hills, how-
ever, did not exceed in size the smallest
tubers taken from the least productive
hills, and hence our results must be in-
terpreted that the tubers from the most
productive hills possess more inherent
vigor than do those of the least pi'O-
ductive hills.

While we can not regard a single ex-
periment as in any sense conclusive,
yet the evidence seems so clearly in
favour of using for seed only tubers from
the more productive hills of potatoes,
that we think we can not err in
commending this subject to the careful
consideration of potato growers, and we
would be very glad, this coming season,
to have tliose who are interested in the
subject make a trial according to this
method, and experiment for themselves,
and report the results, however they
may result, to the public. — E. Lewis
Sturtevant, Director.

70

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

CATALOGUES RECEIVED.

Vick's Floral Guide for 1885 : Jas.
Vick, Seedsman and Florist, Rochester,
N.Y.

Cataloguk of Choisest Flower
and Vegetable Seeds : F. 0. Heinemann,
Erfurt, Germany.

Wholesale Catalogue of Mohawk
Valley Seeds, crop of 1884 : A. C.
Nellis & Co., Canajoharie, N.Y.

John A, Bruce & Co.'s Catalogue
of Seeds, season of 1885. 34th annual
edition : Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Andre LeRoy's Trade List of fruit
and ornamental trees and plants :
Nvirseries at Angers, France.

Price Current of choice seeds for
1885 : By the Continental Horticul-
tural Company, Gand, Belgium.

Simmer's Preliminary Seed List of
tlower and vegetable seeds, issued in
advance of regular Seed Catalogue,
January, 1885 : Toronto, Ont.

W. \V. Hilborn's Annual Descrip-
tive Catalogue and price list of small
fruits, for spring of 1885 : Arkona
Horticultural Farm, Arkona, Ont.

Wm. Rennie's Seed Catalogue,
1885 : Wm. Rennie, Seed Merchant,
corner Adelaide and Jarvis Streets,
Toronto, Ont.

Descriptive Catalogue of fruits.
Twenty-sixth Edition. Ellwanger &
Barry, Mount Hope Nurseries, Roches-
ter, N.Y.

Louis LeRoy's Price Current of
fruit and ornamental trees, florists'
requisites, evergi'eens, camel^as, roses,
etc. Angers, France.

Gregory's Annual Illustrated
Retail Catalogue of Warranted Seeds :
Grown and Sold by James J. H. Gre-
gory, Marblehead, Massachusetts, 1885.

Peter Henderson & Co.'s Manual
of Everything for the Garden : Peter
Henderson & Co., Seedsmen and Flor-

ists, 35 and 37 Cortlandt Street, New
York, N.Y.

Trade Catalogue of plants, hardy
ornamental trees and shrubs, conifers,
roses, etc. Cultivated by the Boskoop
Nursery Association, at Boskoop, Hol-
land.

General Trade Catalogue of vege-
table, agricultural, flower, tree and
other seeds, offered by Ernest Benary,
Seed Merchant and Grower, Erfurt,
Germany.

The Storr's & Harrison (^o.'s Semi-
annual trade list of fruit and orna-
mental trees, small fruits, vines, ever-
greens, shrubs, roses, &c. : Painesville,
Lake County, Ohio.

Wholesale Catalogue of choice
and rare seeds, embracing the leading
novelties of the season, 1885 : Stuart &
Co., 19 Tavistock Street, Covent Gar-
den, W. C. London, England.

Wholesale Trade Catalogue of
garden, agricultural and flower seeds,
etc., 1885 : Grown by Henry Mette,
Seed Grower and Merchant, Quedlin-
burg, Prussia.

Landreth's Rural Register and
Almanac, 1885, one hundred and one
years in business : David Landreth &
Sous, Seed Farmers, 21 and 23 South
Sixth Street, Philadelphia, Penn,

BOOKS, &c., RECEIVED.

Annual Report of the State Board
of Horticulture of California : A. H.
Webb, Secretary, No. 40 California
Street, San Francisco, California.

Transactions of the Maine State
Pomological Society for 1883, including
proceedings of the winter meeting of
1884 : Geo. B. Sawyer, Secretary,
Wiscasset, Maine.

Canadian Dairyman and Farmer,
published at 162 St. James Street,
Montreal, subscription $1 a year. A
monthly periodical devoted to the dairy
interests of Canada.

THE CANADIAN HOKTICULTURI8T.

71

Eandom Notes on Natural His-
tory is a monthly of eight pages, pub-
lished by South wick & Jencks, Provi-
dence, Rhode Island, U.S.A., at 50c. a
year ; devoted, as its title implies, to
the various departments of natural
history.

The Rural Canadian has incorpor-
ated with itself the Canadian Farmer
and Grange Record. It is published
monthly, at $1 per annum, at No. 5
Jordan Street, Toronto, and is devoted
to the farm, dairy, apiary, grange, gar-
den and orchard.

Popular Science News is published
monthly, at 19 Pearl Street, Boston,
Massachusetts, U.S.A., at $1 a year.
It treats of various interesting subjects
that may be arranged vmder the several
heads of familiar sciencje, practical chem-
istry, the arts, agriculture, medicine
and sanitary science.

Schedule of Prizes offered by the
Massachusetts Horticultural Society for
the year 18^^5. Competition open to all
persons. Robert Manning, Secretary,
Boston, Massachusetts. 'I'he annual
exhibition of fruits, flowers and vege-
tables will be held in Boston, Septem-
ber 15th to 18th, 1885.

The Wide Awake, published by D.
Lothrop & Co., Boston, at $3 a year, is
a very interesting and instructive
magazine for children. There is a good
healthy moral tone pervading the whole.
Some of the articles seem especially
adapted to entertain and at the same
time instruct the youthful reader.

Lovett's Guide to Fruit Culture
is a very handsome catalogue of fi-uit
trees and plants for sale by J. T.
Lovett, Little Silver, New Jersey. It
is very profusely illustrated with en-
gravings throughout, and adorned with
colored lithographs of fruits ; and con-
tains a great variety of useful informa-
tion concerning the difterent varieties,
methods of culture, and value for
market.

Journal of the New York Micro-
scopical Society, is published in nine
monthly numbers, at No. 12 College
Place, New York City, price $1 a year.
Devoted to microscopical science, a
science that is throwing much light
upon the fungoid growths which i)lay,
apparently, very important parts in the
diseases of plants as well as of animals.
The January number contains a very
interesting paper upon the pi'ocess of
fertilization in plants.

How TO Propagate and Grow
Fruit is the title of a pamphlet of 64
pages, by Charles A. Green, of Roches-
ter, N.Y., U.S.A., the pi-ice of which
is only 50c. It treats of propagating
the raspberry, blackberry, currant,
gooseberry, grape, quince, peach, cherry,
plums, pears, and apple ; tells the
author's experience in beginning, grow-
ing, marketing, etc.; treats of shipping
fruits, evaporating, &c., &c.; and will
be found very useful for consultation
and reference, especially by gi-owers of
small friiits. We will send it to any
of our readers, post paid, on receipt of
the price.

Forestry Bulletin, published by
the Council of the American Forestry
Congress, and ably edited by Bernard
E. Fernow, Secretaiy, No. 13 Burling
Slip, New York, N.Y., U.S.A. Sub-
scription $1 a year, which may be sent
to Mr. Furnow. The ofiicers of the
American Forestry Congress are : Hon.
Warren Higley, Ohio, President ; Hon.
H. G. Joly, Quebec, 1st Vice-President;
N. H. Egleston, Washington, D.C., 2nd
Vice-President; B. E. Fernow, New
York, Corresponding Secretary. The
objects of this Congress are the advance-
ment of forestry in the United States
and Canada. Its funds are deiived
wholly from membership dues, which
are for life membership $10, annual
membership $2 ; with an additional
entniiico fee of f 2.

72

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

TO THE CHINESE PRIMROSE.
But little I know of poetry's flow ;

Know little of rhythm or time ;
But I feel that to-night, with a muse so bright,
I can mould my thoughts to rhyme.

For a Primrose rare, with its blossoms fair.

Stands on my table to-night ;
And shining and bold, its eyes of gold

Seem watching rae while I write.

And it blooms here for me, in a beauty as free

As it did in that distant day,
'Neath the jjointed domes of the Orient homes

Of the country of far Cathay.
And its fern-like fronds seem as fairy wands.

As they gracefully droop and fall ;
And are tinging my room with an emerald bloom.

As a Nj-mph's or a Dryad's hall.
The Rose in its pride, in the noon's high tide,

In the sunlight's golden stream.
In the glitter of day, with its gilding ray.

As beauteous j perchance may seem.
Ah ! yes, I know there are fluwers that blow

In the summer's glamour and shine.
That in loveliness rare perhaps can compare

With this beautiful friend of mine.
But, like our friends, when adversity sends

Some cloud to obscure our sky.
Or in winter's frost, or when needed the most.

Their attractions pale and die.

But my flower will bloom without heeding the
gloom,

Though the world be covered with snow ;
iVjid the darker the day, the more wintry grey.

The brighter its beauties glow.
Oh ! dear loved flower of the darkest hour I

Oh ! type of a faithful friend !
As such type in thee, such a friend to me

May God in His goodness send.
Innerkip, Jan., 1885. F. M.

Fay's Curbant. — Joseph Hoopes of
Pennsylvania, ^vrites to the New York
Tribune that after fruiting Fay's Prolific
for two years, he thinks it produces clusters
that surpass the immense bunches re-
presented by the woodcuts that ushered
tliis new fruit into notice.

This is one of the presents we offer to
subscribers .

The Centexjtial Grape. — Mr. Hoopes
says of tliis grape that it is of fine, pure
flavour, of a clear amber color, and so
translucent that the seeds may be observed
by holding the beri'ies to the light. It is

very juicy, sweet, with a soft pulp and
and very thin skin.

RosE.s FOK Winter Bloojiing — The
Evening Post gives the following list of
roses for in-door blooming in winter, most
of which are tea-roses. ' ' Sunset," orange
sliaded with crimson, and specially frag-
rant ; Perle des Jardins, Niphetos, Cath-
erine Mermet ; Marshall Robert, Southern
Belle, Souvenir- d'un Ami, Bon Silene,
Mme Cousin and Douglas.

Amaryllis. — Among winter-flowering
bulbs the Amaryllis, in its various species
and innumerable hybrids, takes a pro-
minent place. In fact, it would be diffi-
cult to imagine a more beautiful and
showy ornament to the window-garden
than a well grown Amaryllis in bloom, and
yet it is comparatively seldom seen by
amateurs. There is not the least difliculty
in gi'owing it in tlie house, if its necessary
wants, which are easily pro^nded for, are
complied with. The great point to observe
in its cultivation is that the bulbs must
have a season of rest after blooming,
without being dried up altogether. This
state is best produced by giving gi'adually
less water until the plants have ceased
growing, when only enough should be fur-
nished to prevent theii* shriveling up. The
bulbs should during tlieir season of rest
remain in the pots, in some dry place. As
the roots remain on the bulbs all the time,
taking them out of the pots to dry as is
done with Hj^acinths and Tulips, is a most
injm-ious proceeding, which abnost always
results in non -flowering. A soil composed
of well-decayed leaf mould and sandj' loam
is best for Amaryllis, but it is not necessary
to repot them every year. When wanted
for winter flowering, the pots are to be
brought to a warmer place, near the light,
and gradually watered more frequently.
The leaves, and with them generally the
flower-stalks, will soon appear, when a full
supply of water has to be given. If wanted
for summer flowering outdoors, they
shoidd be kept dormant during winter,
transferred to the open ground in spring,
and taken up in autumn.— .4«i. Garden.

ERRATUM.

Page 36, second column (Februarynumber),
for " .-ipecies and color," read " It is size and

color people are after."

PKINTBD AT THE STEAM PRESS BSTABLISHMENT OF COPP, CLARK & CO., COLBORNE S'JIKEET, TORONTO.

Snow Ball.

PAINTED FOR THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

THE

VOL. VIII.]

aPKIL, 1885.

[No. 4.

THE SNOWBALLS.

The Snowballs. At that word, how
are the fountains of memory's great
deep broken up, and visions of days
long, oh, how long gone by, come wel-
ling in like a flood. Thex'e they are,
those grand old shrubs. It is early
summer, and the large white balls are
blending with the lingering Lilac's
rosy purple. Their overarching canopy
shades a rustic seat. There the child-
ren are, as of yore, wreathing gathered
flowers. Perched among the branches,
a glossy black-squirrel is watching with
eager interest every movement. Now
bounding xipon the shoulder of his
young mistress, he rubs his head coax-
ingly against her cheek, then plunges
into her pocket to bring out a nut or
sugar-plum for his comfort.

But thus it could not always be. The
brother leaves the home so bi-ight and
sunny, and on the rustic seat carves for
those remaining the words of the old
Latin poet :
' ' Forsan' et hoec olim meminisse juvabit. "

It may be in after days these shall be re-
membered with joy.

Aye, with joy. A sobered joy, for a
minor chord is sounding through all the
music of bygone days. Where now is

the home made attractive with Flora's
brightest gems 1 Where now those
merry peals of childhood's laughter 1
Whei-e those children] The echoes
answer, pealing through the corridors,
memory's corridors, faintly and more
faintly dying to a whisper, "Where?"
But the Snowball. Yes, the Snow-
ball ; yet is there any need to write of
it ? Is it not, gentle reader, even as
your eyes trace these words, palpable to
sight? An old familiar friend, into
whose ear you have whispered pro-
foundest seci'ets ; upon which you have
looked in each returning season with
friendly interest and ever increasing
pleasure ; so wrought into your life's
morning hours, and into your noontide's
brightness, that it has become a part of
your very being 1 Yet it may be that
an added pleasure will be given to be
reminded that it is a near relative of
the twining Woodbine that covers your
lattice ; of the rosy pink Honeysuckle,
whose bright flowers make the lawn so
cheery in summer, and whose ruddy
berries brighten the autumnal days ;
and of the pretty pure white Snow-
berry, heightening the beauty of their
common cousin, the Redberried Elder,
by the harmony of contrast 1 Yes, our

74

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

Snowballs belong to the Honeysuckle
family, that family which unites in con-
sanguineous bonds the houses ofLinnsea,
so charmingly represented by the lovely
sweet-scented L. borealis ; of Sympho-
oarpus, known to us all by the Coral-
berry and the Snowberry ; of Lonicera,
that climbing over our arboi's fills them
at eventide with delicious perfume, or
standing erect upon the lawn brightens
it with rosy-pink or golden-yellow
flowers ; of Sambucus, that so delights
our boys, more by the softness of its
white yielding pith, than with its
blackish purple berries ; and of Vibur-
num so numerously repi'esented in our
northern latitudes, to which our gai'den
Snowball belongs.

The following members may be
found ^gi'owing within the bounds of
our own Dominion : —

The Sheep-berry ( Viburnum hn-
tago), whose black ben-ies are half an
inch or more in length, will be well-
known to most of our Canadian readers,
who doubtless long ago made the dis-
covery that the fruit is edible.

The Arrow-wood [Viburnum den-
tatum, is common in wet places in our
northern climate, and is readily recog-
nized in the fruiting season by its small
bright blue berries.

The Downy Arrow-wood ( Vibur-
num pubescens), is also found growing
northward, usually in rocky places, as
a low straggling shrub, the under side
of the leaves, especially of the young
Leaves, softly downy, and the fruit of a
dark purple color.

The Maple-leaved Arrow-wood
( Viburnum acerifolium), so called from
the striking resemblance which its
leaves bear to those of the maple, is
found growing in rocky places, and
yielding a crimson fruit, that turns to
a pin-ple color at full maturity.

The Cranberry Tree {Viburnum
opulus) grows from five to ten feet
high in low grounds along the borders
of streams. The flowers appear in
cymes, of which the marginal ones are
destitute of stamens and pistils, but
whose corollas are much larger than the
others, which gives a singular appear-
ance to the cluster. The fruit when
ripe is of a bright red, pleasantly acid
in flavor, containing a flat, smooth
stone. Where cranberries do not
abound this fruit has been used as a
substitute for those berries, whence the
name of High-bush Cranberry applied
to this species. Not very long ago it
was extensively advertised by some
enterprising dealers in fruit-bearing
plants, and the value of its fruit for
sauces, tarts, jellies, &c., abundantly
set forth, especially for the benefit of
those who were fond of cranberries but
had no suitable place where to grow
them.

Our Snowball, or as it is more usu-
ally called in England, the G-uelder
Rose, is this viburnum opulus, or cran-
berry tree, whose flowers have become
all sterile, that is, all the flowers of the
cyme have become destitute of stamens
and pistils, and have taken on the large
corolla, which was at first the peculi-
aritv of the marginal flowers. The

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTUKIST.

iO

older botanists regarded the cranberry
ti-ee as a distinct species, and gave it
the name of Vibtcrnum oxy coccus or
Viburnum edtde ; but hiter researches
have established its identity as a culti-
vated form of the cranberry tree. It
makes a large massy bush, whose
branches bend gracefully to the earth
beneath their load of showy snow-
balls.

The American Wayfaring Tree or
Hobble Bush ( Viburnuiri lantanoides)
is deserving of more attention as an
ornamental shrub than it has received.
Its leaves are somewhat heart-shaped
and hoary, its flower cymes very bi-oad
and flat, and its fruit of a rich dark
red when ripe ; so that both in fruit
and flower and leaf it is highly orna-
mental. It is found in cold, moist
woods as a straggling shrub.

Perhaps the time may come when we
shall have somewhere in Ontario a col-
lection of at least our native trees and
shrubs, where the families shall be so
grouped and the several genera and
species planted together in such a man-
ner that the student can at a glance
perceive their points of similarity and
contrast, and become so familiar with
their several characteristics as to be
able at once to recognize them where-
ever he may chance to meet them. It
was natural to have expected tliat such
a collection would by this time have
been planted in the grounds of our
Agricultural College, Vjut although
some little beginning has been made in
this direction, the realization of such
an arboretum is apparently in the re-

mote future. To the writer's mind it
appears likely to remain there until
some more pei-manent Governor shall
be invested with control than the Com-
missioner of Agriculture foi- the time
being, or the Government of the day,
which may be wise or otherwise. Why
the farmers of Ontario, in whose intei--
ests the Agricultural College is sup-
posed to have been established, have
not taken this matter into their own
hands and insisted that this institution
shall be fully equipped, properly offi-
cered, and controlled by men of well
known ability in the several branches
of agricultural pursuits, remains an
unsolved mystery. This will never be
done until they do.

But we were writing of the snow-
balls. There is yet another member of
this genus which, though not native to
our climate, seems to bear it well, and
which on many accounts deserves to
find a place among our ornamental
shrubs. It is called the Viburnum
plicatum. It comes to us from north-
ern China. Its plaited leaves <i,re of a
most beautiful bright green, and its
flowers are of pure white. Were it
permitted us to give it an English
name we should suggest that it be
called the Plaited-Leaved Snowball.
It is this species that the artist has
tried to represent in the colored plate
which accompanies this number ; but
it is qttite impossible to shew foi'th the
purity of the whiteness of its flower
as they appear in natui-e contrasted a
heightened in Vjeauty as they ar
the surrounding foliage.

WOODRUFF RED.

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTUMST.

77

FUNGOID DISEASES OF THE STRAW-
BEERY.

Mr. F. S. Earle, of Cobden, Illinois,
read a very interesting paper on this
subject before the American Horticul-
tural Society, at its recent meeting in
New Orleans. He states that he has
observed ten different species of fungi
infesting the strawberry plants of
Southern Illinois, of which five proved
to be new and undescribed species. Of
the injurious fungi, the species known
as ramularia hdasuei (Sacc), is the
most important, occurring on wild and
cultivated strawbei-ry plants from New
England to California. Its presence on
the leaf is usually indicated at first by
a reddish blotch j and later by a white
spot about an eighth of an inch in di-
ameter, surrounded by a reddish border,
and remarks that the greatest damage
ensues when it attacks the stems and
calyx of the growing fruit. Thus far
it seems to have caused more damage to-
ward the southern and less toward the
northern border of the strawberry belt.
The only remedy proposed is dusting
the plants with lime, which, he says,
has been practised for some years by
growers in Connecticut and Tennessee,
with good results.

The next species in importance is
gloeosporium iwtentillce ( Ouds), which has
perhaps as wide a geographical range as
the other, and in its earlier stages is
■difficult to distinguish from it, but
which instead of developing a central
white spot, shews a number of very
minute black pustules bursting up
through the epidermis. This fungus
has proved with Mr. Earle more

destructive, but fortunately so far
restricted to limited areas and a few
varieties. He knows of no remedy
having been tried for this species. Mr.
Earle's paper is one of great interest to
all strawberry growei'S, and is well
worthy of their careful perusal. It will
be published in full in the forthcoming
transactions of the American Horticul-
tural Societv.

WOODRUFF RED GRAPE.
This is said to be another Concord
Seedling, ripening a little earlier than
the parent, and considered to be worth}-
of dissemination for the reason that it
is very hardy, a stronger grower than
the Concord, remarkably healthy, never
having been known to suffer from mil-
dew or rot. The fruit is attractive in
appearance on account of the large size
both of bunch and berry, and its bright
color ; and it is said to be remarkable
for its keeping qualities, having been
kept in good condition until the middle
of February. We have never yet tasted
this grape, and therefore cannot give
our opinion of its quality, but we under-
stand it shows the usual characteristics
of the Labrusca family to which it be-
longs. A fruit dealer says that it out
sells anything in the grape line he ever
handled, bringing three times as much
as the Concoi'd every time. {See p. 76).

MINNEWASKI BLACKBERRY.
This is a new variety, originated by
Mr. A. J. Cay wood, of Marlboro', N.Y.,
and which is said to be wonderfully
prolific, yielding very large berries,
some of them neasuring an inch in

78

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

diameter and an inch and a quarter in
length, without core, seeds very small,
and of an excellent and sprightly flavor.
It will be offered for sale next autumn,
and then our readers can pi'ocure the
plants and give it a trial in our climate.
We very much need a blackberry as
hardy as the Snyder, of lai'ge size, great
productiveness, without core, and of ex-
cellent flavor. Will Ave find it in this
new sort?

A VERY DOUBLE BON SILENE.

Perhaps some day there will be a rose
that will be fairly entitled to be called
perfect. As yet our best roses have
some imperfectioii, lack some quality
that some other rose has. Rosarians
are after a rose that shall combine in
itself every desirable quality. Bon
Silene was thought to be possessed of
many excellences, having all that could
be asked of a rose in beauty of bud, at-
tractiveness in color, deliciousness of
])erfume, abundance of flowers ; but,
alas, it had one defect, the expanded
blossoms were worthless, nay unsightly,
especially when bedded out in the open
ground. We now learn from the
Gardener^ s Montlilij. for March that a
sport from Bon Silene appeared, over
a year ago, in the greenhouse of E.
Hippard, Youngstown, Ohio, which is
very double, in shape and thickness of
petals resemljling the Souvenir de Mal-
niaison, in color and beauty of bud the
old Bon Silene, and having a uniform
dark rose color to the centre when fully
expanded. When this rose is off"ered
for sale, shall we be told that we have
at last attained to a perfect rose 1

THE BENNETT ROSE.
A correspondent of the Gardener's
Monthly states that he has been to see
this celebrated ]-ose, which is owned by
Mr. Evans, of Philadelphia, and reports
that it is a very strong grower, the
foliage large and bright, the color of
the flowers much like that of General
Jacqueminot, their size and shape like
a good Niphetos, their fragrance unsur-
passed by any Tea rose, and in beauty
far exceeding the beautiful La France.

AMERICAN HORTICULTURAL
SOCIETY.

At the last meeting of the Mississippi
Valley Horticultural Society it was
thought that the time had come for en-
larging the field of operations, and
taking a name indicative of the extent
of the field embraced and the cosmo-
politan character of the work to be
overtaken. The transactions of the
Society, now embracing two volumes,
have been commended to the notice of
our readers as they have appeared, as
containing exceedingly valuable and
practical papers, which could not fail to
profit every fruit-grower and liorticul-
turist.

The forthcoming volume will beyond
doubt be full of practical information
and suggestion, the papers contributed
being from many of the most experi-
enced and eminent men of the United
States in their several departments.
This volume will also contain a " Busi-
ness Director}^," consisting of a two-line
advertisement, giving name and address
and specialty, intended to embrace the
leading fruit-growers, nurserymen, flor-

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

79

ists, seedsmen, gardeners, fruit-dealers,
commission houses, canning and drying
establishments, manufacturers of horti-
cultural supplies, as implements, fruit
and vegetable packages, labels, &c.
There will be given in addition a list
of the principal horticultural and pomo-
logical societies in the United States
and British Provinces, together with
the names of their officers. The Society
is wholly dependent upon the fees of
members and patrons to defray expenses.
The membership fee is $2.00 a year, the
Directory fee $3.00 additional. New
members will receive as a present a co[)y
of the Transactions for 1884 nntil the
edition is exhausted, . in addition to the
forthcoming volume for 1885. Address
W. H. Ragan, Secretary, Greencastle,
Indiana, U.S.A.

SPECIAL NOTICE.

The Editor desires to expi'ess his
thanks to those of his readers who so
kindly and promptly responded to his
request for a copy of the April num-
ber of Vol. Y. He believes that he
has sent Vol. IV. to all those who fa-
vored him with that April number and
expressed a desire to receive Vol. IV.
in return.

He now finds that he could supply
the desire of some to obtain a complete
set of Vol. V. if he could obtain three
copies of each of the following num-
bers, namely, February, March, May,
July, and December, and one for No-
vember, of the year 1882. He can
send in return for any of these a com-
plete set of Vol. I., or of Vol. II., or of
Vol. III., or of Vol. IV., or any one of
the following reports, namely, for 1873,
or 1875, or 1876, or 1879.

Further, the Editor is under the
impression that there is one or more

persons entitled to receive a copy of
the book " Every Woman her own
Flower Gardener " as a premium for
obtaining new subscribers. There was
considerable delay in procuring the
book owing to the edition having been
exhausted, but they have now been re-
ceived, and meanwhile the memoran-
dum has been mislaid containing the
names of those entitled thereto. Will
you who are entitled please send your
name and post-office address on a pos-
tal card to the Editor, that he may
send the book to you at once.

Mclaughlin plum.

Mr. Gibb, writing from Como, Pro-
vince of Quebec, says that the Mc-
Laughlin Plum stands our climate
well ; Mrs. Caustin, of Lachine, has
fruited it for sevei-al years.

NEXT WINTER MEETING.

The Stratford Horticultural Society
has sent an invitation to the Fruit
Growers' Association of Ontario to hold
the next Winter Meeting of that Asso-
ciation in the Town of Stratford. This
invitation will be submitted at the
Summer Meeting to be held in Ux-
bridse.

QUESTION DRAWER.

Dear Sir, — Are the Snider and
Wauchusett Thornless Blackberries
suitable for this locality. Please an-
swer through the Canadian Horticul-
turist.

Thos. H. Miller.

Askin P. 0.

Reply. — The Snyder will surely
stand your climate ; the other is not
as hardy, but may do well. Try a few
plants, and report your experience to
the Canadian Horticulturist.

80

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

I like the Horticulturist very much,
and the annual report is worth the
dollar itself, without the premium or
monthly magazine. I have been trying
to send you a new subscriber, but have
not been successful yet.

Please mention about four of the (1)
best kind of strawberries suitable for a
loamy soil— a soil which grows too
much straw for profitable grain raising,
and the (2) best black cap and (3) red
raspberries for the same soil, in the
March number, if you receive this in
time. We live about ten miles north
and ten east of Toronto. The ther-
mometer has registered as low as 26°
below zero this winter. That is about
the lowest we ever have it.

"Wishing yourself and the Fruit
Growei-s' Association success in the
highest degree.

P. Break,
Box Grove, York Co., Ont.

Reply. — (1). Wilson, Crescent, Ar-
nold's Pride, Manchester.

(2). Doolittle, Ohio, Souhegan, Mam-
moth Cluster.

(3). Highland Hardy, Turner, Phila-
delphia, Cuthbert.

These are given with reference to
your climate as well as your soil.

CORPvESPONDENCE.

CATALPA SPECIOSA.
SiR^_In the autumn of 1882 I pur-
chased three Catalpa Speciosa from St.
Catharines Nurseries, which I planted
in a sandy loam, one of them on the
north side of a high board fence. They
have all made excellent growth and
stood the severity of the last two win-
ters well, so I have no fear but what
they will be all right next spring. One
of them flowered the first season, but
none since. Hot winds seem to shrivel

up their immense leaves that have such
a beautiful bloom, but the first cool day
they quite revive. I think your cor-
respondent from Lindsay can safely
plant them.

Yours truly,

L. H. KiRKBY.

Collingwood, Feb. 26th, 1885.

WHERE MAY GRAPES BE GROWN?

Any one who takes an interest in
the development of the fruit-growing
industry must experience a sense of
great gratification at the results attend-
ing the experiments in grape growing
(although on a small scale) in so many
places in the interior of this Province,
where, until within a few years, it was
supposed to be impossible to grow this
most desirable fruit.

The tine exhibits of well grown and
highly flavored grajjes which have been
made at so many local exhibitions in
the more central parts of the country
during the past season show that this
branch of fruit culture may in the near
future prove to be one of the most
profitable, as well as one of the most
pleasant occupations, for large numbers
of our rural population over an exten-
sive tract of country hitherto supposed
to be unsuited to that purpose. The
part of Ontario to which I refer especi-
ally (and I believe there are many
other districts even more favorabl}-
situated), extends from the neighbour-
hood of Kingston in a westerly direc-
tion up the Bay of Quinte ; from thence
up the Trent waters to Balsam Lake,
and across the height of land to the
southern end of the Georgian Bay.

Let us for a moment consider what
are the conditions necessary to this
end, then we need not be surprised at
the results. First. — Suitability of soil.
Most authorities agree that the soil
best suited for this purpose must be
light, porous, friable, dry and warm.
Alonw the course indicated, embracing

THE CANADIAN HORTTCULTUBIST.

81

large tracts on both shores of the Trent
waters, and also a large portion of the
land near Lakes Simcoe and Couchi-
ching, and also westwards from Lake
Simcoe, there are thousands of acres
which cannot be excelled for this pur-
pose in any part of this Province. But
the most imjjortant factor to be consid-
ered in forming an estimate of the
probabilities of success is the meteoro-
logical conditions of such localities ;
and it is in this particular, as may be
learned from the following table, that
much of this large area has advantages
over some of the more southern poi--
tions of the Province, inasmuch as dur-
ing the period between the latest frosts
in spring and the earliest in autumn
severe enough to injure the crop, the
atmosphere over these parts is much
hotter and dryer during the daytime
than over much of the more southerly
portions : —

Aggregate op Monthly Mean Maxima

Temperature at the following places from
May 16th to September 30th inclusive, for
the years given.

Plac:!S.

1880.

ISSl.

1882.

1883.

1884.

Welland

357.16
343.37
343.89
364.19
340.24
349.73
347.99

362 91

369 43

Toronto ...

369.05

374.33

354.82

359.36
376 92

Lindsay ....

Barrie

Gravenhurst.

377.93
.367.24
372.56

385.90
375.62
380.24

363.27
861.40
357.10

375.03
360.88
309.80

From personal observation during
many years, taken in connection with
the material from which this table is
compiled, I am of the opinion that
during the seasons included in the four
and a half months referred to, an aggre-
gate maximum temperature of 350° is
the minimum of heat required to ripen
the earlier varieties of grapes, and that
at least 10° of additional heat is neces-
sary to I'ipen the later varieties, such
as the Concord, and others ripening a
few days after that variety.

The summer of 1883 will long be
remembered by vineyard ists as being a
very unfavourable season for the grape
crop. By referring to the above table
it will be seen that the aggregate of
350° of heat was exceeded only at
Welland and at Deseronto diu-ing that
season, and even in the Welland dis-
trict the heat was not sufficient to
ripen the late varieties before the 1st
October. North of Lake Ontario the
heat was not sufficient to ripen the
earlier varieties in either of the locali-
ties given but at Deseronto ; at which
place the climate (judging from the
observations recorded during the last
two years) would seem to be peculiarly
suited to the successful growth of the
grape vine.

If the conclusions here arrived at
are correct, then people in any locality
may easily ascertain if that place is
suitable for the successful cultivation
of the grape plant, and the answer to
the question, " Where may grapes be
grown ?" will be : — Where the soil and
situation are suitable ; where there are
no spring frosts after the 15th of May;
where there are no autumnal frosts
eai-lier than the 1st of October more
severe than two or three degrees below
the freezing point on an occasional night,
and where the maxima temperatures of
the several months between the dates
given shall at least be three hundred
and sixty degrees, i. e., that from the
16th of May to the 1st of October —
138 days — the maximum daily tem-
perature must average over 72°.
Throughovit this tract of country, ex-
tending nearly 200 miles from east to
west, and ranging in width from 5 to
20 miles, many thousands of acres of
land may be found where the quality
of the soil and its exposure are emi-
nently suited for this purpose, and of
but little value for ordinary agricul
tural purposes, and where the climatic
conditions favor the orrowth of our

82

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

quick ripening varieties of grapes to
such a degree that we may soon expect
this industry to become one of our
most extensive and most profitable
branches of horticulture.

This statement will appear more
probable when we compare the climate
of some of the wine-producing districts
of France and Germany, taking Pai'is
as a centre from which to obtain reli-
able meteorological information with
that of Toronto and its outlying dis-
tricts. From "The Atmosphere," by
E. Flammarion, we find that the aver-
age mean temperature of the summers
at Paris for the 30 years from 1841 to
1870 inclusiA^e, was 64.52°, and from
"Abstracts and Results," issued from
the Meteorological Oflice at Toronto,
that the average mean temperature at
that place for the same period was
65.05°. From more recent records we
find that the average mean tempei-ature
for the last 5 years at Toronto was
65.42° : at Lind*say, 64.39° ; at Barrie,
65.75° ; and at Gravenhurst, 64.01°.
The mean temperature, however, as
before shown, is only one of the factors
necessary. The length of the season is
of equal importance, and it is in this
particulai- only that the wine districts
of France and Germany have any ad-
vantage over this country. Frosts in
May and June are more frequent and
moi'e severe than in any portion of this
district. There the season for com-
mencing spring operations is several
weeks eai'lier than with us ; hence the
chief reason why the varieties grown
there cannot be grown in the open air
in this country. The rain-fall in the
wine districts referred to is about the
same as in Ontario ; but such intense
midday heat as so often prevails in
some of the inland portions of this
Province is very rare in the wine dis-
tricts of France and Gei-many.

Let the facts be established by ex-
periments on a fairly large scale that

suitable lands for vineyard purposes are
plentiful over this large area, and that
the climate is all that is necessary to
insui'e — under proper management —
healthy cane growth and well ripened
fruit in average seasons, then men of
experience having capital to invest will
soon revolutionize the grape market.
And that these facts will at an early
date be established is evident from the
success attending the efibrts of such
men as Mr. P. C. Dempsey, at "Murray ;
Mr. J. W. Johnston, of Campbellford ;
Mr. T. C. Chapman, at Baltimore ; Mr.
John Knowlton, at Sturgeon Point ;
Mr. P. Bertram, Mr. H. S. Scadding
and others at Oiillia, who will in a
short time place this question beyond
doubt.

Since the foregoing was wi'itten my
attention has been called to a most
valuable paper on "A Few Canadian
Climates," by J. Gordon Mowat, Esq.,
and published in the Proceedings of
the Canadian Institute for July, 1884,
the last paragraph of which, and also
the " Note " is hereto subjoined, and
to which (in the table) I have added
the average monthly means for the last
5 years — 1880 to 1884 inclusive — of
Lindsay, Barrie and Gravenhurst : —

' ' By a British standard the summers of
much of the Proviace may be considered
long. May in south-western Ontario is
warmer than Julj^ at Edinburgh ; September
is warmer than July in London, and warmer
than September at Vienna. The vine,
maize and sorghum fully mature in most
parts of the Province south of the iGth
parallel, and in not a few districts yield as
abundantly as in any part of America or
Europe. The limitations on the cultivation
of the vegetals of similar latitudes in Europe
is more in the intensity of the winter frosts
than in the lack of a sufficiently long or
warm summer."'

"Note. — The length and heat of Ontario
summers contrasted with those of other
places in Canada, and various places in
Europe, may be seen by a glance over the
following table. The means for Toronto,
Hamilton, Windsor and Winnipeg are de-

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

83

rived from the annual records of the Can-
adian Meteorological Service for eight years
(1874-81) ; those from Montreal from same
records for six years (1875-80) ; those from
Pelee from C. M. S. station reports for three
and a half years. The averages for European
stations are quoted from Blodgett's "Ameri-
can Climatology," and are for periods, with
few exceptions, longer than eight years."

MONTHLY MEANS OF CANADIAN SUMMERS.

May. June, j July. Aug. Sept.

Toronto

Hamilton

Windsor

Pelee

Montreal, Que. ..
Winnipeg, Man..

Lindsay

Barrie

Gravenhurst . . . .

0

54.2

o
62.6

57.6

66.0

60.8

67.9

59.2

67.1

55.0

65.0

52.9

61.8

52.8

61.7

53.4

62.8

52.8

61.7

I

73.4
73.4
73.5
69.8
67 3
65.6
67.4
05.4

71.3
71.4
72.9
68.1
64.1
65.6
67.0
64.5

60.3
63.9
63.8
66.3
50.0
51.9
59.2
60.5
58.1

MONTHLY MEANS OF EUROPEAN SUMMERS.

1
May.

June.

July.

Aug.

Sept.

Edinburgh

Aberdeen

York

o

50.3
52.3
54.5
55.8
54.4
58.1
59.4
58.2
57.6
56.5
52.0
62.1
50.3

0

56.0
56.7
59.2
58.7
60.2
62.7
67.5
64.4
62.1
63.3
57.4
67.5
62.5

c

58.7
58. S
62.0
61.7
61.5
65.6
69.0
68.4
64.7
65.8
62.6
70.7
68. 1

o

56.8
58.0
61.1
58.9
61.4
65.3
66.5
64.4
64.1
64.4
61.7
70.0
65.2

o

53.4
54.6
55.7

London

Dublin

56.6
56.5
60.1

Rochelle

Vevay

Munich

Berlin

Koningsburgh . .

62.4
59.6
58.1
58.4
53.6
Gl 9

Bucharest

58.3

Thos. Beall.

Lindsay, January, 1885.

SCAB OX THE APPLE.
Dear Sir, — At the winter meeting
of the JFruit Grower.s' Association held
at Woodstock, I consented to act as
one of a committee appointed to con-
duct a series of experiments to test the
vahie of sulphur and sulphur com-
pounds as preventives of the black
scab on apples. The varieties that I
experimented with were the Swaar and
the St. Lawrence. I applied flour of
sulphur in the proportion of one pound
to twelve gallons of water at two dif-
ferent times. The first application the

young apples were about the size of
marbles, and two weeks after the first
application I showered them for ihe
last time. When 1 gathered my ap-
ples I could not detect any material
difference between those to which I ap-
plied the sulphur and those of the
same varieties that I did not ; both to
all appearance being equally affected,
by the scab.

Yours truly,

S. Cornwall.
Norwich, Oct. 31, 1884.

THE PtUST ON THE BERBERRY.

The following correspondence on a
much vexed question is published in
the hope that some one may be able to
contribute something tending tow^ards
its solution :

Wroxeter, Nov. 28, 1884.
Geo. Leslie & Son,

Dear Sirs, — Enclosed find your let-
ters from Messrs. St. George and Beadle.
I thank you for the opportunity of per-
using them, also for the trouble you
have taken in supplying me with much
valuable information on this very in-
teresting subject. Mr. St. George's
determination to institute a number of
experiments next summer, to ascertain
whether the rust, natural to the one.
can be cultivated on the other, is, in
my estimation, a very important step.
If carefully conducted, it will do more
to settle this question than any other
method that could be adopted I hope
Mr. St. George will make public the
result of his experiments.

Very truly yours,

S. B. Smale..

Oakridges, Oct. 20, 1884.
Bear Sir, — I have yours of the 27th
and Dr. Smale's, which I enclose. I
have for a number of years planted Ber-
berry hedges, and cannot find any con-

84

THE CANADIAN HORTIOULTCKIST.

nection between tlie rust in Berberry
and wheat or oats. Dr. Smale says
his wheat tins year was badly rusted
near the Berberries, but not elsewhere.
He does not say how his fields are situ-
ated. I and many others have noticed
that in places sheltered by a belt of
trees or otherwise, the wheat was often
badly rusted, when parts of the same
field where the wind had free access
were but little or not at all rusted. This
year, on the ridges, we have been very
free from rust, whei-eas I have seen a
great deal of it in other parts where
probably there was not a solitary Ber-
berry within miles. As for oats, in
former times, before I had any Berberry
hedges, we had a great deal of rust.
Since we have given up the common
black oats for the white, I have not
seen any rust at all, although there are
Berberry hedges all around. I must
also say that there is very little rust on
our Berberries at any time, and you
must search pretty close to find some,
and will not always succeed. I have
never tested it personally, but often
heard it said in England, that by
microscopic investigation you could
ascertain that there is no connec-
tion between the rust proper to
"wheat and to Berberry. In Loudon's
(Arboretum et Fruticetum, vol. 1,
page 302) ai-ticle. Berberry, I find the
plant makes an excellent hedge ; but
there exists a prejudice against it
amongst the agriculturists fx'om its sup-
posed influence in pi-oducing blight or
mildew on the corn adjoining it. This
opinion, though totally unfounded, is
of unknown antiquity. It appears to
have been first considered as an errone-
ous prejudice by Dr. Hamel, who
assui-es us that it is totally void of
foundation ; and Broussonnet and other
botanists subsequently proved the fact.
But the most scientific refutation of the
■error was given by Dr. Greville, in the
Scottish Cri/ptogamic Flora. In that ex-

cellent work. Dr. Greville has shown
that the mildew which attacks the Ber-
berry [Elcidium Berheridis) is quite
different from the fungi which are
found on corn ; the Berberry mildew,
when magnified, is found to consist of
a number of small orange cups, with a
white film over each when ripe ; these
films burst and the top of the cups
assume a ragged, uneven appearance,
in which state they look like white
fungi ; the cups are filled with innum-
erable little cases containing seeds or
sporules, and these constitute the bright
orange powder which is seen on the
leaves and flowers of the common Ber-
berry. Among the many beautiful
objects that are to be met with in the
lower and more imperfect tribes of
plants. Dr. Lindley observes : " It is
difiicult to find one more worthy of an
attentive examination that the HJlcidium
Berberidis." The blight on corn is
generally a species of Aredo, and does
not correspond in botanical character
with the Oidium. Still it is an import-
ant question, as we must at some future
time, owing to the increasing scarcity
of timber, have recourse to hedges to
enclose our fields ; wire requires posts,
is very expensive, and not at all satis-
factory. Other hedge plants, even when
efficient, require constant attendance,
and do not suit every soil. The Ber-
berry, when, after a few yeai-s, the
stems are about half an inch in diameter,
and five or six feet high, surrounded by
innumerable suckers, is a fence which
no bull or mouse can face, and requires
no attendance at all. I never ti-immed
or pruned any of mine. It might be
barely possible that besides suffering
from its own proper rust, the wheat is
liable to be attacked by the Elcidium
Berheridis when it is blown on it from
neighboring plants, this I will take care
to ascertain for myself next summer, if
any rust is to be found on wheat, and
there alwavs is more or less of it every

THE CANADIAN HOKTICULTUBIST.

85

year. I will carefully compare with a
microscope : trace one on the Berberry
itself and on the wheat near the Ber-
berries, and also on wheat at a great
distance from any Berberry plants, and
will have much pleasure in communi-
cating to you the results of those ob-
servations, which I ti-ust might be con-
clusive.

Very truly yours,

H. QuETTON St.' George.
Geo. Leslie, Esq., Leslie P. 0., Ont.

CUTHBERT AND GREGG RASP-
BERRIES.

The Cuthbert now stands at the head
of the red raspberries, and the Gregg oc-
cupies the same position among the black
caps. These stand head and shoulders
above their competitors. They have
many valuable characteristics in com-
mon. Both are rampant growers. Both
produce very large, firm fruit, that can
be 'jent to distant markets, and will not
shrink much in canning or drying.
Neither of them ripens very early.
Neither of them produce the very finest
fruit in either appearance or quality.
The Cuthbert, however, gives handsome
fruit, of good quality. The dry quality
Df the Gregg really adds to its value.
Both Cuthbert and Gregg are very pro-
ductive. Both of them retain their
fruit for some days after it is ripe,
which adds much to their value. Fruit
ripe on Saturday may be left until
Monday. A rain-storm often destoys
many berries of other varieties. Both
varieties disappoint the pickers, because
the beautiful berries do not readily
leave their stems. Both varieties
lengthen the season. The Cuthbert ex-
tends the season for about fifteen days.
There are some points of difference.
The Cuthbert will, I think, flourish
upon a variety of soils. The Gregg is
somewhat fastidious. The Cuthbert is,
I think, as hardy as any red raspberry,
except perhaps the Turner. It is

thought that the Gregg in hardiness as
well as in quality is beaten by the
Mammoth Cluster and several others.
We now want earlier varieties, equal
to the Cuthbert and Gregg. Many
claimants are in the field. It remains
for them to prove their claims. For
family use, berries softer and better
than the above are obtainable. Many
sensible families, however, prefer to
risk the best market varieties.

Niagara Falls, South. E. MoRDEN.

BLOSSOMING OF FRUIT TREES.

The profusion of blossoming on the
majority of our cultivated fruit trees
is really no indication that a corre-
sponding crop of fruit will follow.
Varioiis causes may be assigned, but
the most probable is that in deviating
from the original condition of things
consequent upon cultivation, eccentri-
cities may be looked for both in the
blossoms and fruit ; part of the blos-
soming may be abortive, and a prepon-
derance of pistillate over staminate
blossoms, or vice versa, may occur, and
the size of the fruit at the expense of
the quantity. The nearer the approach
to the original types, abundant fruit
corresponding to the blossoms may be
calculated on — for example, the Siber-
ian crab apple, the crab pear and the
Guigne {cerasus avium) — but just as
soon as a removal takes place another
order of things is substituted, nature
being interfered with.

The failure of the fruit crop gener-
ally may be attributed to various causes,
late spring frosts and rainy weather
just at the time of blossoming, but the
chief and greatest cause is the absence
of insects of the bee family just at the
opportune time for the purpose of fer-
tilization.

You may calculate to a certainty
when you hear the hum of insects on a
fruit tree that you are going to have

86

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

fruit on it in season, everything else
being equal. Simon Roy.

Berlin, 16th Feb., 1885.

THE GRIMSBY FRUIT-GROWERS'
ASSOCIATION.

To THE Editor of thk Canadian Horticulturist.

Dear Sir, — Having taken a few
notes of the discussion at the regular
Winter Meeting of the Grimsby Fruit-
Growers' Association, I forward them
to you, believing they mi\y be of some
interest to the readers of tlie Horticul-
turist.

The meeting was held on Friday, 27th
Februaiy, and about fifty gentlemen
were pi-esent, nearly all of whom took
part, more or less, in the discussion.

For subjects of discussion the meet-
ing was almost wliolly dependent upon
a "question drawer." This method was
very successful, being the means of
bringing up just those suTjjects most in-
teresting to members present.

The first question was, " Is there a
more profitable grape than the Concord?"
Mr. Smith said the Concord is the most
profitable grape for neglectful people,
but other kinds are better for those who
take proper care. We could make more
money, for example, out of a good pack-
ing grape, as perhaps the Vergennes.
Dr. Millward thought that in the near
future the Concord would be displaced;
first by an earlier grape, and second, by
a later grape that would keep. Mr.
Orr said the Champion has paid him
better than any other grape he had
grown. The Delawai-e had paid him
better than the Concord. He had
averaged only about 4c. per lb. for Con-
cords, which was too low a price for
profit. Mr. Cline thought Niagara or
Pocklington promised to be far more
profitable than the Concord. Mi-. E.
J. Woolverton, the president, said that
this year the Pocklington had paid him
better than the Concord by 50 percent.

Mr. Murray Pettit, a prominent grape
culturist, said if the Champion were
planted extensively, as the Concord is,
they would be a drug on the market.
The market could soon be glutted even
with Moore's Early. The Delaware, as
a rule, does not receive sufficient care
from growers to make it profitable. It
requires great quantities of manure.
He attributed his success with them to
a compost in which the most important
element was dead horses. Grapes for
jKicking, too, might soon overstock the
market. And so even with the Niagara
or Pocklington. If planted in large quan-
tities, the market might soon be as full
of white grapes as it now is of black.

The next question was, ''What action
has been taken by the Municipal Coun-
cil to stamp out the Yellows, and whott
course should be ta^ken to aid in the etc-
complishrnent of this object r' Reports'
wei'e received by members of the Village
and Township Councils, from which it
appeared that inspectors were annually
appointed, who did their work well, but
the difficulty was that many owners of
orchards would neglect to destroy the
trees even after they were marked by
the inspector. A resolution was passed
to encourage the Councils in compelling
owners to destroy diseased trees.

The question next taken up, is per-
haps the most prominent one just now
in the minds of the fruit-growers about
Grimsby, viz., "Is it advisable, after the
experience of the last three years, to con-
tinue planting Peach trees in this sec-
tion ?" With this question was also
coupled a second, viz., "What propor-
tion of Peach frait buds have survived
the winter ? " The writer being called
upon to introduce the subject, said he
would not be entirely discouraged in
the culture of the peach. He would,
however, plant on a much more limited
scale, and give more room to small
fruits, grapes, &c., instead of depending
so largely on an uncertain crop. He ex-

THE CANADIAN HOKTICULTURIST,

8T

hibited some peach boughs, and showed
thataboutone-fourth of the fruit budshad
apparently thus far survived the winter,
and therefore a few peaches might rea-
sonably be expected this season. Mr.
D. Yanduzer had not previously been
able to find any live peach buds, but
had been to-day convinced thei-e was a
small proportion. Mr. W. H. Nelles
thought that three crops of fruit was
about all that could reasonably be ex-
pected from a peach orchard. In plant-
ing ten acres, he would give a very
small area indeed to peach trees. Mr.
Orr said, if he had not seen a live
peach bud this season, he would not
give up peach culture if he lived in the
Grimsby section, (Applause.) It was
generally conceded that the " Yellows
and Curled-leaf" were more discourag-
ing features of peach-growing than cold
winters.

To the question, "What was the cause
of the Jailure of the Plum crop 171 this
section last year?" Mr. Cline said the
crop had not failed with him. He had
Paris-greened his plum-trees four times
with three ounces Paris green to forty
gallons of water. The opinion pi-evailed
that the Curculio and not the winter
had caused the failure.

The two following questions were
grouped in one, viz., "Is there any dan-
ger of overstocking the apple market ? "
and " What varieties 0/ apples would you
recommend Jor profit, in jjlanting 500
trees?" The writer being asked to
reply, said, on the whole, the prospect
is encouraging. It is not probable
that the area devoted to the apple in
England, France or Belgium will ever
be much larger than at present, and,
therefore, the foreign demand for On-
tario apples will probably never be less
than it now is. Besides this, the cities
West and South are beginning to look
to Ontario for their supply of good
keeping apples. In reply to the second
question, he gave the following list of

500 apple trees for profit, viz.: Red
Astracan, 50 ; Duchess of Oldenburg,
50 ■ Baldwin, 200 ; Box Russet, 100 ;
Golden Russet, 100. He would omit
the Early Harvest, Rambo, Fall Pippin,
Greening, and Northern Spy on account
of the black spot which was gradually
coming upon them ; the King, because
it bears such light crops, and the Cran-
berry Pippin because it is often so mis-
shapen. Mr. A. H. Pettit gave the
following list for 500 apple trees :
Cranberiy Pippin, 150; Baldwins, 150;
Col vert, 25; Golden Russet, 75 ; Green-
ing, 75 ; Rox Russet, 25 ; Northern
Spy, 60 ; Astracan, 20 ; Duchess, 20 ;
Ribston Pippm, 10.

The following questions were also
discussed, in addition to many others,
viz. : What varieties of Raspberries and
Blackberries are most p)rofitable ? What
damage is to be Jeared from the Pear
Slug ? Would you recommend the plant-
ing of Pear trees at present high py'ices ?
What varieties of Quince would you re-
commend for general cultivation ?

And now, Sir, that I have given you
a brief account of our meeting, I want
to ask whether the Ontario Association
could arrange for some kind of relation-
ship between such smaller associations
and itself. Certainly it would contri-
bute very much to the success of such
meetings as this one, if some delegate
from the Fruit-Growers' Association of
Ontario could be present to give us the
benefit of his counsel upon the subjects
under discussion ; and for this, I am
sure, no one would be more welcome
than yourself.

L. WOOLVERTON.

RASPBERRY SAW-FLY.

The raspberry saw-fly (Selandria
rubi) is not a difficult insect to keep in
check if noticed in time. It is very
inconspicuous on account of its colour
and appearance. A weak mixture of
about an ounce of " hellebore " to a

88

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

pailful of water syringed onto the
plants will easily destroy the larvpe.
This should be done in the beginning
and middle of June and is quite safe.
Yours obediently,

J. Fletcher,
Ottawa, Feb., 1885. Entomologist.

A SMALL GREENHOUSE.

The following is a plan of a small
amateur greenhouse, that may be ac-
ceptable to some of your readers, from
Part 5, " Amateur Work ; or. Help
and Guidance for Self-helpers ; Every
Man his own Mechanic :"

A convenient size for the house (in-
cluding the potting-shed, which is at
the north end), is about 18 feet long
and 8 feet wide, outside measurement.
In referring to the drawing, it will be
seen there is a gi'ound -plate running all
round the base ; this is lettered A A,
and is 1^^ inches deep and 5 inches
wide, and is formed into a frame 8 feet
1 inch wide and 18 feet 1 inch long.
Securely fastened at the coi'ners, there
are foiir upright posts, C, which are
4 inches square ; these ai-e kept in a
vertical position by eight struts, J,
which greatly help to stiffen the frame-
work, until the boards are fastened
over it. The space between the end
posts is divided on either side of the
house into five equal spaces by four
posts, three of them, D, being 4 inches
by 3 inches, and the fourth, marked
X, 4 inches by 4 inches. This latter
divides the potting-shed ft'om the
greenhouse, as shown in Figs. 2 and 5.
These are all 4 feet 9 inches long, and
as they are mortised into the wall-
plate at the top, and the ground-plate
at the bottom, each of which is 1^
inches thick, the space between the
wall-plate and the ground-plate is 4
feet 6 inches ; the wall-plate, B, is 4
inches wide. Six other posts, D, 7
feet 4 inches long, 3 inches thick, and

4 inches wide, must be px-ovided.
These are all mortised at one end to
the ground-plate, and at the other are
nailed to the rafters, E. Of these two
at either end form the door-posts, of
which the door-ways are 6 feet 3 inches
high by 2 feet 3 inches wide. The
rafters, lettered E and F, are nailed at
one end on the wall-plate, and on the
other to the ridge-board, H, which is
18 feet 3 inches long, 6 inches deep,
and 1 inch thick. Those lettered F of
the form shown (Fig. 7) which repre-
sents the actual size of the section, they
are all 4 feet 9 inches long. These
rafters can be purchased of the section
shown, and sliould be all carefully
placed at equal distances (see Fig. 2)
when the width must be measured and
the glass ordered accordingly.

To ventilate the house, about 9 inches
next to the ridge-board on one side
should be unglazed, and the space cov-
ered with half-inch board, hinged in
four lengths opened from the inside, as
shown at L (Figs. 3 and 6), and the
same must be adopted at the bottom of
the opposite rafters, where four lengths
of boards M are hinged to the wall-
plate B. The house should be glazed
with glass 16 ounces in weight to the
square foot. With x-egard to doors the
amatexxr had better get them made by
a carpenter to look well. The framing
of the sides must be covered with ^ or
I inch boarding taxTed or painted on
the outside, and the space between the
inner and outer boards filled with saw-
dust, which is a slow conductor of heat.
As the house that has been desciibed
has a span roof and a door at each end,
zinc or iroxa gxxttering, supported on
bx-ackets, must be placed immediately
under the eaves along the front and
back. A sliding pannel in the pairti-
tion between the potting shed and the
house will be found useful for passing
in newly potted plants, &c., without
carx-ying them round in the front of

SHOWINOSTACC

WORKING DRAWINGS or A SMALL GREENHOUSE SPECIALLY DESIGNED and CONTRIVED to MEET THE REQUIREMENTS or AMATEUR GARDENERS.

. \r,ilr f'lir l/itnl,:liiii lurh I,' (In- liw

THE CANADIAN H0RTICULTUEI8T.

89

the house. The stage, marked K, is 2
feet 5 inches wide, and 2 feet 9 inches
or 3 feet high, as will be seen in the
drawings. T. A. H.

Muskoka.

THE ENGLISH SPARROW.

It is very gratifying to see from time
to time some honest evidence in favor
of that plucky little emigrant from my
native country — the English Spari-ow.
Mr. Eoy, of Berlin, is the last witness,
and his evidence is published in the
February number of the Cmiadian
Horticulturist, present volume. The
evidence given by that gentleman is of
that character which should commend
itself to future witnesses who have due
regard for their good name in the
future. Mr. Eoy freely admits the evil
propensities of the poor little stranger,
whicli, no doubt, is the result of the
improper training of his progenitors ;
but at the same time boldly and fear-
lessly gives him credit for his good
qualities, not even forgetting his musical
talents. Mr. Roy is a model witness.
Many persons when giving evidence
allow their partizanship to outrun their
veracity. They think they make a
good point at the time, but do not
receive much credit for their truthful-
ness when the published report of that
evidence turns up for review on some
future occasion. A good example of
this kind of evidence will be seen in
the following excellent story copied
from the last volume of the Country
Gentlemaii's Magazine, under the head-
ing of '• Agricultural Ai'ithmetic."

" Referring to the Nairnshire Farm-
ers' Association for tlie destruction of
Rooks, which gives a penny a head for
every Rook slaughtered, a writer in
the West Cumherland Times oppor-
tunely recalls a conversation which took
place in the House of Commons Com-
mittee on the Game Law^s in 184-5,
between Mr. John Bright and Mr.

Grantley Berkeley, Mr. Berkeley
stated that in districts unfrequented by
Rooks, boys were employed as a sub-
stitute to hunt for that destructive foe
of the farmer, the wire- worm. The
boys, said Mr. Berkeley in reply to
Mr. Bright, were paid at the rate of
three-half-pence per hundred for the
number of wire-worms they destroyed.
On being asked how much a boy could
earn at this rate of payment, he said
' ninepence per day.' Questioned as
to the number of worms a boy would
destroy per day in earning the nine-
pence, Mr. Berkeley found himself in
a quandary, and judged that the best
way to get out of it was to get into a
rage, which he accordingly did. ' I am
not here,' he said, ' to answer intricate
arithmetical questions.' ' If a boy
makes 9f/. per day in destroying wire
worms at the rate of HcZ. per hundred,
how many must he destroy per day '?
If you find that problem too intricate
for you,' continued Mr. Bright, ' will
you tell us whether a boy can do the
work as well as a crow V 'A crow is
worth fifty boys at such work,' replied
Mr. Berkeley. This was rather start-
ling information. The matter was
getting to be more interesting as the
inquiry proceeded. So Mr. Bright
appeared to think, as he pursued the
witness with a further question. ' If
a boy is worth ninepence per day in
destroying wire-worms, and a crow is
worth fifty boys at the work, how much
is the crow worth in sterling money?'
Again Mr. Berkeley was disposed to
reply by getting into a rage. But his
inquisitor was not to be outdone.
Paper, pen and ink were supplied, and
Mr. Berkeley was assisted in his calcu
lations, when it was discovered that
the crow was worth to the farmer
nearly £2 per day. ' The bird being
worth nearly £'2 per day, what may be
its yearly value?' was the next query.
'About £700,' answered Mr. Berkelev-

90

THE CA.NADIAN H0RTI0ULTDKI8T.

He had before said that fifty would be
a low average number of crows for each
farm in some districts, and he was now
finally asked, ' What is the aggregate
value per year to the farmer of his pro-
per quota of these useful birds 1 ' This,
we are told in the narrative, evolved
the most stai'tling conclusion of all, for
it appeared that the farmer was a gainer
of £35,000 per year by his fifty crows !"

What the verdict of the public anent
the Sparrow in this country may be,
after hearing all the evidence which
may be produced is, of course, difficult
to foresee at present. For my own
part I have nothing against him. He
has never disbudded my cherry trees,
nor any other of my fruit trees or
biishes ; and I am free to acknowledge
that I entertain for him a good deal of
aifection, especially when I see what a
comfortable living the poor little exile
obtains by his great energy and per-
severance, under adverse circumstances,
during our long cold winters. I never
yet heard him making any complaints
about our climate, nor wish himself
" back home again ;" and T must say I
fully appreciate his musical talents,
although not of a high order.

In England, however, I regret to
hear that he has been convicted, after
mature deliberation, of wholesale rob-
bery of crops, and that the decree for
his destruction, countersigned by Miss
Oi'merod, the Entomologist of the Royal
Agricultural Society, has been promul-
gated. They may find it difficult to
execute the warrant.

Thos. Beall.

Lindsay, February, 1885.

BLACK KNOT.
In your February number we notice
an article having the above heading,
written by R., from Berlin. I presume
Ontario. He traces the cause of the
Black Knot to fungoid epidemic. Scien-
tists differ widely in opinion in regard to

the origin of this infection of the plum
tree. It is only of late years we have
had anything to do with this infection,
or, indeed, knew anything about it.
After giving it close attention since
its first appearance up to the present
time, we fail to fall in with the idea
that it is a fungus formed on the bark
of the plum tree, or even the common
red cherry tree, which was so badly
affected with it the past year.

Fungi formed on vegetables, either
in a healthy state, or in a state of de-
cay, will not produce the efiect that we
find resulting from the Black Knot.
The fungoid excrescences formed on
plants and fruits arising as an ferial
epidemic, or from the nature of diflerent
soils, either natural or cultivated, in
order to produce the fungi, such as
the mushrooms and toad stools, have no
resemblance whatever to this so-called
"fungoid epidemic" (Black Knot).
The Black Knot will take all varieties
of plums, if you only give it time to do
its work completely. This only needs
time, and our neighbors to let it alone
and not interfere with its ravages ; but
it seems to be especially fond of the
blue plum, next the common red cherry
tree. I hear in some sections of coun-
try that a similar knot is appearing
on the apple tree, but we cannot vouch
for the truth of this statement. We
will wait for a further development of
this.

The insect (and an insect it is) whicli
causes the Black Knot makes its ap-
pearance in June. If you should
examine the limb affected closely, you
will find a small puncture which has
the effect of poisoning the bark ; and
around this puncture, this substance
begins to grow, and continues until the
egg deposited there hatches and begins
to live on this growth. When this
grub becomes nearly full grown, this
ceases to spread, dries up and turns
black, hence the term Black Knot.

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTUKI8T.

91

This knot should be removed immedi-
ately on being found. If it should
make its appearance on a part of the
tree you would not like to take off, cut
the knot closely, and cover the wound
with wax, the tree will sustain no seri-
ous injury. There is no need of burn-
ing the affected part when removed, if
the insect has not arrived at its chry-
salis stage ; if it has, be sure and des-
troy the knot. When you find the
knot turning black on the ti^ee, cut it
open, and you will find these grubs in
full blast. If we would conquer this
pest, every man must set to its des-
truction and not leave a single insect,
as one insect on wings can produce
hundreds of knots.

Yours respectfully,

W. C. Webster.
Stouey Creek, Out.

Will Mr. Webster please send a
specimen of the insect that makes the
puncture and lays the egg, which, in
his opinion, causes the Black Knot, to
the Editor, or to Mr. W. Saunders,
London, as soon as they appear next
season. By so doing he will contribute
largely to the settlement of a much
vexed question.

CERTAIN ROSES, AS I FIND THEM.
Mr. Editor, — I purpose, in response
to your invitation, to send you a series
of short papers or notes on flowers and
their culture, most suitable varieties to
grow, etc. And I wish to state to the
i-eaders- of the Kwticulturist once and
for all, that any opinions I may ad-
vance will be based on my own practi-
cal experience alone, and although my
opinions may not always coincide with
those of others as regards certain plants
or varieties, I wish at the outset to im-
press the idea that I am only stating

things as I have found them in my
purely amateur experience.

I will devote this paper, and perhaps
the following one, to roses best suited
to the amateur, or those who grow roses
for pleasure alone.

The greatest number of roses suit-
able for this that should be the greatest
class of rose growers, is to be found
among the hybrid perpetuals, and
among these I would perhaps give the
very first place to that grand red rose,

ALFRED COLOMB.

It seems to have more good points
than any other rose of its class ;
it is moderately hardy, very large,
of perfect form and color, is very fra-
grant, and a good and fairly constant
bloomer. Marie Bauman, another
beautiful red rose, very nearly resem-
bles Alfred Colomb in form, color, and
fragrance ; but it is not so desirable
because it is not as good a grower, and
appears to be quite tender, mine hav-
ing died out altogether. Marie Rady,
a very fine red rose, also somewhat re-
sembles Alfred Colomb, but the color
is not quite as good, nor do I think
that it is as constant a bloomer. Tlieio
is no other among the red roses so con-
stant in blooming perhaps as

GENERAL WASHINGTON,

and it is worthy of a place on this
account, although it has many gi-ave
defects, the worst one being that
so many of the flowers are misshapen
or mutilated. The flowers being so
very double they are often torn to
pieces in opening ; it is void of scent ;
the shape is rather too flat even when
perfect, and the color is somewhat vari-
able, sometimes (in unfavorable condi-
tions of weather) being a deep, dull
pink, while under more favorable con-
ditions it is a most beautiful bright
red. It is also a dwarf grower ; but
in spite of its many defects it is worth
growing on account of its constant

92

THE CANADIAN HOETICtJLTUBIST.

blooming qualities alone, and although
not nearly so good a I'ose as Marie Bau-
man or Marie Rady, yet it should be
grown in collections where they might
be left out, as it tills a place by itself,
while the place of the others named
can be so well filled by Alfx-ed Colomb.
Of course in even a small collection of
roses it would not do to leave out the
well known old favorite,

GENARAL JACQUEMINOT.

Although by no means a perfect
I'ose, it has much to commend it. It
is hardy, a good grower, of a very
good bright red color, and it knows
so well how to make the best of itself,
bearing its flowers so gaily on its tall
shoots above all the rest of the roses,
that really at a little distance it looks
the finest rose in the garden. Fisher
Holmes is, however, a rose of more
pei-fect form, and is apparently equal
and similar to General Jacqueminot in
all other respects.

If I were forced to make a small
selection of pink or rose-colored roses
I think I would choose La France,
Paul Neyron, and Marquise de Castel-
lane.

LA FRANCE

has become such an established fa-
vorite that it could not be left out —
the garden would seem imperfect
without it. It is large, a most
constant bloomer, highly and sweetly
scented, and of a beautiful clear color ;
and its form, although not so peifect
and compact as most outdoor roses, I
think could not be improved upon,
being a sort of a regular irregularity
(if I can use such an expi-ession), thus
in this matter filling a place entirely
by itself. Its worst defect is that in
hot and dry weather many of the buds
fail to open. It is also rather tender
for outdoor culture, but yet it can be
very successfully grown by protecting
the l)ushes somewhat in the winter.

As a rose for the conservatory I have
found it to be almost unequalled.

PAUL neyron's
one grand point is its great size. It
is without doubt the largest rose that
we can grow in this country. In
form, fullness, fragi-ance, purity of
color and hardiness it is a fair medium.
No collection, however small, should
be without this great rose.

MARQUISE DE CASTELLANE,

the other rose mentioned, fills a
j^lace by itself. There is some-
thing cactus-like about the flowers,
which is seen in no other rose. It is
of a deep bright rose color, and the
petals are clearly cut and somewhat
pointed, and stand up stiffly like the
petals of a cactus or water lily. It is
unique and beautiful, and although
scentless, is a particularly valuable rose.
Francois Michelon I have found to be
a very valuable rose, and although not
filling a particular place, the same as
the others named, is nearly as beauti-
ful, and has a greater number of fairly
good points than either of them. It is
well worthy of a trial.

I have not found Baroness Roths-
child as valuable a rose as it is gener-
ally represented to be. It seems to be
unsuited to our climate. The flower
(not the bush) is altogether too delicate
for our harsh wmds and scorching sun.

In white roses I have found

MADAM NOMAN

to be by far the best. It fact it
is the only really white pei'petual
blooming outdoor rose that I have as
yet found. It is, I believe, a hybrid
noisette. The only defects it has are
that it is leather a poor grower, and that
it is somewhat tender, but in other
respects it is perfection itself. It is of
most perfect form, very full, and a most
constant bloomer. With me it is the,
par excellence of white roses.

THE CANADIAN HORTIOULTDBI8T.

93

I would here like to warn all innocent
would-be rosarians to be on their guard
as to how much they should believe the
descriptions given of (to them) untried
roses. Here is an example, and,
among others, one to which I fell a
victim myself. This that I am about
to quote, I have seen in many descrip-
tive catalogues of roses : — " Perfection
des Blanches, ;:>«-re snowy white, free
bloomer, flowers large and very fra-
grant." Is there not in this descrip-
tion everything that is desirable in a
rose (1) I had never met with this
particular rose, and when I first read
of it I sent for a couple of plants at
once, and nursed and petted them for
two yeax's. They grew finely and at last
I coaxed them into bloom, and I then
found that the color was anything hut
pure and snowy, being i-eally a sort ot
a combination of bad yellow and muddy
pink. The flowers only opened at rare
epochs (most of the buds never did
open), and the flowers were no larger
than dandelions and not nearly so well
formed. As to being fragrant, I can-
not tell much about it, as after I had
once seen the flowers I was so disgusted
that I didn't piy into things any fur-
ther, but took it for granted this was a
sell the same as some of the rest.
This, however, 7nay be a good rose in
some other very remote part of the
world, but it cannot be too severely sat
upon here. I merely mention this cir-
cumstance, however, as a warning to
others not to believe quite all they may
see in print about roses.

The next best rose to Madam Neman
that T have tried, and which is called
white, is

ELIZA BOELLE.

It is somewhat similar to Madam
Noman, but is not nearly so pure
in color. I have not grown the
white Baroness, but I have seen it. It
is not quite white, and I think will
not prove itself as valuable a rose as

Madam Noman, although it is a better
Sfrower. And now I must end this
somewhat protracted paper by bi-iefly
mentioning that among the very dark
roses the old Louis Van Houtte should
still be accorded the very front place.
It is certainly somewhat tender, and is
scarcely as large as Jean Liabaud,
another fine dark I'ose, but it is much
purer in its coloring. I will, however,
discuss the dark roses more fully
another time.

Frederick Mitchell.
InnerkiiJ, Feb. 23rd, 1885.

SPIR.EA ASTILBOIDES.
The genus Spircea is an extensive
one, and furnishes many species, both
shrubVjy and herbaceous. Among the
latter class are several which are al-
most indispensable to every collection
of hardy plants for the herbaceous bor-
der. The above species is of recent
introduction, and has the indorsement
of the leading horticultural societies of
the Old World. We have not seen it
in flower, but from the illustration and
the kindly mention of it by foreign
journals, we are of the opinion that it
is a decided acquisition. The Garden
says of it : " So seldom does a Spiraea
occur among the multitudinous new
plants that appear every year, that this
one is of special interest, especially as
it belongs to the Aruncus, or Goat's
Beard section, and is said to be hardy.
At flowering time the branches are fur-
nished with myrids of white blossoms
in plumy clusters, as shown in the an-
nexed illustration. It may be forced
into flower as early as March ; hence it
is an invaluable plant for pot culture
for conservatories. It has been intro-
duced by Mr. Bull, of Chelsea(England),
from whose new plant catalogue the
accompanying wood-cut is taken. It has
been certificated, both by the Royal

94

THE OANADIA.N HORTICnLTURI8T.

SPIR^A ASTILBOIDES

Horticultural and Royal Botanic Socie-
ties, and wherever it has been exhibited
it has been much admired. It will

doubtless prove to be a plant of the
easiest culture, both in pots and in the
open ground."— i^i«*' FhraL Gahmet.

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

96

BEGONIA SCEPTRUM.

BEGONIA SCEPTRUM.

Among the new plants of recent in-
troduction, we notice the Begonia Scep-
trum, a very handsome and distinct
species, a native of Brazil. Its leaves
are obliquely ovate in outline, deeply
lobed on one side, the lobes oblong ob-
tuse, the veins sunk, and the raised
spaces between marked with large sil-
very blotches, and numerous smaller
dots of silvery gray. The leaf stalks
are red, this color passing up the ril)s
of the under surface.

This species is a desirable addition to
our list of ornamental plants foi- the
conservatory. The popularity the
tuberous-rooted species has justly at-

tained, has had a tendency to detract
from the ornamental-leaved sorts, al-
though they occupy entirely different
grounds. We are quite apt to neglect
the old in our chase for the new ; this
has been particularly so in regard to
the Begonia. We now rarely see a
good collection of the old Rex section,
notwithstanding the plant possesses far
more of interest than many of those
now extensively cultivated for the sake
of their flowers. There is, or at least
should be, room for all, and we trust
the Begonia Sce})trum will have a ten-
dency to encourage the Dioie general
cultivation of all the species of this
truly beautiful class of plants. — Ladies'
Floral Cabinet,

THE OA.NADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

MY TREASURES.

Homely and liumblo, these my oottage rooms ;

No fine upholstery or gilded walls,
No woven threads from Persia's costly looms,

No fair, arched entrance into stately halls :

No marble Clytie, with its frozen veins,
All bloodless, wandering over snowy breast ;

But, one sweet Cupid, touched with richer stains
Of rosy life on lip and cheek and crest ;

Witli shining curls whose s]3irals catch the glow
Of every sunbeam — this my kingly boy.

And my one; window, wisely made for show
Of greenest foliage — tlicsc insure me joy.

And yet another — look the vista through —
See yoiiiliT, with the red upon his cheek.

And slVc'iiinj; lanj;liter in his eyes of blue.
And strtiigtli that dreams no honest effort weak.

The sturdy keeper of this garnered bliss,
Who lives for those he loves, who made this wild

A garden spot, well paid by wifely kiss,
Or the sweet chatter of a happy child.

He made my cottage window, framed in vines.
Where gladness laughs in every lusty leaf,

Where Fuchsias hang their bells, and Pausies shine
Like violet eyes touclied with some tender grief.

Here blooms the Rose, and there the spicy Pink,
Here lifts the Calla, grand and pure and fair.

And here sit I, to read or work or think.
Or twine briglit flowers in baby's golden hair.

Call me not poor, such treasure-trove is mine !

With flowers and fruits in loving likeness blent ;
My child, my husband and my household shrine,

The wealth of boundless love and sweet content.

Mary A. Dbnison.
Vick'x Magazine, February.

Celery. — The B. N. Y. has tried every
kind of celery and it prefers for a late kind
the Golden Heartwell. It is a half-dwarf,
healthy and hardy. It is a good keeper
and the quality is excellent. It gives
more tender stalks to a plant than any
other variety we know of.

Mad. Sallekoi Geranium. — This new
geranium is a good addition to our varie-
gated-leafed kinds. It was sent out by
that fertile geranium raiser, Mons. Lem-
oine of France. It is a perfect gem for
summer bedding, enduring well the bright
sun, which cannot be said of any of the
other silver-leafed sorts. Growing only
about six inches high, and about the same
across. As an edge plant, it should be
used in the flower garden. Some of the
dark, bright-colored leafed alternantheras
will make suitable plants for contrasting
with the variegated foliage of this gera-

nium. It has one advantage over all other
beautiful-leafed geraniums, being easily
propagated from cuttings. — Country Oen-
ihman.

Beech Trees and Beech-nuts. — The
Beech is one of the most valuable and cele-
brated trees indigenous to the Northern
Hemisphere. It is true that the Ameri-
can Beech has not been so widely cele-
brated in story and song as its European
namesake, still, it is in no way inferior,
or less worthy of all the praise that has
been bestowed in centuries past upon its
near relative of the old world. Our Am-
erican Beech {Fagots ferruginea), as found
in nearly all of our Northern forests, is a
noble tree with an exceedingly graceful
liabit ; for while the main branches are
very strong and sturdy, they are always
furnislied with an abundance of small
branchlets, tliat give to the tree a graceful
outline, no matter liow large or old the
specimens may be. The bark of the tree
is also somewhat peculiar, it being smooth,
with no cracks, fissures, or corrugations,
to hold dust or afibrd lodgement for
mosses and lichens. The stem of a beech
tree is a solid, firm and smooth column,
almost as rigid as marble, and far more
valuable than stone. This smoothness of
bark extends to the minutest twigs, and
even the buds in winter ; and the expanded
leaves in summer are smooth and glossy.
To call the beech a " clean tree " is but
faint praise ; for, in addition to its neatness
in appearance, it is peculiary free from
insect enemies and is seldom injured by
these pests. Even the dead-trees are
not very attractive to the wood des-
troyers of the insect kingdom. The beech
is also a very hardy tree, thriving in very
cold regions far to the northward, and its
flexible and tough branches withstand
high winds well, when planted in exposed
situations. It will also thrive in very thin
soils, rocky or otherwise, the roots keep-
ing near the surface, and are so numerous
that they will penetrate the smallest inter-
stices among the rocks, and seek every
spot where nutriment can be found. Any
one who has had experience in clearing a
beech forest will bear me out in saying
that beech roots will fully occupy all the
land within their reach. — A. S. Fuller «/-
American Agriculturist for March.

PRINTED AT THR STEAM PRESS ESTABLISHMENT OK COPP, CLARK « CO., COLBORNK STREET, TORONTO.

Mr

"•■":'^i«!!2;

.^

ruf^l^.

EMPIRE state:

The Empire State is a seedling of
the Hartford Prolific, fertilized with
the Clinton ; bunches large from six to
ten inches long, shouldered; berry med-
ium to large, roundish oval, color white
with very light tinge of yellow, covered
with a thick white bloom ; leaf thick,
smooth underside; flesh tender, juicy,
rich, sweet and sprightly, with a slight
trace of native aroma; ripening very
early and continuing a long time in use;
vine very hardy, vigorous and produc-
tive.

^ ^^=M

•#

It sT

THE

VOL. VIII.]

MAY, 1885.

[No. 5.

THE EMPIRE STATE GRAPE.

We are indebted to the Messrs. Pratt
Bros, of Rochester, N. V. for the hand-
some chromo of this new grape, which
embellishes the present number of our
magazine. They succeeded to the busi-
ness of the late George A. Stone, and
completed the engagement which he had
made with Mr. James H. Ricketts, the
originator, by paying him four thousand
dollars in cash for the proprietorship of
this new grape. This is the strongest
possible evidence that they must have
had very great confidence in its merits.

The originator states that it was
raised from seed of the Hartford Prolific
fertilized by the Clinton, so that it is a
cross between two of the families of our
native grapes. The vine first bore fruit
in 1S79, maturing a crop of thirty-eight
bunches. As will be seen from the
chromo, the bunch is large and hand-
somely shouldered, and the berries of
full medium size, beautifully shaded
with light yellow. He also states that
the flesh is tender, juicy and sweet ; yet
sprightly, with a slight trace of native
aroma. Never yet having had an oppor-
tunity of tasting this grape, we are
obliged to give the opinions of others,
and merely add that the qualit}'^ given
by Mr. Ricketts is fully borne out by

the statements of other gentlemen who
have eaten the fruit.

One of the valuable characteristics of
this grape is its keeping qualities. Al-
though it ripens before the Concord, the
Messrs. Pratt tell us that the fruit hung-
up in their ofiice on the second of Sep-
tember, was in good condition on the
first of December, seeming to improve
in quality hj being kept instead of de-
teriorating. In this respect it appears
to have inherited one of the valuable
peculiarities of its sire, which is one of
our best grapes for winter use, growing
richer and finer in quality by the lapse
of time.

We are also assui'ed that the vine is
very vigorous, perfectly healthy, of
good constitution, enduring the winter's
cold of 30° below zero, having stood the
test of the very severe winter just
past, entirely unprotected, without the
slightest injuiy, where the Catawba and
other kinds have suffered severely ;
that it has thick leaves, which thus
far have not been affected with mildew,
and ripens up a heavy crop of fruit per-
fectly. Indeed, as much might be ex-
pected of it from its parentage. On
the maternal side it belongs to the
Labrusca family, which embraces most

98

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

of our hardy grapes, such as the Concord,
and is found very generally distributed
to the eastward of the Alleghanies ;
while the Riparia family, to which it is
related on the paternal side, is found
extending from the Province of Quebec
to where the mercury freezes in the
North-West.

Mr. J. B. "Waldo, who has watched
this grape for some time, on the grounds
of Mr. Ricketts, before it was sold to the
present propi'ietors, says that he has
seen many clusters of it larger and finer
than the one represented in our colored
plate. Fruit picked on the second of
September, 1884, was exhibited at the
Ohio State Fair, and carried off the
highest premium for the best new seed-
ling grape.

We regret that we are unable to
speak from personal observation of
the qualities of this very handsome
fruit and of the behavior of the vine,
but from our acquaintance with the
Messrs. Pratt, we have every confidence
in their statements, and believe that
they will be found to be fully substan-
tiated by the grape in the hands of
those pui'chasers who will give it pro-
per treatment.

READ THIS

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT.

To any one sending me fifteen new
subscribers to the Canadian Horticul-
turist, I will send by express a Magni-
ficent Art Book, entitled the FLO-
RAL KINGDOM. It describes more
than 300 of our wild and cultivated
plants, a full page being given to each
plant ; tells the common and scientific
name, the natural order or family to

which it belongs, the language, die. It
contains over 200 illustrations, and
450 pages. This superb volume is 9
by 11 inches, and weighs nearly five
pounds. It is splendidly bound, with
full gilt and jet ornaments ; is gilt
edged, and will make a most beautiful
and instructive parlor volume. Cash
price, .$5. On receipt of either five
dollars in cash or fifteen new subscri-
bers and fifteen dollars, I will deliver
it at the express office here to the ad-
dress of any person ordering this beau-
tiful book.

D. W. BEADLE, Editor.

EASY LESSONS IN BOTANY.

BY H. B. SPOTTON, BARRIE.

INTRODUCTORY.

The love of ffowers is universal. To
children especially flowers are a never-
failing source of innocent pleasure. At
this season, when winter is drawing to
its close, there ai-e few who do not look
forward with delight to the spring
ramble in search of the early Hepatica
and Spring Beauty and Dog's-tooth
Violet — those impatient and venture-
some harbingers which follow so close
upon the retreating footsteps of the
frost-king. Even while the snow still
lurks in hidden hollows, the pale Hepa^
tica emerges from its woolly sheath and
sweetens the air with its mild fragrance,
and the Spi'ing Beauty erects its cluster
of purple bells to relieve the sober
brown of the forest's leafy floor. And
the interest attending the apjjearance of
these firs1>comers is not diminished, but
rather increased, as spring ripens into
summer, and the wealth of our meadows
and woods and water-margins is put
forth in unceasing variety of odor and
color and form.

This universal love of flowers is in
itself a desirable thing — a thing to be
encouraged for the sake of the refining
influence insensibly exerted by it.

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

99

Hence, even though not intended to be
systematically studied, flowers should
form a prominent feature in the sur-
roundings of all our schools. But this
interest in color and form — this in-
stinctire love of what is beautifixl in
nature — is deepened into admiration
for nature's ways of working, when we
look more closely into the structure
and uses of the various pai'ts of plants,
and see how wonderfully these parts
are adapted for the special purposes
they have to fulfil in the plant's life-
history.

In this closer examination, also, the
truth is gradually borne in iipon us
that the floral world around us, peo-
pled though it is with forms almost
endless in variety, is nevertheless not a
chaos, but a well-ordered system, and |
we come to recognize family likenesses
between plants which to the untrained
eye do not at first resemble each other
in any respect. To the ordinary ob-
server, for instance, thex'e is nothing in
common between the locvist tree and
the clover growing about its base ; yet
a very moderate botanical training en-
ables one to see that the flowers of these
two plants are constructed on precisely
the same plan, that a similar plan is
manifested in the structure of their
leaves, and that even the mode of
growth of the stem is the same in both.
If our botanical studies are conducted
in a proper way, we are led to find out
all such facts, and many others, for our-
selves by the use of our own eyes ; our
powers of observation are trained and
strengthened, and we are irresistibly
led to the exercise of our reasoning
faculties in drawing inferences of vari-
ous kinds from the facts which we ob-
sej've. We are taught to think /or our-
selves. And no study accomplishes this
high aim more effectually than botany,
when rightly pursued.

In the following papers it will be the
aim of the writer to present only such

botanical facts as can be readily ob-
served and comprehended by even very
young readers. We shall, from the
very outset, study plants themselves,
and the wi'iter will be much disap-
pointed if those who attentively follow
the lessons do not shortly find them-
selves qualified to go into the fields and
woods and with little difl&culty deter-
mine the proper name and relationship
of any of our common plants. To be
sure this is not the highest aim of
botany, but the consciousness of the
power to do even this is a great source
of pleasure to the young ; it leads to
pleasant summer outings in search of
new plants, and to the formation of
collections, in which much innocent
pride may be taken, and in the making
of which habits of neatness and care-
fulness are necessarily cultivated.

LESSON I.

As it is the design of these lessons
that you shall learn the simpler facts
of botany by actually handling plants
themselves, and seeing with your own
eyes all those things to which your at-
tention will be drawn, the first thing
you must do, always, is to get the
plants or pai*ts of plants that will be
mentioned at the beginning of each
lesson. Sometimes these specimen
plants will be wild ones, so that you
must go into the fields or woods to get
them ; but we shall also, when it suits
our purpose, take plants from the gar-
den, or weeds which grow by our road-
sides and near all our houses. So that,
generally, you will not have much, if
any, trouble in finding everything you
want.

Now, for the first lesson we shall ex-
amine roughly the whole of two or
three plants, so as to get a general idea
of all the parts which go to make up
their structure. After that we shall
spend some time upon each of the parts
separately, comparing together the same

100

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

parts of different plants, observing any
differences of plan that may strike lis,
and giving, for convenience in speaking
about them, special names to special
forms. Then, as our obsei'vations go
on, you will easily discover for yourself
that while plants vary so much in one
way or another that hardly any two are
just alike, still there are a good many
points in which even the most unlike
plants resemble each other, and that by
noticing these points of resemblance
we can readily parcel out the plants
that grow all about us into groups, and
these again into smaller groups, giving
them all ap})ropriate names, and, in
short, making for ourselves a classifica-
tion or orderly arrangement of them.
If you have commenced the study of
English grammar you know that one
of the first things you have to do is to
observe the peculiar uses of the differ-
ent kinds of words, and having learned
the uses of them to give them special
names, so that you discover in time
that every word in the language must
be classified under some one of the
eight parts of speech. Then you find
that while all the words in a certain
group are equally entitled to be called
nouns, we will say, yet the large group
of nouns may be broken up into smaller
groups which we call common nouns,
proper nouns, &c. In short you learn
to make a classification of words, and
you do not require to be told what an
advantage it is to have a clear under-
standing of this classification. Just so
in the study we are now beginning.
You will learn how to classify plants,
and this we hope you will do by so
using your own eyes as to read in the
plants themselves the reasons for their
position in the system.

For our first examination it makes
but little difference what plants we
take, but let us choose two or three
which will be within everybody's reach,
particularly at the commencement of

our Canadian summer. Obtain, then,
a specimen of each of the following, m
flowfir : — Hepatica, Dandelion, Ger-
anium, Wallflower, Buttercup. The
last-named is the best one to begin
with, for a reason which will appear
presently. In Canada there are a good
many kinds of Buttercups, but any one
of them will do just now. You will
be pretty sure to find one of some sort
in the first wet ditch or meadow that
you visit. The Hepatica will be in
bloom in April and May in every piece
of dry woods. You will observe that
the flowers appear before the leaves of
the season, so that you must gather a
few of the old leaves when taking up
the plant. The Dandelion is only too
common, and the Geranium and Wall-
flower are to be found in every collec-
tion of house-plants. You should be
careful, when gathering the out-door
specimens, to take up the root as com-
pletely as possible Having shaken off
the adhering earth, or, better still, hav-
ing gently washed it away by dipping
the roots in water, we are ready to
begin. Look first at the root of the
Buttercup. Observe its thread-like or
fibrous form, and contrast it with the
single stout tap-root of the Dandelion.
(How does it compare with the He-
patica?) Observe the much finer
threads that strike out from the sur-
face of all the roots ; we shall call these
rootlets. You see that the color of the
roots is not green like the upper part
of the plant, but generally pale or
brownish ; and above all satisfy your-
self that there are no huds or leaves,
or anything like them, on the roots.
If you ever find an underground part
which seems to have leaves or buds,
you may be perfectly sure it is not a
root. The Canada Thistle, the Couch-
Grass or Quick-Grass, and the Potato
all have such underground parts. The
root of our plant has a special duty of
its own to perform ; what that is, and

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTUEIST.

101

how it is done, we shall find out later
on. In the meantime we shall just
mention that every part which per-
forms a special duty is called an organ,
and from this out we shall often use
this word in this sense.

Now look at the stem of the Butter-
cup. Squeeze it between your finger
and thumb, and observe how readily it
yields to the pressure. Try the Wall-
flower and Geranium stems in the same
way. They are harder, especially the
lower part of each. The soft stem is
hei'haceous, the hard ones woody. In
these three plants the chief use of the
stem seems to be to produce and carry
the leaves and flowers. It has other
uses, to be described hereafter, but for
the present you must know that leaves
are produced on stems and branches.
Now look at the Dandelion. Find the
stem. You wil] probably say it has
none. But it has leaves, and these
must grow on a stem. The leaves of
Dandelion are all crowded together,
forming a mat or rosette at the surface
of the ground, and the stem must
therefore be very short indeed. Such
plants as this are, in fact, often called
stemless. Now compare the Dandelion
with the Hepatica. The knowledge
you have gained from the Dandelion is
of great use to you here. You at once
pronounce the Hepatica to be stemless
also, the spaces of the stem between
the leaves being reduced almost to
nothing.

The leaves themselves next call for
examination. Beginning with the But-
tercup, we see that the lower leaves are
somewhat different from the upper ones.
Each of them has a stalk and a spread-
ing flat part, the latter more or less cut
up into sections. The upper leaves
of all have no stalk. We shall call
the stalk of a leaf its petiole, and the
flat part its blade. All the leaves of
the Hepatica have blades and petioles.
Those of Dandelion and Wallflower

simply have their blades narrowed con-
siderably as they approach their inser-
tion on the stem, but can hardly be
said to have true petioles. All the
Geranium leaves have blades and peti-
oles. Do you see anything else about
the Geranium leaves'^ Of course you
notice the two little leaf-like things at
the lower end of the petiole, one on
each side. These belong to the leaves,
and are called stipules. Do you find
anything like them on the other plants 1
Always keep a look-out for stiptiles
when inspecting leaves.

Just one other matter and we shall
pass on to the flowers. Hold up a leaf
of each plant between you and the
light, and notice the network of veins
running in all directions through the
blade. Of course the leaves are very
different in shape, those of Hepatica
and Geranium being a little alike, and
also those of Wallflower and Dande-
lion, but in the network of veins they
show a similar plan. Now all leaves
of this sort are said to be net-veined, in
contiast, for instance, to a leaf of
Indian Corn, which is straight-vdned.

FRUITS IN NEBRASKA.

The Nebraska State Horticultural
Society recommends for general cul-
tivation in that State many of our po-
pular varieties, such as Astrachan,
Duchess, Snow, Wealthy, Pewaukee,
Grimes Golden, Ben Davis, Northern
Spy, Walbridge, Mann and Whitney,
among apples ; Alexander, Amsden,
Crawford's Early, Crawford's Late,
Smock, and Old Mixon, among Peaches;
and of grapes the Concord, Delaware,
Moore's Early, Worden, Salem, Pock-
lington and Eumelan. Planting of
pears for profit is not recommended, as
the trees have almost universally
blighted. The safest are thought to be
Plemish Beauty, Louise Bonne, Vicar,
Lawrence, Clapp's Favorite, Bartlett

102

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

and Kiefer. Only Morello Cherries are
recommended, and Plums of the Miner
type.

THE MIDSUMMER MEETIXG

Of the Fruit Growers' Association of
Ontario will be held in the Town of
Uxbridge on Wednesday and Thursday,
the 24th and 25th of Jiine, 1885. The
Mansion House, Plank House, Revere
House and Bascom House will entertain
members at one dollar a day. The
usual arrangement will be made with
Railways for reduced fare. Members
are requested to send to the Secretary
at St. Catharines a memorandum of such
questions as they desii-e to have dis-
cussed.

THE ONTARIO APPLE AND
McINTOSH RED.

At the winter meeting of the Maine
State Pomological Society held in
Gardiner, Maine, Feb.. 23rd 1885, Mr.
Geo. B. Sawyer, the Secretary of the
Society, exhibited some samples of the
Ontario apple, raised from scions sent
for ti'ial by the Fruit Growei*s' As-
sociation of Ontario. The fruit was
thought to be crisp and juicy, but too
sharply tart to be popular as a dessert
fruit.

We notice that one gentleman re-
poi'ts that the JMcIntosh Red is proving
a prolific bearer, judging from but a
limited experience however, but not a
late keeper.

APPLES IN ENGLAND.

On the ;3rd of March No. 1 Bald-
wins brought from 15s. Qd. to 18s. 6d.
per brl. ; No. 1 Russets, from 15s. to
20s. ; No. 1 Vandevere, from 12s. to
18s. 6d.

On the 7th March, Canadian Bald-
wins sold at 1 5s. to 1 8s. ; Spy at 1 3s.
to 16s. ; Golden Russet (Canadian) at
14s. to 22s. ; Rox Russets at 9s. to
1 3s. ; Greenings at 1 Os. to 1 4s. ; Can-
ada Red at 1 7s. to 1 8s. per bi'l.

On the 14th March, Green & ^^hin-
eray, Liverpool, report Canadian Bald-
wins at 16s. to 18s. ; Golden Russets
at 16s. to 24s. ; Rox Russets, 10s. to
1 4s. ; and Greenings, 1 2s. to 1 6s. Ar-
rivals for the week, 14,396 brls. Total
to date, 483,039 brls.

On 28th March, Green & Whineray,
Liverpool, report Canadian Baldwins
17s. to 19s., and Golden Russets 20s.
to 26s. Arrivals for the week. 11,555
brls.

Keeling <k Hunt, London, report
Nova Scotian Rox Russets from 15s.
dd. to 26s., and Baldwins from 1.3s. 6d.

to 14s.

QUESTION DRAWER.

Deau Sir, — 1 have in my dining-
room a glass fei'nery, with close fitting
top of same ; but have not been suc-
cessful in the cultivation of native roots
planted last fall. Will you kindly tell
me through the columns of your maga-
zine—

1 . Whether the top should be left on
continually, or removed at intervals ]

2. Whether it is necessary to have a
faucet for drainage, or if a layer of
charcoal in the bottom of tray will an-
swer the purpose ?

3. Also, how often the plants require
water ]

Your reply will much oblige
Yours respectfully,

Mrs. W. D. Watson.
Ayr, Ont., March 13.

Reply. — You will do well to i-aise
the glass, so as to admit aii* occasion-
ally.

2. A faucet ls not necessary, if you
do not water so very abundantly as to
cause a quantity to remain stagnant.

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

103

3. Be careful not to give too much
-water. Your glass covering prevents
rapid evaporation. Use your own good
common sense, and water when the soil
seems to be getting dry. Let it be moist
only, not wet or sodden. No set time
for watering can be given.

WHAT THE PEOPLE SAY.

We have just closed the Annual
Meeting of our Fruit Grrowers' Asso-
ciation. Had a very successful fruit
convention in connection with it. I
am much pleased with the Canadian
Horticulturist. It certainly meets a
pressing want as fruit growers need
definite information, not hap-hazard
conjecture. . Your fellow worker,

J. R. Hart.

Bridgetown, Nova Scotia.

We take eleven papers and there is
not one that I welcome with so much
pleasure as the Canadian Horticul-
turist. Valentine Dynes.

Relessy, Ont.

CORRESPONDENCE.

TOMATOES.

Dear Sir, — For the last two years
I have tried the experiment of training
Tomatoes on the trellis system, and
have found it to answer admirably, at
least on a small scale. I have a wood-
shed which faces south-east, and has
just frontage enough to allow me to
plant five good strong plants two feet
apart. These cover the unsightliness
of the shed, and give my family as
many Tomatoes as they can eat in the
ripe, uncooked state, and as many as
they require for sweet pickles, &c. I
planted the " General Grant," which
bore and ripened, from the bottom to
the top, and which grew to the height

of eleven feet six inches. I set the
plants fifteen inches from the bottom of
the shed, which gave them a good slope.
I use good strong uprights, and put the
cross-pieces a foot above each other.
Trim out weak shoots and tie up strong
ones. R. C.

GROWING STRAWBERRIES FOR
PROFIT.

To make strawberries give the great-
est net returns, there are many things
to be taken into consideration. You
must get the greatest number of quarts
of good fruit, with the least possible
outlay in labor, manure, etc.

The plan I have adopted, and which
I believe to be the best for those who
have land enough to do so, is to plant
out a new plantation every spring, as
it takes much less labor to plant out
and care for a new plantation than to
clean out the old one ; and you always
get the best fruit from a new plan-
tation.

The soil should be prepared the sea-
son before you want to plant, either
by summer-fallowing or ploughing un-
der a good crop of clover and thorough-
ly working ; and for a clay loam, which
is best, if not already under-drained,
by all means have it under-ckained be-
fore planting ; plough up the last time
in fall, before the land gets very wet.
If your soil is a dry, sandy loam, it
may be ploughed in spring ; but if clay
■loam, it should not, as it will dry out
more easily, and will not work up so
fine and mellow. In early spring, soon
as the land will work up fine and mel-
low, cultivate deep with a two-horse
cultivator, harrow down level and fine,
then mark off with corn marker in rows
four feet apart, and plant from one to
one and one-half feet apart in the row.
The greatest care should be taken not
to let the plants dry any while plant-
ing ; do not take too many at once in
your pail ; sprinkle a little tine earth

104:

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

over them to prevent drying, then take
out but one plant at a time, make the
hole deep enough -vvith trowel or dibble
to allow the roots to go straight down,
spread them out fan-shaped, and press
the soil among the roots very firm, so
that by giving a quick jerk on a leaf it
will break ofl' before moving the plant ;
do not cover the crown of the plant or
they will die. With a little practice
the work can be done very rapidly.

Plant about six to eight varieties, as
you can thus have the crop to extend
over a much longer season, and the
more you lengthen it at either end the
greater will be your returns, as the ear-
liest and latest fruit always bring the
best prices.

I plant none extensively except varie-
ties that do well in the matted low sys-
tem. I also pi-efer those that bloom
rather late in the spring. There is also
a great difference in varieties with-
standing frost while yet in bud.

I made a thorough examination of
the blossoms and buds last spring,
after the frost of May 29th (we had
four degrees of frost. ) On refering to
notes taken at that time, I find that
Jersey Queen had not yet opened any
bloom, but more than one-half of the
buds were killed. Primo and Mrs.
Garfield were just beginning to open
with a very large percentage of the
unopened buds killed, while Daniel
Boone, James Yick and Manchester,
growing by the side of them were un-
injured. Crescent Seedling and Cap-
tain Jack are also safe ones to plant.

Pistillate varieties usually produce
the largest crops, but should have every
fifth or sixth row planted with a per-
fect flowering sort.

I find none better to fertilize the
Crescent than Wilson : it begins to
bloom several days earlier than Cres-
cent, although it does not lipen its
fruit so earlv.

Some people claim that the variety
used to fertilize with has a great in-
fluence on size, form, and quality of the
fruit thus fertilized ! I have had Cres-
cent fertilized with Wilson, Captain
Jack, Kentucky, Sharpless, New Do-
minion, Duncan, Cumberland Triumph,
James Vick, Warren, and many others
on different soils, and have watched them
very closely for several years, and find
that wherever I plant Crescent I always
get Crescent fruit, no matter what they
have been fertilized with. The seasons,
wet and dry ; soils, manner of cultiva-
tion, etc., have a great influence on
size, quality and firmness of the fruit.
I have also tested many other pistillate
varieties on a more limited scale and
find the above to hold good with all of
them.

The best vai-ieties for both sand and
clay loam, so far as I have tested them,
are Crescent Seedling, Daniel Boone,
Manchester, James Vick, and Wilson,
with Captain Jack and Mt. Vernon
added for clay loam. Early Canada is
very profitable when it escapes the
spring frost; it blooms first of any,
hence more apt to be injured, but is
healthy, hardy, and productive, and is
the earliest of all ; requires strong
soil.

I always make the most out of late
soi-ts by planting such kinds as Man-
chester, Captain Jack, Mt. Vernon, and
James Vick on a moist clay loam, and
mulch well with straw. The most of
the crop comes into market when prices
begin to come up and good fruit get-
ting scarce, hence have no trouble find-
ing: 20od markets.

Cornelia is a new variety that gives
promise of being one of the most profit-
able late market sorts, but has not been
sufliciently tested to be sure that it is
such.

W. W. HiLBORX.
Arkona, March 7th, 1885.

THE CANADIAN HORTICDLTDRIST.

105

MEETING OF WINONA AND STONEY
CREEK GRAPE GROWERS' CLUB.

(From Our Own Correspondent. J

Another meeting of the above Club
was held in the Literary Hall, March
13th, attendance over one hundred,
chiefly large fruit growers. Meeting
was called to order at 10 o'clock a. m.,
and the ball opened by a paper on
" Plum Culture," by G. W. Clino, of
Winona. Mr. Cline has had fine crops
of plums every year, and attributes
his success to jarring the trees and
spraying them with Paris green. Hav-
ing adopted both of these methods to
destroy the curculio, Mr. Cline feels
confident that spraying will destroy
the little Turk ; sprays the trees just
as the blossoms are falling, and again
in a week or ten days, then a third
time after a similar interval. Had
found Wild Goose and Weaver vari-
eties worthless. Would recommend
the following varieties in order of
ripening: — Imperial Gage, Bradshaw,
Lombard, Columbia, Pond's Seedling,
German Prune and French Pnine.
After considei-able discussion, the next
subject, " The Collection and Man-
agement of Fruit for Exhibition," was
introduced by Murray Pettit. Many
members expressed their disapproval
of the exhibition of fruit by private
parties who did not grow it — who per-
haps grew none of it — but procured it
from their neighbors. The meeting
adjoux-ned at 12.30 to partake of lunch
furnished by the Society, and served up
by willing hands. After the wants of
the inner man were satisfied, the Secre-
tary read a letter from the Niagara
Grape Co. stating that Mr. E. Ashley
Smith would not be able to attend, and
read a piiper on " Grapes," as he had
not yet returned from New Orleans.
In his absence the subject was intro-
duced by Mr. J. H. Biggar, the veteran
grape grower of Winona. Mi-. Biggar

thought no other grape could compare
with the Niagara in the qualities that
go to make up a perfect grape. He
thought that Niagaras would pay bet-
ter than fJoncords at the same price,
being heavier yielders. E. D. Smith
thought if white grapes were as plenti-
ful as black they would not sell as well.
Mr. Seusse did not believe in the
Kniffen system. Had pruned on many
difierent systems in Switzerland, on the
Lake Erie Islands and here, and had
found best results invariably from a
system of pruning that kept the beai-
ing wood close to ground and frequent-
ly renewed. This is impracticable in
the Knifien system. Mr. Murray Pet-
tit, whose lai-ge experience makes him
considered an authority upon grapes in
this district, would recommend the fol-
lowing varieties for profit : — Delaware,
Concord, Niagara, Champion, Moore's
Early, Worden, Rogers' 4, 9, 15 and
44, Salem, Duchess and Noah. Mr.
Woolverton had Pocklingtons that pro-
duced double of any othei' variety of
same age, and sold for 20 cents per
pound. R. R. Smith thought Mr.
Pettit's list good, but would shorten it
by striking out Rogers' 4, ?alem, Noah
and Duchess, also Champion except on
early ground. Mr. Spern had good
success with Pocklington and Diana.
A discussion followed on the damage
done to fruit growers by honey bees
and robins, which resulted in the adop-
tion of the following resolution : —
" That in the opinion of this meeting
it is advisable that every gi-ower of
cherries, berries and grapes shall kill
all robins and destroy all nests and eggs
possible from their first appearance in
the spring until the grape crop is gath-
ered, at the same time sincerely regret-
ting that the old friend of our early
youth has become one of our most
formidable enemies." The danger of
overstocking the grape market was
argued in the affirmative by Wm. Oi'r,

106

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

E. D. Smith and Murray Pettit ; and
in the negative by Mr. Montgomery,
Mr. Morden, Mr. Wilson and others.
A long and animated discussion on the |
probable effect upon grape culture if ;
the Scott Act is generally adopted next
ensued, but no conclusion was arrived
at ; in fact most of the speakers argued
a different question, namely. Is wine- \
drinking jjroductive of temperance or |
intemperance I one party contending
that in countries where wine is a com-
mon beverage no drunkards are seen,
and the others contending that it is
simply putting the alcohol in a more
seductive form to conceal it in the wine
glass.

Mr. A. M. Smith's paper on " Small
Fruits," a synopsis of which appeared
in the March number of the Horticul- \
turist, was next read by the Secretary.
Mr. Morden, of Drummondville, then
addressed the meeting on the small
fruit question. Mr. Morden evidently j
understands small fruit growing, and I
can also tell his hearers in a very clear !
and practical way how it is done sue- '
cessfully. Mr. Morden would approve
of Mr. Smith's list of black caps, but
would only recommend one red rasp-
bei-ry, and that the Cuthbert. Also
thinks the Wilson strawberry most
profitable for general culture. Where [
Kittatiny blackberries are too tender :
would grow Taylor's Prolific. Had i
found Raby Castle the best red currant. '.
Black raspberries and blackberries
should be watched in June for rust, ]
and any affected plants dug out and
burned at once. 'The larva of the rasp-
berry saw-fly should also be watched
and treated to a shower bath of helli-
bore or Paris green in solution.

A vote of thanks was tendered Mr.
Morden, of Drummondville. and Mr.
A. M. Smith, of St. Catharines. This
is a bi'ief outline of the most important
and interesting meeting of fruit grow- ;
ers ever held in Saltfieet.

STOCKS FOR FRUIT TREES.
There is wide scope for the considera-
tion of stocks for our fruits. The influ-
ence is great in many ways, and is not
well understood by fruit growers them-
selves— and it concerns them the most.
Fruit growing cannot be learned in half
a dozen years, and the idea entertained
at the end of that time may be reversed
at the termination of the next six
years. Then the opinions of the old
and experienced in such matters are
those to be depended on, for experi
ments with fruit trees cannot be proved
in a short time to give a correct opin-
ion • but I cannot see in any way that
trees are made hardier by any par-
ticular stock. It only enables us to
adapt our choice fruit trees to various
kinds of soils, or to dwarf or bring into
eai'ly bearing, as we gi'ow the pear on
the quince to dwarf and bi'ing it into
early bearing. But the quince will not
do well on all soils — not on a dry
sandy one. The quince is raised by
cuttings for this purpose. More long-
lived standard pears are wanted, the
pear stock is the one, and best raised
from seed ; and also for the standard
orchard apples, apple stocks. Then
there is a marked difference in the
seedling stocks — some robust, others of
weakly growth — all having some influ-
ence on the graft. Pears can be grown
on other stocks, as thorns and the
mountain ash. The mountain ash may
overcome the difl3.culty of growing
pears on damp wet soils ; what influ-
ence it may have on the fruit I cannot
say. Some pears will not grow on any
foreign stock, not even the quince. In
that case, where it is desirable, resort
must be had to double grafting. The
varieties most likely to do on those for-
eign stocks are Maria Louise, Passe
Colraar and Josephine • de Malines.
Plums can be grafted on cherries, and
vice versa — even the wild native chei'ry
that grows all over the Province ; but

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTUklST,

107

here it is too far north to be very suc-
cessful with phims and cherries. Those
in the warmer parts may benefit by it,
and I believe the peach would do well
on it. Let those in more favorable
parts of the Province try it and give
their reports in this journal.

Medora, Muskoka. T. A. H.

REPORT ON PLANTS RECEIVED.

I feel sure that your patience has
been well tried and must be nearly ex-
hausted with the way in which mem-
bers of the Association have withheld
the information they are expected to
give respecting the reports of the
plants, shrubs, trees, bushes, vines, &g.,
which they received from the Associa-
tion. It may be some have not sent
one line to let you know how they have
done. We understand that each one
shall report on the success or otherwise,
-as the case may be, to the Secretary of
the Association for the information of
the Society and the country at large.
We read these reports with great inter-
est, and expect that others do the same.
It is of importance to the fruit growers
to know how they succeed in the vari-
ous parts of the Province. We are in
hope that the time is not far distant
when you will be well rewarded for
your patience. We say that the F. G.
Association of Ontario is doing a noble
work for the future as well as the pre-
sent. The past of the Society has been
comparatively small to what it must be
in the future. There are many who
do not understand the value or appre-
ciate the information which they should
receive and would receive were they to
unite their efforts in so noble and phi-
lanthi'ophic an undertaking as spread-
ing abroad useful information for the
present and future generations through-
out the length and breadth of our
beautiful Province, as well as the world
at large. I hope that some one favor-

able may be induced to throw in their
mite and help forward so good a work.

I wrote you several years ago giving
you a brief account of some of the trees
and vines received from the Associa-
tion. I now give you a brief account
from the beginning, as I do not know
where I reported to : —

I became a member of the Associa-
tion in

1872 — Received the Report.

1873 — Received Grimes' Golden Pip-
pin, which was late in coming, and
about or quite dead.

1874 — Received Downing's Goose-
berry and the Salem Grape, which have
done fairly well, the first mentioned
bearing some good gooseberries. The
grapes were slow in bearing, but now
we have some very fair grapes. We
do not think it needful to describe the
fruit, as it is well known.

1875 — Received Flemish Beauty
Pear. It has borne some nice pears.
The tree is thrifty and doing well ; very
hardy ; moderately productive.

1876 — Received the Glass Seedling
Plum. The tree has done well ; began
to bear in three years after planting
out ; have propagated by grafting ;
plums sell well in market ; fruit large,
medium in quality, good for market. '

1877 — Received Saunders' Hybrid
Raspberry. Killed the next winter
with frost.

1878 — Received Burnet Grape.
Came in good order ; is now bearing ;
the fruit was small at first, but is doing
better now ; rather late in ripening ;
think it will do better after a time
when it gets a stronger vine.

1879 — Received the Ontario Apple
tree from Mi\ Charles Arnold, of Paris.
The tree was injured in carriage ; think
it had been frozen ; cut it well back ;
grafted the cuttings ; one grew and is
now bearing some good fruit — a hand-
some striped apple, good size, large to
medium ; good winter apple for market.

108

THE CA..VADIAN HORTlCCLTtJRIST.

1880 — Received the Hybrid Rasp-
berry Black Cap (Saunders'). It has
done well, bearing some fine crops of
large berries ; productive.

1881 — Received the Brighton Grape
in good condition ; rather slow in
growing ; commenced to bear this last
summer ; bunches small, fruit sweet ;
rather late in ripening.

1882 — Mooi-e's Early received in
good order ; grows slow ; not fruited
yet.

1883 — Received the Worden Grape ;
was killed with the frost. The Jessica,
received at the same time, stood the
frost much better than the Worden ;
last summer the Jessica made a very
fair growth ; I think it will stand bet-
ter another year.

1884— Received Prentiss Grape in
good condition ; made a medium length
of vine ; think it will do well.
Yours truly,

Charles Hickling.
Barrie, March, 1885.

METHODS OF STRAWBERRY CUL-
TURE.

BY T. C. ROBINSOK, OWES SOUND.

fFor the Canadian Horticulturist. j

There are two " systems" in common
practice of growing this delicious small
fruit. The " Matted Row" is the one
by which most strawberries are grown
that are oflfered for sale in the fruit
stores of our cities and towns. The
plants are set out about a foot apart in
rows three to four feet apart and al-
lowed to make runners freely the first
year; the second year the old and young
plants fruit promiscuously, and all are
ploughed down after the crop is gath-
ered— or, perhaps, if weeds are not too
numerous and strong, the plantation is
allowed to remain a year longer to ftear
a second crop. The advantages of this
plan are easily seen and easily ob-
tained— almost no care is needed after
planting, except to keep the cultivator

running (always in the same direction,
so as to throw the runners all the same
way) in the fast-narrowing spaces be-
tween the rows : the young plants with
interlacing roots protect one another
on most soils from heaving in winter ;
and if the white grub attacks the roots
its ravages are not much noticed among
so many plants.

Certain modifications of the Matted
Row are practised by more careful grow-
ei'S. One man keeps the first runners
ofi" the young plants, thereby inducing
stronger after-runners, and more of
them. Another observant horticultur-
ist sets the plants with the main old
runner of each pointing towards the
same side in order that the new run-
ners to form plants may all start out on
the other side of the row — it being the
fact that young plants always send out
runners in the opposite dii-ection from
the parent [)lant. A third grower care-
fully "layers" the first runners at uni-
form distances to keep his beds from
becoming crowded in spots. But the
one feature of letting the runners grow
and form more plants is characteristic
of this system however modified.

But the disadvantages are equally
marked — the plants, crowded together,
as they are sure to be on good soil in a
fair season, demand far more moisture
for proper growth of foliage and de-
velopment of fruit than is contained by
any soil in an ordinary season : then
the rows invariably contain a large num-
ber of plants formed too late in the fall
to form fruit buds — and therefoi-e un-
productive, and as useless as weeds ;
lastly, the ever-watchful weed-pests
soon find safe refuge among the rooting
I'unner tips out of reach of the culti-
vator, so that unless the soil is very
" clean" each row becomes about berry
time a regular Weeds' Paradise, which
no large gTOwer can afford to greatly
meddle with. The net result of these
three drawbacks is found in a crop

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

109

whicli ripens up all within a few days,
and consists at the last of an immense
number of berries pi-ematurely ripened
and exceedingly small from lack of
moisture ; hence the market is suddenly
glutted, and the price reduced for good
fruit, and the later run of small berries
rendered almost unsalable at any price.

" The Hill System" is almost un-
known in some localities, thoiigh prac-
tised in other places for a long time.
According to it the plants are set from
a foot to 18 inches distant, in rows two
to three feet apart, and all runners cut
off before they take root and the whole
sui'face mulched ; no '-'hilling-up," please
— the only " Hill" is a hill of growing
leaves and fruit. The three drawbacks
to this system are strongly insisted on
by large planters : —

1st. So much trouble to keep run-
ners off.

2nd. Danger from plants heaving out
in winter.

3rd. White grub, it present, makes
such noticeable blanks in the rows.

The advantages, however,are claimed,
by all who appear to have fairly tried
both plans, to greatly counterbalance
the drawbacks. They are : —

1st. Large berries.

2nd. Large crop.

3rd. Long season of ripening.

4th. Certainty of crop in dry seasons.

5th. Twice as many paying crops of
fruit from the same plantation — the
net result claimed being a much larger
margin of profit than by the other sys-
tem.

Naturally the advantages and draw-
backs in each system vary relatively on
different soils, with different vaxieties,
and especially in different seasons.

On light sandy soils, where weeds
sprout and runners root with great fa-
cility, and where drouth soonest shows
itself, the evils of the Matted Row, and
the advantages of the Hill system are
relatively greatest. On my land of this

nature I find, with lurking wii-e-grass
and sprouting thistle-roots, I can only
hope for about a fourth to a third as
much crop in the Matted Row as what
I may confidently count on if the run-
ners are kept off. We cut them off with
a well-sharpened Dutch or " push" hoe,
which we also use to cut the weeds close
around the plants, and we think the in-
crease in crop pays us five times over for
the increase in labor and for the mulch-
ing. But on heavier soils, where weeds
and runners do not root so readily, where
moisture is more abundant, and where
single plants that happen to lack miilch-
ing are certain to be heaved out to
their destruction, the " Matted Row "
will not be left so far behind.

With some varieties only the " Hill
System " will succeed at all. The
Sharpless, for instance, Tnay be profit-
able with some men in " Matted Rows,"
but I would like to see the men, and
the rows too ! So also the Jersey
Queen, and indeed most of the large
varieties must have the runners kept
off to yield a profit. But Manchester,
Crescent, the brave old Wilson, and a
few others, are so persistent that they
will not refuse a lot of berries, in spite
of grass and weeds, in worse than
" Matted Rows." In very moist sea-
sons the Common System may seem
fully as profitable as the plan of keep-
ing runners off. But when the rain-
fall corks up a week or two before the
berries color, and holds up till the crop
is done, then the difference is felt with
a vengeance. Then the price running
up and the berries running down make
a vexatious fix for the man of " Mat-
ted Rows " — vexation not lessened by
the quickness to run out of even his
little berries. Last summer made a
case in point : how many growers
would have exchanged their matted
rows for my Bidwell hills, yielding
over two hundred bushels per acre — on
light land, in a four weeks' drouth —

110

THE CANADIAN HOKTICULTtJRIST.

with the price fifty per cent, over ordi-
nary figui-es, and buyers anxious 1

But this question is one not lightly
to be settled in one article or by one
man. My experience warrants me in
claiming the " Hill System " the best
for all ordinary soils and varieties.
Now let the gentlemen of " Matted
Row " leanings speak up for their sys-
tem that Horticulturist readers may
come to an intelligent conclusion before
the planting season is upon us.

CULTIVATION OF GRAPES.

As location, aspect and soil are of the
tirst importance, and as they are ques-
tions that stand foremost on the in-
tending planter's mind, demanding solu-
tion, I will endeavor to put a few stray
thoughts together bearing upon the
above important subject, hoping that
they may prove a benefit to some.
Nearly any soil will grow grapes, at
least for home consumption, and some
varieties are so thrifty, and have such
a strong constitution, that they can be
grown almost any where,but with grapes
on a large scale, either for market or
wine, or both, good and paying results
can only be z'eached in the best loca-
tions. (And I would say right here
that I do not approve of the manufac-
ture of grapes, or anything else into fer-
mented wine, to be used as a beverage,
as it is one of the branches and a feeder
of one of the greatest evils in Christen-
dom, intemperance.) The most suit-
able location for a vineyard in this
beautiful northern land of ours is a
situation near some of the larger lakes,
and elevated at least 40 or 50 feet
above them, or smaller bodies of water,
for if near the level of bodies of water,
especially small bodies in this latitude
the situation will very likely be subject
to early and late frosts. Large bodies
of water are not so injurious as small,
as they absorb heat in great quantities

during the summer and give it off
slowly in the fall ; this affects the sur-
rounding country very materially by
preventing early frosts. In the spring,
the water being cold, it keeps the at-
mosphere cool for a considerable dis-
tance from the shore, and consequently
prevents vegetation starting so early as
it otherwise would. My vineyard is
located about four miles north of Lake
Ontario, and fully 500 feet above it, at
Baltimore, on the south-eastern slope
of Elcho Height ; it is more exempt from
early frosts than some other parts of
the province thought to be more highly
favoured by nature. The very destruc-
tive frost that visited the larger portion
of this continent on the 10th of last
September, left the tenderest vegetables
here almost uninjured, a part of my
Concord, Delaware, Brighton, and all of
Lindley, Hartford, Champion, Crevel-
ing, and other early ripening varieties
matured before the heavy frosts injured
them. I would not recommend the
planting of any variety, in this district,
ripening much later than Concord. In
selecting a situation for a vineyard all
the surroundings should be closely ob-
served and taken into account. If the
land has no protection from the north
and north-west see what the facilities
are for supplying one by a belt of trees ;
Norway spruce is the best. Would
recommend the declivities of hills and
mountains inclining to the south as the
best exposure for a vineyard ; and the
next in order are the south-east, east,
south-west by south, but never a north
or a full western exposure. Virgil
said, "nor let thy vineyard bend to-
wards the sun when setting," and these
words are as applicable now as they
were thousands of years ago. A loca-
tion protected from the cold north
winds, so as to insure sufficient heat to
mature the fruit, is also desirable in a
cold climate, but in a hot one the heat
may be so great as to exhaust the

THE CANADIAN H0RTICULTUKI8T.

Ill

strength of the vine by too rapid
evaporation from its leaves, and it gen-
erally fails to live. A full southern ex-
posure is no doubt to be preferred in
Canada, and if the land descends to the
south so much the better ; but if very
steep will cost more to prepare and keep
in order ; the land will also wash badly.
A deep sandy loam with porous subsoil,
thickly interveined with small debris
of limestone, is preferable to clay or
muck. Although a sandy soil may not
naturally produce the most luxuriant
growth, it is certain that it produces
fruit of the richest quality. Such soils
are moderately favorable to the growth
of the vine, are easily worked, and do
not retain an excess of moisture as they
are thorougly underdrained by nature.
And it is a point that always ought to
be borne in mind that the vine, like
humanity, thrives very poorly with
wet feet. Therefore, tenacious sub-soils,
so-called hardpans, should be avoided.
A modei'ately loose and friable soil,
whether it be loam, sand, gravel, or the
debris of rocky hillsides, will grow good
grapes, other things being equal. Any
soil rich enough to produce a good crop
of corn will be rich enough, and if the
soil is thickly strewn with small stones,
so much the better, as they become
warmed by tlie sun, and the heat is
thrown back directly upon the vines
and fruit, hastening the fruit in ripen-
ing. Retaining the heat for a longer
period than the ordinary soil, and ra-
diating it slowly by night, the tempera-
ture of the vineyard throughout the
growing season is higher than it would
otherwise be. The subjects of pruning,
training, planting^ etc. , I have not men-
tioned as, doubtless, my article has been
spun out too long already. I expect to
explain my methods of training, prun-
ing, etc., in the near future. Closing
I remain yours in the work.

T. A. Chapman.
Elcho Heights, Baltimore, Ont.

STRAWBERRY 'NOTES.— Contmued.

(For the Canadian Horticulturist. I

To my mind, and I ought to know a
little of the world and its ways (now in
my seventieth year), there is no occu-
pation young or old can engage in that
will give more pleasure and profit than
the growing of small fruit.

Practical men grow fruit to make
money. Men of means grow for the
pleasure of having this noble and luci-
ous fruit fresh from their own garden
and for their table.

But to those commencing and with
limited means, I would mention a few
out of the seventy-five or more varieties
I grow at present.

I am at present testing sixteen new
varieties. Some of them I have fruited
four, three and two years. Of these
the Cornelia is offered for sale by
several Canadian fruit-men for the
spring planting. The other two are
Crawford's also, his Nos. 6 & 20. These
I consider fully equal to, if not better,
than the Daniel Boone. I have no
axe to grind in mentioning these.

To those who have not grown these
I am about to mention, I can truly
recommend them.

1. The Crescent. It is by all odds
the earliest and best bearer of any
of the early varieties. Quality not the
best, but if well grown, would pass for
the Wilson any day.

2. Captain Jack, if grown in narrow
rows and land as it should be for the
strawberry, will please the grower every
time. If the grower has no other
staminate variety that blossoms earlier
than the Captain Jack, it will do to
plant beside the Crescent.

3. Windsor Chief. It is a good
bearer and good color, and well
flavored.

4. James Vick will do to plant be-
side the Chief. Immense bearer. The
plant will take care of itself.

5. Manchester, a pistilate, and if

112

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

well fertilized, will astonish the grower
with the size of berry and amount of
fruit.

6. Phipj)s will do to fertilize the
Manchester. Wants plenty of room ;
it makes large stools, often a dozen or
more fruit-stems.

7. Glendale, late, plenty of fruit.
Plant will care for itself.

8. Cumberland Triumph. No better
shipper than the Manchester, yet I ad-
mire it. It is such a noble berry, and
perfect shape and plenty of them. This
will be the fifth year in the same bed
with me, and if the spring frost does
not take the blossoms, I expect a boun-
tiful crop.

9. Sucker State. Good grower and
bearer. One of the safest to plant.

These ought to be in every collec-
tion. I can recommend them with all
confidence to be what all " catalogues "
say of them.

There are many more I may write
about again if spared.

Fish Creek, Feb. 17. JoHX Little.

APPLE TREE BORER.

Mr. Editor, — In the Horticulturist
of February, H. asks how to keep the
borer from apple trees. Last midsum-
mer one of my best bearing crab trees
suddenly withered and died. On ex-
amination I found the borer had com-
pletely girdled it, and commenced work
on four others. In the spring I had
driven the caterpillar from my currant
and gooseberry bushes and saved a good
crop by mixing about two tablespoons-
ful of paris green in a pail of air-slacked
lime and shaking the mixture twice
over the bushes before tlie fruit had
fully formed. The Paris green could
not be applied in this way on the trees ;
the best thing I could think of on hand
was a bar of common yellow soap ; dip-
ping the end of this in the paris green,
and rubbing it on the trees attacked, I

think I stopped operations of the enemy
as no new holes were bored up to the
end of the season.

Yours truly, F. F.

Cape Elizabeth, Lake Rosseau,
Muskoka, Mar. 13, '85.

MISTAKES OF FRUIT GROWERS.

(By Peter Pruninff Knife.)

There is probably no branch of hus-
bandry in which there ai^e greater mis-
takes made from want of knowledge
and experience than in fruit growing :
and I think I may assert without fear
of contradiction that fifty per cent, of
all the fruit trees and plants ever
planted in this Province have never
produced fruit enough to pay for them-
selves, let alone the cost of planting,
use of the ground, cultivation, &c., and
this percentage would be largely in-
creased if confined to the northern por-
tions of the country. This may seem
like an extravagant statement by those
living in fruit sections, but experienced
fruit growers even there will bear me
out in this assertion by their own ex-
perience. I propose to point out a few
causes of this great loss to farmers and
fruit growers (for it is a loss which, if
correctly estimated, would aggregate
millions of dollars), and also to suggest
some remedies.

The 1st mistake of planters is in
selection of soil and location. Farmers
in planting an orchard are generally
anxious to get it near the house, and in
doing this generally put it in some cor-
ner near by without stopping to con-
sider that the land may be too low or
wet, or perhaps too high and exposed
for tender varieties of fruit. Trees
will not thrive, as it is sometimes ex-
pressed, " with wet feet," nor will ten-
der vax'ieties thrive when exposed to
severe cold winds.

Remedy. — Seek good, dry, sheltered
locations for fruit trees and protect the
small fruits by mulching in winter.

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

113

Mistake No. 2 is in the preparation
of the soil. No farmer would expect
a crop of grain or roots of any kind
without first preparing the ground for
it ; but thousands of them seem to
think this wholly unnecessaiy in plant-
ing trees, and they dig post holes in
the sod, or among wheat, or almost any-
whei-e, and stick them in and then per-
haps find fault with the nurseryman or
weather or something else because they
don't grow.

Remedy. — Thoroughly drain, enrich
and pulverize the soil, and dig holes
large enough to straighten out all the
I'oots in their natural position.

Mistake No. 3 is in selecting and
ordering trees and plants. Ordering
trees and plants from agents wJiom
they know nothing about, and varieties
that are not adapted to the climate and
soil, simply because the agent recom-
mends them and .shows some high-col-
ored beautiful picture of the fruit, has
been one of the greatest mistakes of
planters, and one that has cost them
dearly. One-half or more of the fruits
that have been thus recommended and
planted in the northern pai'ts of this
country have proved worse than use-
less ; they have not only failed, but
they have discouraged planters in put-
ing out others that are adapted to the
climate, and thus crippled one of the
best industries of the country.

Remedy. — Become a member of the
Fruit Growers' Association, read their
Rej)oi'ts and the Canadian Horticulhir-
ist, and post yourself on the varieties
that do succeed in your locality, and
then order direct from some responsible
nurseryman, and don't accept any
variety you don't want because some-
body recommends it who has trees to
sell.

Mistake No. 4 is in time of plant-
ing. Many have made the mistake of

planting tender varieties of trees and
plants in the fall in exposed situations,
and they have been killed by frosts
before they have had a chance to grow.
Hardj^ vaiieties may be planted in the
fall in protected localities, or where
they will be covered with snow or some
artificial coveiing ; but as a rule spring
planting is preferable. vSome plant in
some particular time in the moon, and
often wait till dry weather comes in
the spring, and lose many of them in so
doing.

Remedy. — Plant as early as possible
in the spring, and plant in the earth,
not in the moon or any other planet.

Mistake No. 5 is in not properly
cultivating and caring for trees and
plants after they are planted. Who
would expect to have a hill of corn or
potatoes grow after they were planted
without hoeing or cultivating, or much
less if they sowed oats or other grain
between the rows i Yet this ' is the
way thousands of young trees are
treated. What gardener would look
for a crop of cabbage or celery by set-
ting ovxt the plants and then leaving
them to struggle with the weeds '? Yet
this is often the fate of small fruits.
Who would be silly enough to think of
pasturing a corn field and look for a
crop of corn 1 Yet thousands of young
trees are broken down annually by
horses and cattle.

Remedy. — Cultivate your trees as
thoroughly as you would corn or pota-
toes, particularly when first planted.
Don't attempt to grow grain amongst
them. Take as much pains with a
strawberry as you would a celery plant,
cultivate a currant or gooseberry bush
as much as you would with a hill of
beans ; keep your horses and cattle in
the pasture or stable where they be-
long, and don't use them for pruning
purposes.

February, 1885.

114

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

THE NEW VARIETIES OF GRAPES
IN PROVINCE OF QUEBEC.

August and September of last year
saved the grape crop from utter failure
predicted during the unfavorable early
part of the season. The exhibition of
the Montreal Horticultural Society and
Fruit Growers' Association of Quebec
was too early in September for a toler-
ably fair display of outdoor grajies, but
the Abbotsford Fruit Growers' Asso-
ciation, held this year at Rougemont,
Rouville County, on the 25th of Sep-
tember, had the finest display ever held
in this Province. In outdoor grapes,
Mr. Chas. Gibb had on exliibition
thirty-four varieties, my own of sixty-
five varieties, and several very credit-
able smaller collections. Mr. Gibl)
has infused a wide spread interest in
the cultivation of fruit in general, and
his long labors are yearly showing bene-
ficial results. Well deserved praise is
bestowed upon him from all quarters.

ON WHITE GRAPES.

Lady, after the vine becomes estab-
lished, proves productive and generally
very satisfactory.

GreivbS Golden ripened for the first.
It has a fair sized bunch and berry,
skin quite thin, is distinct in flavor
from other white vaiieties, partaking-
somewhat of the plum. It is healthy
in foliage, a good bearer and good home
variety.

Belinda, Antoinette and Carlotta,
Miner's seedlings, ripening in order
named, are likely to all succeed here.
Antoinette is preferable, as the best
grower, and better in flavor than
Belinda.

A Concord hybrid, No. 5, of Mr. G.
"VV. Campbell, of Ohio, gave a very
good impression. Resembles the Con-
cord in some respects, but earlier and
better.

Prentiss was more satisfactory this
season, ripened eai'lier and was loaded,

and a good portion of the bunches had
to be cut out, which practice is very
necessary here to ensure earliness in
ripening. It may yet succeed for this
Province generally.

Faith bore as heavily as it did last
year. It has a small berry, and long,
loose bunch, remarkably strong grower.
In all notices I see of it south, is classed
as an early variety. It does not ripen
here before Delaware, unless about half
the fruit is cut out.

Duchess did better than last year.
It is still much smaller in berry than
southern specimens sent us. Fruit in
(juality quite good.

Lady Washington, unfortunately too
late by a good deal. Regret this, as
the bunch and berry are admirable.
Have given it close attention without
corresponding results.

PocJclington. "The Golden," is also
too late for this Province, though it
was inclined to bear somewhat earlier
this season, and improved in size ; the
color claimed for it is a wild exaggera-
tion.

Empire State and Masons Seedling I
look forward to with no little interest.
The foi-mer is well endorsed by Mr.
Ricketts, and the latter by Mr. Bush,
of Missouri, a very careful and reliable
authority.

ON BLACK GRAPES.

Early Victor, after three years fruit-
ing, sustains its reputation. If one-
third to one-half the bunches are cut
out, it is vastly improved in size and
earliness.

Dempsey's No. 25 (which I have
noticed in Gntai'io Report as a white
variety) has fruited here for four years,
quite as large in berry as any of Rogers'
blacks, and in bunch compares with
Barry. Has proved earlier than any
of the Rogers' of its color, and quite as
good in quality. Now know sufiicient
of it to recommend it highly.

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

115

Waverley grafted from scion sent me
by Mr. Ricketts in 18S2 ; in foliage is
not as strong, or in bunch as showy,
but the fruit is delicious, and is all
claimed for it by its originator.

Burnet is still highly prized, though
late for our Province genei-ally. I
have seen unfavoi'able criticisms from
correspondents in Horticulturist, and
felt inclined to reply to them. If the
cultivators would remove a reasonable
portion of the clusters when fairly
formed, the treatment would sustain
my estimate of this tine grape.

Early Dawn has proved here utterly
contemptible.

Linden not much better.

Belvidere in bunch and quality a trifle
better than Champion, though some
later.

Warden still pleasing and satisfac-
tory, and preferred, all things consider-
ed, to Moore's Early.

ON RED GRAPES.

Here I can note some advancement.

Poughkeepsie Red gives a very favor-
able impression. It is in fruit larger
and quite as good as Delaware, a better
grower and stronger foliage.

Challenge, a New Jersey grape, in
some respects reminds us of Northern
Muscadine, quite as early, larger in
bunch, less foxy, and does not di'op its
berry.

Mary (Stone and Wellington) im-
presses us favorably, has a good deal
of Salem character, but the foliage less
liable to mildew. Inclined to consider
it an improvement.

Ulster Prolific bore its first fruit ; a
favorable introduction ; is a strong
grower and abundant bearer, vmdoubt-
edly requiring much thinning out as
vine gets strength.

Owasso, a beautiful dark amber of
good size and pleasant flavor, is gaining
after three years fruiting.

Vergennes seems disappointing on all

sides as to its claims for earliness.
Fruit should be well thinned out.

Gaertner, Rogers' No. 14, am inclined
to think has been somewhat overlooked,
and should be more cultivated. It is
quite early here, a little after Massa-
soit. Good sized berry and bunch, and
agreeable in flavor.

The sum total of our success here,
where a few years since the culture of
outdoor grapes was very limited, and
when attempted, the treatment, if any
at all, was at best slovenly, is in ample
space in planting, judicious thinning
out of clustei's, proportioning fruit left
to strength of foliage and habit of vine,
careful systematic fall pruning, and
laying down and covering with earth,
simply, just before the ground freezes
up for the winter.

Wm. Mead Pattison.
Clarenceville, Quebec.

THE ROSE.

The three most useful families or
orders in the vegetable kingdom to
man are Graminpe, Leguminosse and
Rosacse. The two first contributing to
his actual necessities, and the last to
his tastes, in the shape of wholesome
fruits and pleasing oi'namentation, and
I am not aware of a single specimen of
the fruit, or the family, that is poison-
ous. The kernel may contain prussic
acid, but in such small proportion that
no fear need be apprehended. It is a
geological fact that no ox*ganic remains
of this family even in the diluvial de-
posits (the latest) of the earth's crust
occur, evidently demonstrating the fact
that it has appeared simultaneously
with man, for the pvirpose of developing
his mental and moral faculties.

Man stands at the head of creation
in the animal kingdom, the Rosacese
family at the head of the vegetable,
each being adapted for the other, and
to keep pace in the development of

116

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

The Rose proper from which this
important faniily takes its name, is indi-
genous only to the northern hemisphere,
and generally distributed through Eu-
rope. Asia and North America The
Dog Rose (Rosa Canincf) to central
Europe, the Provence and Manetti
being onl\" sub-varieties ; the Sweet
Briar, the eglantine of poets, is indi-
genous to both northern hemispheres.
Rosa Gallica, I presume, to France,
Rosa spinosissima to Scotland ; Lutea
to A ustria and Persia ; Boursault to
the Alps ; Damask (Damascena) to the
Levant ; Cinnamon (Cinnaniomea') to
the Pacific slopes of North America ;
Bourbon { Bourbouiana) to the Isle of
Bourbon ; the Banksia from China ;
Rosa Indica Odo)ata, the Tea Rose,
to the same place ; the climbing Ayr-
shire Rose (Arvensis) to Britain, and
the Rubifolia, another climber, to the
prairies of North America. All have
a distinct characteristic from each other,
and from these sources emanate Roses
now in cultivation.

Really the Rose in its primitive con-
dition cannot vie in appearance with
some of the lower orders, for example,
some of the Malvaceae and Lilaceje
families, but the essential elements for
development in the Rose are moi-e
abundant. The first step is to change
the original condition of things by culti-
vation ; this will evidently produce more
petals than the five in the original, no
doubt at the expense of the stamens, and
when the blossom becomes thoroughly
double all the fructifjdng organs are
changed into petals, and its natural
powers of reproduction are gone. I
think, upon examination, that it will
be found that the number of stamens
changed will correspond with the addi-
tional number of petals. The Roses
now in general cultivation are mostly
hybrids, and by a combination of the
difierent elements have produced results
which have developed in the Rose of

the present day, the varieties being ad
infinitum. To suppose that the Rose
has now arrived at the acme of its gor-
geousness is a fallacy. Progress does
not admit of a climax. The Roses of
the future will to a certainty far aur-
j)ass those that are now in cultivation.
The cultivation of the Rose is very
simple, only requiring the same treat-
ment as in a currant bush, namely,
cutting out superfluous wood and spur-
ring the branches.

The Rose to be grown to produce
great efiect is budded on the Dog Rose
( Rosa Canince) at standard heights, say
from thi'ee to five feet, and planted ter-
race fashion, which I have seen and
manipulated when a lad working in a
gentleman's garden in the lowlands of
Scotland ; but, after all, when grown
in this manner foi- a few years they
soon decay and become unmanageable,
consequently requii'e to be replaced.
I think all Roses do best when worked
on the Manetti, which is very vigorous,
and will produce better blooms and
more vicjor of ijrowth, than when grown
on their own bottoms. Example, what
would a Giant of Battles be on its own
bottom, a poor, puny thing, and many
other like it. Roses grown on their
own bottoms ai'e just as troublesome to
keep in order as those worked on the
Manetti, particularly hybrid Chinas.
When accustomed to know the difier-
ence between the stock and the variety
worked on it, the suckers are easily
removed.

Giving protection to the Rose in the
country is absolutely necessary, which
is easily effected by bending the canes
and pegging down close to the ground,
and covering with almost any kind of
haulm. I have found pea straw,
when it could be procured, the best.
Care should always be taken not to put
on too thick a covering. On the ap-
proach of spring remove it, tie the
bushes to stakes if desired. The next

rHE CANADIAN HOKTIC0LTUEI8T.

117

trouble to contend with is the slug and
thrip, which may be very easily kept
under control by white hellebore or
tobacco water. Although Rose culture
is somewhat troublesome, you are amply
remunerated for your pains. The Rose
is a Rose, and it is not eveiy shrub
that is a Rose ; and even when grown
under adverse circumstances, it is yet a
thing of beauty.

Simon Roy.
Berlin, 17th Feb., 1885.

THE WILLOW.

p. K. BUCKE, OTTAW.^, ONT.

In putting in a plea for growing the
willow as a valuable and profitable ad-
dition to the industries of Ontario or
the North-west, I feel that I am lay-
ing myself open to the censure of many
individuals who perhaps have only par-
tially looked into the subject. Any
man who has a low lying swail of a
few acres covered by a thick willow
growth, which he has undertaken to
clear up, will realize in this plant the
fact that " it has come to stay," as our
American neighbors term it.

The Salix family is one of the largest,
if not the largest, of any of the vege-
table kinofdom. Loudon orives 282

o o

species, 51 of these are credited to
North America. The willow is found
in every conceivable climate, extending
from the tropics as far north as the
Arctic Circle ; it grows on all kinds of
soil, from the banks of low stagnant
pools to the highest elevations. The
plants range from the tiniest osier to
the majestic forest tree of six feet
through. It would be rather a blot on
creation if so large a portion of its
wealth had been bestowed on such a
widely-distributed product should it
prove to be a useless article.

Many people do not plant trees be-
cause of the length of time it takes
them to grow. This complaint cannot
be brought against the Salix alba,

white willow of Huntingdon. Its
growth, though not so rapid as the
mushroom, or the historic gourd, which
grew up in a night, is yet of sufficient
rapidity to satisfy the most fastidious.
In ten years from the cutting it will
make a tree fi-om nine to thirteen inches
through, and from twenty-eight to
thirty-five feet high. On the Westei-n
American praii'ies, where it is exten-
sively grown, it is claimed to be the
best tree for the early settlers. It is
also claimed that it will reproduce
itself with great rapidity from the
stump, no matter how old the tree was
when c^lt down. The wood is light,
tough and elastic, easily worked, and
makes valuable lasting timber ; it splits
freely, makes good sawn lumber when
of sufficient size, and grows with a
straight, tall stem when closely planted.
It is used for tool handles, hoops,
cooper work, &c. ; the bark is employed
for tanning and medicinal purposes,
taking the place of Peruvian bark for
intermittent fevers, the active principle
being salicin. This tree should be
largely cultivated in our North-west ;
being hardy and of rapid growth, it
would prove very beneficial there both
for timber and windbreaks. I would
recommend it for planting between
more dui-able and slower growing forest
trees, or in plantations to take their
place whilst they are coming forward.

The Salix caprea grows to a large
size ; the wood takes a fine polish ; it
is stated to be worth as much in the
market as birch. Its bark is also used
for tanning purposes.

Salix fragilis, or red wood willow,
also attains to a good big tree ; its tim-
ber is used for many purposes, and is
valuable.

The willow chiefly employed for
basket purposes in Europe is Salix
viminalis. This variety is cultivated
on low, level, moist soils. The plant-
ins should be made from cuttings.

118

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

which should be cut squai'e across at
the lower ends, so that the roots may
come out evenly all round. The cut-
tings should be made from one-year
old wood from nine to twelve inches
long ; these should be set firmly in
the soil a good thi'ee-quarters of their
length, in rows four feet apart, the cut-
tings one foot apart in the row. The
plants should be allowed to gi'ow two
years without being cut, after which
they may be cut close to the stump
every autumn after the leaves hare
fallen. The cuttings are tied in bun-
dles, and stood in water during winter,
and are peeled when the sap rises in the
spring. They are sometimes steamed
and peeled in winter ; but steaming
spoils their color and injures their mar-
ket value. Sap-peeled willows are al-
ways in first demand. By cutting the
willows in the fall, the spring growth
does not appear to be injured as it
would if the shoots were removed dur-
ing that season. These willow shoots
are principally used for making bas-
kets and chairs ; for the frame work of
the latter a coarser wild willow is used.
Under favorable circumstances from
three to four tons are grown to the
acre. Three tons of green will pro-
duce one ton of the peeled cured ar-
ticle. The price varies with the de-
mand ; but in New York buyers only
offer 5^ cents per pound, delivered at
the cost of the shipper, who would also
have to pay 10 per cent. duty. They
are on occasions, however, as high as
7 to 11 cents. At 6 cents per pound,
$120 per acre would be realized. This
would give a clear profit per acre of
$80 or $90, after paying freight, duty,
and other expenses for labor ; but if
manufactured in the country and sold
as baskets, a much larger profit could
be made. I am indebted to Mr. Thos.
Truss, of the Brantford Asylum for the
Blind, who has kindly furnished some
of the foregoing information respecting

the basket willow. He calls his wil-
low the Welsh variety ; whether it is
S. vimiiialis or not I have not been
able to ascei^tain ; it is certainly a very
fine variety for baskets and all sorts of
wicker ware. Cuttings may be had
from Mr. Truss at the rate of $2 per
thousand. Basket matting is nice light
employment for either boys or women,
and could be carried on during the
stoi'my days of winter. There are
large tracts of land which are over-
flowed every spring along the Ottawa,
and in many places in Canada, that
would Vje suitable for willow culture ;
and I see no reason why the basket
industry should not be more lai'gely
added to the other manufactures of this
country. Of course the necessary ma-
chines for peeling and splitting would
be i-equired, especially if the business
were gone into on a large scale. The
splitting knives and other articles are
by no. means expensive.

AMARYLLIS.

There is perhaps no plant cultivated
by the amateur florist that is more
easily grown when properly treated
than the Amaryllis, and doubtless very
few, if any, that more amply repay
him for the time and labor spent upon
them.

In cultivating any plant or shrub
successfully we should know the condi-
tions under whicli it flourished at its
original place of growth.

Tliese bulbs are natives of the Cape
of Good Hope and South Africa.
There they are subjected to a period of
continual wet followed by a correspond-
ing period of dryness. The heat of
the climate is most intense during their
period of dryness, consequently when
growing they demand an abundant sup-
ply of nourishment and moisture, but
during the season of rest a greater sup-
ply of heat and a lesser supply of

THE CANADIAN H0RTICULTUKI8T.

119

moisture. If the following rules be
followed as nearly as possible there will
be no difficulty in growing satisfactorily
this very desirable plant : —

1. When you obtain your bulb se-
cure for its reception a pot with a
diameter about three times that of the
diameter of your bulb. It may be even
smaller than this, but see that in no
case it exceeds it in size. Over-potting
is perhaps the greatest error amateurs
are likely to make in gi-owing any
plant, and unfortunately the Amaryllis
is no exception to the general rule.
This bulb will even flower better for
being somewhat cramped so long as the
drainage is good. Now fill the bottom
of your pot to the depth of two inches
with charcoal to secu.re perfect drain-
age, and fill in the remainder with good
rich soil.

2. In planting be sure that one-half
your bulb at least is above the surface
of the soil. Please read this again be-
fore you proceed further, as there is
perhaps no other point so necessary of
observation as this.

Bear in mind that all the nourish-
ment is taken in by the roots, and as
these are located at the bottom of the
bulb only, no nourishment can enter at
the side.

3. Avoid pouring water over the
bulb, for if it be allowed to enter at
the neck the moisture may result in
centre-rot, or if by chance it be ab-
sorbed into the bulb it may not entire-
ly cause the death of the plant, but it
is certain to materially weaken it, and
will almost invariably destroy the tiny
flower scape already formed between
the scales at its base. Water should,
therefore, invariably be given from be-
neath.

4. After the bulb has flowered a
short season of vigorous growth should
be given in order to provide for future
bloom, for it is now that those little
flower scapes are formed which, after a

season of rest, come forth in all their
vigor and beauty to amply repay us for
our time and trouble.

5. The necessary growth after bloom-
ing having been given, it should next in-
variably be given a season of rest. For
this purpose you should not take it out
of the pot, as it robs the bulb of much
of its strength, and not unfrequently
injures the flower scape so that it is
entirely lost. When at rest give it
only a very small amount of moisture,
although it should not be allowed to
entirely dry ofl", as in such a case you
will be veiy apt to lose it altogether.
It should not be hurried at this par-
ticular stage ; it will make known its
wants in due course ))y starting a new
growth, after which water may be ap-
plied more freely. Take oS" the leaves
only as they turn yellow, for removing
green healthy ones only weakens the
plant. By following carefully the
natural requirements of growth and
rest you have the surest way to secure
perfect bloom.

The Amaryllis possesses this advan-
tage over most other house plants, that
it may be set away at any season un-
der almost any conditions, and yet re-
tain its vitality for months. Of the
several varieties I shall say nothing, as
the grower can choose those that are
most agreeable to his or her own taste.

A. A. Wright.

Renfrew, Marcli 11th, 1885.

Prunus Pissardii. — You who are fond
of the rare and beautiful, buy a plant of
Prunus Pissardii next spring. Its foliage
is purple, which color is held more deci-
dedly during the season than that of any
other colored-foliage plant ; and the
leaves remain unharmed until after frosts.
The Bund in this, as in all such mattei's,
speaks from experience. It confidently
advises its readers to try this plum, though
the fruit itself is not worth mucli. — Rural
New- Yorker.

120

THE CANADIAN HOKTICULTDKlST,

MONTH OF MAY.

(Written for the Canadian Horticulturist. J
Tlie blackthorn bloom falls on the spray.

The daisies deck the hill,
And May, the lovely maiden, May,

With joy each blossom fills ;
Sweet May ! the lark doth hail tliee here,

The linnet on tlie tree.
With thee the summer birds appear.

The lambs call after tliee.

Weary witli toil, I wander. May,

Witliin thy peaceful bower,
Tliou cheer'st me with tliy merry lay.

And strew'st my path with flowers.
The meadows witii their diadem

Of cowslijis ; shall I say,
That every floweret is a gem,

To deck the Month of May !

With blossoms on thy brow, dear May,

The pi'imrose at thy feet,
And in thy hand the hawthorn spray,

So fragrant and so sweet,
Tliou bring'st the lilac to the bower,

The lily to the pot.
And to the bank that bonnie Hower,

The sweet forget-me-not.

How beautiful thou art, fair May.

In robes of gold and green,
How happy is it round about,

Thy face, May, how serene.
And on thy cheek the virgin blush,

So beautiful to see.
And in the grove the sweet song thrush,

Is carroUing to thee.

A thousand birds their .joy betray,

To burst each bud to life.
And when thou sniil'st, fair maiden. May,

Earth tuems with love and life.
So softly breathing, sweetest May,

How balmy is the air ;
1 see thee tripping o'er the way,

A vision bright and fair.
St. Mary's. Miis. W. H. W.

HYACINTHS.

(Addressed to a bed of Hyacinths blooiniiig in a prixi

yard.)
O fair and beautiful ! Why bloom ye here ?
Your pure and wax-like forms strangely contrast
With ironed doors and windows iron-barred,
Where massive walls rise gloomily, shutting
Out light and heat, with only one hour's sun
(When in meridian altitude) to warm
Your earthy bed ; but flowers have tlieir own use —
Their teachings, fraught with gentleness and love
And truth, which fall on the beholder
Like the " dew upon the tender herb,"
Refreshing all with its kind, gentle power.

Music like flowers, and flowers
Like music, charm and calm the passions
Of the human breast ; may this be here your
Ministry, where man degraded from his
Maker's imago, lower and lower falls
Until he merits these dark, gloomy and
Incarcerating walls.

Flowers are indeed God's messengers
To bless and cheer a dying world, and pomt
With smiling face to the blest hope of the
" First Resurrection morn."
Owen Sound. M. W. M.

SOME NATIVE ORCHIDS.

Perhaps in these days, when the Or-
chid mania is raging, and the uttermost
parts of the eai'th are " investigated " to
discover new species of this wonderful
flower wherewith to adorn the Orchid
houses of wealthy amateui's, a few re-
marks about our native varieties may
interest those who, not having an abun-
dance of this world's goods, are fain to
content themselves with such specimens
of the genus as inhabit the fields or
groves of our native land.

The various kinds of Cypripedium
are among the most showy of Orchida-
ceous plants in this section, and the
beauty of their blossoms rivals that of
some of their more favored sisters occu-
pying conspicuous places in the green-
house. The Cypripedium acaule, with
its large, purple flower, nodding on the
slender, graceful scape, is a veritable
floral gem, and the more common Cy-
pripedium pubescens, or Indian Mocca-
sin Flower, with its golden blossom, so
like a gigantic Calceolaria, is a plant
which no one who loves the wild beau-
ties of the forest would pass unheeded.
The loveliness of both the ji receding
species pales, however, beside that of
the Cypripedium spectabile, or Tall
Lady's Slipper, a denizen of swamps in
this part of the world.

There is something marvellous in the
appearance of these great, white flowers,
which have markings on the inner sur-
face, delicate as if the tiny flecks of color
were laid on with a brush held by a
fairy's hand. The large sepals of these
blossoms are white, or nearly so, which
adds greatly to their beauty. Indeed,
when looking at a cluster from a little
distance oue would not find it very difii-
cult to imagine that the angel of the
flowers had appeared to mortal vision.
—Mrs. H. K L., Hoosac, N. Y., in
February number Vick's Magazine.

PRINTED AT THR STEAM PRESS ESTABLISHMENT OF COPP, CI^ARK 4 CO., COLBOENE STREET, TORONTO.

CATALPA.

Its showj flowers are white, slightly tinged with violet and dotted with
purple and violet in the throat. See Appleton's Am. Cyclopaedia, vol. IV.
fg. 98 99.

PAINTED FOR THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

THE

VOL. VIII.]

JUNE, 1885.

[No. G.

THE OATALPA.

The great oV)ject which the Directors
have in view iii giving, without charge,
to each subscriber to the Canadian
Ilorticidtiirist the choice of certain
trees or plants, is that tliose things
may be tested in different parts of the
country, and in this way their ability
to endure the climate, their adaptation
to the various soils, and their value
to us as Canadians may become more
speedily known. An impression seems
to exist in the minds of some that
these things are a Sort of bonus given
to them for subscribing to the maga-
zine. We desire to correct this im-
pre.ssion, and to have our readers un-
derstand that these things are given
not so much to benefit the recipient as
to benefit the entire community. Of-
ten times they may greatly benefit the
recipient, but even when the article
planted proves to be utterly valueless,
owing to the fact which is in this way
ascertained that it is unsuited to our
climate, or to the exposure in a certain
part of the country ; the knowledge of
that fact, if it be only communicated,
is of immense value to others, saving
them from serious disappointment and
loss. For this reason the Directors
have made it a condition of receivinij

these articles that the person who gets
them shall in due time communicate
to the Canadian Horticnltufist, for the
benefit of all, the results of his experi-
ence therewith, whether of success or
failure.

For this reason in a very especial
manner have the Directors offered the-
hardy Catalpa to our subscribers this
spring. The reports that, h-iive come
to them of its great valn©^, both as a
timber and an ornamental tree, have
led them to believe that it may be
valuable in a large part, if not in all
parts of this Province. Letters have
been received from subscribers asking
if it v/ould be hardy enough to thrive
in their locality ; if so they would
select the Catalpa to be sent them. If
the Directors knew that this tree was
sufliciently hardy, and in all respects
suited to the soil and climate of all
parts of Ontario, there would have
been no occasion for testing it, and it
would not have been offered.

It is said of this variety of the Ca-
talpa that it is remarkably hardj',
much more hardy than the variety
which has been to some extent planted
in Canada as an ornamental tree, sam-
ples of which are to be seen in Hamil-

122

THE CANADIAN nOKTTCULTURIST.

ton and other places where the climate !
is not more severe than in that city. ''
As a tree for timber plantations it is >
thought by many to be unrivalled, be- i
cause of its i-apid growth, its adapta-
tion to almost all soils and situations,
its wide range of hititude, and its extra-
ordinary success on the bleak prairies
of the North-west.

It is also stated that it bears trans-
])lantation unusually well, suffering
very little check therefrom, and very
rarely failing to grow; that it is pos-
sessed of great vitality, and is almost
wholly exempt fi-om the attacks of in-
sects and of diseases. The wood is
said to be more lasting than cedar
when used for posts, railroad ties, or
other purposes where it is exposed to
changes in moisture and temperature ;
and is also said to be capable of receiv-
ing- a high polish, and to have a beau-
tiful grain, which qualities make it a
desirable wood for tine inside finishing
of dwellings and for various articles of
furniture. The tfce is stated to have
a very handsome and stately appear-
ance, and in the early summer to yield
a profusion of large, showy, sweet-
scented flowers of unrivalled beauty,
thus making it a very desirable orna-
mental tree.

If our readei-s will turn to the Re-
port of the Fruit Growers' Association
for 18S2, at page 207, they will there
find that Mr. Suel Foster, of Iowa,
states that a tree of this variety of the
Catalpa raised by him, and which had
been three times trans})lanted, was cut
down when twenty-two years old and
found to measure fourteen inches in

diametei'. He had a writing desk
made from it which he mentions as
being very beautiful. Trees six years
from the seed measured six to nine
inches in diameter, and twenty to
twenty-eight feet in height. We also
commend to their attention the article
in the same report by the late Dr.
Warder, pages 2G4 and 26-5, from
which it will be seen that large plan-
tations of this Catalpa are being made
by railway coi'porations, because tlxe
timber of this tree is considered by
them to be worth three times as much
as the best white oak for ties.

Of the suitableness of this tree for
ornamental planting our readers will
be able to form an opinion from the
colored plate which we have had pi"e-
pared expressly for this number. The
flowers are succeeded by long, pendent
seed pods, a sample of which is shewn
at the foot of the plate.

If this variety of the Catalpa should
prove to be adapted to general cultiva-
tion in any considerable part of this
Province, the Directoi'S will have done
a work in calling attention to this
tree which should earn for them the
lasting gratitude of ev^ery citizen of
Ontario. As to the probability of our
being able to gi'ow it successfully, see
the letter of the Rev. L. H. Kirkley in
the Ai)ril number, page SO.

CORRECTIOX.
dempsey's SKEDLIN'G gr.vpe.
The seedling grape referred to by
Mr. Pattison on page 114, May Num-
ber, is Mr. P. C. Dempsey's Seedling,
Number 5, not 25. This will explain
the disci'epancy.

THE CANADIAN nORTICULTURTST.

123

EASY LESSONS IN BOTANY.

BY H. B. SPOITON, BARBIE.

LKSSOX II.

We are now ready to look at the
flowers. But before going minutely
into the structure of any one blossom,
we may learn something from a general
irlance at the flowering portion of each
of the whole hve specimens. Take the
Buttercup first. Do you see that the
flowers are at the ends of the stem and
brswiches, and that there is only one
blossom on each such end 1 How is it
in Wallflower I The blossoms, you
observe, have the same situation ; they
are all at the to[)S of the branches. But
there is at the same time a marked
Jiflerence between the flowering of this
})lant and that of Buttercup, which you
doubtless discover at once. Wallflower
has its blossoms in clusters ; and while
some of the lower ones have probably
withered away, there are others in full
bloom, and others nearer the top as yet
only in bud. What about Hepatica 1
The flowers seem to be at the ends of
stems, one on each stem, as in Butter-
cup ; only, curiously enough, these
flowering stems appear to be without
leaves. In Dandelion, we seem to have
the same arrangement as in Hepatica.
The Dandelion, liowever, will be the
subject of special examination by and
bye. In Geranium, the blossoms are
in clusters, each blossom at the end of
a little stalk of its own, and the whole
of each cluster borne on the end of a
much stouter stalk which springs /rom
the side of the stem.

Now let us sum up all this ; but first
of all let it be understood that we shall
use the word inflorescence to mean the
mode of flowering observed in any
]ilant. So far as we can tell, then,
iVora the five plants before us, blossoms
are produced either in clusters of some
kind, or singhj, and they are ])roduced
either at the ends of stems and branches,

or on the sides of the stems. If pro-
duced singly, whether at the ends or
on the sides of the stem, we shall say
the inflorescence is solitary/. If pro-
duced in clusters, then the nanie to be
given will depend on how the cluster
is formed. If you jmt Wallflower
and Geranium side by side, you will
see that the flower clusters are not at
all the same. In Geranium, the little
stalks which bear the sepaiate blos-
soms are bunched together, and their
lower ends are all joined to the upper
end of the stout stalk which cariics
the cluster ; but in Wallflower the
little stalks rise one aboA'e another
from the sides of the stout one. As
we go on, we shall find a great many
other sorts of clusters, and in good
time we shall learn the proper name to
apply to each of them. In the mean-
time, you may content yourself with
noticing, in the case of such flowers as
come in your way, whether the inflor-
escence is solitary or otherwise.

When the flowers (in clusters or
solitary) are found at the ends of
stems, we ehall say that the inflores-
cence is terminal. This is the case in
Buttercup, in Wallflower, in Hepatica,
and in Dandelion, but not in Geranium.
How shall we desci'ibe the inflorescence
in this and similar plants ? In all
plants which flower on the sides of the
stems, you will find that the blossom
(or cluster) begins its growth in the
angle formed hi/ the petiole of a le(f
With the st'-'ui. Now the angle on the
upper side of a petiole, where it joins
the stem, is known as the axil of the
leaf. So, as all flowers which are not
terminal spring from axils, we shall
call such inflorescence axillary.

Having now gained some general
ideas as to the situation of flowers and
flower-clusters, let us take a single
blossom and see what it consists of.
First take a Buttercup. It is clearly
made up of a great many pieces, some

1-2-t

THE CANADIAN HOBTICULTURIST.

of one pattci'ii and some of another.
Those pieces whicli are of the same
}>attern, or type, will be seen to form
a circle or group by themselves. In
fact, all the parts of the flower are
arranged in circles, or lohorls, as they
are called.

Look at the outer whorl of all. Count
the pieces in it. There are five. Notice
their color. They are green, or nearly
so ; at all events they are not so bright
in color as the whorl next within.
Take hold of one of these five pieces
and pull it away from the flower. You
see it comes off" readily without disturb-
ing the other four. Tliis outer whorl
Ave shall call the calyx, and each of its
five pieces a sepal ; and because we can
remove each sepal without interfering
with the others we shall say that the
calyx is p-ylij/^epaloKS.

Pull ofl' all tlie sepals, and then look
at the next whorl. This consists of
five bi'ight yellow leaves, and you may
notice that the leaves of this second
whorl are placed alternate?!/ with those
of the calyx, that is, each of them is
not immediately in front of a sepal, but
in front of the space between two sepals.
As in the calyx, you will find that each
leaf of the second whorl is separate
from its neighbor, and can be pulled off
alone. This whorl of bright-colored
leaves is the corolla ; each of its pieces
is a petal ; and because the petals are
separate from each other, the corolla
is polypetalous.

Now strij) ofi" the petals, so as to
expose the third whorl. In this the
pieces are much more numerous than
in the calyx and corolla, and are of a
totally different shape. As there are
more than ten of these pieces we shall
not take the trouble to count them,
but merely say that they are numerous.
As with the calyx and corolla, each of
these pieces of the third pattern grows
separately from the others. Take ofi"
one, and if you have a magnifying glass

of any kind it will help you very much
to see how it is made. First there is
a slender stalk, then at the top of this
a swollen part divided lengthwise by a
kind of rib. If the blossom has been
open for a day or two, you will find
that this swollen top has split open
down its outer edges, and that a line
yellow dust is escaping through the
slits. The pieces of this third type are
called stamens; the slender stalk of
each is its filament ; the swollen top is
the anther ; the two parts of the anther,
separated by the rib, and containing
the yellow dust, are the anther-cells ;
the rib is the connective, and the yellow-
dust is the pollen. We shall have more
to say about the pollen presently. As
the stamens are all separate from each
other, and at the same time numerous,
we may speak of them as polyandrous.
Pull off all the stamens, and we find
still left, in the centre of the flower,
a number of pieces different in pattern
from either sepals, jjetals, or stamens.
As before, however, they are all separ-
ate from each other. Remove one, and
look at it through your magnifying
glass. It is gr-een in color, and the
lower part has a swollen appearance,
whilst towards the top it gradually ta-
pers away to a hooked point. Very likely
you will find some of the pollen from
the anthers sticking on this hooked
point. Try, with a sharp knife, to split
open the lower swollen part. If you suc-
ceed, you will discover that it is hollow,
and that it contains a little seed-like
substance attached to the wall of the
cavity by its lower end. Each of these
pieces of the fourth sort is a carpel ;
taken all together they make the pistil
of the flower. The hooked point upon
which the pollen sticks is the stiyma,
and the lower swollen part is the ovary.
The little body in the ovary is called
at first the ovule ; and later on in its
history it becomes the seed. As the
carpels are all separate, we shall say

THE CANADIAN HOETICULTCRIST.

125

that the pistil is apocarpoKS. When
the pistil ripens it becomes the fruit.

When we i-emove all the cnrpels,
there is nothing left of the flower ex-
cept the small lump upon which all
the parts of it grew. This lump is the
receptacle, and we have examined the
blossom of the Buttercu]> first, because
in it every inece is attached directly to
the receptacle.

The only other points to be observed
in this lesson are, that the stalk which
holds u[) a flower-cluster, or a solitary
flower, is the peduncle, while the finer
stalks which bear the separate lilossoms
of a cluster are the p)''-dicels ; but leaf-
less peduncles, such as those of Dande-
lion and Hepatica, and stemless plants
generally, are known as scapes.

WHAT THE PEOPLE SAY.

Dear Sir, — I received my premium,
and it is a fine one. 1 sometimes wish
I could make my fellow laboring men
test the profit and pleasure of a garden
as I have done, there would be less
miserable homes, and more preserved
tomatoes, currants, gooseberries, rhu-
Itarb, raspberries, strawberries, etc., and
much less poverty. We wage workers
find money for smoke and some for
drink, but a dollar for our fruit grower,
Can't. What fools these mortals be.
I live like a prince in the summer.

S. P.
London West, May, 1885.

SPRAYING WITH PARIS CxREEN.

I ti'ied the spraying with Paris Green,
\ lb. to 40 gallons of water, on my
orchard of eight thousand apple trees
last s])ring, and believe it had a very
good efiect.

D. Young, M.D.

AdolphustoM'n, Co. Lennox,
7 th April, 1885.

HORTICULTURAL NOTES OF A
SOUTHERN TRIP.

BY WM. SAUNDERS, LONDO.V.

The transition from a temperature
below zero, with bitter Felruary winds,
to the soft and balmy air of a southern
spring, was accomplished with less than
three da)'s' travel ; and when on the
Gulf Coast, approaching New Orleans,
the spring flowers were open, the maple
trees bursting their buds, the birds
singing merrily, and butterflies flitting
about eujoying the sunshine. Gigantic
magnolias and live oaks were to be seen
on every hand, the ground was strewn
with clumps of scrub palmetto, and
camelias grown to a size never dreamt
of in the north, were flowering freely
in the gardens. The change was im-
mense, and most agreeable. Having
secured a location in the busy " Gate
City." the Exposition claimed attention,
Horticultural Hall being one of the
chief points of attraction.

The grounds around the several build-
ings were decorated with a series of
very large beds of various forms, in
•which were planted some forty thousand
bulbs, chiefly hyacinths and tulips, with
smaller beds of jonquills and narcissus.
These were contributed by " The Gen-
eral Bulb Co.," of Holland. Notwith-
standing that these bulbs had been
carefully selected, a large proportion
of the flowers were jioor, especially
the hyacinths and tulips ; the jonquills
and narcissus were better. The plants
seemed to have had too much rain, and
the insufiiciently drained soil with water
in many places but a few inches below
the surface, was a condition very un-
suitable to successful growth. Beds of
Drummond phlox were just coming
into flower, and these were not thrifty
looking ; but the beds of pansies were
superb, the jdants were vigorous and
freely covered with very large and
elegantly colored flowers. Mammoth
cactuses, brought from Mexico, were

126

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

])laced in prominent positions about
tlje ground ; many of them as big as
the trunk of a large tree, and from six
to eight feet high. About the Horti-
cultural Hall the grounds were very
})retty and well kept, but elsewhere
they were in a rough and unfinished
state, some portions sodded, and others
merely ploughed and left in that con-
dition. The intention had evidently
been to finish all in proper style, had
tlie necessary funds been available.

Thei-e were a number of very inter-
esting ti-ees and shrubs in the collections
adjacent to the Hall, a large number
of them having been sent from Cali-
fornia ; and the weather was just such
!is to tempt one to ramble among them.
The following were specially noted,
inost of wliich were from San Jose,
Cal. Six varieties of olives ; a lovely
shrub, covered with elegant purple
flowers ; Polijijala dalniatianum. Spar-
tium album and Genista eiiru]>ea, both
in bloom ; Ligustrum japonicum, an
attractive shrub, with thick, glossy
foliage ; Eriobotrya japonica, known
as the Japanese ])lum, with very large,
curiously plicated leaves ; Raphiolepis
iudica, a lovely shrub, with beautiful
foliage and small pinkish-white flowers.

]Most of your readers are doubtless
familiar with the appeai-ance of Horti-
cultural Hall. It is in appearance,
and in fact, an immense conservatory,
600 feet long and 194- feet wide; the
centre of which is filled with tables
decoi-ated with an immense number of
varieties of fruit, and the sides filled
with collections of growing plants. A
large portion of one side is occupied
with large circular beds of cactuses,
including an immense number of speci-
mens belonging to some 300 species,
the greater ])ortion of which is from
Mexico. These range in size from an
acorn to plants twenty feet high and
more than three feet in circumference.
Part of the space on the opposite side

is taken u]) with a tropical greenhouse,
250 feet long and 25 feet wide, in
which is an immense assortment of
southern plants, especially orchids, of
which we counted no less than 650
specimens. These have been sent fron\
all parts of the tropics, twenty or more
of the number were in flower, some of
the flowers being very brilliant and
attractive, others curiously cut, fringed
and spotted, and tinted with a variety
of hues. There were in addition a
number of other rare plants which it is
unnecessary here to enumerate ; and
many objects of general interest, such
as coflee trees with the berries on them,
tea, cloves, allspice, cinnamon, black
pei)per and vanilla, all in a growing
condition.

After a hasty general survey, the
fruits were more carefully inspected.
Attracted by the word " Canada," in
j)rominent lettere, thatquaiter wasfii-st
examined. It was found that there
still remained of the collections sent
by the writer and our ex-president,
Mr. P. C. Dempsey, seventy seven
plates of very ) )resentaV>le fruit. It
was ascertained that the Canadian fruit
had been awarded two first prizes on
single varieties, one on Esopus Spitzen-
burgh, and one on Ribston Pippin ; a
creditable I'esult when we consider the
immense efforts made by all the western
States, and the fact that there were
some twenty thousand plates of fruit
on exhibition. While the apples ex-
hibited in the Canadian collection were
very fine and deservedly commended,
they were entirely eclipsed by the ex-
hibits from some of the westei'n States.
Arkansas carried off" the gold medal
and $200 for the best collection of 200
varieties. The- samples of Arkansas
fruit were simply immense, no one
accustomed to ordinary displays would
have concei^^ed that the varieties ex^
hibited could have been grown so large.
Missouri ranked next, and took cue

TUE CANADIAN nOKTICCLTURTST.

127

gold and four silver medals: (Colorado,
Kansas and Nebraska had excellent
exhibits, and carried off a number of
prizes ; so also had Michigan and Iowa.
Many of the other states sent vei'v good
collections, but inferior to those already
referred to.

J. Cheal & Sons, of Crawle, England,
showed a collection of one hundred
varieties of English apples, and Groux &,
Fils, of France, lift}'' varieties from that
country, but neither of these would
com[)are at all favorably with the Cana-
dian fruit, and were, of course, far
behind the western exhibits.

fTo be continued.)

THE SCAB OX THE APPLE, AND
TREB PRUNING.

(For the HurticuUunst.)

The letter of Mr. S. Cornwall, in the
April number, reminds us -that the
promised report of the committee ap-
pointed to experiment by the applica-
tion of various substances likely to
remove or lessen the scab on the ajiple
tree, never came to light ; we have had
it, however, in instalments from time
to time in these pages, from which it
appears no cure has yet been found.
It appears to me we must first find the
cause.

It is encouraging, however, to leai'n
by reports from various sections that
tiie disease seems to be on the decrease,
although I am sorry to say such is not
uiy experience.

Were I to speak of all the causes
suggested to me, or imagined by my-
self, it would till your next number
with matter very uninteresting to the
I'eader.

Too much manure, has often been sug-
gested as the cause, although one man
(a successful fruit grower, too) assured
me if I would dig a cart load of good
manure under one tree, it would be free
from spots the following year. Don't
let any reader expect any such result.

I have thought that yjruning may
have something to do with it. I have
pruned my orchard annually in June,
seldom having occasion to cut off large
limbs, but in endeavoring to preserve
an open top, have cut off large quanti-
ties of small branches at every pruning.
Have I not erred in over-jnnming ?
From various sources I have collected
the following :

" We prune to give symmetrical
shape, to bring into bearing, improve
the quality of fruit, imi)art vigor, &c.
If a tree stands alone, is in health, and
its roots ai-e uninjured, but little yjrun-
ing is requii-ed. Many orchards require
prunuig because too much 2)ru7iiii(f hua
been done. Eveiy largo limb cut off is
a blow at the life of a tree. The leaves
convert the food gatheied by the roots
into material for wood and fruit. If
too much top is cut away, the leaves
cannot perform this duty, and the roots
die. Avoid pruning that will let the
sun shine on the limbs or the body of
the tree."

The Gardeners Monthly says : "The
pi'uning knife often injures as much as
it benefits, and hence arises two schools :
those who prune on all occasions, and
those who prune not at all. Our late
president. Rev. Dr. Burnet, says
(Horticulturist, vol. 2, p. 139) : Very
few varieties of a];)ple trees require
much pruning after the early stages of
growth."

In that excellent woi'k, the CanadiaJi
Fruit, Flower and Kitcheiu Gardener,
edited by our worthy secretary, at page
18, we read : " Every fruit tree grown in
the open orchard or garden as a common
standard, should be allowed to take irs
natural form, the whole efforts of the
pruner, going no further than to take
out all weak and crowded branches,
those which are filling uselessly the
interior of the tree, wliere their leaves
cannot be duly exposed to the light avidi

128

THE CANADIAN HORTICrLTURTPT.

sun, or those wliicli interfere with the
<,n-ovvth of others. Summer pruning
tends to lessen the vigour of a tree."

From the fact that I have every year
cut off a large quantity of wood, when
all of the above remarks indicate that
very few trees require much pruning
when fairly started, I begin to tliink I
have over-pruned, losing time, working
to the detriment of my trees, and
])0ssibly of the fruit. Whether or not
it may have been the cause of the scab
l)eing worse on my orcliard than on
su.rrounding ones, I am not prepared to
say ; perhaps our Editor or some of our
readeis will favor us with their opinion.
Another idea strikes me. May not
over-cultivation have something to do
with it. The following I think I got
from the Rural New Yorker :

"Two fruit-growers once procured the
same variety of pears, from the same
nursei'y, and planted the trees at the
same time They were cultivated, how-
ever, quite differently. One of the
growers yearly cultivated in his orchard
garden crops, witli occasionally corn,
applying liberal dressings of manure,
under which treatment the trees grew
rapidly, and not only improved in ap-
l)earance and color, but bore early and
gave large yields. His neighbor did
not use his orchard for any other pur-
pose than the growing of grass, which
was occasionally mowed, plowed and
seeded to grass again. The orchard
that was kept in grass has on it to-day
trees that are only half the size of those
in the orchard that was cultivated with
hoed crops. It has never borne as
well, nor has it equalled it in appeai--
ance. The blight, however, has nearly
destroyed the orchard that looked the
most promising, while the slow growing
trees are as sound as when first set out,
althougli both orchards are very near
each other. The pear orchard that gave
its owner such heavy yields is nearly
destroyed, but the other seems likely

to last several years, not a tree being
affected with the blight."

Just as that first man did with his
pear trees I did with my a|)ples, and
under high cultivation my orchard grew
to be the admiration of the neighbor-
hood. As the Editor tells us of his
" Rowan Tree,"

" There was nae sic bnnnie trees
In a' the couutrie side,"

But after bearing heavily for a few
years, they were, and are to-day, ruined
with the scab.

A part of this very same orchard I
sold some years ago, and its new owner,
very much I thought to the detriment
of the trees, seeded it down to grass,
but the results have been in favor of
non-cultivation, the fruit since gathered
on the portion seeded down has not been
nearl}'^ so much affected with the scab
as the cultivated part.

But we are getting tired of the sub-
ject ; we'll jump the fence, and without
fear of our Editor being exalted above
measure, add another word of congi'a-
tuhition to the many at the success of
our little monthly.

He (Friend Beadle) comes out again
in his usual happy style. Who would
have thought he could bring so much
of the beautiful and sentimental out of
the old Snow Ball 1 But it's in him to
cherish thoughts of sweet long, Ion;/ ago,
and such touching remembrances give
to his letters an interest that will speak
long after his pen has ce/ised to write.
May which day be in the very far
future.

The index to contents on the last
page of the number is a decided im-
provement.

It is encouraging to find so many of
oui- members giving us the results of
their experience. More might do so
with benefit to themselves and us. He
who makes two blades of grass grow
where one did before is a public bene-

THE CANADIAN nORTICDLTURIST.

129

fjictor, provided that they be in kind
good, and that he tells us how to do it.
JoHX Croil.

Aultsville, April, 1885.

SOME MARKET S TEAWBERRIES.

BY T. C. ROBINSON, OWEN SOUND.

Wilson. — This is the most famous
Strawberry yet seen in America, and
without a doubt it has well deserved its
fame.

Probably if it had not been origin-
ated till the present time it would win
very little attention in competition with
the improved varieties lately introduced.
But coming when it did with no other
large, good shipping and very pi'oductive
variety then in existence, its sudden
popularity is not to be wondered at.
No fruit perhaps has received more
opi)Osition, not to say abuse. Its too
dark color when over ripe, and especi-
ally, its magnijicent tartness, furnished
many a writer with matter for jest.
But the men who don't toork for fun,
but grow berries for money finding the
Wilson to ship well and give more
do! lars to the acre, with less labor than
the high toned sorts demanded stuck
so close to the Wilson, that to this day
there are probably ten times as many
Wilson strawberries slipping annually
down chuckling Canadian throats
than there are of all other varieties
combined. True it is sour — don't let
us attempt to deny such a self-evident
fact. And in spite of the courageous
assurances of some men that they like
sour berries let us stick to it that it is
too sour to just suit the public. And
it is often small, too small with ordinary
treatment. But it is pretty, it does
ship well, the people do buy it fast,
when they cannot get anything better,
(and they generally can't) and it is
immensely productive, where it suc-
ceeds.

But it does not succeed in many
places. In the States the plant has

become so feeble from the red fungus
called rust (sun scorching) in many
localities that it has ah-eady been largely
superseded in many markets. Even in
Canada, on sandy soil near Lake Ont-
ario I have seen it so feeble that some
plants set out for forming matted rows
had grown unrestrictedly the summer
through without sending out more than
two or three runners from each plant
in the row. I think this failure arises
largely from pi'opagating from exhausted
old plants, and also from lack of under-
standing the kind of soil it is suited to.
Most market gi-owers have planted on
sandy land perhaps because it is so
easily worked. But if they would tiy
it on good clay loam and mulch it to
keep the roots from heaving out in
winter, they would probably be amazed
at the difference.

But making allowance for all this,
and for its almost youthful vigor and
health in the northern and cooler dis-
tricts in Canada, wemust yetexpect it to
fail at no distant date, and look alive for
something to supply its place.

Let us frankly confess that for good
clay loam we have tested nothing yet
that will just fill its place as a shipping
berry ; we have other exceedingly pro-
ductive sorts, but they are not firm
enough : we have other varieties that
are firm enough but they are not suffi-
ciently productive with like culture.

But on sandy land the case is diff-
erent.

Tlie Crescent. — (first known RsCrescent
Seedling, " Pai-melee's Crescent Seedling "
((.'c.) is more on such light soils then the
Wilson ever was. The way in which
the wiry little plants creep swiftly
over an ugly sand bank under the hot
sun, spending as little sap as possible on
extra leaves and laying up all they can
in fruit buds for next year's crop is sure
to delight the fruit grower who has
gazed in despair at his long cheiished
laut wilting Wilsons. Why. I have seen

130

THE CANADIAN nORTICULTURTST.

the Crescent fairly wilting in the even-
ings of a long drought, the leaves turning
bottom upwards as if the hoe had run
under them, but the next morning they
were briskly upright, ripening their
sei-ried clusters with only the dew and
cool night hours for refreshment.

The berry does not seem as firm as
Wilson, yet it ships uncommonly well,
and for sandy soils referred to where it
is at its firmest, there will probably be
little difference observed by fruit dealers
in a season's shij)ment; and if you go to
the market stand to buy a quart you
will doubtless have them offered you as
Wilsons, only fresher and better than
other ]jeople'a Wilsons " don't you see
they are so much brighter and hand-
somer."

The Crescent is truly a beautiful
berry, and if not any larger than Wilson
you will be abundantly satisfied with
the extra yield froni such light land.
'•Quality]" Oh, don't ask me ! We
are talking about market berries, and
what does the public know about
quality ? when only low quality is
otTered them {\) '• But the Wilson has
quality !" Yes, truly : when the Wilson
hangs on the plant till tlce seeds turn
ydlow, it is excellent flavour and you
just notice the acid without being
annoyed by it — it's good. But when it
is ripe and good like that it is too dark —
too blackly red— to sell well ; moreover
it is then too soft to ship well.

When it is in condition to ship well,
that is when it is red but not ripe, it is
too sour for the grower to eat, or the
pickers. Now the Crescent may be
picked and marketed at both those
stages of ripeness or unripeness with-
out much difference observable in ap-
pearance, but when first red it is not
nearly so sour as Wilson, somewhat
flavorless perhaps, butpleases the people
as well or better than the severely acid
Wilson of the same age ; and when
dead ripe it is quite palatable, though

without the Wilson's high flavour. Do
you ask liow it behaves on clayey
loams 1 An immense bearer, but more
insipid and less firm than on sand : well
enough to ti-y if Wilson fails, but where,
as with us, by clean culture with run-
ners kept off the Wilson gives nearly a
quart to the plant, you don't need a
better shipping berry.

The Crescent blossoms are imperfect.
In a dry season the small quantity of
pollen they frequently contain often
proves sufficient for a good crop, but it
is safer to plant Wilson or some other
pollen bearing variety eveiy 8th or 1 0th
row running north or south. It is the
hardiest strawberry plant I know of.
But a market berry does not ab.solutely
require great firmness. With the
advance and spread of Horticulture each
city and town begins to have a supply
grown near at hand, and there are many
berries quite firm enough to keep in
good condition 4S hours after picking if
not rattled about at station or wluirt'.

Tlie Bidwell — is one of the best of these,
it will even ship 100 miles at a pinch.
But pick it for sale next day and you
have a sure thing for profit, providing
your soil and culture suit it. Not that
1 think it hard to suit in soil, it takes
hold and grows well ; better than that,
it grows sublimely wherever I give it a
chance. But if you will have a crop I
think you must keep the runners off.
I think it is {if the editor will pardon
the term) the best intentioned variety
in the Catalogues, setting always about
twice as many berries as it can possibly
mature in the matted row. But give it
a chance and then see ! In the spi'ing
of '83 I put on a quarter of an acre of
land about 5,000 Bidwell setting them
a foot apart in rows two feet apart.
The runners were kept ofi", the ground
was mulched all over with a little over
an ^inch deep of well-rotted manure.
In the summer of '84 they shaded the
whole ground with foliage, the leaves

TIFE CANADIAN HORTICCLTUKIST.

131

interlacing even from row to row, and
they set a larger ci-op of fruit than I
ever saw before. Then a miserable fly
punctured the blossom stem about half-
an-iuch behind the blossom, at such a
rate that nearly half the blossoms
seeuied to be on the ground and I feared
for the loss of the crop : meanwhile
a severe drought had commenced, so
that by the time the berries began to
ri^ien no rain had fallen for about a
month, and yet they ripened up fine
large fruit during the remaining nearly
three weeks of that dry spell, yielding
me some 2,000 quarts from that quarter
acre. When I add that tlie land was
sandy loam, which the Bidwell is not
supposed to like, and that it had been
manured to only about half the extent
that I think a crop of strawberries de-
serves, I think I have established my
i-ight to prize this variety.

It does not ripen evenlj^ showing a
white tip on many of the berries and
many of the largest sanqjles are defor-
med, but it is one of the largest of straw-
berries, the quality is excellent, it is
generally glossy and handsome, and
c.istomei's will even get to ask for ic by
t'le white tip when they get to know its
exct^lleuee.

TJiK Manchester — is perhaps the most
popular of the newer market varieties.
In vigor of growth with me it closely
approaches the Bidwell and in produc-
tiveness it is probably not excelled by
any except the Crescent on sandy land,
while on clay loam I think it will bear
ni)re. The berry is remarkably large
and handsome, and exhibits a rich gloss
tliat IS remarkably attractive.

It seems to be a little firmer than
Bidwell, but its value will chiefly be
found in a near market, and for such a
market I would rather have it than
any other variety I know, for its season
of ripening. It is medium to late, and
in conjunction with Crescent, which is

very early, would probably give the | mak

, greatest possible profit in strawberries
from saiidy land provided a good pollen
bearing sort be planted near, for its
blossoms are more decidely pistillate
than those of Crescent. I have seen it
doing exceedingly well on rather stiff
clay, in matted rows (doing well, that is,
for matted rows), so that I consider it
about the safest variety known for all
soils. I wish the color were deeper : in
a wet season many berries will appear
to be on the green side, but the people
will try them any way, and the flavor
which is really very good, will soon
widen the demand.

Windsor Chief. — I think this is super-
seded by Manchester. It is no bigger,
not as firm, no more productive, and so
abominably sour ! Lots of people will
eat it, but it almost screws my mouth
up to see them do it. It is probably
hardier and somewhat later than Man-
ohe.stei', and so may be more reliable
for localities where strawberries often
get winter-killed, or the crop blasted by
a late frost. It certainly is immensely
})roductive ; but I, for one, am quite
ready to kick it out, in good strawberry
regions, to make room for Manchester.

James Vick. — -I have not fully tested
this. It certainly is a fine vigorous
grower, ap|)ears very hardy, and is
astonishingly productive. I don't think
much of the quality, about like Crescent
or Wilson, but tliat does not make so
much dilTi'rence in a market berry, as
before intimated. It certainly is very
handsome, and api)ears to me rather
firmer than even Wilson. Is it large
enough to the last*? is the one remain-
ing question upon which I require to
be satisfied before setting it out for
market by wholesale. In the matted
row I think it likely to prove too small,
but with runners cut I expect con-
siderable things from what I have seen
of it.

Skarpless. — -People seem bound to
make a market berry of this after all.

182

TITE CANADIAN HORTrCCLTURIST.

Put it on light land, give it just enough
manure to tantalize it, cut the runners
now and then, and you will have some
very fine berries which the birds and
casual visitors will reduce to about one-
tenth the number of quarts that you
would get from Wilson or Crescent on
the same ground. Its one of the easiest
berries to lose money on that I have
ti'ied.

But let the owner of a rich loamy lot
near to a city or largo town set it out
eighteen inches apart in the row, rows
three feet apart, mulch the whole ground
with well rotted manure and promptly
repress all weeds and runners, and I
should expect him to average at least a
pint per plant under average conditions
of climate. Will that pay 1

The blossom of the Sharpless seems
tender, often blasting with a slight late
spring frost that varieties like Crescent,
with hardier blossoms, would escape.
But it is rather a late variety so that
the frosts ai-e generally over before
it is out in full blossom.

Of newer varieties, — Cornelia, At-
lantic, Lacon, ifec. I must acquire more
experience before speaking positively.
Have any " Horticulturist" readers tested
them 1

EDIBLE MUSHROOMS.
In cutting out, pulling off edible
mushrooms which are more commonly
grown by what is called a brick of
spawn, but more i>roperly named myo-
silium, the mushroom is only the
flower, the plant is under ground, care
should be taken to cover up at once
with earth the detached part of the
stem so as to prevent the fungus flv
from depositing its eggs, the grubs of
which will speedily destroy the whole
plant. This modus operandi is well
understood in some i)arts of Europe
where mushrooms form an essential
part of food. j^

Berlin, 6th April, 18S5.

'THE JUCUNDA STRAWBERRY-HOW
TO GROW IT.

The Jucunda is the grandest berry
that ever appeared in our markets. It
has always brought the highest jnico,
and large quantities of other varieties
have been sold for it. It has been in-
troduced under new names, as Abra-
ham Lincoln, Field's E.xcelsior, cfcc.
One grower sold over 300 bushels from
a day's picking, at $1G a bushel. It
has brought a dollar a pint — ten cents
a berry. Notwithstanding, it is now
rarely found in market, and but few
raise it for home use. This is because
it requii-es more skill and cai^e in its
culture than the average grower can
give.

It originated in Europe, and the
plant is not quite as vigorous and hardy
as our native varieties. The young
plants are always small and their roots
seem to be too tender to resist mueh
freezing and thawing, for this variety
is amon" the first to {jet heaved out.
Its blossoms ai'e perfect, and it con-
tinues in bearing a long time. The fruit
is very large, roundish, conical, and
quite uniform in shape and size ; color,
very bright glossy scai'let ; flesh, firm
and sweet with a peculiar musky fla-
vour that nearly every one enjoys.

The idea prevails that the Jucunda
can be grown only on heavy soil ; but
this is a mistake. I have had it in
great perfection on light sand. We
might as well learn first as last that
plants do not live on the soil, but on
the plant food contained in it, and this
food can only be taken up in solution,
and when the air can circulate in the
soil about the roots. This is the reason
why stirring the soil promotes growth,
and why florists use unglazed pots and
soil that remains porous. When a crust
is allowed to form on the sui-face plants
make but little growth, and if the roots
renuiin any length of time under water
growth ceases entirely and death will

THK CANADIAN HORTICULTUEIST.

133

follow. Keeping the surface loose witli
a mulch is equivalent to stirring the
soil.

The skill and care required to gvovr
the Jucunda to perfection will answer
})erfectly for any other variety. The
following method is adapted to those
who are willing to give extra culture
for the greatest perfection in fruit : —

The soil should be well drained, deep
and rich. If it slopes to the east or
north, so much the better ; but in any
event it should be sheltered on the west,
for the foliage of this variety cannot en-
dure our hot, di-ying winds. This is
true of many others. I have seen a
pitch rusted everywhere exce])t for a
short distance on the east side of a
fence.

As early in the spring as the ground
is dry enough to work, clear it of all
rubbish and stir it thoroughly to the
depth of five or six inches ; after whicli
it should be plowed or spaded to twice
that depth. If an abundance of old,
well-decomposed stable manure is at
hand spread over the surface a liberal
allowance, from two to four inches. In
the absence of this a bushel of \\n-
leached wood ashes and ten pounds of
bone dust to the square rod will an-
swer. This should be well worked into
the soil and the surface left smooth. It
is now ready for planting. Such liberal
manuring seems out of all proportion to
the amount of plant food removed from
the soil by a crop of strawberries, but
it is not removed from the soil. The
strawbeny plant needs plenty of food
to build it up to a condition to produce
an abundance of fruit.

The roots, stem and leaves are made
up of rich material. During the season
of growth a large amount of food is
stored up in the crown for the pi'oduc-
tion of seed (fruit) just as it is in an
onion or a parsnip ; but the strawberry
plant is perennial and is not entirely
exhausted after producing a sinjle crop

of fruit. This is the reason why a
strawberry patch, when plowed under,
lurnishes ao much food for the follow-
ing crop. It is almost like plowing
under a crop of clover. Even insects
have learned that the strawberry plant
is rich, for the larvae of no less than
five of them feed on the roots and
crown, while the foliage has a lai'ge
number of enemies.

Select young plants and see that their
roots are not exposed to drying winds
or frost while out of the ground. Re-
move all dead leaves and runners and
shorten the roots to three inches or less.
Wash them thoroughly lest the larva
of the crown-borer or strawbei'ry-root
worm be carried to the new "bed. Put
the plants in a pail with the roots
covered with water, taking ont one at
a time to plant. Set in rows four feet
apart, and tAvelve inches apart in the
row, leaving the crown level with the
surface and the earth pressed firmly
against the roots.

If in a garden where the work is
done by hand, the space between the
rows might be occupied by some early
crop that would not interfere with the
plants, as dwarf peas.

Soon after the plants are set blossoms
will appear, which should be cut off at
once before they exhaust the plant. A
little later in the season runners will
start, and they too must be cut oft".
During all this time the ground must
be thoroughly stirred, never allowing a
single weed to share the food and mois-
ture that is designed for the plants.

About the first of July strong run-
ners will be starting out in abundance.
Select two of the best from each plant
and allow them to produce one young
plant each, cutting olf all the other run-
ners through the season. Place these
young plants on each side of the old
one, and nine inches from the row.
This will leave thirty inches for a path.
Cultivation must be kept up all sum

131:

THE CANADIAN nORTlCL'LTUUIST,

mer, and the earth should not be drawn
to the plants nor from them. If weeds
be allowed among the j)lants, or if nin-
ners remain until a foot or more in
length the best residts can not be ob-
tained.

Early in the fall, when rain is more
frequent, and the surface of the soil is
cool and moist, all deep cultivation
should be discontinued so as to give the
roots a chance to occupy the soil near
the suiface. These surface roots are
very important and should not be in-
jured. They prevent the plant from
being thrown out by freezing and thaw-
ing, and have much to do in the pro-
duction of fruit. If they be injured in
any way the plant will at once com-
mence to make repaii-s, and the work
of storing up food for the next crop will
be suspended for a time.

A t the beginning of winter the bed —
including the path — must be covered
with straw or any light litter that will
shade the gi'ound. About two inches
will be suthcieut. As soon as growth
comnnmces remove this from directly
over the plants, leaving it between.
Give no cultivation in the spring.
"When the fruit is gathered cut off the
leaves, stir up the mulch, and burn over
the bed on a dry day. In a few days
the plants will start again when you
will have a new bed as it was at the
end of the first summer, and it will
need the same care.

By this method every want of the
strawberry is supplied.

M. Crawford,
Cuyahoga Falls, 0.

BIGXONIA RADICANS.

To THE Editor of the Canadian Horticulturist.

Dear Sir, — The Bignonia is quite
liardy in this locality. A rapid gi'ower.
The foliage very beautiful. A profuse
bloomer, and it is very easily pro-
pagated. Mrs. H. C. Gwyn.
Dundas.

THE BLACK CURRANT.
A SUGGESTION.

(For the Canadian Horticulturist. J

There are many who think that black
currants do not pay. True they do not
pay some, because they are grown on
dry sandy land. Now the black cur-
rant wants a good rich loam to do well
and pay the cultivator. It is time and
money wasted to try to grow them suc-
cessfully on dry sandy soil. The black
currant is a gross feeder, and should be
liberally sup[)lied with all kinds of
manure, and the stronger the better.
It is well known that the finest fruit is
2)roduced on the wood of last j'ear's
growth, and I suggest that we should
plant closer — plant at thi'ee feet apart
every way in lines at right angles to
each other. An acre will then take
say 4,840 jjlants. Now cut down
yearly to three or four or more buds
every alternate tree, as shown in this
diagram : — » . » . » ^j^^ asterisks

represent the trees intended to produce
fruit this year, and the dots those
which bore last year, and which have
been cut down to produce strong growth
for bearing next year. As soon as
those cut down have started a growth
of two or three inches they should be
looked over ; never allow a shoot more
than will be requii'ed. It will be seen
my motive for cutting down every
alternate tree is to produce a succession
of strong young wood and get fruit of
better quality than could be had other-
wise. Only gr»w the finest varieties ;
discard all inferior sorts. I have
raised a very fine lot from selected
seed ; but I know of nothing easier to
propagate than the currants from cut-
tings. So if an acre will take 4,840
plants, half that number, 2,420, will
be in fruit yearly, and fruit of the
finest possible kind. Some of our ex-
perienced small fruit growers may have
carried out this suggestion, and if so

TniC CAKADTAN nORriCULTDRTST.

loo

would tliey please tell us with what re-
sult in this journal. T. A. H.
Medora, Muskoka.

MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS.

BY A. HOOD, BARniE.

WHAT SOILS DO APPLES PREFER]

It has often occui'red to me that in
planting fruit trees one very essential
condition to success has received less
attention than it deserves — I mean the
kind of soil in which the different
varieties are planted ; and I don't think
it is as well known as it ought to be
that most varieties have sonie special
choice, some particular kind of soil to
which they are best adapted ; and cer-
tain conditions of such soil as to wet
or dry subsoils that are best suited to
their requirements. Wet subsoils !
Surely there is no fruit tree that de-
lights in a wet subsoil ! ! To which I
would say I am not quite sure about
that ; but there is one thing I am sure
about, and that is, that if a man found
himself so situated that he had no con-
^■enient place for his orchard that had
a dry subsoil, he would give something
to know what trees were best suited to
a wet one. We live and learn, or at
least we ought to do so, and he that
lives and does not learn had better
keep out of the fruit growing business.
I formerly thought that all garden
vegetables would do best in a liglit fri-
able soil ; but now if I wanted to grow
2)arsnips I would select the stillest clay
1 coiihl find. I was once told by a late
President of the F. (Jr. A. that he thought
a soil could scarcely be too light for
apples, and he may have been i-ight ;
but I think now that sucli a rule would
not apply to all apples. I have been
led into these remarks by a little ex-
perience I have had with the Graven-
stein, which is, I think, the best apple
we have of its own particular season,
either for eating or cooking. I have a
few t ;s ill my orchard, a rather light

but good garden soil with porous sub-
soil, that are not making much pro-
gress— not, in fact, doing quite as well
as other kinds amongst which they are
growing ; while at the same time my
brother has a young orchard about a
mile away on such a stiff wet clay that
his plum trees, of which there were
about 80, are all dead or dying, and
most of the apple trees following their
example, and yet a few Gravensteins
under sod are doing well and bearing
crops every year. Has any other mem-
ber had any experience of this kind
with any variety 1 If so it Avould be
useful to have those experiences je-
corded, and I hope the next man who
writes a book on fruit growing will
collect such records and use them.

CARBOLIC ACID FOR ROOT-DESTROYIXG
INSECTS.

In the early part of last summer I
was passing by the house of a gentle-
man in this town, and he called ni<e in
to see his young wallflowers which to
his great annoyance were dying off
rapidly, without his being able to
arrest the destruction. He pulled up
sickly looking plants in my pi-esence
one after another, and at the I'ate they
were going it seemed certain that it
would not be long till the last of them
was gone ; and every one of them had
lost all its fine fibrous roots. This con-
vinced me that the trouble was not
what is called damping ofiT, because in
that case the stalk or stem appears as
if eaten partly through just at the sur-
face of the soil. It must then, I
thought, be insects possibly so minute
as to escape observation, and I recom-
mended my friend to try a weak solu-
tion of carbolic acid, scarcely expecting
when I did so that he would follow my
advice, knowing as a genei'al thing that
men would rather " advise ten others
what should be done than be one of the
ten to follow their own advising ; " but

13G

THE CANADIAN noRTICULTURIST.

my friend loved his plants, and was
anxious to save them, so he watered
tkeni with the carbolic solution — I
think he said two teaspoonsfuli to a
[nil of water — and did not lose a single
plant after the application. That little
f xperiment was worth a great deal to
hiui, and it might be worth something
to some readers of the Ilorticulliirist,
and should the acid prove equally eSi-
catious against the phyloxera, who can
estimate its value to cultivators of the
vine ]

FLAVOR OF GRAPES. .

Last year was a new experience to
me in regard to the qualities and
Havors of different varieties of grapes
— -an experience that will make me more
than ever cautious in receiving opinions
and descriptions of such even from the
pens of those who may be considered
judges of such matters; and with re-
spect to earliness I regard no man's
opinion as conclusive, for admitting
that the particu ar kind of soil on
which a vine is planted may make a
few day's difference in the time of rip-
ening, thus making an early variety
appear a later one, and 'Oice versa, I
tind that the particular variety that is
earliest with me one year is not certain
to be so the next, and the one that I
judge to be the best in quality one sea-
son is not certain to retain its superior-
ity at the end of another year. I have
usually regarded Rogers' No. 9 as A 1,
and No. 15 and Delaware as coming
next. Concord as just passable, and
Clinton as scarcely eatable ; but last
season upset this classification alto-
gether. Nos. 9 and 15 failed to sustain
their reputation, and Clinton and Con-
cord came to the front surprisingly ;
even the Champion became eatable,
Clinton was preferred to No. 15 for
eating out of hand, and Concord was
pronounced by all who compared them
as decidedly the best. I found no
change in the Delaware, but No. 15

was watery and flavorless, and certwinly
not up to the usual mirk. The Con-
cord, I find, must be fully ripened be-
fore it is in perfection, but when in
that condition it certainly ranks among
the best, and as compared with it
Rogers' No. 4 must take a back seat.
All this, of coui-se, is as they ave grown
here, and may not hold good elsewliere.

QUALITY OF WIXE.

It is to be expected that such varia-
tions in the quality of grapes would
make a corresi)onding change in the
quality of wine as made in different
seasons, ns I presume is the case in all
wine-producing countries ; but that
does not alter the fact that some soils
and some atmospherical or climatic con-
ditions are more favorable for the })ro--
duction of choice qualities than others.
We are here on t!ie northern limit —
perhaps beyond the limit — of successful
gra[)e-growing. Are we also beyond
the limit of successful wine-making ]

I remember some years ago reading
an article from the pen of Mr. De
Courtenay, then engaged in wine-mak-
ing at Cooksville, in which he argued
that the climate was more favorable for
that purpose north of 45 degrees than
south of that latitude ; and I think the
reasons were that in the warmer clim-
ate the fruit contained too ra\ich sugar,
and I think he said fermentation was
apt to proceed too far at the expense of
the boquet. I have made small quan-
tities the last two seasons with such
success as to sup]:)ort Mr. De Courte-
nay's contention, as well as to be a very
agreeable surprise to myself ; and as to
the quality, all who have tasted those
two vintages are unanimous in their
praise. They may not, of course, be
equal to the best wines produced in the
Old World, though certainly superior
to those sold here as such.

Don't let me alarm the temperance
community, for all the wines I have

THE CANADIAN IIOKTICULTURiST.

137

sold have been for medicinal or sacra-
mental purposes ; and Scott Act or no
Scott Act, for such purposes there will
always be a demand.

LABELS.

It is a convenience in the farmer's
garden, and an absolute necessity in the
nursery, experimental plot, or seed gar-
den that each variety of plant, fruit, or
flower be legibly and correctly labelled
in such a manner that one can tell at a
glance what the varietv is. Yet this
point is veiy often neglected, and as a
consequence, much bother follows, to
say nothing of the setting or planting
of stock that is impure or incorrect in
name.

As I experiment largely with various
fruits and vegetables, one item of which
is a collection embracing several hun-
dred varieties of potatoes, I am obliged
to systematize the labeling of them, and
adopt a mode by which a mistake is
practically impossible. In sowing seeds
in liot-beds or tlie garden, it is a matter
of convenience many times to have the
label show in a concise manner tfhe date
of planting, name of vai-iety, and v^lio
the stock seed was obtained of---whether
home-gi'own or not. For this pur-
pose I mark like the following sketch,

Little Gem Pea.
Rennie.

which shows that the Little Gem Peas,
stock seed of which was obtained of
Wm. Rennie, was sowed April 15th.
When planting stock is home-grown,
the word " home " may be substituted
for the name of the seedsman.

I use for labeling potatoes, or any
ci'op of annual planting, pieces of pine
or cedar 15 inches long, 1 inch wide,
and I inch thick. These I mark with
a common black lead-pencil of good
quality, the point being left blunt so
as to make a firm, legible mark. This
2

will last or.'? season at lease if carefully
done, and is more durable than any
special preparation or garden pencil,
either English or American, that I have
}'x?t tried. Cedar labels hold penciling
the longest, I think ; but pine presents
a smoother surface, and usually holds
sufhciently well for one season. Of
course a tabulated memoranda of dates
of planting, etc., is necessary ; but this
plan is a convenience, and at any rate
forms a memorandum in itself.

For the fruit garden I use one-incli
pine strips two feet long, planed on one
side, and stencil on the name of variety
in India ink, using a set of half-incli
letters, which may be cut in small
squares of brass by any stencil-cutter.
After marking, the label is brushed
over with boiled linseed oil. I have
labels of this kind that have stood the
vicissitudes and changes of our northern
climate for years, and are as legible now
as when put on. It is well to renew
the coating of oil each season. If con-
venient, dip the sharpened end in coal
tar before setting, which will prevent
decay. Whatever system of marking
is adopted, it should be at once concise
and as plain as possible. It is not good
policy to trust much to memory in a
matter of this character.

Shelburne, Vt., 1885. W. H. EanD.

EARLY TOMATOES.
jVIr. Editor, — In the February num-
ber of Canadian Horticulturist I notice
T. A. H., of Muskoka, remai-ks about
Yeitche's perfection pea, and having
grown them in Victoria County, Ont.,
I can also recommend them. If T. A.
H. would procure good seed of the
Trophy and Canada Victor Tomatoes,
sow them about first April in hot ])ed,
when grown to one inch high take out
of seed bed, prune the roots one-half,
replant one inch apart, and when grown
to two inches high again transplant,
and prune roots one-half with a pair of

13S

THE CANADIAN nOKTICULTURTST.

sliarp scissors, so as tg make a clean
cut. At second transplanting put them
into thumb pots, and sink in soil in a
Avarm corner, or cover with sash at
night, and expose to sun, wind and rain
through the day, uncil warm enough to
Tincover altogether. By this time he
will have plants that he can turn out
of his pots and plant were wanted to
IVuit, they will then gi-ow right along,
and with good tillage and suitable soil,
he will be astonished at the results.
That was my way of treating tomatoes
in Victoria County, and I have sold
my first ones at ten cents per pound.
If T. A. H. will prune out all surplus
shoots after first fruit sets, he will be
astonished at tlie rapidity which the
fruit will show in ripening. Wishing
the Horticulturist good success in its
noble work,

I am yoiirs respectfully,

F. J. Jones.
Watertown, Dakota, March 29, 18S5.

ROSE GOSSIP.

Dear Sir, — I will in this briefly
conclude for the present my remarks
on roses (commenced last month under
the heading of " Certain Roses — as I
find them.")

I endeavoured in ni}^ remarks of last
month to give a small selection of
Hybj-id Remontant I'oses, which I con-
sidered particularly A'aluable to the ama-
teur rose culturist. The list I krrow
is a small one, but it is full of variety
for such a small selection, and repre-
sentative ot the different colors and
forms, and at the same time contains,
as I think, the very cream of the roses
of this class. Of coui-se it does not in-
clude a tithe of the number of very fine
roses, but the list is quite large enough
for the beginner.

In addition to the Remontants it is
usual (although not absolutely neces-
saiy) to have in gardens where roses
Hre grown, a few summer roses. Among I

the prairie roses the Queen of the
Prairies appears to be the most ])opular.
It makes a great show during its brief
jieriod of blooming ; but is seen to the
best advantage at a little distance as it
is somewhat coaise in its coloring. Bal-
timore Belle is prettier, but is not so
hardy. Gem of the Prairies is the
largest rose of this chiss that I am ac-
quainted with. It is slightly fragrant,
which is unusual Avith prairie roses. It
is a fairly good rose, perhaps the best of
the family. I have never been so much
in love with tliese prairie roses as with
Remontants, Teas, and others. Theie
is .something Avanting about them, a
partial lack of rose-grace that others
possess so fully. On the other hand it
must be said in their favor that they
are easil}' groAvn, and I must confess
they make a grand shoAv on a trellis or
a Avail Avhen blooming. It is not well
to grow these ram})ant growing roses in
close pioximity to Remontants, as they
harbour and breed the different insects
which prey upon the rose, and to the
greater injury of the weaker and sloAver
growing kinds.

In mosses the Common Mo.ss is, I
think, i-eally the most beautiful, but
the Crested, though not quite so beau-
tiful, is the most valuable to the ordi-
nary grower, as it is less subject to mil-
dcAv than any other Moss rose. Where
summer roses are grown that grand old
rose (the best of all summer roses) the
Common ProA^ence or Cabbage, must
not be left out. When propei-ly grown
it possesses all that can be desired in a
rose with the one exception of the \"ery
ill-chosen name of " Cabbage." It
would extend this paper too much to
take up the Teas and the many other
A'arieties of tender roses, and besides
my experience with these has as yet
been too limited for me to safely advise
others at any length on the matter. I
may just mention that among the feAv
Tea roses which I have tried 1 have

THE CANADIAN nORTICULTUEIST.

139

found none whicli has given me more
satisfoctiou than Marie Van Houtte.
It is a tirst-rate winter rose for the con-
servatory. In the wintfcr time, when
there is but little sun, it entirely loses
that rather coarse pink tinge which
it generally assumes in summer, and
becomes the most beautiful cream color.
It will adapt itself to the conditions in
which it may be placed better than any
other of the Teas. The past winter, at
the most severe season, owing to the
cold, and perhaps more still to the
darkening efiect of the snow on the
glass above them, all of my roses, with
the exception of Marie Van Houtte,
dropped their buds, or failed to opeu
them ; but Marie Van Houtte threw as
tine or finer blooms than ever. As I
tliink I stated before, I have found La
Fi-ance a paj-ticularly fine rose for the
conservatory. I did not, however, test
it the p;xst winter as I did not bring any
in from the garden iu tlie fall. The
small Polyantha roses are very suitable
for a limited conservatory. I have two
varieties, {I don't know if they are the
best) but they both do exceedingly well.
One is called Paquerette and is a most
beautiful, pure white, perfect, tiny
specimen of a rose ; and the other,called
Little White Pet, is, perhaps, not quite
so beautiful, but is a most prolific
bloomer and a strong grower. It is not
as small as the other nor is it quite
such a pure color, and though alto-
gether not quite so beautiful as Pa-
(juerette it is worthy uf a place in any
conservatory. I would advise my ama-
teur friends, who are really as yet but
tyros in rose culture, not to make their
first attempts with tlie very latest high-
j)riced kinds. The little points of differ-
ence between these latest arrivals and
the good old tried kinds may be very
interesting to the connoisseur, but are
altogether lost on the tyro. Although
these new roses are many of them very
beautiful, (and I am glad to see there

is such a craze for them, glad that there
is such a passion for roses, new or old),
yet I doubt that they possess any more
reM beauti/, apart from their newness,
than many of those good old kinds tliat
have been before the public for years.
I have seen thousands of plants of that
famous new Hybrid Perpetual Mar-
shall P. Wilder in bloqm, and a beau-
tiful sight it was, but my amateur eyes,
unskilled in varieties, saw only my old
friend, A. Colomb. I have also had an
opportunity of seeing that tine new Tea
rose, " Sxmset,' that was ushered iu
with such eclat last season, and I can-
not see what greater value it could
possess to the amateur beginner than
that fine old favorite, Perle des Jar-
dines, even admitting that its color is
somewhat deeper. I don't wish to dis-
courage anyone from getting tliese fine
new roses, I only ^vish them to begin
right. Get A. Colomb first, then get
Marshall P. Wilder; Perle des Jar-
dines first, then Sunset. Begin with
the old kinds, and if you are successful
with them you will get the new ones
ffist enough without advice from any-
body.

I find, on looking over the Ilortk-vJ-
turist of April (which arrived this even-
ing), that I intimated that I would
again take up the very dark I'oses. I,
however, think that the two kinds I
mentioned last month are as good a
choice as I could make ; perhaps adding
Baron de Bonstetten, which is a veiy
good dark rose. Some of the dark roses
other than those I have mentioned are
very subject to mildew, and all kinds
that ai'e subject to this disease had bet-
ter be carefully avoided, as being infec-
tious it is of serious effect in a rose gar-
den. I will close these remarks by say-
ing that in this country we labor
against great disadvantages in the out-
door culture of the rose ; but this \^vy
fact makes us, when we do obtain really
fine blooms, pi-ize them all tlie mori',

140

THE CANADIAN HOKTICULTURIST.

mid the satisfaction is correspondingly
greater.

After anotlier season's lessons I may
take lip this subject again, but next
month I will take up some of our other
flowering garden plants that I iind
most satisfactory here.

FREDERICK Mitchell,

Innerkip, April 1st, ISSo.

NOTES FROiJ CALIFORNIA.

Last fall one of our most successful
fruit raisers left this country for Cali-
fornia. He owned a beautiful fruit
farm of fifty aci'es a few miles from
Hamilton, on which was cultivated all
varieties of fruit, beginning with straw-
berries, currants, gooseberries, rasp-
benies, cherries, blackberries, peaches,
pears, crabs, grapes, and apples — in
fact every fruit that is grown. He
had a beautiful place, which should
have satisfied any man ; but his health
becoming impaired, he was recom-
mended to go to Los Angelos in Cali-
fornia ; so he rented his fruit farm for
a term of years, and with his wife and
family went to his new home ; and
this is how he writes to a friend de-
scribing the country and its capabili-
ties. He begins by stating that his
health is very much improved .since he
arrived last November. The climate is
delightful ; they only had the tempera-
ture down to freezing jwint twice be-
fore Christmas, and no frost since.
The weather is like June in Ontario,
for the grass and wheat are in as ad-
vanced a stage of growth as they are
in the month of June here. He goes
on to describe a piece of property
which he purchased. It is on a street
named Euclid Avenue, which must be
a remarkable street, for it is seven
miles long ; it has tvro drive-tracks,
and between these tracks in the centre
of the I'oad is a double track for street
cars ; there are four rows of trees the
entire length, with palm tx-ees at the

upper end of the avenue, which is at
the foot of the Sierra Nevada Moun-
tains, and the whole avenue is lighted
up at night with electric lights. The
writer then says he bought ten acres'
of good land for two hundred dollars
an acre. The land is in good condi-
tion, and he says he will plant tAvo and
a- half acres with fruit right away : the
varieties are described as berries, apri-
cots, prunes, peaches, nectarines, pears,
ap])les, guavas, persimmons, tigs, grapes,
English walnuts, dates, filberts, pecans,
oranges, limes, and lemons. All these
fruits grow to perfection. "We intend
after awhile to set out ten acres more
in oranges, limes, and lemons. At this
date there are green peas and garden
vegetables in plenty, which are hawked
round by Chinamen and sold very
cheap. Roses and all vai-ieties of
flowers are in full bloom ; and the soil
is so prolific that if you put a slip of
any kind of rose in the ground it will
take root.

When I was travelling throuffh the
country from Canada I saw some curi-
ous sights ; we passed by miles of
cactus, some of them of enormous
growth, some forty feet high, and froni
eighteen inches to 2 feet in diameter.
There is one variety which has broad
flat leaves, grows from twelve to fif-
teen feet high, and has large berries
on it that resemble Lombard j)lums.

The writer then goes on to state the
prices of different articles used in the
household affairs, which are very rea-
sonable. One article we will mention,
that is flour. He says it is lovely
roller flour, better than he can get in
Canada, at least he gets nicer bread
from it, and only $2 40 per 100 lbs.

In describing the locality where he
has pitched his tent, he f-ays they re-
side in a beautiful valley entirely sur-
rounded by hills, which rise gi-adually
away, till you can see a high mountain
the top of which has peri^etual snow

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTUKIST.

141

on it. You can see this whitehead all
the year round, and this particulav
mountain is called Old Baldy. We
are residing about thirty-eight miles
east of Los Angelos, which town we
visited last week. This is a pretty
-town, but very filthy ; they never clear
the hoi'se manure off the streets, con-
sequently the whole city smells worse
than a badly-kept horse-stable.

With regard to climate, it has only
rained twice since we came, four months
ago ; 3'et the atmosphere is moist and
everything looks fresh. The peach
trees are in full bloom as are also
oranges and lemons ; and there is ripe
fruit too, lots of it, on the trees ; now
very beautiful to look at.

There is one drawback to all this
iovely climate, they killed a large rat-
tlesnake a few days ago, and scorpions,
chameleons, and other reptiles are in
plenty.

Ontario, Bernardo Co,, Cal.,
Feb. 23, 1885.

HOW TO GROW MELONS.

Montreal has long been noted for its
excellent nutmeg melons ; the way to
grow them is in the following manaer :

One of the principal points in grow-
intj good melons is the saving of the
seed of good specimens. We generally
choose the earliest to ripen, the best
flavored, the best shaped, and heaviest
melon for seed, and let them ripen
thoroughly before saving the seed.
The seed may be sowed in hotbeds
in April, taking care to choose a
wai'm, sunny time, for a couple of
cold, cloudy days would cause them
to damp off. The hotbed may be
made with fifteen inches deep of hot
manure one foot broader than the frame,
banking it all round the height of the
frame with hot manure, and putting
five or tix inches of earlh in the frame
before putting on the glass, leaving it
in this state for about three days till

the first great heat is ovei-, raking the
earth over once to kill the weeds that are
started. The seed msry be sowed in five
inch pots buried in the earth close to-
gather, as many as the frame will
contain {where pots are not available
sods turned upside down in the beds
will do as well), putting five seeds in
each pot buried one inch deep. At the
end of three or four days they may be
seen coming through the ground ; this
is the time they require the closest
attention, for if they get too much heat
they will grow too fast and top[)]e over,
or if they get a chill they turn blue in
the leaf and wilt away. The hotbed
should be kept at about eighty degrees
heat. Melons can stand it over a
hundred without injuring the plant, but
it makes them grow too fast and tender.
About the beginning of May trenches
may be dug 14 inches deep by 2 feet
wide and as long as you have hotbed
frames to occupy the land, filling them
with hot manure, being careful not to
put in any diy straw manure, then
covering it v/ith the earth that has been
taken out of the trenches to the depth
of eight or ten inches, then put on the
frame and glass, leaving it in this con-
dition for twenty four hours foi- the
earth to get warmed, raking tlie earth
thoroughly before transplai^ting the
melon plants, turning them out of
the pots, putting one pot containing
four stout plants in the centre of each
sash. When they make a growth of
three or four leaves nip off the top, so
that they will send out side shoots for
fniit. We need to be careful to give
them air every sunny daj% and closing
the sashes at night. About the begin-
ning of July when the vines have filled
the frames and melons are formed the
size of one's fist, then it is time t-o
i-emove the frames and glass beginning
gradually to harden the plants. To-
wards the ripening season it is a good
plan to put shingles or small pieces of

14:2

THE CAN"ADrAN nORTrCCLTUTRtST.

boards under each melon to keep them
from being infested with worms or from
decaying if the ground is wet after rain.
For late melons a few seeds could be
sown in the centre of each sash instead of
[)lants transplanted from another frame.

The best land for melons is a sandy
loam, but any well eni-iched and drained
will grow melons.

By this system of cultivation nutmeg
melons have been grown to weigh from
fifteen to twenty-five pounds and keep
their fine flavour al.so. K. Brodie.

BLACK KNOT— A FUXGOID
EPIDEMIC.

"With reference to Mr. Webster's
article on his A'iews on Black Knot
which appeared in the Horticulturist
for April, I would beg to slate from
observation and a slight knowledge of
entomology, that he is wi-ong in stating
that an insect is the direct cause of
Black Knot in either the plum or
cherry trees alluded to. The insect he
alludes to is a fungus fly which deposits
its eggs in the knot, which is yet in a
green or downy state, not yet hardened,
or it may possibly be a curculio, this be-
ing eftected in the early part of summer.

On examining some knots I have
found no grub in them, these evidently
have not been observed by the insects,
consequently they must not have been
the direct cause. The fungus fly is not
so numerous here as in Europe, mush-
rooms being more plentiful there, and
form a special article for the perpetua-
tion and pro]iagation of their species.

Lichens on fruit trees or old fences
are fungoids. The resinous \)inQ knot
is a fungus, the punk in a diseased
maple tree, the " birkba," as boys call
it in the north of Scotland, is the decay-
ing birch tree used by the boys as a
substitute for blotting paper, is also a
fungus, and so on, ad infinitum ; but
this is enough for illustrations in so far
as trees are concerned.

Herbaceous plants are also affected
by fungus, e.g., ergot in rye, rust and
smut in wheat, also smut in Indian
corn, and the rot in jiotatoes.

I may as an horticulturist (fungus
being only a low form connected with
the vegetable kingdom, but an im-
portant one) say all epidemics affecting
the animal kingdom are of fungoid
origin. Smallpox is nothing more or
less than a crop of mushrooms of a low
type upon the human body, which
usually take some nine days before they
are ready to throw off their ^iores or
seeds — then look out.

The cholei'a, black plague (which
almost depopulated the cities of Athens
and London), yellow fever, and all
forms of fever and ague, scarlatina,
measles, whooping cough, hereditary
pulmonary consumption, and others of
an ejiidemical character, if minvitely ex-
amined, can be traced to fungoid origin.

Fungoids perform an important part
in the economy of nature. Every
thing not in a healthy condition, in
order to perpetiiate the races, either
animal or vegetable, must succumb to
their influence ; they are the agents to
hasten decay, in order that the elements
may go to the sustenance or formation
of other organic substances.

I have observed an insect allied to
the fungus fly — the dragon fly, which
boys usually dub the devil's darning
needle. His business is to keep in
check the spread of the silk worm,
tomato grub, and all other caterpillars
of a similar type, otherwise Ave would
have recourse to artificial means to
guard against their ravages.

The fungoid theory, still having re-
ference to the vegetable kingdom, of
epidemics is not generally understood
even by u number of bur medical prac-
titioners, and inventors of ]jatent medi-
cines not having a thorough, or may be
only a superficial, knowledge of botany.
They usually treat as to eftects, not

THE CANADIAN nORTICULTURIST.

143

having any knowledge of the cause,
and this can only be acqnii'ed through
a thorough knowledge of the vegetable
kingdom through which the causes
originate. I think this is enough for
the present. E,_

Berlin, 6th April, 1885.

F.S. — In alluding to the Black Knot
fungus on the plum, I forgot to mention
another fungus aflecting the fruit of the
plum ti-ee, which usually exhibits itself
in the shape of a small bladder. If
you take a section of it under the
microscope, you will find that I am
correct. R.

EXPERIENCE IN SPRAYING WITH
PARIS GREEN.

Mr. Editor, — As the time is near
for our fruit trees to put on their beau-
tiful clothing of bloom, which alone
gives to us the expectation of a coming
harvest, I send you a little of my expe-
rience as a note of warning in the use
of Paris Green for destroying insects,
or as a remedy for the curculio. The
story of the Indian is good — perhaps
as near the mark- as we can get : tii'st
catch him, and then you can deal with
him. I have tried coal tar bnniing
under trees wit?li sulphur, making a
dense smoke ; have placed a pot full in
a calm night, and let it burn for hours
to no purpose ; have tarred paper and
wool, and tied them about the trees,
and afterwards found the curculios
sleeping in the folds in safety. For
two years I have used Paris Green,
one-third to one-half teaspoonful to a
pail of water, thrown over the trees by
a hand-pump in the form of spray, be-
ginning before all the blossoms had left
the young fruit for the first application,
repeating the application for several
weeks in succession on apples, plums,
pears, &c. The young apples spi'ayed
continued to grow till the third appli-
cation, when I noticed the edges of the
leaves began to turn brown and present

a dry appearance, the fruit to almost
stop growing, and to stand still by the
middle of July. When the apples were
about one-half size they began to turn
a pale red and to drop, while the leaves
fell as in autumn. A Duchess of Old-
enburgh acted in a similar manner ;
not one-half of the fruit was fit for
cider, while some hung on till October
no larger than hickory nuts. One red
Astrachan tree, very heavily laden, was
only sprayed on one side ; the sprayed
side acted in the same way as the other
tests, while the unsprayed kept green
and thrifty, making a fair growth both
in fruit and foliage after the other was
entirely bare. The fruit on the plum
trees was destroyed as well as the foli-
age. It began about the fourth appli-
cation of the gi-een, and continued till
not a leaf was left, while a large por-
tion of the fruit was stung and de-
stroyed before the leaves died away.
To nearly 300 apple trees I only gave
one application ; on these I could see
no benefit whatever, as those not
spraj^ed were as free and sound as those
of the one application. One of my ac-
quaintances had sever-al fine plum trees,
heavily laden with fruit ; part he
spraj'ed in 1883, having a fine ci'op of
fruit ; last year every tree so used was
dead. My opinion, so far, in respect
to using the green, is that it must be
done very carefully, as a littie too mueh
may cause the loss of the trees as well
as the fruit. I hope some of your
readers will test the use of the green
this coming season carefully, till we
can ascertain just the strength I'equired
to be successful, and not destroy the
trees. One teaspoonful to four pails of
water is as strong as I would risk on
my ti-ees for the present, and stop then
at the third application. On pears I
could sfee no benefit or harm from it.
Yours very truly,

John P. Williams.
Bloomfield, April 6tli, 1885.

lU

THE CANADIAN HORtlCUI.TLRIST.

PIMPERNELL.

fTo an Ent]l'shxceed axidentaUy found inthegardan.J

Sweet souv'ner ef my earlj' days —

Thoitt d;iys remeiBbereil weJl —
How I loved your smiling face,

Starry little Pimpernell.

■Where now are those with whmn T watched

Your petals close in tiny l>ells?
Oh,' they are scattered far and wide

Beyond the ocean's heaving swells.

Some have in distant lands been raised

To honor and to fame,
And will upon the jiage of Time

Leave long inscribed their name.

Others are sleeping their last sleep

(n the dear land I love —
Are waiting now in trustful hope

The summons from above.

What is it that's around us tbrown, I

A charm >>r fairy spell, .

That even now on childhood's days ;
Our memoiy loves to dwell?

Our hearts then full of buoyant hope i

.And free from anxious care, i

Our heaven was in the present then.

The future had no fear. I

Could roam at will o'er hill and dale

Wi'h bursts of childish glee —
Could watcli the minnow in the brook, i

The wild bird and the bee. i

Oh ! do not curb with hand severe

All childhood's little ways.
The world has yet of grief in store.
These are their halcyon days.
Owen Sound. M. W. M.

A REMEDY FOR PHYLLOXERA.
(From the Christian Journal, English piper.) j

As the result of a number of experi-
ments which have been conducted bj
Professor Barr, of San Francisco, it is
stated that a sure cure for Phylloxera
had been found in quicksilver. The 1
remedy is, according to a report by this
professor, just issued, J, oz. of quick- \
silver, thoi'oughly mixed with an equal I
weight of clay, in the soil of the hole in '
which the vine is planted. 1

The cost of the mercury was, at the i
time of the experiment, only ^d. per
vine, or as the vineyards are planted in
Califoi-nia, from £1 8s. to £2 per acre.
Tiie suggestion as to tdie use of mer-
cury came from the fact that a small
globule of that metal in a case of mount-
ed butterflies will protect them against

the depredations of beetles, and also to
the fact that mercurial treatment is
destructive to insects. The report ex-
presses the belief that a dose of the
mixture will protect a vine for at l6ast
20 years. It appears that from many
experiments made and reported on,
the efficiency of the quicksilver i-emedy
hi\s been determined. Other trials are
also being made.

THE ILLUSTRATED WAR XEWS.

The Grip Printing and Publishing
Company, of Toronto, issued last week
No. 4 of their fine illustrated news-
paper, descriptive of events connected
with the rebellion in the Xorth-West.
Each successive issue of this paper
eclipses its predecessors, and we are
pleased to observe that the publishers
are meeting with the success which
their efforts deserve. No. 4 contains
the following illustrations : — Lord ]\Iel-
gund's Scouts surrounding three of
White Cap's "Warriors ; The Winnipeg
Light Infantry (91st Battalion) pre-
paring for service ; White Cap, the
Sioux Chief; Trial Practice with the
Catling at Swift Current : Col. Otter's
Brigade approacliing the South Saskat- .
die wan ; The Nova Scotia Provisional
Battalion at Montreal ; Steamers at
Medicine Hat loading Ammunition and
Stores ; Reading Battalion Orders in
the Drill Shed, Hamilton; The Mid-
land (Col. Williams') Battalion march-
ing to the C. P. R. Depot, Winnipeg ;
Portraits of Officers at the Front, in-
cluding Col. Ouimet, M.P.

No. 5, v/hich was issued on the 2nd
May, was an intensely interesting num-
ber, containing, in addition to other
fine illustrations, sketches rei)resenting
the Relief of Battleford, and the Battle
at Fish Creek. The price of the paper
is fifteen cents per copy, and it can be
procured either from the publishers or
from local news-dealers.

PRINTED AT THK STEAM PRESS ESTABLISHMENT OF COPP, CLARK t CO., COLEORSE STKtET, TnROMO.

WHITE FRINGE.

PAINTED FOR THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

THE

m$m

VOL. VIII.]

JULY, 1885.

[No.

THE OHIOj^^ANTHUS, WHITE FHINGE.

Our more practical German cultiva-
tors have given this beautiful shrub the
very expressive and somewhat poetical
name of Schneejlocken hwiim. Nothing
could be more approjjriate, and we sug-
gest that this German name translated
into our mother tongue be henceforth
adopted as the common nauie, and that
we call it the SnowHake Tree. The
name given to it by botanists is much
the same, l)eing composed of two Greek
words, /t"j', snow, and a-jOo:;, flower,
because of the snowy lightness and
whiteness of its singular flowers.

The general appearance of the leaves
and flowers is veiy well represented in
our colored plate. The leaves are large,
glossy, and of a dark green, contrasting
finely with the light, airy, snow-white
flowers, which are distributed among
them in drooping racemes. It is |)er-
lectly hardy in the County of Lincoln,
antl judging from its behaviour there
should be capable of enduring the cli-
mate much further north. It would
seem that it has not been very frequently
planted in Ontario, as it is seldom met
with among the collections of shrubs on
our lawns or public grounds. So beau-
tiful and intei-esting a tree deserves
more general trial, and we liave ob-

tained this colored illustration for the
purpose of calling the attention of Can-
adian phmters to this superb little
lawn tree.

It has been the fashion to plant
foreign trees and slirubs to the neglect of
those that are American, but the lover
of the beautiful will readily avail him-
self of those plants that are native tu
the soil, and in so doing, provide a col-
lection more rare and more ornamental
than if composed only of exotics. This
shrub is a native of North America, and
is found growing wild in Pennsylvania
and southward. It belongs to the Olive
family, and hence bear.s relationship to
shrubs and trees with which we have
all been liimiliar from childhood. The
well-known Lilac and Privet are mem-
bers of the same tribe, while our White,
Black and Green Ash, belong to another
tribe of the same family, European
cultivators have availed themselves of
this consanguinity to propagate our
shrub by grafting it upon their common
Ash, Fraxlnus excelsior. Besides our
American sjiecies, there is another na-
tive to the East Indies, which can only
be grown in a hot house, requiring
what is known among gardeners as
stove heat. And yet another was in-

14Q

THE CANADIAN IIORTICCLTCRIST.

ti'odnced into England fi-om China, in
18.02. But we have no oct-asiou to go
after these ioreign species. The one
native to this Continent is best suited
to our circumstances, and in point of
beauty is all that can bo desired.

If any of our readers have planted
this slirub, wo wisli they would com-
municate their experience witli it for
the information of others, especially
with reference to its hardiness and the
soil in which thev tind it to thrive.

EASY LESSONS IN BOTANY.

Bi H. B. SPuTTOX, BARRIE.

LESSOX III.

Our examination of the Buttei'cup
blossom has made us acquainted with
the various parts of the flowei-. In this
jtarticulur blossom these parts are all
.separately attached to the receptacle,
and the receptacle is simply the swollen
t )]) of the stem of the plant. Lower
down on the stem we found leaves pro-
ducetl at intervals, and it is time now
to state that all the pieces of which the
flowers is made up are leaves also. This
view of the matter has probably not oc-
curred to you, because the flowers are
so strikingly different in appearance
from the rest of the plant. But let us
see. First, there is the fact that the
flowers are produced on the stem and
its oflshoots ; this alone is suggestive of
the notion that their parts must be
leaves of some kind. Then if we ex-
amine a sepal we tind it to be flat and
thin and usually green, just like a com-
mon leaf but of course much smaller.
The petals are also like small leaves,
but here we miss the green color ; cor-
ollas are almo.st invai-iably of some color
other than green, and we shall presently
try to discover why this is so. You
will be dis[)Osed to admit then, on re-
flection, that lit any^ rate sepals and

petals are only modified forms of com-'
mon leaves. But what shall we say of
stamens 1 Can it be possible that these
organs have anything of the leaf-nature
about them ? It may seem at first a
hopeless task to try to trace any resem-
blance. But if you take any common
leaf — say that of a lilac — you will see
that the blade is equally divided by a
rib which extends from the end of the
petiole to the tip of the leaf. The
anther of the stamen is divided in the
same way by the connective; and the
filament very fairly represents the pe-
tiole. The gi'eatest diflerence is in the
body of the leaf, as there is apparently
nothinir in an ordinary leaf-blade like
the gi'ains of pollen which are prodnced
in the anther. As to the carpels, if
you take the blade of a lilac leaf and
double it lengthwise, you will have a
very fair representation, on a large
scale, of the car|)el of the Buttercup, and
it is exactly by such a folding ])rocess
that the botanist conceives the carpel
to have been formed. Let us, then, un-
derstand that all the parts of the flower
are merely modified leaves. The crowd-
ing together of these parts in whorls i.'f
due to the same cause as the crowding
of the leaves of the Dandelion, nameh%
the suppression of the growth of the
stem at the place where the leaves are
produced. The ordinary green leaves
of the plant we shall caW foliage leaves ;
those of the flower will be known as
floral leaves.

Having settled the question of the
true natui-e of the floral whorls, let us
now examine a flower of Hepatica.
Here \\ e have at the outside a whorl of
three little green leaves, wdiich you will
be pretty certain to regard as a calyx.
But if you carefully turn back thess
leaves you will discover that thei/ do
not belong to the flower at all, being
separated from the colored whorl next
within by a short bit of stem. They
are, in fact, three small foliage leaves.

THE CANADIAN nORTICULTUKIST.

147

To such small leaves, which are veiy
common on the peduncles of flower-
clusters, the name bract is given, and if
the bracts form a whorl of three or
more, the whole is generally called an
involucre. There is, then, no green
calyx in Hepatica. But we have the
whorl of colored leaves corresponding to
the petals of the Buttercup. The ques-
tion then arises — shall we call these
colored leaves sepals or petals ? As
they are the outer leaves of the flowers,
that would be a reason for calling them
sepals, but they are certainly more like
ordinary petals than sepals. However,
l)0tanists agree to be guided by the first
consideration, and call them sepals, and
they agree to look upon the Hepatica
and all such flowers as have only one
of the two outer whorls as being
without a corolla. This being under-
stood there is no further trouble in the
examination of this flower. The colored
calyx will be found to be polysepalous ;
the stamens are numerous and separate
(polyandrous) ; the carpels are nu-
merous and separate, the pistil being
tlierefore apocarpous ; and each carpel
contains one ovule, just as in Bntter-
cui>. Note, also, that in this flower, as
in the Buttercup, all the parts are at-
tached directly to the receptacle.

The Wallflower blossom may next be
examined. Here we have no difficulty
in finding the calyx, but there are only
four sepals. The corolla consists of four
petals. The stamens are six in num-
ber, and you will readily discover that
two of them are different in length
from the other four. The pistil is all
in one piece, but if you select an en-
larged one from a withered flower, and
cut it across with a sharp knife, you
will see that it consists of two cells. We
have, in fact, in this pistil two carpels
grown together, a state of things quite
unlike what we found in Buttcu'cup and
Hepatica, where the carj)els wen; all
separate. We shall often tind instances

of this growing together, or cohesion,
as it is called, of the parts of floral
whorls, sometimes sepals cohering, some-
times petals, and sometimes stamens.
We shall even tind the parts of one
whorl growing npon another whorl,
such as the petals growing on the calyx,
or the stamens growing on the corolla.
To distinguish this union of different
whorls from the union of parts of the
same whorl, we shall speak of the for-
mer as adhesion, reserving the term co-
hesion exclusively for the latter.

You will not fail to notice that the-
two cells of the ovaiy in Wallflower
contain a considerable number of seeds.

It will be a good plan for you, after
studying the Wallflower blossom, to
compare its structure with that of
Water-Cress, or Shepherd's Purse, or
the common 3'ellow Mustard of the
flelds. In all these cases you will find
so evident a similarity in the form of
the flower that you will be pie]:)ared to
hear that they all belong to the same
natural group of })lants.

We shall now examine the flower of
Geranium, reserving the Dandelion for
another occasion. The calyx is of five
sepals, as in Buttercup. The corolla,
also, is of five separate petals, these
being alternate with tlie sepals. The
stamens have peculiarities not observed
in the other specimens. First notice
that the filaments cohere to form a tube
at the base. They are in consequence
said to be monadelp]t,ous, that is, of one
brotherhood. Then yon will observe
that there are ten of these filaments,
evei'V other one being shorter, so that
we have tw^o sets of five each. It is not
likely that you will find anthers on all
ten of the stamens ; perhaps only on six
or seven. The pistil is made up of five
united carpels {"'//ncarpoas), and there
are clearly five stigmas. These nnite
below into a slender column above the
ovary ; this column is known as the
st'j/le.

MS

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

If you have attentively followed the
(1f'.scri{)tions of flowers in this and the
preceding lessons, you will have gained
some useful information as to the j)arts
of which flowers are composed, and also
some little notion of the sorts of varia-
tion which flowers present in their
structure. At present this is all that
can be expected from the beginner.

TO OUR CORRESPONDENTS.

It has been found necessary, in order
tr> ensure the prompt mailing of the
Canadian Ilorticultarist so that it shall
leach our readers by the fii-st day of
t!i(^ month, to have the copy in the
]>!-inters' hands not later than the tii-st
day of the previous month. Please,
tlierefore, to bear this in mind, and
mail your commtniications in season to
reach me by the first day of the month
[(receding the month of publication of
the number in which you wish to have
your paper appear.

FORESTRY IX QUEBEC.

We are indebted to Mr. C. Gibb, of
Abbotsford, Que. — the man to whom
that Province owes a debt of gratitude
for his, indefatigable labors in the cause
Qf fruit-growing in that climate — for a
ie[)ort of the recent meeting of the
Forestry Association of Quebec. It was
v/ell attended by gentlemen of influence
:i:ul members of Government, among
these, the Honorable the Commissioner
of Crown Lands, who took a lively inter-
est in the proceedings, and was evident-
ly fully alive to the imjwrtance of hus-
banding the resources of the Province
which lie in its forests, both by conserv-
iiig what yet remains and by re-forest-
iag dentided portions not suited to
agricultural purposes.

This matter of forest niRnagement is
cue of great importance to both Ontario
and Quebec. Properly managed, our
forests would be a. source of perpetual

revenue. The ripe timber could be cut
and sold while the remainder is coming
to maturity, and that in such a way
that there would be a yearly crop.
There should be in each Province an
Assistant - Commissioner of Crown
Lands, thoroughly informed on all
matters pertaining to forestry, whose
tenure of oftice should be according to
the ability displayed in managing the
forests in such a wav as to make them
a continual source of revenue. Under
our system of government, the Honoi-
able the Commissioner may be wholly
ignorant of forestry matters, and yet a
valuable member of the government.
Besides this, the Conmiissioner is fre-
quently changed, hence the methods of
caring for our forests lack the element
of stability. It is well that public at-
tention is being aroused to this very
important matter.

THE CANADIAN BEE JOURNAL.

The first number of this new venture
is before us. It is the only journal
devoted to this subject y)ublished in
Canada. Published weekly by D. A.
Jones ifc Co., Beeton, Ont., at $1.00
a year. A sample copy wiil be for-
warded by the publishers to any who
may desire to receive one. We com-
mend it to the attention of those of
our readers who are interested in bee
culture.

The KieferPear. — Geo. W. Campbell
says he finds the Kieffer as badly injured
by the cold of winter and as liable to
blight as any pear he has. He thinks it
about as tender as the peach, and not so
hardy as the Bartlett pear. We have
found it hardy, but it blighted the first
year after making a good growth. After
successive years of fruiting we do not find
it good enough to make it worth raising as
far north as 42°, but tolerably good and
handsome specimens have grown as far
south as Philadelphia. — Country Gentler
man.

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

149

QUESTION" DRAWER.

1. What can I do for bark-lice on my
trees ; can you give me some remedy ]
I have tried whitewash, but I don't
think it has any effect.

2. How can I protect my gooseberry
and currant-bushes from being destroyed
with snow, for they are badl}? broken
down this spring '?

3. Is salt good to put around tlie
trees ; if so how much to a tree, that is
around the trees]

4. What can we do in the case of
humbug tree agents travelling about
the country imposing on people, selling
trees at an enormous cost for their extra
qualities, yet I will venture to say that
tliere is not one in ten that has been
planted in this neighboui'hood that has
lived, which I know had the very best
of care 'I

Yours very truly.

A. C. McDonald.
Dunlop P. O., Huron Co , Ont.

Reply. — 1. Dissolve one pound of
potash in two gallons of water. Apply
with a brush or swab to the bark of
the trunk and lai-ger branches. This
is sure death to the bark-louse and all
insects and their eggs which are found
in the crevices and under the scales of
the bark.

2. Will some of our readers who
have had experience in this matter
please to reply to this question. We
are so seldom troubled in this way in
the County of lAucoln that we are un-
able to speak contidently of any method.
It occurs to us that if the lirst snows
were firmly trampled about the plants
until a hard bed was made about them
as high as the branches, the molting
would be so gradual that the branches

would not be torn off by the settling of
the snow.

3. Salt is thought to be of benefit to
plum and quince trees, but not to any
other fruit trees. The quantity must
be graduated to the size of the tree, from
a quart co a peck scattered on the sur-
face.

4. Not all tree agents are humbugs.
The fact that the trees did not live is
no evidence that the man who sold them
was to blame. Many, if not all, of our
most reliable Canadian nurseries have
agents who take orders travelling
through the country. These men can
always show you letters of recent date
from their employers, and if you find
anything unsatisfactory write to the
proprietor of the nursery the agent
claims to represent, and you will find
that every reasonable complaint will
receive prompt attention.

GOLDSMITH BEETLE.

I send to you at same time as this
note two beetles I dug up last week.
Will you please name them. Say
whether injurious or not, and if scarce,
in Horticidturint next month, if you
think it is worth the space to do so.
Yours respectfully,

Frank Jones.
Hamilton, April 27tli, 1SS5.

Reply by Wm. Saunders. — The
beetles referred to by our correspondent
are specimens of the goldsmith beetle
{Cotalpa lanigera), a ver}^ handsome in-
sect, nearly an inch long, with the wing-
cases of a rich yellow color, while the
thorax and head gleam witli burnished
gold of a brilliant reddisli hue. They

150

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

attack and devour the leaves of the
pear, cherry, and other trees, 'just as
they are expanding, and thus materially
retard the growth which would other-
wise take place. In the larval state
they closely resemble the common
'• white grub," and are equally injuri-
ous, feeding on the tender succulent
I'oots of plants, especially strawberries.
This insect, however, is seldom met
with in any great abundance, and on
tliis account is not generally known as
injurious.

BARK LICE.

Mr. W. A. Webstei', of Stoney
Creek, sends us some specimens of bark
lice attached to a thin slice of bark, and
asks, " What are they ?" " Do they
injure the trees?" "What remedy is
best for therr 1"

They are what is known as the oyster-
shell bark louse [Mytilaspis pomorum),
which is, unfortunately, too common
on apple trees throughout Ontario.
Under each of these scales is a mass of
eggs varying in number from twenty
to a hundred, or more, which hatch
late in May or early in June, producing
small lice about one hundredth of an
inch long, which are at first A-ery active,
running all over the tender twigs of
the ti-ee, seeking suitable locations to
which to attach themselves. Having
made their selection they insert their
tiny sharp beaks and remain motion-
less, subsisting upon the sap of the
tree. They gradually lose their limbs,
and secrete over themselves a scaly
covering, which is enlarged with the
growth of the insect, until it presents
the mature form as in the samples sent.

These lice are very injurious. They
occur ill great numbers, and seriously
weaken, and sometimes destroy the
trees invaded.

Remedies. — During the winter or
early in spring the scales may be scraped
off, or removed with a stiff scrubbing
brush, dipped in a strong solution of
soap. The young lice may be destroyed
by brushing the twigs with a strong-
solution of soap in water, made about
the consistence of thin paint.

ICHN'EUMON COCOONS.

Another correspondent sends a clus-
ter of white egg-shaped bodies, each
about an eighth of an inch long, at-
tached to a piece of bark, and enquires,
" What are these eggs ]" These are
not eggs, but small cocoons of a species
of Ichneumon fly, a class of insects
including some of the fruit growers
best friends. Each of these small
cocoons produces a minute, but very
active fly, which deposits its eggs in
the body of some caterpillar, where the
young grubs hatched from them feed
upon the body of the victim selected
and destroy it. Do not injure or kill
anv of this useful class of insects.

Mr. E::)Itor, — Please set us right in
our doubts : —

First — Is it not the best and surest
way, in the cultivation of the straw-
berry, to root out all that are not show-
ing bloom in the first spring of plant-
ing, for fear tliey should be barren
plants, and their i-unners be in time
mixed with those that are fertile or
fruitful 1

Secondly — It is said the Cap Rasp-
berries are only propagated from the
tips. I think they can be propagated.

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

151

like the viae, by laying tlie cane in a
shallow chill, and as they shoot up, to
fill in the drill with earth, and thereby
get a quantity in a short time. Am I
coi'i'ect in this ?

Thirdly — Give your opinion as to the
following. I have my doubts in tiy-
ing the receipt because of the tar. The
Globe has the following from the Rural
World ; it says : — -"A writer last spring
stated that a mixture of tar and soft
soap and sulphur would keep the borer
ou.t of apple and peach trees. I have
used it for thirty years, and it has never
failed if done in April or May. It will
also keep rabits and mice from gnaw-
ing the bark. Paint them with a swab
or brush ; do it the first warm day ; do
not wait. Receipt — Take two-thirds
soft soap and one-third pine-tree tar ;
put in water enough to make it like
thick paint ; add one pound flour of
sulphur to the gallon ; boil it all to-
gether; when still warm, use it." Be-
fore I apply such, I ask your opinion.
I was doubtful as to whether tlie tar
would not do more harm than good.

H.

Reply. — 1. Will some of our straw-
berry growers please state their expe-
rience on this point %

2. We have never tried to propagate
them in this way. Will you please try
it and tell us whether you succeed %

3. We think pine-tree tar would do
no harm if pure, but so much of the
tar in market is adulterated with in-
jurious substances that we should fear
to use them on trees 1

Grape Mildew— Prof. G. C. Caldwell,
of Cornell University, say:? tiiat where the
stakes to which vines are tied are soaked
in a solution of sulphate of copper, the
vines are not attacked by mildew. The
soaked stakes exert an iuHuence for a dis-
tance of two and a half feet on either side.
It is believed that a single soaking will
sutfice for three or more years.

WHAT THE PEOPLE SAY.

HORTICULTUHAL NOTES OF A
SOUTHERN TRIP.

BY WILLIAM SAUNDERS, LOXDON.

(Continued from page 127. J

In the display of tropical fruits at
the New Orleans Exposition Florida
took the lead, California ranking next.
The exhibit of oranges was perplexing
in its variety, and to a novice it seemed
ditficult to understand how so many
varieties so nearly alike could be dis-
tinguished. The Mandarin and Tan-
gei'ine oranges are easily separated from
the ordinary sorts by their small size
and characteristic appearance, and the
Maltese Blood by the red staining on
the inside, but the Dummitt, Hart's
Seedling, Mediterranean Sweet, St.
Michael's, and a number of other named
sorts so closely resemble each other that
to the uninitiated they seem identical.
In addition to the oranges, which formed
the bulk of the display, there were a
number of varieties of lemon ; also
shaddocks, guavas, citrons, grape fruit,
limes, Japanese persimmons, loquats or
Japanese plums, sapodillas, and pome-
granates.

While in New Orleans the opportu-
nity was a,fforded to visit the green-
houses and grounds of Prof. Richard-
son, where, under the guidance of his
enthusiastic gardener, Mr. Lester, we
were shown some rare and beautiful
i:)lants. Among others in bloom there'
were quite a numil>er of orchids. Three
specimens of cattle i/a triane attracted
special attention, with their richly-hued
fiowers, measuring nearly five inches
across. The hoiises were well kept.
On the grounds wei-e a number of beau-
tiful palms, pittos|^>orums, and other
evergreens. A splendid plant of the
Marechal Niel Rose was trained to
cover a shed ; it had grown very vigor-
ously, and was just pushing, out its buds-

153

THE CANA.DIA.N HOBTICULTDRIST.

full of promise for bloom. It seemed
much at home, and perfectly hardy.

Many of the gardens in the better
portions of the city were very pretty.
Occa.sionally beautiful dwarf growing
magnolias could be seen in bloom, with
tiieir large and handsome flowers of
various tints. These are of foreign in-
troduction ; the native species 1)1 oom
later. Scarlet honeysuckles, violets,
and laurustinus were also in bloom.
Ixltrjncosjyermum jasminoiJes, which in
(Janada we grow with much satisfaction
in pots in greenhouse, here flourishes
as a common climber, and grows with
as much luxuriance as ovir five-leaved
ivy does with us.

Leaving New Orleans, a charming
ilay was spent in Mobile. Accom-
))anied by I)r. Chas. Mohr, the well-
known botanist, we took a delightful
afternoon drive along the shores of the
bay, admiring the scenery, inhaling the
l)ahuy air from the Gulf, and gathering
interesting plants. At Magnolia Grove
there wei-e a large number of trees of
magnolia grandiflora, including the
finest specimens seen anywliere in the
South, A leading industry here is the
growing of cabbages, a large quantity
being raised for the Northern markets.
The seed is sown in August, and the
plants continue to grow all tlivough the
winter (so-called), and mature at differ-
ent periods from January onward.

Twenty hours of railway ride brought
us to Jacksonville, Florida. Here the
season was muoh further advanced ; the
roses were in full bloom, and were much
admii'ed. Some of the gaixlens were
very beautiful, and included quite a
number of varieties of flow^ers, while
many others wei-e less called for. Where
so much that is beautiful lies within
reach of every one, it seems strange
that moi-e is not attempted. A very
pleasant visit was paid to the beautiful
home of !Mrs. Mitchell, across the river ;
also to that of Mr. Thomas Bassuett,

where we were most hospitably re-
ceived, and at both places saw a large
number of orange and lemon trees well
laden with their golden fruit. Pro-
ceeding up the river, we found flowers
more extensively cultivated in St. Au-
gustine, es]>ecially roses, which are in
such demand by the guests at the hotels
that they are gathered and sold as fast
as the buds form. This branch of hoi--
ticulture must be quite remunerative
hei-e, as good prices are obtained. It
was now the middle of March ; the
weather was warm and most delightful-
ly pleasant. It seemed difiicult to real-
ize that the friends at home were
experiencing heavy snow-storms and a
temperature much below zero.

Proceeding south, brief visits were
paid to Pilatka, Silver Springs, Ocala,
Leesburgh, Eustis, Enterprise, Orlando,
Kissimmee, and Tampa, the extremity
of railway travel, passing thi'ough all
the most productive orange sections,
where in many places orange groves are
so plentiful as to be a drug in the mar-
ket. The country, however, is being
rapidly settled. A long the line of the
South Florida Railway from Sanford to
Tampa, a distance of 115 miles, there
are quite a number of thriving places.
The railway was opened but a year ago,
but within that time towns with from
300 to 500 inhabitants have sprung up
at different points along the line. At
Tampa the sun was uncomfortably hot
during the middle of the day, but the
Aveather cool and pleasant at other
times. Here we enjoyed ripe straw-
berries, gathered fresh from the gardens
adjoining. The variety in cultivation
i-esembled Wilson in form, but was
sweeter. It was said to be a seedling
of Wilson which originated somewhere
in the South, and endures the dry, hot
weather of summer better than our
Northern sorts. What surprised me
most, when examining these strawbei-ry
bedsj was the entire absence of runners.

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

153

The plants were of fair size and bushy,
and had been fruiting steadily since the
beginning of January, but I was unable
to tind a single runner anywhere. On
enquiry, I was told that strawberry
plants do not put out runners in that
climate luitil May or June, that the
fruiting season lasts about live months,
beginning with January, and that to-
wards the close of tliis period the i)lants
produce runners in great abundance.

On the return journey, short visits
were paid to Savannah and Charleston,
where we greatly admired the magnifi-
cent camelias and azaleas blooming out
of doors. Before reaching Washington
snow was encountered again, with un-
pleasantly cold winds ; and we found
winter still reigning on our return
home.

HOME MADE WINES.

As many of your readers may not
know how easily they can procure a
cheap and wholesome wine, with a good
body — nay, in spite of the Scott Act,
home-made wines like these will harm
no one — the following will make a good
wine from either black currants or
bilberries, or as some call them, huckle-
berries : To every gallon of fruit put
1 gallon water (soft water is best) ; let
it stand in a tub a week or nine days,
stirring it daily, and keep covered with
a cloth ; then strain it through a cloth,
and to every gallon of liquor thus pro-
cured, add 3 lbs. sugar ; mix well, and
till np your cask. No boiling is here
required. If you are making wine from
the bilberries or hearts, tis some call
them in the old country, add a few
cloves ; but not to the currants — it is
said black currants have medical ]>ro-
l)erties.

The hucklebei-ry or bilberry (Vacci-
ivim iniirtilluss grows plentifully in
Sui-rey, in England, and never sells for
less then three half-crowns per bushel.

wholesale ; they are gathered by the
poor country folks on the waste lands
for the markets. T. A. H.

Medora, Muskoka,

THE ROSE AND THE GERANIUM.

We were greatly delighted with tlie
valuable paper, in the Ai)ril number,
from the pen of Mr. Mitchell, of Inner-
kip, on " Certain Koses."

Your very flowery correspondent had
almost led us away from our honest
convictions long entertained, and simply
by the bai-e Ibice of his masterly
description. With all due and becom-
ing respect foi- the Hose and its prou<l
])Osition in our hoi'ticulture, we must
beg leave to conscientiously demur from
tlie common belief of its pre-eminence
among popular favorite flowers for the
masses. We may say further that we
have scarcely ever known but one or
two successful Rose growers in our
limited observation. In the winter of
1882-3, while on a tempoi-ary visit to
the city of Rochester, N.Y., we were
kindly introduced to the magnificent
Rose-houses of Ellvvanger jfc Bariy, and
also those of the late lamented H. Iv
Hooker, Esq. In these grand houses
and under these tine conditions we saw
the rose in all its grandeur, beauty and
variety in successful cultivation, and on
the largest scale. Such a profusion of
attractive and beautiful Rose plants in
all stages of growth, we had never seen
before, and were astonished beyond
measure. Could we have lieen possibly
guilty of so gormandizing a covetous-
ness in one individual, we could have
fain desii-ed the possession of the whole
lot in our collection. But then the con-
ditions, ah ! there's the point ! Large
and thoroughly adajited houses, tho-
roughly equipped with benches and
modern appendages, and the conditions
of heat and moisture, gaged exactly to
suit the Rose, and the whole under the

m

THE CANADIAN nORTICULTDRIST.

direotioii of the efficient lifeexperience of
such a inan as Mr. Hooker, or the more
noted Mr. EUwanger, botli practical men,
this powerful force beiugbrought to bear
at once on the result, it was indeed a
grand consummation in Kose produc-
tion. Who among us could do this and
proudly show such practical results 1
While much that is cheering has been
done in growing of Roses by such
devoted lovers of the plant as our friend
Mitchell shows himself to be; we are
happy to know that there is a popular
plant that comes nearer the popular
grasp, and may well be denominated
the poor man's flower, or everybody's
flower. This proud pre-eminence we
would humbly claim for the

GERANIUM.

We humbly consider that the world
is more indebted to this humbler, un-
j)retending and unroyal plant for its
tastes and refinements and embellish-
ment than to any other one family in
the long list of modern catalogues.
Where there is one successful Rose-
grower, those of ihe Geranium can be
numbered by hundreds. Almost every
family in the laud can daily look upon
at least one to a half dozen beautiful
(xeranium plants on their humble shelf,
or their more cramped and scanty win-
dow sUl. They watch the beautiful
leaves expand in the light, and the
tender bud clusters of promise, and the
opening mass of brilliants equal to any
rose with the greatest delight ; and
mother is the gardener. Only think,
and try to take in, if you can, the '
aggregate educating influence of this
one plant on the masses of Christendom ? '
Is it not past our feeble efforts at cal-
culation 1 Where is the Rose in its
every-day influence beside the Ger-
anium '? Our powers of description, so
unlike those of yonr correspondent, fail
us to do anything like justice to any
one member of this interesting family

of jiopular plants. We can only at-
tempt an enumeration of a few of the
most desirable in the several classes.
And here it is well for ns to remember
that, as in the case of Roses, so in the
case of Geraniums, we are ever indebted
to the practical, skilled growers of Eng-
land and the Continent for the newest
and best strains. In Roses there is
annually imported the latest and newest
strains and variations of such noted
growers as the Bennetts, W. Paul &
Son, Turner and others. In Geraniums,
the latest and most admirable strains
(and they ai-e to be wondered at) come
from the houses of H. Cannell it Sons,
and others. These importations are
constantly' adding to our floral treasures.
Some of the best of the single flowering
Geraniums are : Jealou.sy, Dr. Denny,
Jennie Dodds, Col. Holden, Samuel
Plimsol, Mrs. Whiteley, Bishop Simp-
son, and several others newly brought
out and beautiful specimens worthy of
our admiration.

The Double Geraniums : — Bataclan,
Dr. Phinney, Bishop Wood, Henry
Cannell, James Vick, Queen Victoria,
Mrs. Charles Pease, Mrs. Hay, itc.

Although the flowers of the Geranium
are not sweetly scented like the Rose,
yet it has a rich and varieel inheritance
of sweet scent stored in its beautiful
leaves. The most noted scents ai'e
Apple, Penny Royal, Lemon, Pepper-
mint, Almond, Rose, Balm, Nutmeg,
Citron, and several others distinctly
marked.

In Foliage Geraniums, the fine
Bronze varieties are perfectly handsome.
Also the Cloth of Gold, and the more
wonderful Happy Thought. Then the
Silver Bicolors, as the Mount of Snow,
and the beautiful Silver Queen, and
Cannell's Freak of Nature, ifec.

The Golden and Silver Tricolors are
perhaps the most wonderful of all, and
always command our admiration. The
Ivy- Leaved section is also truly remark-

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

155

able. But I feel I have outstripped luy
limits and shall succeed only in weary-
ing you. Yours truly,

B. GOTT.

Arkoua Nurseries, Ajiril 10, 1SS5.

PETER PRUNING KNIFE PRUNED.

Mr. Editor, — In reply to part of
an article published in the May num-
ber of the Hurticulturist, headed :
" Mistakes of Fruit Growers, by Peter
Pruning Knife," namely, mistake No.
3, I wish to say I am agent for a
nursery, and in all the sales of fruit
trees that I have made I always
recommend trees that are likely to
stand the test of our severe winters;'
in fact trees that I have proof have
grown in the coldest localities of the
United States. Very true I have a
beautiful colored plate, at the same
time I do not recommend the names on
the plate without I am certain tliey
will stand the cold climate or the soil.
For instance, hard-pan soils will not
grow fruit ti'ees ; loamy soil will if it
is not too light ; in fact ti-ees will grow
in very light soil if they are well
watched. I have fruit trees growing
in limestone gravel and doing well.
Whyl Because I feed and water them
when required. Why cannot others
do the same'? The fault is often with
the buyer. For instance, I offer a man
a list of hardy trees ; the price is too
high. Buyer says can't you let me
have trees for less money ] Agent
sells a cheap tree. The result is they
will not overcome the cold winters
without injury more or less. Who is
to blame, the agent or the buyer 1
Some purchasers will have a first-class
article, cost what it will, because they
want a tree tliat v/ill carry itself
through our trying winters without
risk.

The article I refer to in the Horti-
culturint says one-half or more of the

trees that have lieen thus recommended
and planted in the Northern parts of
this country have proved worse than
useless. Why are they useless ? Be-
cause it is the purchaser's fault who
will not be advised and pay for a first-
class article ; the consequence is the
trees fail and the agent and mirsery
have to suffer.

The article I have refei'ence to has
pinched my corns. The wiiter of
Peter Pruning Knife should think
before coming down on fruit tree
agents. Some people do not think for
one moment that it costs time and
money searching and testing the differ-
ent varieties adapted for the diiierent
climates.

Ml". Editor, as I am a subscriber to
your valuable Caua'Jian Uorticnltariat
I hope you will give the above article
space in its columns.

J AS. DouGAL, Sex.
Barrie, May 5tli, 1885.

Note by the Editor.— Our corres-
pondent seems to have failed to notice
that " Peter Pruning Knife " speaks of
the mistake made in ordering trees
from agents about lohom the buyer
knows nothing. Everj' buyer should
satisfy himself that the jiersou to whom
he gives his order is in fact an agent of
the nursery he pretends to represent-
If he cannot show very I'ecent letters
from his employers he is not worthy of
belief. In selecting varieties he need
not be guided merely by the agent.
The catalogues of our Canadian nur-
series will give very full information as
to the adaptation of varieties to the
climate, and if he represents a Cana-
dian nurseiy he will be able to infornn
the purchaser by showing him tho
catalogue.

156

THE CA-NADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

GRAFTS AND GRAFTING.

Mk. Editor, — The premium grafts
came duly to hand of one yearling
Kussian, or Cossack, apple. I cannot
tell whether they are true to name ; if
they are, and the fi uit is as long as the
name, we shall want a corn basket and
wheelbarrow to get each one to the
cellar ; neither can I tell what quality
they may prove to be, as I have no
dictionar}' large enough to pronounce a
word so long, or give any derivation or
root to even guess at its meaning.
However, as it is time to top graft, I
avail myself of the privilege. 1 cut off
close to the little root, and save one
bud to make my tree, cut up my wood
in pieces of three buds each, and set nine
limbs in an old tree that was called
Powell's Beauty, which, in due time,
will prove what the cpiality is like.
As I have had much experience in
grafting, having practised it for over
forty years, 1 still have a strong desire
to continue testing new varieties as
they come along ; which in this age of
the world are making rapid strides.
Our collections are getting large, and
the most cultivated fruit grower is
almost at a loss at times to detei-mine
what to plant.

I need not speak of the method of
inserting grafts, as there lias been so
much written in books, journals, and
horticulturists, that the few hints I
may offer might not be of any farther
service. I think the way the grafts are
located in limbs has much to do with
insuring a good result.

May I here say it is a law of nature
tliat all overtopped limbs (no matter
how close or high above ground) shut
in from the sun, invariabhj die ; and
without securing the uppermost limbs
of the tree to insert scions, such as have
plenty of sunlight without having lai-ge
and healthy limbs still over them, to
rob your scions of their food, as the sap
or food of tha ti'ee rises more \'i2rorous

and in greater supply to the highest
growth of the tree.

Grafting one limb under another is
of but little worth. My rule is not to
cut a limb over two inches in diameter,
keep well out, one inch to one and a half
inches is the best size, the wound will
sooner heal ; the limb will then give
with the weight of fruit, and not break
off so easily. I have inserted three
hundred scions in one tree, some twenty
to twenty-five feet above gi-ound, and
iri three years had a full top with quite
a crop of fruit. In later years some
of the grafted limbs had to be taken
away, as I set thickly and cut away
the remaining portions of old wood
piecemeal, so as not to check the
growth too quickly ; as the after
care of the scions is by far the most
imyiortant to i)reser\e bi-anches enough
to take \\\t the flowing sap, and
not undermine the constitution of
your tree, but keep it healthy and
vigorous. When you have inserted
grafts sufficient ibr an entire top,
the original blanches will receive a
tremendous impetus to grow. The_
grafted stock will sprout profusely and
soon choke out the scions and stop
their growth, too much cutting and
pruning them will injure the tree, oft^n
to cut or head back branches without
removing entirely, leaving the leaves
on the branches, not covering up
the scions. They need looking after
tln-ough the months of July, August
and September.

The following spring cut back to
eight or ten inches, and at intervals
through the summer arrange your limbs
for Ijcaring by not allowing them to
grow too thickly together, and removing
part of old wood were not needed ;
second year, head back again, and
remove all old remaining wood fi'om
tho tree.

As to the varieties for top grafting,
I would not take a slow growing

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTDRIST.

157

variety ; the sti'onger the better, such
as King of Tompkins County, Goklen
Russet, Northern Spy, Wealthy, Red
Astrachan, St. Lawrence, FaHawater,
Colvert, and Twenty-Ounce apples, etc.
The Baldwin, Greening, E. Spitzenbui-g,
Hubbardtson's Nonsuch, Gravenstein ;
these varieties are generally injured
-when as cold a winter as the past one
follows after grafting, and are often lost.
You can sometimes save the tree by let-
ting the stock sprout out again, and i-e-
graft another year. There isstill another
class of hardy fruit, but very difficult
to work successfully, such as Pewaukee,
Tetofsky, Mann, Grime's Golden, Fill
Basket, and Beauty of Kent ; these do
not unite well with the stock of older
trees, and have proved worthless.
Location has much to do with this, as
in some favored sections these same
varieties do fairly, and are valued
somewhat, but to a very large e.xtent
where it is as cold as with me persons
should use the hardy anil well tried sorts.
I think our Society should be very
careful indeed, and not send out any
fruits that are not worthy of cultivation
(as it is generally taken that if the
Society send out fruit, it must be of
the very best), and which may bring
disappointment ; for instance, the Mann
apple : I do not know on whose re-
commendation, or where its particular
merit lies, or to what particular por-
tion of the globe it best adapts itself.
With me it has proved itself barren
and wortliless. I set seventy-tive trees
and top-grafted twenty more ; it does
not succeed well as a top-grafted tree,
being too slow in gi'owth, and puny.
Some of my top-grafted trees were
large, fifteen feet across the limbs, and
as high ; and, to speak safely, I have
not grown one dozen specimens in the
past live years, all told, of this variety.
The Duchess, which is everywhere
esteemed for its great productiveness
and fine appearance, and good cooking

quality, works somewhat similar, but
ivorse, for it does not unite and grow
readily as a top graft ; appearing foreign
in its nature, similar to the red and
yellow Siberian crabs. I find it almost
impossible to graft this variety to make
a complete success of it ; the stock
suckers so badly or sprouts out, and
the grafts grow so slowly, they take up
so small a i)ortion of the sap, and to
remove the sprouts continually ai)pears
to weaken the stock, and the whole
finally becomes unhealthy, and dies
away. There is no trouble to have the
grafts live the first and second year ;
to cut too closely spoils your tree, and
to leave original branches to consume
the sap, robs the grafts that they soon
die away. I have spoiled and cut
down twenty-live healthy trees in try-
ing to work the Duchess upon them,
and have had very small success.

The only successful way is to whip-
graft, or bud in small stock at the
ground, or a little below, and let both
stock and graft advance together ; this
method has worked nicely. They are
subject then to throw up very many
sprouts from the stock and become like
a large brush heap. To remedy this
(if pasture is good), sheep can run
among the trees and eat off idl leaves as
they foi-in ; for they are very fond of
apple leaves, usincr them in prefei-ence
to the clover. Have used the sheep
for years, without losing a tree by
having the bark gnawed off. They and
pigs run together admirably. Have
made a practice for some time of breaking
up the orchards, and seeding to oats and
clover. As soon as the oats are high
enough — say ten inches — turn the sheep
into them, and feed off. Next summer
the clover will give the feed, tlien
break and seed as before ; but take no
crop from the ground. The ground is
key)t in good condition : always soft
and mellow.

Grapes and red raspberries have

158

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

come out very well after so cok] a
winter. The Pliilndelphiaand Cuthbert
are the best, while several other varieties
■dVti partially injured, but not so bad as
to destroy their crop ; while the black
dps nearly all froze to the snow, as
well as the Long, the Taylor, and the
Snider blackberi-ies ; while the Vick
and Wilson strawberries, mulched with
leaves, with three to five feet of snow
over them, are destroyed altogether,
ap{)areutly smothered and heated.
I am, yours truly,

J. P. Williams.

Bloomfelcl, May '2.5th, 1885.

BLACKBERRIES— FOR THIS SECTION
mF 0NT.\RI0.

I have only found one blackberry
that will pa\' to grow for market, that
is the Snyder.

Wilson's Early, Kittatinny, Early
Harvest, and Taylor's Prolitic are all
too tender.

Many catalogues give Taylor's Pro-
litic the cretlit of being as hard}'' as the
.Snyder, but with me it is not as hardy
as Kittatinny, I have had it growing
for five years, and have never had a
good cro]) of fruit from it yet.

Early Harvest was killed down to
the ground last spring, and on examin-
ation I find that it is now killed down
below the snow line.

Stone's Hardy has killed back a little
more than Snyiler, but it is yet too
early to form anything like a true esti-
mate of amount of injury done by the
past winter, which has been the most
severe of any within my recollection.

The ground was well covered with
quite a depth of snow all winter, which
has protected most all small fruits.

Plants will stand several degrees
more cold when the eartli is covered
with even a light coating of snow, as
the reflection of the sun's rays does not
thaw out the plants so quickly as when
the eartli is bare.

Early Cluster has not had much of a
test yet in Canada, but I think it quite
promising.

Blackberries should have all cultiva-
tion discontinued in July, to give the
plants time to fully ripen their wood.

They should be planted on high clay
loam to give best results, and kept well
pinched back. Yours, etc.,

W. W. HiLBORN.

Arkona, April 9th.

REPORT ON FRUIT AT THE CENTRAL
EXHIBITION, AT PORT HOPE,

Oct. 7th .-vnd 8'I'H, 1884.

On arriving at the grounds, I found
E. Dick.son, Esq., Secretary of the
Hope Society, and J. Footo, Esq., Secre-
tary of the East Durham County Agri-
cultural Society, who at once very kind-
ly gave the necessary instructions for
a careful examination of the fruit.

The exhibit of fruit was not as larger
or as good in quality as I had hope of
finding in that noted fruit-growing
locality.

I subjoin a list of fruits as found on
the tables, together with such notes on
the various exhiVjits as I then thought
pertinent.

APPLES.

Fall Pippins — 8 exhibits, six differ-
ent kinds at least competing for this
prize.

NortJiern Spi/—S exhibits. Most of
them were of first quality.

Ji. I. Grecnrng — 8 exhibits. All very
good samples, with one exception. The
exception Avas not a R. I. Greening.

Jhissets (no variety specified) — i ex"
hibits. All very good. One lot was
of unusual excellence, and ticketed
" E.xtra. Recommended."

B. Spitzftubnrg — 3 exhibits. The
first jjrize lot was a fine sample. Those
obtaining second prize were spotted.

THK CANADIAN HOETICULTUEIST.

159

Snow—Q exhibits. All fii-st class
sam]iles and well ji;d.2;ed.

Baldwin — 6 exhibits. All good
samples but the one getting second
prize, which was not Baldwin.

St. Lawrence — 3 exhibits. All veiy
good. Tlie tirst prize lot was unusually
large.

Ani/ Other Varuty—Vl exhibits,
comprising some eight or nine varieties.
All good samples.

Variety of Fall Apples— TPivst prize
awarded to an exhibit having ten vari-
ties. This prize was well earned, as
they were all excellent specimens, and
the different varieties in every case
correctly named.

Variety of Winter Apples — First
prize to a lot of 18 varieties, all good
specimens, but none named ; second
prize, to lot having ID varieties, all
named, but several of them incorrectly:
notably the varieties named Lady Ap-
ple and Rox. Russet.

PEAKS.

The exhibit of peai-s was poor. There
were a few fair specimens, but most of
them were inferior. The tirst prize for
Early Pears had been very justly
awarded to a plate of magnificently
grown Souvenir du Congress.

GRAPES.

The show of gra])es was the poorest I
have seen at any Fair for some years.
There were but two exhibits, and the
first prize lot consisted of 1 bunch each
of Hartford Prolific ( A^ery poorly grown)
and Brighton, a small unripe cluster.

After concluding my notes on the
fruit exhibit, I was requested to act as
sole judge on flowers. This I found
rather an easy task, as there was only
about one or two exhibits in each class.
The whole exhibition of flowers had
been well arranged and appeared to the
best advantage. Two or three large
lots of greenhouse plants assisted very
materially to give character to the
whole exliibit. Tlie Board very kindly

ordered the re-payment of my railroad
fare, the amo\nit of which will be found
to the credit of the Association in my
account.

In conclusion, I beg to suggest to
those having control of the exhibition at
Port Hope, the advisability of adopting
some means in future whereby a larger
number of people in that County may
be induced to bring out their fruits and
flowers for com])etition. If this were
done to any reasonable extent, the East
Durham County Agricultural Society,
with the assistance, such as they now
have from the Hope Society, and from
the town of Port Hope, could make such
an exhibition of fruit and flowers as
might not be equalled but by few places'
in Ontario.

Kespectfully submitted,

Thos. Beall.
Lindsay, Nov. 1, 1884.

PEGGING DOWN ROSE BUSHES.

When dwarf bushes form growths in
autumn, from five to eight feet in
length, it seems a pity to cut them all
off at pruning time m spring, and where
there are many plants grown we would
strongly advise that a number of these
growths be left uncut, and peg them
down. They will not, if very strong,
bend down to touch the ground, as
some may think of trying to root them :
but this is not the object, the principle
being to bend them over and peg them
about a foot or so from the ground,
allowing them to remain full length,
and every bud along the stem will soon
send up a shoot, and these pegged down
stems will bloom very profusely. For
profuse blooming no plan will equal
this, and it is rather surprising that
pegging is not oftener practiced. Any
one wishing to possess a mass of Roses,
growing and blooming in semi-wild
confusion, could not do better than peg
down the shoots over some bads. —
Viclca Mayczlne.

IGO

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

HORTICULTURAL CONCLUSIOJs^S.

PROF J. L. BUDD.

Some of the conclusions reached by
tlie experts at tlie recent meetings of
tlie Mississipi Valley Horticultural
Society at New Orleans, ami of the
Iowa State Horticultural Society at
Atlantic, are worthy of brief notice.

Wild Black. Cherry. — Slowly but
surely this tree is coming to the front
as one of the most valuable lor varied
soils in most parts of the Northern and
Western States. Very many reported
it easy to propagate from pits, very
rapid in growtli, and best for many
economic uses of timber. Dozens of ex-
amples have been given where on high,
dry, prairie soils it has made more
growth in 15 years than Soft ]Maple.

Yellow Transparent Apple. — From
many States of the Union come good
words for this earliest of summer apj)les.
Even experts from New York, Connec-
ticut, New Jersey and Ohio, agx-eed
that it was earlier than Early Harvest,
quite as large and handsome and fully
equal in quality. In addition, it comes
earlv into bearing, and seems as resnlar
in its crops as the Duchess. In the
INIississippi Valley it was reported favor-
ably, in Minnesota and in Texas.

Charlottexthaler belongs to the
same Russian family as the Yellow
Transparent. It is now added to the
recommended list of the Iowa Society,
and has received favourable reports from
nearly all parts of Mississip})i Valley.
It is larger in size than the Transi)arent ;
but of the same shape, coloi-, and quality.
The tree is a better grower in the
nursery and has pi-oven as free from
twig blight as the Duchess. The
general belief now is that it will prove
the best early apple over a large portion
of the States east of the Rockies.

The Loxgfield Apple has been ex-
hibited and i-eported favourably upon
by dozens of careful observers. It bears

heavy crops when young, and during
our past extreme seasons it has made a,
growth of eighteen inches of new wood
when maturing a heavy crop of fruit.
Mr. Haviland, of Fort Dodge, Iowa,
re[)orted that 4:'2'^ below zero the present
winter had not coloied the wood of the
Longfield, while that of the Duchess
was uincii reddened.

This variety promises great things for
the cold Nortii, as above the 42nd paral-
lel on the prairies it is a good keeper of
really excellent quality. On oiir i-ich
prairie soils it attains the size of Roman
Stem, and colors up as prettily as the
Maiden's Blush. It may be well to say
that the variety which Dr. Hoskins has
guessed to be Longfield is wholly differ-
ent in size, color, and quality, but
promises to be valuable.

WiXTERAPUT. — In the exhibit of
apples from Moscow at New Orleans
the plates of this ancient apple attracted
much attention. It is smaller than
Alexander, and moi-e regular in form.
Its striping is coarse and irregular ; stem
long, in deep, regular, russeted cavity ;
eye large, open, in irregular, ridgetl
basin.

It is a popular winter apple, of far
better quality than Willard, in Central
Russia. The trees have been widely
distributed in the Mississippi Valley,
and are proving hardy even in Northern
Dakota. Top-worked trees have fruited
in Northern Iowa.

AuToxooKA. — The specimens of this
apple from Moscow were not in good
condition after their long voyage ; but
its near relative, English Reinette, was
as firm and bright as when packed in
October. The family attracted much
attention and brought out much dis-
cussion. The point was made that this
ancient family of yellow apple of the
Russian steppes has planted its birth-
marks on a number of our yellow apples
noted for their hardiness. Autonooka,

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

181

Possarts, Nalivia, Northwestern Green-
ing, Tracey, Roman Stem, Grimes'
Golden, Malinda and several promising
seedlings were grouped to show the
prepotent influence of one of the most
noted and ancient families of the
Russian apples.

Russian Pears. — Specimens of the
wood of the Russian pears which had
endured 42 degrees below zero — after a
thaw and rain which had left a coating
of ice on the twigs — attracted much
attention, and drew out considerable
discus.sion. It is well known that the
Flemish Beauty colors its new wood in
our mildest Winters, and our last test
Winters have destroyed the trees on
our black soils, root and branch. Hence
the bright color of the wood of the pears
from the home of the Oldenburgh, has
strenghtened the belief that we will yet
grow pears on our black soils profit-
ably. The reports in regard to the
perfect health of the foliage of these new
comers during our past three trying
summers, were also very favoi-able. —
Rural New-Yorker.

THE WHITE PINE.

At a meeting of the Massachusetts
Horticultural Society a paper was read
by Avery P. Slade of Somerset, on
Forest Tree Planting, in which he thus
speaks of our white pine : —

The white pine is best adapted to the
soil and climate of most of our waste
lands. A soil in which the white oak
floui'ishes will produce grass, and one
that suits the chestnut will grow grain ;
but the white pine not only grows
rapidly on land which is apparently
destitute of all plant food, but posi-
tively enriches it. It is, however, not
successful near the sea coast.

Although in many instances white

pines have been planted because the

land would produce nothing else, and

often to gratify the taste by covering a

2

rocky hillside or sandy plain, and not
with a view to profit, and though they
have seldom received any culture after
planting, in no instance that he had
investigated had it failed to be a paying
investment. Zebulon Pratt of Bridge-
water purchased twenty-five aci-es of
wornout land in North Middleborough
for $25 per acre, and in the spring of
1863 had it set to white pines, at an
expense of about $200. The plants
were from six to eighteen inches high
and were set in rows ten feet apart
each way. In December, 1883, they
were from twelve to sixteen inches in
diameter and in a thrifty condition,
and Mr. Pratt has been awax'ded
premiums by the Plymouth County
Agricultural Society for the best plan-
tation of pines. The lot is now taxed
for $800, which is based on a two-thirds
valuation, and as towns are inclined to
favor such experiments, it is fair to
presume that this is not too high a
valuation, and that the cash value of
the lot is $1200. The cost of the land
($225), setting the trees ($195) and
taxes for twenty years, aggregate $540,
whiah, in twenty years at compound
intei-est at five per cent., amount to
$1431, or $231 more than its supposed
value. But Mr. Pratt says he did not
embai'k in this enterprise for profit, but
to benefit the inhabitants of the village,
and that he might be remembered
pleasantly by those coming after him.
Had he planted with a sole view to
profit he would have put the trees 10
feet by 6, instead of 10 by 10, thus
having 726 trees to the acre instead of
425, It is pretty generally conceded
that pines 6 feet by 10 will make a
growth of more value than at a greater
distance apart.

At 10 feet hy 10, there is a greater
growth of branches, which are of little
value, and less growth of body than
when planted nearer. Now, if 425 trees
to the aci'e bi-injrs the value of the lot

1 (V2

THE CANADIAN H0KTICULTUKI6T,

np to $1,200, 726 trees to the acre
would be worth the round sum of
.«;2,000, which is $272 more than the
wliole outlay would have amounted to
at six per cent, compound interest for
twenty years. This plantation, Mr.
Slade reported from peisonal observa-
tions, covers a sterile ridge of sand and
gravelly loam. What surprised him
most was the number and extent of the
))ranches; beginning near the ground,
each tree seemed to vie with its neigh-
bor in throwing them out horizontally
in every direction, from five to fifteen
feet in length, interlocking so as to
form in many places an absolutely im-
penetrable jungle. The conviction was
irresistible that had the trees been pro-
perly trimmed from time to time (and
the wood would have paid the expense),
the present value would have been at
least one-third more. There were said
to be 10,775 trees, and could the whole
growth have been thrown into the
trunks, they would at a moderate esti-
mate have been worth 25 cents each, or
a total of $2,6;>4, exclusive of the land.
J. D. G. Williams, Raynham, set a
piece of pine in 1850, the value of the
land being $10 per acre, and the cost of
setting $5 per acre, and after twenty-
tive years' growth, the standing wood
was sold for $150 per acre, affording a
very large profit, and leaving the land
in good condition to set again. Mr.
Williams also set a piece of pine in
1841 on land of the same value, the
cost of setting being $G per acre. This
is, perhaps, one of the earliest experi-
ments of the kind ever made in Biistol
County. The trees apparently came to
maturity in 1876, having made no per-
ceptible growth since that time. They
were set in rows, from six to nine feet
apartand fromfourto sixfeet in the rows.
The lot has an eastern exposure, and
the trees on the eastern side were evi-
dently set for a wind break, being not
moie than four feet apart. They are

large, with many strong angular
branches, resembling in shape an oak
as much as a pine, and contain as much
timber as those less exposed, but it is
not so valuable. In 1876 an experi-
enced lumberman estimated this wood
at seventy-five cords to the acre, two-
thirds being suitable for box boards,
worth at the mill, three miles distant,
six dollars per cord. No arithmetic is
required to show this to have been a
profitable investment.

The late Richai-d Sampson, of Mid-
dleborough, set pine trees on a piece of
land too poor to cultivate, which are
now thirty-one years old, and estimated
to be worth $150 per acre, and would
probably bring a much higher figure.
This piece contains about ten acres,
and is remarkable thrifty, and its
growth during the next ten years will
greatly increase its value.

The above instances of rapid growth
and profitable results are not excep-
tional, but are selected because their
history could be given more in detail
than others. Plantations of pines from
five to thirty years old may be found in
Norton, Mansfield, Taunton, Raynham,
Easton, Randolph, Middleborough and
the Bridgewaters, all giving promise of
remunerative results.

THE YELLOW TRANSPARENT.
Of all the early varieties of apples
adapted to our high latitude the above
named Russian, is, all points being con-
sidered, the most desirable of anything
that I have ever fully tested. It is as
hardy as the Duchess, and as thrifty ;
comes early into bearing ; fruit medium
of size, and in quality good; tree a regu-
lar bearer; the apple at its best about the
middle of September ; the tree being
very upright in its growth will admit
of its being set very close in the orchard.
The great abundance of light green fol-
iage of the tree, and its fruit of marble-
like appearance makes a very fine con-

THE CANADIAN HORTICtTLTURlST.

163

trast with other varieties. Grafted upon
the limbs of large trees, the third season
after grafting, it comes freely into bear-
ing. I have placed scions of this
variety upon crab stocks of one season's
growth, and the third season from graf-
ting, the trees have made quite a show
of fruit. In localities where the Red
Astrachan proves tender, the Yellow
Transparent will fill the gap. The Te-
tofsky, though hardy, has as we all know,
the bad fault of prematurely dropping
its fruit. The fruit of the Yellow
Transparent has a grip upon the tree
that only loosens by ripeness. To the
cold north this will prove a valuable
addition to our rather limited list of
hardy varieties — N. D. Smith, in Home
Farm.

THE LARCH.

According to Michie, one of the latest
writers on the subject, the White Larch
{Larix Uurojjcea) was probably intro-
duced into Great Britain about 150
years ago. The oldest known Larches
in the United Kingdom are two fine
trees called "The Mothers," which were
planted near the west end of the cathe-
dral of Dunkeld in 1736 or 1738 by
the then Duke of Atholl. The larger
of these trees has to-day a girth of
twenty-two and a half feet at one foot
from the ground, is a hundred feet
high, and is estimated to contain 480
feet of measurable timber. When first
brought to Dunkeld, the young Larches,
five in number, were in flower-pots,
and were carefully kept in a green-
house as rare and tender plants.

Of these five " Mother " plants two
only are now standing, although three
of them grew to be large, handsome
trees. The fate of the third is thus des-
cribed by Mr. Michie : Mr. McCrosty,
gardener and forester to the Duke of
Atholl, was a man of sterling character
and ability, and to the end of his life a

much-esteemed and favored servant.
Everybody, however, had to give way
to him, for the redoubtable McCrosty
had an unusually hasty and fiery tem-
per. On one occasion McCrosty men-
tioned to his Grace that the saw mill
at Inver, Little Dunkeld, required a
new axle. The Duke, having at the
time some friends with him, requested
McCi'osty, probably as a joke or to
show him ofi*, to cut one of the
" Mothers." This so enraged the vete-
ran forester that he made a desperate
effort to strike the Duke, being only
restrained by the noblemen present and
the opportune shutting of the door.
Baffled in his efforts to strike, he took
off" and flung his shoe at his Grace, and
left his mark on the intervening panel
of the door. The tree, however, wan
cut down, but, adds Mr. Michie, it
could hardly be said " whether the^
Duke or the forester in calm moments
regretted the frolicsome and impulsive
act the more, for his Grace could never
afterward speak of the transaction with-
out unmistakable signs of regret, while
over it the forester is said to have shed
many tears. And, after all, the tiee
was never converted into the axle for
which it was cut down, but filled a
higher and nobler destiny in making
articles of furniture." — Floral World.

GARDEN VIOLETS.

Tlie Violet is a blossom for all the
year round, and there is not a month
when one need be without fresh blooms
of it from cold-frame, garden, or win-
dow-boxes. Planted in a shady corner
of the garden, where yet they have an
airy, well-drained nook, Violets will
take care of themselves, with the kind-
ness of a covering of dead leaves in
fall. But they last so long and give
such richness that the borders are worth
preparing well. What the garden
Violet dislikes most of all is standing

164

THE CANADIAN H0BTICULTURI8T.

with its feet in the wet, unlike the
fragrant wliite wild Violet, which we
find in meadows and bogs.

My Violet border is planned to give
a succession of bloom the year round,
the earth from the three-foot bed being
diig out two feet deep, and the sides
stoned up with rubble laid in mortar
with which coal-ashes have much to do.
This keeps the Violet roots from gad-
ding, and from freezing, likewise. Nine
inches of stone are filled in for drain-
age, with turf and some old pounded
mortar above, to keep the earth from
washing down, and the other foot is
Violet soil — good strong loam for the
basis, with liberal mixture of old barn-
yard stuff, and the top leaf-mold, rich
garden and sand with plenty of bone-
dust, which Violets love. The border
lies under the lee of a little wood which
skirts the grounds, facing full south,
but screened by tall plants the other
side of the walk. Here the roots will
spread into great crowns nearly two
feet across, within the year. In this
favored spot one may feel sure of find-
ing Violets in any month of the year.

In autumn, a wooden frame and sash
goes right over the border ; plants that
have been gi-owing in the shady corners
of the garden are brought under cover,
the old ones well eni-iched and half
smothered in dead leaves, which are
heaped around the frames, and the
Violet season goes merrily into Christ-
mas-tide. New plants are coming into
bloom while the old ones are resting.
They get their bone-dust, their weak
tea of old leaves, old wood, and very
old manure steeped in rain-water when
the soil is very dry, and they do nothing
but grow and blossom. Only one thing
they ask — not to get too wet. You
can hardly give Violets little enough
water in cold weather. Only till the
earth is dry several inches deep, need
you water them, which will be once in
two or three weeks. They will bear

the sashes lifted in sunny noons, and
warm winter rains for perhaps half an
hour ; but avoid letting them get
drenched, or having any drip from the
sashes. That brings yellow leaf and
decay among the crowns.

Very few people know the varieties,
even, of sweet Violets which enrich
the border. The English, the Neapo-
litan, and the new Russian varieties,
are barely known by name ; but you
will hardly find one well-educated per-
son, not a gardener by calling, who can
tell the difi'erence. As the sweet Violet,
Viola odorata, is native in England,
Russia, Italy, and throughout Europe
and part of Asia, we may look for dif-
ferences of interest in all.

Neapolitan Violets are pale, long-
stemmed, and so fragrant that you
think of Violet Attar in the room with
a cluster of them.

Marie Louise is deeper purple, and a
rich bloomer, which with care, in the
open garden, starting early in a sunny,
sheltered place, will give flowers in
spring and autumn.

The English Violet is deeper purple
still, and the standard garden variety
for ease of cultivation and sweetness.
Roots of this should be planted in every
sheltered sj)ot, under shrubbery, on
light wooded banks, the north side of
houses and arbors, wherever one wants
the winds to be laden with sweetness.

The true Russian Violet is small ;
the Czar, large, deep purple, almost
black by the side of others, and very
sweet.

The Victoria Regina, a large, deep-
hued, scented Violet, is not to be con-
founded with the Queen of Violets,
which is white, double, and large, vying
with the Belle de Chatenay, inimitable
for its tinged pale petals, which suit
the snow-wreath Heliotrope.

The winter cultivation of Violets is
easy, and they are the most charming
of house plants, bearing dry air and

THE CANADIAN HOEriCULTUEIST.

165

neglect with more equanimity than
many favorites, only dying of gas and
overheatine. — American Garden.

NITRATES ARE NEEDED.

Early in spring, the conversion of the
nitrogenous matter of the soil, or of
manure, into nitric acid, is exceedingly
slow. It needs heat and moisture,
bacteria and lime. In moist land, dur-
ing hot weather in summer and autumn,
the conversion takes place most rapidly.
This is an advantage to the grower of
winter wheat or winter rye. The
growing wheat or rye plants in the fall
take up the nitrates. I cannot go into
the subject now. What I want to say
is this ; ordinary farming can avail
itself largely of the natural fertility of
the soil. We can grow crops of corn,
and wheat, and grass, for many years
without manure. But not so the
market gardener. No soil in the world
is naturally rich enough to grow garden
crops to advantage and profit. Why 1
Not because garden peas require any
more or different plant-food than field
peas, or garden beets any more than
mangel wurzels. It is because the
gardener desires early crops. He
desires to get the growth at a season of
the year when little or no nitrates are
formed in the soil. To attain his
object, he puts into the soil a mons-
trous quantity of manure. To grow a
crop of early cabbages, or early cauli-
flowers, it is almost impossible to make
the land rich enough. At any rate, we
find that the richer the land is made,
the earlier and better are the cabbages,
and the more profit. We have to
furnish three or four times as much
manure as the crop needs. Why 1
Because the soil is cold and no nitrates
are formed. We try to furnish the
plants with all needed nitrates by an
excessive application of manure — better
apply the nitrates direct. This is not
theory. I have been trying for years

to grow good celery plants in the open
ground. I could succeed only where
the gi'ound had been excessively
manured for some years past. I have
plowed in, the previous autumn,
seventy -five to one hundred tons of the
richest, well-rotted manure, and had
" fair to good " celery plants. Now,
by the use of nitrate of soda I can get
celery plants earlier, larger, and every
way better, at less than one quarter of
the cost. There is no mystery about
this. I presume we apply more nitrates
than three hundred tons of manure per
acre would furnish early in the season.
Later, of course, when the manure
commences to decompose an abundance
of nitrates would be formed, but then
early garden crops want the nitrates
while the soil is so cold that nitrification
cannot take place. — Joseph Harris in
American Agricultitrist

AUTUMN TRANSPLANTING.

Ben Perley Poore, in the American
Cultivator, says : "Autumn is, so far as
my experience teaches me, a better sea-
son for transplanting trees and shrubs
than spring. Any trees, even the most
delicate, may be successfully trans-
planted in autumn, if a little protection
is afforded them by covering the root
during the first and most ti-ying winter.
Where complete success is hoped, it is
best to shift their locality in the fall, if
possible. The protection of most trees,
shrubs and woody plants may consist in
spreading a few inches of litter from the
stable around the trunk and over the
roots. Delicate plants are sometimes
supposed to be destroyed by too much
protection after being transplanted,
when, in fact, they perish for want of
it, being killed by the alternate freezing
and thawing of the earth and its sur-
face. This difficulty might have been
easily obviated by covering them with
evergreen boughs or meadow moss.

"iGQ

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

" When trees or shrubs are trans-
planted in autumn, the earth becomes
consolidated at their roots, so that the
radical fibres soon take firm footing in
the earth, and the plant is prepared to
vegetate with the earliest advance of
spring.

" In transplanting trees and shrubs
of every description, it is desirable that
as much earth as possible be removed
with the roots. If this is done, there
will be less danger of their suffering by
the change of situation. The excava-
tion of the earth for the reception of
the roots of trees and shrubs should
bear some proportion to their size.
They may generally be made from four
to six feet in diameter, and of about 18
or 20 inches in depth. Large trees will
require a larger opening than this, and
small ones not so large. The subsoil
where they are to be located may be
thrown out and replaced at bottom with
a fine mould, intermixed with a portion
of good manure. Trees transplanted
should stand two or three inches deeper
in the earth than they stood previous
to their removal. In no case should
the extra depth exceed this. The radi-
cal fibres are to be spread horizontally
in their natural position, and the soil
intimately blenled with them and com-
pactly pressed about the trunk and over
the roots. No manure should be per-
mitted to come in immediate contact
with the roots, though it should be
plentifully p'aced about them on all
sides. Should it touch them, they will
bg likely to sustain injury and rot.

" Though moist, dull weather is gen-
erally best for transplanting, it should
not be done when the ground is very
wet. The earth should be only moder-
ately moist, otherwise it will be clammy
and heavy. The operation of tians-
planting is most successfully performed
in cloudy days, and a little before even-
ing, previous t ) a shower. The reasons
for this are obvious. If it be done when

the earth is dry and in the middle of
the day, plants require watering and
shading for a considerable time after-
wards. The tops of trees and shrubs
transplanted must be lessened in pro-
portion to the loss the roots may have
sustained. Othei'wise the plant will
perish from the loss of its nourishment.
The ordinary quantity of root being
diminished, the exhaustion from evapor-
ation will be greater than the absorp-
tion of the remaining portion of root, so
that the plant will die by transpiration.
If the above old rules are followed, the
trees and shrubs transplanted will al-
most invai'iably live."

THE TULIP TREE.

A writer in Index, Vineland, New
Jei'sey, says, " I can testify of the
beauty and stately character of the old
tulip trees I have seen in various parts
of the country ; but in our region, the
native trees being all on low and damp
ground, we feared they would not do
well on our poor, dry, gravelly and
sandy barrens. They have been pretty
liberally tried on all kinds of soil for
street trees. The result is they out-
grow all other kinds beside them, are
bright and clean in foliage, symmetrical
in form and stately in appearance. No
other kind so quickly makes a satisfac-
tory shade tree for the street or park.
I have not yet seen, among the many
hundreds here, an ' ill shaped ' one or a
' broken branch.' "

Thomas Meehan says of it, '•' When
unsurrounded by any other tree it
branches out close to the ground, and
presents a fine conical appearance till
it gets old, when it becomes somewhat
irregular and rough. Few trees are
better fitted to foi'm a single object on
a lawn or in a park ; the very pecu-
liarity of its foliage and appearance
sugwestinw the exclusiveness in which
it would stand in order to show off its

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

167

entire beauty. It thrives best in
strong, clayey or micaceous soils." He
adds, "It is short-lived in towns, and
soon shows a distaste for city life."
Some fine specimens are to be seen
sxrowinar on one of the streets of St.
Catliarines, but perhaps the city has
not yet become so large as to be dis-
tasteful to the Liriodendron. They
are handsome at all times, and particu-
larly atfci-active when covered with
their large, yellow, tulip-shaped flowers.

AN ORCHARD FERTILIZER.

The best fertilizer I have used for
fruit trees is chip-dirt from the wood-
pile, and old ashes. I mix in the pro-
l>ortion of one bushel of the ashes to
three of the chip-dirt, stirring well with
the shovel. About two bushels of this
mixture is to be spread around each
young tree, giving large, well-grown
trees more. The manure is applied at
any season. Do not pile around the
trees any litter or rubbish that would
harbour mice. In summer keep the
weeds from around the trees. Ex-
perience has taught me that this fertil-
lizer serves a very important purpose,
not only in supplying the trees with
suitable food, but in mellowing the soil,
and helping on such crops as I may
choose to plant in my orchard. It is
an excellent fertilizer for any crop,
annual or perennial, and the ashes (from
hard-wood), supply the trees with the
element they most need, and the soil
lacks, namely potash.

It is a pleasure to see how a young
orchard will thrive after an application
of this fertilizer. Sometimes I burn
logs to get ashes for this purpose, and
if I have no chip-dirt, I go to a dead oak
or hickory, and scrape together the
fallen bits of bark, and the rich earth
around the tree. It is a very good
substitute for the chip-dirt. It is ob-
vious that this material is rich in the
elements of food of trees. I believe in

keeping fruit trees well fed, and that
a large space around each tree should be
given exclusively to the tree from
which to draw its supplies. I never
plant close to my trees, preferring to
have them branch low, and to trim
down rather than up. — B. W. Jones in
American Agriculturist yor March.

A NEW REMEDY FOR THE IMPORTED
CABBAGE WORM.

Professor C. V. Riley says : " One
of my correspondents, Mr. Chaides H.
Erwin, of Painted Po.st, IST. Y., has
accidentally hit upon so simple and yet,
according to his experience, so perfect
a remedy for the imported cabbage
worm that I w4sh to give his experience
as much publicity as possible, that it
may be widely tested and, if possible,
verified the coming season. It is, to
sum up an extended experience which
he narrates, simply ice cold water, or
water but a few degrees warmer than
ice water, sprinkled upon the worms
during the heat of the day. Mr.
Erwin found that such an application
in the hot sun caused them to quickly
let go their hold upon the leaves, curl
up, roll to the ground, and die, while
the cabbages suffered nothing, but look-
ed all the fresher for the application.

Should this method prove as success-
ful with others as it has with him, it
is evident that we have here a remedy
of very general application, and one
which in cheapness and simplicity far
ti'anscends the Pyrethrum which, since
I discovered its value for the purpose,
in 1880, has been, on the whole, our
safest and most satisfactory remedy
against Pieris rapae. Where ice is
readily obtainable, as in the moi'e
Northern States, or where cold springs
obtain, Mr. Erwin's discoveiy will prove
of very great value to cabbage growers,
and will probably prove just as useful
against some of the other cabbage
worms." — Scientific American.

163

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

WILD FLOWERS,

BY AUGUSTUS WATTERS.

Oil I rlainty baby foresters

Tliat hide in silent nooks,
That liui,'ur by the cowpaths

And iieep into the brooks ;
Your dimples bring me back again

The merry days of old,
When every wood was fairy-land

And buttercups were gold.

By mossy rocks and nodding ferns

You lift your timid eyes.
And by the wounded maple trees

III smiling groups arise.
No more the shrieking winter winds

Affright the naked woods.
But all the scented aisles are gay

With Flora's dappled hoods.

Again the daisy's snowy sails

O'erspread the grassy seas,
Again a thousand tiny masts

Bend low before the breeze ;
And daffodils, in scented robes,

On sunny knolls are seen.
And dandelions, like little suns.

Shine out amid the green.

Though years have sped since first for me

You made the meadows bright.
And many a suuset-tinted dreaiu

Has faded into night.
Still do I hail with boyish love

The violet's balmy breath —
Still joy to see the crocus burst

From winter's icy death.

I trace the tints of deathless Hope

In all your tender beauty,
Yi( tiny bards that sing to man

^\lid stony paths of duty,
Th\it whisper of a paradise

'l^he toiling years shall give,
When grief, aud hate, and death shall die,

And only love shall live I

Hydranga Paniculata Grandiflora.
— This shrub deserves much more atten-
tion than has been usually bestowed upon
it. It's an easy growing plant, very profuse
bloomer, bearing extra large showy
panicles of pure white flowers — some-
times tinged with pink as it ages — holds
its blossoms an exceedingly long period,
blossoms in fall when no other shrubs are
in flower, and its blossoms make nice dried
parlor ornaments in winter. We con-
sider it one of the best, and too long
neglected. It deserves a place every-
where. -r-P aimer' s Monthly.

Thk Dahlia in the Gakden. — The
Dahlia is, no doubt, destined to be more
prominent in good gardens than it ever
yet has been. The tall, handsome plants
with large double flowers will occupy con-

spicuous places where they will show to
advantage. The bedding or dwarf varie-
ties will be raised in masses in beds and
on the borders of shrubberies ; the bou-
quet and single varieties will be valued as
cut flowers. Thus there is a special
value to each class, and blooming, as they
all do, in the autumn, they are without
rivals in their season. — Vick's Magazine.

Most Profitable Strawberries. —
This season's experience will teach our
strawberry growers the advantage of
planting late ripening varieties. To
secure good paying prices those sorts
shoidd be grown which ripen after the
main crop from the South has been mar-
keted. So long as the South continues to
ship this fruit in large quantities the earlier
varieties should be left to that section and
only grown here for home market. Among
the late ripening sorts are Sucker State,
Sharpless, Crescent, Cornelia, Jumbo,
Windsor Chief, Mt. Vernon and Cumber-
land.— Farmer and Fruit Grotver.

CoDLiN Moth. — Mr. Moody, of Lock-
port, states that farmers of Niagara
County spray their apple trees with water
containing a very little Paris green in
suspension, with marked success in pre-
venting injury from this insect. He uses
a force pump with the liquid for spraying,
placed upon a farm waggon. An attach-
ment ccmnected with the rear wheel of
the waggon, operates the pump and keeps
the liquid stirred, so that a single man is
enabled to drive the team and syringe the
trees. Upon trees sprayed with the mix-
ture two or more years in succession, the
codlin moth is almost unknown.

Advice TO Fruit Growers for Hard
Times. — " It will certainly do no good to
grumble and complain of hard times,
trying to make ourselves believe that
times are worse than they really are. Let
us rather bring to bear on our respective
pursuits increased skill, energy and per-
severance. We must be prepared for
these periods of depression, * hard times,'
for they are sure to come sooner or later,
and generally sooner. The preparation
we need to make is to become first-class
cultivators. Poor farming, poor fruit-
growing and gardening, will always fare
badly in hard times. — Vick's Magazine.

PRINTED AT THK STEAM PRESS ESTABLISHMENT OF COPP, CLARK * CO., COLBORHE BTKEET, TORONTO.

'S'wWu

^p-

JEFFERSON GRAPE,

PAINTED FOR THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

VOL. VIII.]

THE

liftl

AUGUST, 1885.

[No. 8.

THE JEFFERSOK aRAPE.

Such is the excellence of this grape
that we hailed its introduction with
more than usual satisfaction. The fruit
that it was our privilege to test was
not only very pleasant to the eye, but
also delicious to the taste ; the flesh,
while somewhat meaty, was tender and
juicy, with a rich, aromatic and slightly
vinous flavor. The fruit possessed also
the very desirable quality of -rnain-
taining its freshness for a long time
after being gathered. The vines also
are healthy and very vigorous, and the
leaves thick and downy, and as it was
reported to ripen with, or very soon
after the Concord, it was expected that
the JeSerson would be a very desirable
acquisition.

The object specially in view in thus
calling attention so prominently to this
grape, is to obtain from our readers
their experience with it thus far, and
to request them to note carefully its
performance this season, and to com-
municate their observations to the
Canadian Horticulturist for the benefit
of others. We are entertaining some
fears lest this excellent grape shall be
found to ripen too late for any but the
warmest sections of Ontario, and are
desirous of laying befoi'e our readers all

the information that can be obtained
with regard to its adaptation to our
climate. It is disappointing to plant
an otherwise very desirable fruit if it
turns out at last that our summer
season is too short or too cool to admit
of its ripening perfectly. If, on the
contrary, experiment shall have demon-
strated that the Jefierson will thrive
and bring its grapes to perfection in
any considerable part of Ontario, those
who desire to plant choice fruits of the
finest quality, will be greatly gratified
to know the fact.

Fortunately, we have some excellent
grapes that do ripen sufficiently early
to be planted with confidence over a
very large part of Ontario. The Early
Victor is one of these. It is a chance
seedling, having no known parentage,
that has been cultivated and dissemin-
ated by Mr. John Burr, of Leaven-
worth, Kansas. We have found the
vine to be perfectly hardy here, healthy,
vigorous, and very productive. The
bunches and berries greatly resemble
the Clinton in size and color. The
flesh of the grapes is slightly pulpy,
has a most agreeable sprightly vinous
flavor, without the least trace of foxi-
ness whatever. The fruit ripens a

no

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

little earlier than the Hartford Prolific.
We can confidently commend this var-
iety to the attention of our I'eaders.

The Brighton is another good grape
that ripens before the Delaware ; but
larger, both in bunch and berry. It is
of a dark maroon color when fully ripe,
juicy, sweet, and slightly aromatic. It
should be eaten as soon as it is gathered,
for it loses its sprightliness if kept.
This variety is reported as doing well
at Trenton, Ont., and other places of
similar climate.

There is no need of enumerating here
all the eai'ly ripening varieties that
may be planted without hesitation.
What is needed more than a list of such
varieties is the conviction on the part
of planters, that if they would enjoy
good ripe grapes they must take care
of their vines, and particularly not
allow them to over-bear. Proper thin-
ning out of supernumerary bunches
will make fully a week of difterence in
the time of ripening ; nay, more. We
have often seen vines so over-loaded
with fruit that they could not and did
not ripen their crop at all.

THE AMERICAN POMOLOGICAL
SOCIETY.

The next meeting of tliis Society
will be held at Grand Rapids, in the
State of INIichigan, on the 9th, 10th,
and 11th of September next. The
Michigan State Hoi-ticultural Society
and other kindred associations are put-
ting forth combined efforts to make a
grand display of fruits on the occasion.
Doubtless Secretary Garfield, so favor-
ably known to many of our readex's as

an enthusiastic and indefatigable worker
in horticultural matters, will shew the
world what Michigan can produce in
the way of fruits, and possibly flowers
as well. The State Legislature appro-
priated one thousand dollars for the
pur[)ose of defraying the expenses in-
cident to the collecting and exhibiting
of the fruits of the State at this meet-
ing, which will be attended by repre-
sentative men from all parts of the
United States and British Provinces.
Lectures will be delivered by some of
the highest pomological authorities on
the continent, profusely illustrated with
charts and diagi'ams.

The Secretary of the Fruit Growers'
Association of Ontario is authorized to
issue a certificate to any member who
intends' to attend the meeting at Grand
Papids, which will make him an accre-
dited delegate of our Association to the
American Pomological Society, and
entitle him to a seat in the Assembly,
and all railway and hotel commutations.
Membei-s intending to attend will please
apply for credentials to the Secretary,
D. W. Beadle, at St. Catharines.

THE TORONTO INDUSTRIAL FAIR.

We have received from Mr. Hill,
Secretary of the Toronto Industrial
Fair, which is to be held this year
from the 7th to the 19th September, a
copy of the Prize List, in which is
offered over 825,000 in premiums, a
large proportion of which is for Live
Stock and Agiicultural Products, (fcc.
The Directors announce that they are
preparing an immense programme of
Special Attractions, which they promise
will eclipse any of theii- previous efforts.
Any one desiring a copy of the Prize

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

.171

List or other information in connection
with this Exhibiton, will secure it by-
dropping a post card to the Secretary,
at Toronto.

CALIFORNIA FRUITS.

A subscriber residing in California
writes to us that their fruits are ob-
tained from all countries. The Japan
plum is a dwarf tree with very large
fruit, dark color, peculiar flavor and
productive. We have no finer apricots
than the old Moor Park and Royal.
There are a good many California seed-
ling peaches, but Early Crawford and
Foster are most in demand, Susque-
hanna, &c. In extra early nothing
better than Alexander and Waterloo.
Our best jDlums are Pond's Seedling
and Victoria, very productive, Reine
Claude de Bavay, Purple Gage, Im-
perial Gage, and for canning the Yel-
low Egg. If you know of any cherry
that is superior in keeping qualities to
the Napoleon Bigarreau please to let me
know.

PEACHES IN NEW JERSEY. I

Julius Johnson has fifteen acres in
peach trees, planted twelve years ago.
He grows no crop in his orchard, culti-
vates the ground thoroughly and man-
ures Avith wood ashes and stable man-
ure. He has netted eighteen thousand
dollars from this orchard. W. J. Case
has an orchard of eleven acres, planted
in 1874. Since 1879 he has applied
annually four hundred pounds of
ground bone to the acre, and obtained
for the fruit eleven thousand three
hundred and sixty-eight dollars net.
Soil clay. S. K. Everett uses bone and
muriate of potash in equal quantities
at the rate of 350 pounds per acre.
Soil clay loam, cultivated without any
other crop. For four years past he
has realized $900 per acre. Tlie Coun-
try Gentleman is our authority, who

gleaned the facts from the fifth annual
report of the New Jersey Experiment
Station.

VERY HARDY FRUITS.

The Home Farm, published at Aug-
usta, Maine, states that the following
varieties came out all right this season ;
having endured, during the winter, a
cold of thirty-five, thirty-eight, forty,
and once forty-two degrees below zero,
and on the seventh of June were mak-
ing a strong growth : Of Apples, they
are, Chai'lottenthalei-, Duchess of Old-
enburg, Golden White, Grand Sultan,
Green Crimean, St. Peter, Switzer,
Tetofsky, and Yellow Transparent ;
which all ripen in the summer and
fall ; and Antonouka, Ai-abka, Bog-
danoff, Longfield, Red and Yellow
Anis, Titouka, and Winter Aport ;
which ripen later. The varieties such
as Red Astrachan, Alexander, Mcintosh
Red, Pewaukee, Ben Davis, Fameuse,
Mann, etc., which have been often
styled " Iron-clad," are stated to be not
anything like ironclad. To the above
named Russian apples the writer adds
Wealthy and Scott's Winter as per-
fectly hardy in the coldest parts of
New England ; likewise Walbridge and
Wolf River.

Of Pears, he says Clapp's Favoritt-
and Flemish Beauty, and some others,
not named, which have for the past
seven years seemed to be unharmed,
ai^e this season dead or dying ; but of
his dozen or more sorts fi'om Eastei'i!
Europe, not one was injured. He
names only two of these, the Besse
mianka and Sapieganka.

Of Cherries, the following have win-
tered well, viz. : Double Natte, Griotte
du Nord, Lieb, Large Montmorency,
and Ostheim.

Of Plums, the writer says, " last
winter was a scorcher for Moore's
Arctic, all my trees are badly hurt ; '

172

THE CANADIAN HORTICCLTDKIST.

and adds that of all the older sorts
only the Blue and Yellow Orleans,
cooking varieties from the Island of
Orleans, below Quebec, came through
unharmed. Two Russian trees received
by him from Prof. Budd. without name,
are quite uninjured.

The writer concluded by saying?
" that in the experience of this test-
winter of 1884-'85 the value of the tree
fruits of North- Eastern Europe, and
especially of Russia, looms up grandly
as the only salvation for the fruit
growers in the cold north in Amei"ica."

PERMANGANATE OF POTASH.

Mr. N. Robertson, Superintendent
of Government Grounds, Ottawa, writes
to the Gardener's Monthly that after
reading in the Canadian Horticulturist
the extract which was taken from the
Garden, England, giving the beneficial
effects of watering plants with a solu-
tion of Permanganate of Potash, he was
induced to give it a trial. The result
of his trial fully corroborates what was
said of it in the extract from the Garden.
He says an amateur of considerable
experience told him that his plants
never looked as well as they do this
year, and adds that his primulas are
especially fine. Green fly has entirely
disappeared. He has doubled the
quantity and syringes with it every
second night. Mildew on roses has
disappeared, and the plants seem to
have renewed \-igoi-. In using it for
syi'inging he finds that when it is
allowed to stand mixed for any time it
is liable to leave marks on the leaves,
but not if it is newly mixed. Although
it kills green fly, he says that it will
not prevent new broods from coming,
and every one ought to know how fast
that is. Permanganate of Potash is a
cheap article, and can be easily pro-
cured. Will not other gardeners give
it a trial, and give the public the bene-

fit of their experience. The English
gardener took as many crystals as
covered a six-penny piece and dissolved
them in one gallon of water for water-
ing the soil, but for syringing used
double the quantity of water.

THE CABBAGE AND ONION MAGGOT.

Professor Lintner, New York State
Entomologist, in a communication to
the Country Gentleman, says, " per-
haps nothing better for the purpose of
killing the pupae could be used than
gas-lime, fresh from the works, spread
upon the ground after the removal of
the crop, at the rate of two hundred
bushels per acre." This is suggested
because the maggots pass the winter in
the ground in the pupa state near the
place where the cabbage or onions
grew, and the gaslime would be strong
enough to kill them. The professor
adds that thorough ploughing and har-
rowing the ground several times, with
intervening intervals, would kill a large
proportion of the pupse.

A PROMISING NATIVE PLUM.
At the last meeting of the Fruit
Growers' Association several of the
members spoke of a red plum of good
quality, especially valuable for canning,
the tree of which was very hardy and
very prolific. It was described as being
of good size, nearly as large as the
Lombard, sweet and ripening early.
From what we could leai-n on further
inquiry we believe that this is a variety
of the wild plum of the Country which
has been cultivated by the inhabitants
of that section on account of its good
qualities, and that it deserves attention.
It will be much more valuable to us
than the Miner or Wild Goose which
are shy bearers here, and ripen late.
We hope to receive some samples of the
fruit when ripe, and if we do shall
give our readers a more complete des-
cription of its appearence and qviality.

THE CANADIAIT HORTICULTURxeiT.

173

THE BLUElJtiUiV.

THE BLUEBERRY.
We clip from the Prairie Farmier
the following communication regarding
this berry, and at the same time give
an illustration which the writer of the
communication seems to regard as a
good representation of the fruit. It
appears to us that the berries are larger
than those found crowine: in our

swamps, but cultivation and care may
make much difference in the size of the
fruit. If any of our readers have
grown it in their gardens or fields, we
should be much gratified to learn the
results : —

The blueberry is one of the most valu-
able fruits gx'own, and in extreme north-
ern latitudes, where most other fruits

174

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

A\-iiiter kill, is perfectly hardy and a regu-
lar bearer ; yields a full crop in seasons
when all other fruits fail. The fruit
ripens in this latitude about tlie 1st of
July, and is borne in clusters, like the
currant. The fruit is about the size of
the wild gooseberry ; shape, round ; color,
a bluish-black. When fully ripe, the
flavour is equal to the raspberry, a very
mild, rich sub-acid, considered by most
people delicious. Single bushes will often
yield ten and twelve quarts in a season.
The plant is about the height and size of
the currant bush, and very stocky, hold-
in:; the fruit well up from the ground. It
commences bearing the first year after
setting out, and furnishes a full crop the
. second and third j^ears. Spring, during
April and IMay, is the best time for trans-
planting. The plants, are propagated
frnn root-cuttings, the same as blackber-
ries, but unlike the latter, the canes will
continue to bear five or six years. The
berries are very fxrai, being successfully
shipped hundreds of mdes. The demand
for the fruit is great, and it brings on an
average fifteen cents per quart wholesale.

Delos Staples.
loxiA Co., ilich.

THE ANiNUAL REPORT

Of the Fruit Grower's Association for
the year 1884 is published at last, and
before this reaches the readers of the
Canadian Horticulturist the Report
will have been mailed to all the mem-
bers. We commend it to their careful
study, believing that it will richly
repay them. The discussions at the
several meetings have been accurately
taken down by a competent steno-
grapher and will be found to express
the opinions of men whose views
are the outcome of long expei-ience,
coupled with habits of observation and
reflection.

The range of subjects discussed will
be found to be very great. Fruits of
every sort usually grown in our climate,
many of the vegetables, flowering 2:)lants,
ornamental shrubs, trees, injurious
insects, bii-ds, &c., are spoken of in a

way that cannot fail to be helpful to
any one who takes the least interest in
the cultivation of any of the fruits or
flowers.

The last fifty pages contains in tabul-
ated form such information in regard
to the several varieties of Apple, Pear,
Plum, and Grapes that are grown
in the difierent counties, as the
Directors of the association were able to
obtain.

This Report, so full of important
information, and the Canadian Hor-
ticulturist, which is issued on the first
of every month, are supplied to any one
on payment of one dollar a year. Is
there any cultivator of even the smallest
garden who can get a better retui-n than
this from the expenditure of One
Dollar?

FLORICULTURE IX THE SCHOOLS.

Perhaps some will say that the Fiiiit
Growers were going very far beyond
their proper limits when they took up
the discussion of the cultivation of
flowers in connection with our common
schools. But it was high time that it
should be discussed somewhere by some
persons competent to discuss it, and
one will go far and search long without
finding a body of men more intelligent
or more competent than the fruit
growers of Ontario.

Our boasted system of common school
education is far from being perfect, far
from being abreast of the times. The
scholastic ideas of the past ages have
great need of being thoroughly re-
examined in the light of the needs of
the present time. Mental discipline
can be secured by other means than by
abstruse arithmetical conundrums.
Habits of observation and some know-
ledge of things about us, are of more
importance than much of the teaching
now in vogue. Live, wide awake,
observant, pi-actical men and women

THK CANADIAN HORTICULTUKIST.

175

are tlie men and women that the times
demand, and our present system of
common school education is not as well
calculated to produce such as it might
be, as it ought to be. It needs to be
made vastly more practical than it is
at present.

It is to be hoped that the discussions
under this head, which will be found
from page 45 to page 53 of the Report
of 1884, will be read and weighed by
every parent in the Province, and that
our educationists and our Minister of
Education will see that there is room,
nay necessity, for improvement in the
direction here indicated.

PEACHES IX NIAGARA DISTRICT.

The crop of peaches in this fai'-tamed
fruit region will not be a full average,
but the sample promises to be of very
fine quality. We called recently to see
the orchard of Mr. Osmond, who is one
of the most successful peach-growers
anywhere, and found many of the trees
well laden with fruit. He cultivates
the ground thoroughly, not allowing a
weed to be seen, and never grows any
crop but peaches in the orchard. His
fruit is always fine and commands a
ready sale at the highest price. His
orchards are on high ground that is
perfectly drained, and the soil is a
strong loam. .-..

CRANBERRIES.
At the summer meeting of the Fruit
Growei-s' Association some one asked
for information concerning the cultiva-
tion of Cranberries. Reply was made
by the Secretary and such information
given as could be imparted in a few
words condensed into the short space of
time that can be given to the answering
of questions. "We mention this to call
the attention of those who are desii'ous
of further information on this subject
to the excellent paper of Mr. A. McD.

Allan at page 149 of the Report of the
Fi'uit Growers' Association for 1884,
where they will find the needed infor-
mation given in the fewest possible
words.

THE CHAMPION GRAPE.

The hardiness of this grape is some-
thing remarkable. Mr. Francis Cole-
man residing in Hamilton, writes to
us that the past severe winter killed
some of his vines and trees, but the
Champion grape vine is as full and
promising as ever. If this grape were
of better quality it would be the most
valuable vai-iety we have for this
climate.

PARIS GREEN FOR CURCULIO.

Three fruit-growers have recently
told us that they spi-ayed their plum
trees this season with Paris green,
using a teaspoonful to two gallons of
water, and that their ti-ees are now
loaded with fruit.

QUESTION DRAWER.

Dear Sir, — I have taken your valu-
able monthly for the last two years,
and am well pleased with it. The
Worden grape I got for premium for
1883, I may say I killed it with kind-
ness, as a friend of mine told me that
a little ashes was good, so I gave it a
little, but I think my little was a little
too much; but the Prentiss I got in
the spring of 1884, did far better last
summer than some I planted the fall
of 1883.

I have only a small garden, but to
keep things doing well I can always
see something wants doing. I think
there is a good bit of truth in the letter
from Farmer and Fruit Grower in last
number, as no matter how small the
garden or farm, if it will pay at all, it
will pay to work it well.

176

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

Will you kindly inform me, through
your next monthly, when is the best
time to chop down a black ash swail to
keep them from budding again.

T trust the Horticulturist will get
greater success than ever, as it should
be in every hoi;sehold.

Wm. Barn house.

Flesherton, March 9th, 1885.

Reply. — Will some of our readers
who have experience in chopping black
ash please reply.

WHAT THE PEOPLE SAY.

STKAWBERRIES BEARING THIS
YEAR.

BY T. C. ROBINSON, OWEN SO0ND.

(For the Canadian Horticulturist.)

The fruiting season is very late with
us this year ; so that at this date, July
9th — beyond which I must not wait if
I am to reach the columns of the Hor-
ticulturist for August — the crop is npt
half ripe. This fact makes me cautious
in judging of the later sorts, which are
just coming in. (Notice that my land
is sandy-loam, and all kinds grown for
fruit are cultivated on the " Hill Sys-
tem.")

The first variety to ripen in quantity
was the Crescent, as usual. On the
last day of June it gave a good pick-
ing of very choice fruit, which sold
rapidly at highest pi'ices.

Early Canada appears to be slightly
earlier than Crescent, but the demand
for plants has so restricted my fruiting
of this sort that I could not make a
fair comparison of it with others. The
berry is about the size of Wilson, of
about the same color, but not so glossy,
and I think the crop about equal, but
the bei-ry is less firm than Wilson.
Early Canada appears to have decided
value as an early berry for a not too
distant market.

The Wilson followed on the 3rd of
July, having allowed two clear pickings
of Crescent before it. came in. As
picked for sale there is practically no
difference noticeable between these
varieties. The Wilson is slightly sourer
and darker colored, the Crescent a lit-
tle softer and not quite so rich ; both
kinds retail by dealers for " Prime
Wilson" while the size is large, and
job off" for " Small Wilsons" when tlie
size runs down. On sandy loam the
Crescent appears the more productive,
and increases its relative superiority as
you plant on higher land, but on clay
loam I would prefer Wilson. The two
earlier pickings of Crescent make it
much more profitable than Wilson on
sandy soil ; but the Crescent blossom is
deficient in pollen, so that we plant
every sixth row with Wilson or Early
Canada, which have perfect blossoms.

The Bidwell gave us its first picking
the day after Wilson came in. The
berries show the usual defects of irre-
gular shape, especially at first, green-
ness at the tip after the body of the
berry is ripe, and lack of firmness fo
long shipment. But the plant grows
double the size of Wilson, the foliage is
remarkably healthy, the berry is much
larger and sweeter, and the crop
promises to exceed Wilson and Cres-
cent per acre to even a greater extent
than last year. We find that wlien
people get used to the green tip they
will ask for Bidwell in preference to
others. This variety has given me the
most profit of all from equal areas.

Seneca Queen came in about with
Bidwell, perhaps a day earlier. It is
also a magnificent sort for a near mar-
ket. Last year I thought it decidedly
behind Bidwell in productiveness : it
may prove so this year before the sea-
son is over ; but it certainly is well to
the front just now. Like the Bidwell
it makes a very large plant, but the
foliage is dai"ker and more upright. The

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

177

berry ripens up more evenly than Bid^
well, is about eqnal in flavor and in
firmness of texture, but is larger, really
rivalling the famous Sharpless. The
shape of the berry is just the opposite
of Bidwell, being rather flat and very
wide and circular, not a pretty shape
you would think before seeing it, but
the men say it sells best of all early
varieties. About the 6th inst. we
found Sharpless and Windsor Chief fit
to pick. The former maintains p-etty
fairly its reputation of the biggest
strawberry in the patch. But the crop
seems to me only about half as large as
Bidwell, and the big berries are rather
soft, and of all sha{)es as usual. Still
it will not do to pooh pooh the Sharp-
less ; its size and sweetness must long
keep it in favor ; it is really a vigorous
grower, and is not at all to be called
unproductive. I have seen it bearing
great crops on rich clay loam.

If vigor of growth, great productive-
ness of large and very smooth, hand-
some fruit was all we wanted in a
strawberry, then, perhaps, the Windsor
Chief would stand first of all. But we
want a berry that tastes good, and that
has some firmness, while this variety is
both soft and sour with a flattish, half-
smoky flavor thrown in. Yet it sells j
so well, with its beautiful gloss and
fine size, and it keeps in heavy beai'ing
so long that it is quite profitable.
Leave it on the plant till it is nearly
black with ripeness and it tastes very
good indeed, in the absence of other
sorts. Blossom imperfect.

Longfellow, planted in every sixth
row among Windsor Chief, to pollenize
it, is a most utter failure. It grows
well enough, and the berries are large
and delicious, but I think a row of a
hundred plants does not contain as
much fruit as I can find on three plants
of Windsor Chief.

About with Bidwell and Windsor
Chief began to ripen all remaining

varieties on the place, except Man-
chestei', James Vick, Atlantic, Jersey
Queen and Marvin. The latter has
not ripened a berry yet. The others
just mentioned have just come in, and
will be desci'ibed in due order. First
let us notice some of the newer varie-
ties.

Moodna, Polopel, Legal Tender,
Nigh's Sujierh, Vineland, Grand Duke,
and Belle, do not appear of any special
value on my place. The first two seem
quite unproductive ; Legal Tender bears
pretty well, but is rough in ovitline
(seeds deeply sunk), and is inferior to
many old kinds ; ditto Vineland and
Nigh's Superb ; and Grand Duke is too
aristocratic,with his smooth rich berries,
to do much without very I'ich soil and
careful petting ; so also the Belle. Let
us drop from sight, and try hard to for-
get, all new sorts that are not superior
to old varieties in important particulars.

Cornelia is a fine large berry, quite
firm too, but rather acid. It seems to
go in for fruiting vigorously, and it
makes a fine plant ; but I mangled the
roots too sorely in taking up young
plants to let it have a fair chance. It
is certainly promising, but I feel as if
I don't know enough about it to praise
it much.

Prince of Berries is a most interest-
ing member of a high-toned family from
New Jersey. The Great American, I
think, was the first of the strain that I
became acquainted with— it was a dude
that would barely average three berries
to the plant ! Another of the family,
the Essex Beauty, attained a temporary
celebrity, but I fought shy of the breed
till the Jersey Queen tempted me with
an extra flourish of trumpets. The
Jersey Queen was really good, nearly
as large as Sharpless, and truly deli-
cious, while with good cultivation it
would bear fairly. In the Prince of
Berries this aristocratic line has made
a still nearer approach to the wants of

178

THE CANADIAN HORTICCLTURIST.

the people. The Prince of Berries is a
fail- grower, bears more, I think, than
Jersey Queen, and though not so lai-ge,
has the further superiority of perfect
blossoms and greater firmness, while it
impresses me as the most delicious
berry I have ever eaten. Yet it is a
berry for a gentleman's garden. Those
who grow strawbei'ries mainly for the
quantity of fruit will do well to let it
alone. I am so interested in the be-
havior of this variety that I hope the
originator will go on with his work of
raising new varieties till he gets the
fine flavor of his seedlings down to the
level of the people's gardens as to pro-
ductiveness.

Atlantic has ripened a few fine berries
of good color and quite firm ; but it is
quite late, and so I cannot say much
about it. It sets a large quantity of
fruit, which, if a fair proportion ripens
up to good size, must establish its
character for productiveness. The
berry is about the shape and size of
Bidwell, but it ripens up without the
" green tip." I regard this variety as
quite promising.

Of all new varieties — previous to
introductions of this season, which, of
course, I have not tested — I am most
impressed with the value of the Lacon.
Not that it' is so very large, or so very
handsome, or so delicious ; but it com-
bines above the average of these points
with about the highest degi-ee of vigor,
health and productiveness, that I have
seen. The berry is conical, about the
shai^e of a large Wilson, but not so
iri-egular as the largest specimens of
Wilson. Color very like Wilson when
Wilson first reddens and is tit to pick,
but it stays that color, instead of assum-
ing the dull dark tint of fully ripened
Wilson. Size about equal to Bidwell,
or say half-way between Wilson and
Sharpless. Flavor about as rich as
Wil^son (the Wilson is really a richly-
flavored berry), with a little more sugar

than Wilson when Wilson is at its
best. My fruiting plants are between
rows of black currant bushes which are
six feet apart. There, starved by the
roots of the curi'ants, and weakened
by all the plants possible having been
propagated and removed, to the mang-
ling of root growth, during both 1883
and 1884, it yet makes about the
largest plants on the place, covers itself
with blossoms and faithfully develops
them into berries such as above des-
cribed. How can a plant do more, and
what more is needed for a commoner's
strawberry patch 1 Furthermore, why
is it that some nurserymen cannot stop
from puffing up their novelties to give
this choice sort its j ust meed of praise ?
Of course theie is not so much money
per dozen in selling Lacon, but then
it pays to sell the people a really good
thing. I must not omit to remark that
the Lacon does not seem firm enough
for long shipment — hardly up to Cres-
cent, perhaps, in this respect ; and it is
not so .smooth and glossy as Wilson.
But I believe it will sell better for
home market, and I shall be surprised
if it does not outyield Bidwell or Ci-es-
cent.

Mrs. Garfield bears a pretty berry,
but will not grow well for me, and
yields poorly.

Daniel Boone grows well, and bears
freely of large, handsome, moderately
firm, rather acid berries. It is a better
variety with me than many others, but
does not reach the front rank.

Arnold's Pride has done a great deal
better for me this year than ever before.
I think it rather insipid, but it is cer-
tainly very large, and the few plants
left from the destruction with which I
visited so many have really set a great
crop. It makes a large plant, and the
berry is very handsome.

Jlaggie, a sister of the last named,
sets, as usual, more fruit than it can
carry to maturity. The plant is about

THK CAWADIAN HORTIGULTUKIST.

179

the size of Wilson, and I think it bears
a little more, but the fruit is rather
rough and unattractive. It deserves a
better chance also.

James Vick has not yet received a
fair trial with me. I was so anxious
to get all the plants I could, that I
suffered the runners all to grow ; and,
thus encouraged, it forms more strong
young plants than I have seen made by
any other variety. The taking vip of
these, or in some places the hoeing of
them out, of course injured the roots
to the shortening of the supply of sap.
Certainly no plant could mature a large
crop of fruit under such circumstances.
Yet nothing seems to discourage the
James Vick from the attempt. Every
plant covered itself with blossoms, and
persists in putting out new blossoms
for a whole month. I could not expect
berries of any size under such condi-
tions. Here and there I got one an
inch and a quarter in diameter, but I
am utterly unable from experience to
give a fair idea of the normal size of
this variety. But the size is the only
questionable point. It is one of the
handsomest berries — uniform in shape,
smooth in outline, bright in color ; and
it is a very strong healthy grower, and
remarkably productive, setting far more
fruit than Wilson. It ripened with
me about four or five days after Wilson
began. I think it firmer than Wilson.

Manchester stands again about head
of the class in value. It began to ripen
about with James Vick, or say July
(Sth, and so it is too early to say how
the berries will hold out in size ; but
in respect of size, so far, it seems to be
outdoing even its fine record of last
year. Why I have hardly ever seen a
Sharpless that would excel the first
specimens of Manchester in bulk.
True, scattered specimens of Sharpless
would measure more in diameter or
circumference, and now and then one
will weigh an ounce and a half; but

hei-e, on almost every plant, are Man-
chesters that would crowd the weight
of all, but the one or two selected
Sharpless. I have never seen any-
thing average so large as these Man-
chesters on rich loam, and the quality
tastes better to me than Bidwell or
Sharpless. I do not consider the Man-
chester a good shipper, though it may
travel a little better than Bidwell.
The color is a shade too light to suit
me, but most people do not mind.
Productiveness about like Crescent. It
is very smooth and regular.

Jumho appears to be only Cumbei--
land Triumph with a new name.

Park Beauty is just Crescent re-
christened.

Jockey Cap and Howell also appear
to be old soi'ts out with new names.
It may be too soon to judge from speci-
mens gi'own on plants set this spring.
But in color, shape, texture and quality,
as well as in habits of growth. Jockey
Gap too much resembles the old Miner's
Prolific, and Hoioell the old Jucunda,
for me to have mvich interest left in
either of them.

Parry, set out this spring, bore a few
berries, that were very large for such
young plants, firm, and exceedingly
glossy and handsome. The flavor also
was excellent, and if the Parry can do
much of that sort of thing when full
grown, there are lots of varieties that
will have to get out of the way for it.

Beyond all doubt the most beautiful
berry I have seen, grew this year on a
new variety which I got from New
Jersey this spring, and which is to be
sent out next fall (this midsummer in
fact) by Mr. J. T. Lovett, with a
floui'ish of trumpets, I suppose, that
will leave my praise of it in the rear.
Well, anyway, the fruit was about an
inch and a quarter long (lar^e for a
plant only set this spring) about the
shape of the best formed berries of
Atlantic shown in the coloi-ed j^late

180

THE CANADIAN HOKTIUULTUKIST.

issued in the Horticulturist some
months ago, and of the most attractive
tint of rosy-scarlet upon a glossy sur-
face like wax. If I could only know
how productive it is it would be well
worth my while to say so perhaps ;
but I must wait another year for that.
The plant is a fine, strong grower with
handsome foliage.

Other novelties this spring, such as
Daisy Miller, May King, Sucker State,
&c., have not fruited yet, so I must not
criticise them.

I trust other growers will not hesi-
tate to give the results of their ex-
perience with varieties this year. By
thus exchanging conclusions we are
certain to gain in knowing what to re-
ject as well as what to plant.

I am sorry that the stage of ripening
of my crop will not permit greater ac-
curacy in describing my own observa-
tions iia this paper.

THE LOCUST TREE.

BY L. WOOLVERTOX.

Probably in no part of Ontario are
there finer specimens of the " Locust"
tree than about Grimsby. The writer
has seven magnificent specimens in
front of his lawn, which he would not
part with for any money. Planted
some forty or fifty years ago they now
tower up to a height of fifty or sixty
feet, like giant sentinels on guard, or
like the columns of some huge temple.
Any other tree would hide from view
the lovely mountain side across the way,
but the tall leafless trunk of the locust
gives most interesting glimpses of the
beautiful landscape.

This tree is a native of North
America, but since its discovery in the
early part of the seventeenth century
immense numbers have been planted in
England and on the Continent, and it
is much valued as an ornamental tree.
The first seeds were sent to France in
the year 1635, and the botanical name

Robinia was given the genus from Yes-
pasion Robin, who first cultivated it in
Europe. The specific name Pseuda-
cacia means False Acacia ; the name
Acacia having been first given through
a mistaken notion that it was similar
to the Egyptian Acacia, because of its
prickles, and the resemblance of its
leaves.

Its common name. Locust tree, was
given it from a notion that it was the
tree so-called in Scripture.

The white, or yellow, flowers are
very numerous, and are called papil-
ionaceous, from their fancied resem-
blance to a butterfly ; they hang in
showy racemes, and are very fragrant.
At the time of writing (23rd June) the
air is laden with their perfume which
is " too sweet by half," like some peo-
ple, but it is not wasted for the bees are
most industriously transforming it into
honey.

The ovate leaves ai-e arranged along
a common petiole in such a way as to
give rise to the term odd-pinnate. They
have a peculiar habit of folding over
each other at night, and it is said that
a child, who had noticed this habit once
said, " It is not bedtime yet, for the
Acacia has not begun its prayers."

There are some objections to the tree
for lawn planting. Its deep corrugated
bark is not pretty, though peculiar ;
the branches are very brittle, and are
frequently broken by the wind, strew-
ing the lawn with fragments ; the
foliage appears very late in the spring,
and falls very early in autumn, giving
much rubbish for raking, and suckers
are almost sure to appear wherever the
ground is broken up by a plough or
spade.

It is a most useful timber tree, and
grows with astonishing rapidity, form-
ing heart wood at a very early age. No
wood excels it for certain purposes,
being more durable than that of any
other tree, unless it be the Yew. Stakes

TH?: CAIfADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

181

made of acacia wood have been known
to stand exposure for a hundred yeai's ;
and, when shipbuilders wish to use
wooden pins in place of iron bolts, they
select acacia wood, and call the pins
tree-nails. No wood is so valuable for
posts, hoops, cog-wheels, or carriage
axles.

The North American locust tree is
not so very long-lived ; but Von Mar-
tins, a traveller, states that in the
South American forest he found the
Great Locust Tree, a variety that lives
to an age of three or four thovisand
years. He speaks of one specimen so
lofty that the forms of the leaves could
not be made out, and having a trunk so
immense that fifteen Indians with out-
stretched arms could only just embrace
one of them.

In some parts of the country the
locust tree borer (clytus rohinue) has
done cfreat damage. It is one of the
long-horned beetles, and may frequently
be found upon the Golden-rod ; it may
be identified by the peculiar markings
of its back, where at the base of the
wing-covers a figure like W is easily
discernable. In some sections the lo-
cust tree cannot be grown on account of
this borer, but at Grimsby it flourishes
thus far in spite of him, and is the ad-
miration of travellers who are at all in-
terested in arboriculture.

PLUMS AT PORTSMOUTH.

I have about 100 plum trees grown
from suckers, some about ten years old.
The fruit is red. Large size, fine for
dessert or cooking. Trees very hardy,
fast growers, and free from knots.
Trees grown on sti'ong clay soil. I
will send a sample of the above to the
Fruit Growers' Association the first
opportunity.

Yours truly,

S. N. Watts.

Portsmouth, Out.

STRAWBERRIES.

Strawberry plants have come through
the winter in splendid condition. Of
the new varieties, Connecticut Queen
appears to be the most hardy ; in fact,
no other variety, either new or old, has
withstood the winter as well. Should
it prove to be productive, firm, and of
good size, it will be a valuable addition
to the list.

Mrs. Garfield was injured most of
any by the winter, although it is pick-
ing up well now.

In the May number of the HoHictd-
turist T. C. Robinson gives a good ar-
ticle on "hill culture" of strawberries,
and asks those of the " matted row
leanings to speak up." As I belong to
that class, I will have to " speak up."

My object in growing strawbetBO^
for market is to make money, and ftte
method that will give me the greatest
net returns for expenditure in labour,
etc., is the method I will follow. For
my section of tke country, that is the
" matted row sj^stem."

Mr. Robinson will no doubt succeed
in his locality with the " hill system,"
where they nearly always have the
plants well covered during the coldest
part of winter. He can also grow and
fruit Taylor's Prolific Blackberry, while
with me they kill down so far every
winter that I have never been able to
get a pint of fruit from it. My soil is
a strong clay loam, and when I grow in
hills they often kill out during the
severe cold of winter and freezing and
thawing of early spi'ing to such an ex-
tent that the ci-op is not nearly so large
as from those grown in matted rows
right by the side of them.

There is no doubt but finer fruit can
be grown by the " hill system," where
they are well pi-otected either by snow
or heavy mulching, especially on light
soil ; but the labour required to keep
the runners cut adds so much to the
expense of growing, together with the

182

TUE CANADIAN HORTICULTCRI8T.

danger of losing them by cold of Avinter
and ravages of the white grub, that I
am convinced I can grow more fruit for
the same money by the " matted row
system."

Tlie only way the question can be
decided is for each one to test both
ways for himself, as locality, varieties
gi-own, soil, market you wisli to sup-
ply, and many other questions have to
be taken into consideration. Hence,
my advice would be, to plant most of
them in matted rows, with a few in
hills for trial, and the way you can
make most out of them one year with
another will be the best for you.

W. W. HiLBORN.

Arkona, May 29th, 1S85.

THE RUSSIAX MULBERRY.

To THK Editor of thk Canadian Horticl'ltcrist. ,

Dear Sir, — Samples of the fruit of
the Russian Mulberry wer6 brought to ;
me to-day by Mr. W S. Short, 114
York street, Lontlon, gathered from u
tree planted by him three years ago. !
This tree has during this time grown to j
be about eight feet high and has had a [
crop this year of six or eight quarts on '
it. It had not shown any sign of ten- i
derness until last winter when the new j
wood was killed back from one to two '
feet. The tree made a vigorous wood
growth late in the season which Mr.
Short thinks may account for the win-
ter killing last year.

The fruit is black, about the size of I
the common wild blackberry, juicy, '
sweet, and of a pleasant, rather
sprightly flavor. It is an agreeable
fruit to eat, and would I believe be '
good also for cooking. The crop on the
tree referred to is now nearly all I
gathered, while on a second tree grown
by Mr. Short the berries are only just
beginning to ripen. If it is found that
the Russian Mulberry [)roduces gener-

ally fruit equal to the sample referred
to, I do not think that anyone will
regret gi-owing it.

Yours truly,

Wm. Saunders.

London, Ont., July 9, 1885.

ABOUT MAXIMS AND PROVERBS.

BY PETER PRUNING KNIFE.

It has been said that the man who
causes two blades of grass to grow
where only one grew before, is a " bene-
factor of his country." The above don't
apply to Quack Grass or Canada
Thistles.

Trim up a tree in the way it should
grow, and when it is old it will not
require trimming. As the twig is bent
the tree is inclined. This don't mean
that you can grow scythe sticks, ox
yokes and apples on the same ti-ee with
profit.

To grow good corn, give it plenty
of room. To prevent corns getting
pinched, have large (souls), and corres-
ponding uppers, and keep your feet in
the right path.

If fruit growers get the same mea-
sui'e they mete, they won't require the
Imperial quart when they are paid off.

FRUIT PROSPECTS IX GREY.

We have had a hard winter. Peach
trees have suffered much. Pears and
grapes will be a good crop. Straw-
berries and small fruits look well. I
put a Glass seedling graft on a sloe
thorn when we got the tree, and it has
borne heavy and broken down every
year, and what was left was heavy
blossomed this year, and nothing seems
to hurt it. Apples will be a good crop.
Yoiirs truly,

William Brown.
Annan, June loth, 1885.

THK CANADIAN H0KTICULTUKI8T.

183

THE LEAF AS A STUDY.

At a meeting of the Massachusetts
Horticultural Society, Dr. G. Austin
Bowen, of Woodstock, Conn., read a
paper on "The Leaf as a Study."
After speaking of the apparent insigni-
ficance, to general view, of a leaf, he
passed to the consideration of it from
the point of view of the physiologist,
who looks on it as a part of matter
having its function to perform, and its
relationship to other great creative
powers of nature. Before we have the
leaf we have the bud, which consists of
a brief cone-shaped axis with a tender
growing point, bearing a protective
covering of imbricated scales and inci-
pient leaves. Within this bud the
botanist will point out the rudimentary
leaf and bud envelopes, and classifies
with the greatest minuteness the vari-
ous characters therein presented. A
day could be pi-ofitably spent with him
in consideiing the vernation of the bud.
With the coming of spring the bud
swells and throws off its now useless
scales, and we have the miniatvire leaf,
tender in its fibre, delicate in its tracery
of outline, and beautiful beyond the
painter's art in its softened coloring.
A few days of warm sunshine, and
every shrub and tree is loaded with
verdure ; hundreds of thousands of tons
of foliage liave appeared — from whence?
The leaf is fullgrown, and from now to
fall cai'ries on its peculiar functions,
which present questions of intense in-
terest to the stiulent of JSTatui-e.

Anatomically considered the leaf is
an expanded portion of the substance
of the bark, extended into a broad,
thin plate, by means of a woody frame-
work or skeleton, issuing from the
inner part of the stem, and called the
lamina, or blade of the leaf, and con-
sisting of two parts, the framework
and the parenchyma. The framework
is made up from the branching vessels
of the footstalk, which are woody tubes,

pervading the parenchyma, and carry-
ing nourishment to every part. From
the analogy of their functions these
vessels are called veins. The paren-
chyma consists of two parts, or strata,
moi-e or less distinct, and arranged dif-
ferently in leaves, whose natural posi-
tion is horizontal or vertical. Externally
the leaf is covered with a layer of empty
united cells, mostly tubular, forming a
superficial membrane, called the epider-
mis, and is analogous to the cuticle that
covers our own bodies ; its ofiice in the
leaf is to check evaporation. The por-
tion of the parenchyma immediately
beneath the epidermis — the upper side,
or that which faces the sun — is com-
posed of one or two layers of oblong-
cells placed perpendicularly to the sur-
face, and more compact than the layer
of cells beneath them, which constitutes
the lower stratum, and which also con-
tains, in common with the whole epi-
dermis, the stomata or mouths, which
are little clefts tlirough the epidermis,
and are always placed over and com-
municate with the inter-cellular pass-
ages. These little openings are guarded
by valves, which are supposed to regu-
late transpiration. The number of
these stomata is astonishing ; a single
square inch of surface of the leaf of our
common garden rhubai'b contains 5,000,
the garden iris 12,000, the j)ink 36,000,
and the hydrangea 160,000. Our leaf
also possesses glands, which are cellular
structures serving to elaborate and con-
tain the peculiar secretions of the plant,
such as aromatic oils, resins, honey,
poisons, etc.

The beautiful green of the leaf, so
restful to the eye, is a waxy substance,
termed chloroi)hyl ; which floats in the
fluid in the cells as minute granules.
The light of the sun seems to be essen-
tial to its formation. Although found
in vast abundance in the vegetable
kingdom, hundreds of tons being evei'v
where around us in the growins: season.

184

THE CANADIAN HORTICCLTDRIST.

chemists can tell us very little about it.
They have not yet ascertained its com-
ponent elements, and cannot tell whe-
ther it contains iron or nitrogen ; but
can only say that it is never produced
in the absence of compounds capable of
supplying these elements. It is possi-
ble that it may consist of more than
one substance, or that the 1 'af green of
all plants may not be identiua,! in every
respect. Chlorophyl is found in those
cells of plants where the absorption and
decomposition of carbonic acid gas goes
on, with which process of vegetable life
it is closely connected.

A second coloring matter is found
common also to fruits and flowers, as
in the leaves oi the red cabbage, the
skin of the grape, and in the dahlia,
and is called colein, from Ooleus, a genus
of plants in many species of which it
occurs abundantly. It is very irregu-
larly distributed, and might be called
one of the curiosittes of the leaf, as it
has no important offices to fulfill therein.
In chemical composition it is identical
with the coloring matter of red wine,
most red, blue and purple flowers and
fruits, and the red pigment of some of
the varieties of the beech. It should
not be confounded with the coloring
material of the well-known madder, so
long used to dye Turkey red, which is
a principle of the root and not the leaf —
at least it is never stored in the leaf.

Thus we have the leaf, beautiful in
its design, elaborate in its construction,
presentmg the same general characters,
whether grown on the land, in the air,
or in the water, and vai'ying from the
diminutive leaf, almost microscopic, to
that of the renowned Victoria regia,
which in the waters of its native Guiana
presents a surface of from eight to
twelve or even fifteen feet in diameter.
The attenuated leaves of thefar N"orthern
forests, counterbalanced by the profuse
unfolding of those of the heated tropics,
with their unending variety of form and

coloring, and anomalies of structure
and habit, all give us the same physio-
logical conditions, which, briefly stated,
are as follows, and are all included
within the tei'm aeration, or respiration,
which is of the same vital importance
to the vegetable world as it is to the
animal :

First — The absorption of carbonic
acid from the air under the stimulating
influence of the sun's light.

Second — The absorption of oxygen
when the influence of the sun's light is
obscured or removed.

Third — The formation of carbonic
acid by the union of this oxygen with
tlie free or nascent carbon already in
the tissues.

Fourth — The assimilation of carbonic
acid from whatever source it may be
derived, which process, under the sun's
light, decomposes the carbonic acid,
retaining the carbon, and

Fifth — -One of the greatest functions
of the leaf, eliminating the oxygen.

Sixth — The exhalation of carbonic
acid when the sun's rays are obscured
or darkness prevails.

Seventh — The reduction of the vol-
ume of sap by transpiration.

We see by this enumeration that
thei'e are two phases of respiration,
seemingly directly opposed to each
other, and evidently occasioned by the
light and heat of the sun. Surely we
ought to derive satisfaction from the
thought that as we tOl our fields during
the intense heat of the summer sun,
the same sunlight that exhausts us is
giving us more oxygen to breathe, and
is storing up food for our future sus-
tenance in the plant we cultivate. The
thought may not render the toil less
fatiguing, but the consolation comes
from the knowledge that we shall get
the upper hand of Nature when we
harvest the crop.

To understand the full ofiice of the
leaf we must know that the sap which

THE CANADIAN nORTICULTUKIST.

1S5

tlows so freely in the spring is com-
posed largely of water absorbed by the
roots of the jilant. This water holds
in solution miiiute quantities of gas
and mineral salts, and adds thereto, on
its upward way, dextrine and sugar,
which it dissolves out of the cells as it
comes in contact with them, gaining in
density as it nears the leaf. Within
the leaf it parts with much of its water,
having no longer a use therefor, receiving
in its }dace carbon and the digested
juices acted upon by the chlorophyl, as
it passes through the surface of the
leaf, thence by the leaf stalk into the
cellular and woody tissues of the bark,
and continuing its downward ]>assage,
making deposits of food first in the
cells of the pith, at the base of every
incipient bud, then a copious store in
the cambium regions, giving also a good
portion to the medullary rays, some to
be carried outward to the cortical layer,
and some onward for solidifying the
wood, and, lastly, the richest portion is
sent to the root, every branch and fibre
being filled. The }-eturn sap also con-
tains nitrogen to a limited extent, and
minute portions of mineral matter.
From this nitrogen is first oi-ganized
the protein substances analogous in
composition to the living tissues of
animals, and cellulose, the peculiar
principle of vegetable tissue, having in
it the exact elements of watei-. The
action of chloi-ophyl upon this substance
develops gum, sugar and starch, which
are nutritive products common to all
plants, and are stored away for future
use, as fat is stored away in our own
and all animal systems. As examples,
we have sugar stored up in the root of
the beet and in the stalks of corn,
sugar-cane and sorghum, and starch in
the tubers of the potato. These sub-
stances, with cellulose, are all com-
posed of carbon with the elements of wa-
ter, often in identical proportions, and
ai'e easily converted into one another.

2

The leaf is not alone an interesting
study because curious, but it has had
no little part in rendering the world
habitable for man. If this consisted
only of the mineral portion it would be
only a rocky desert, but mingled with
the mineral we find the organic matter,
which consists of the remains of former
tribes of plants and animals, and the
products of this decomj)Osition, cai'boniu
acid and ammonia. But as this earth
sujjported vegetable life before it did
anunal existence, we see the important
j)lace given to our little leaf. Age aftei
age it went on elaborating the juices ot
plants, leaving for the final decay that
comes to all to add their organisms to
the soil, making it such as we have it
to-day, a life-supporting element, giviny
occupation to a large majority of
civilized men.

But it is not soil alone that has been
created by the instrumentality of oui
hastily surveyed leaf. The stores of
coal and petroleum, enough to last for
centuries to come, were formed from
gigantic pines, ferns and lycopods, which
were developed through the agency of
leaves. It is probable that at the epoch
of growth of these enormous primeval
foi'csts the atmosphere was much more
highly charged with carbonic acid than
now, and that from this source the
gigantic lycopods, ferns and conifers
were develo[)ed, thus converting into
organized products an immense amount
of carbonic acid which had ^^ireviously
been liberated by some change in tln:-
mineral world, and by its removal from
the atmosphere the earth was prepared
for the residence of a higher class oi'
animals than had previously existed.
It is regarded by scientists as a fixed
fact that the whole vast accumulation
of carbon now in the earth was at one
time a component part of the atmos-
phere.

In answer to the practical question
how farmers and horticulturists are to

186

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

1)0 benefited by a knowledge of leaf
physiology, the essayist spoke of the
protection against drought derived from
the leaves of the forest, which protect
the ground from the parching effect of
the sunlight and from drying winds,
making the forest soil reservoirs for
water, which in times of drought keep
the streams well fed. But in the
opinion of the essayist the moistui'e
transpired from the leaves aifoixls a
stronger reason why tliese leaf trea-
suries, as forests might he termed,
should be carefully guardojl. Accord-
ing to Johnston, the English agricul-
tural chemist, a field in grain or gi-ass
will transpire from three to five million
])Ounds of water in a season's growth,
and if all this evaporated water could
1)6 returned in the shape of rain, it
would amount to an inch and a half or
two inches. If one acre of land in
grass can give such a wonderful result,
what will be the efiect of large tracts
devoted to forestry 1 The leaves of
aquatic plants in no small degree con-
tribute to the purification of the waters
where they grow.

The carbon, or charcoal, derived from
the decay of plants is of the highest
Titility to vegetation, as an absorbent
of water and fertilizing matter. It also
by its dark color absorbs heat from the
air. The decay of vegetable matter
always evolves heat, which the rootlets
of growing plants realize and respond
to, though it may not be sensible to
our feelings.

The gi-asses of the world — more than
six thousand species — or nearly one-
sixth of all the flowering plants, come
legitimately within the subject of this
paper. The grass crop is the leading
crop in New England, and all that per-
tains to it should be carefully considered.
The leading point is that the leaf, when
grown, never changes its form or size,
and that when quickly grown its size is
far lai'ger than when its formation is

slower. Hence, would we have large
grass we must grow it quickly, produc-
ing a large leaf, valuable not alone for
itself, but because it also adds to the
value of the stem.

The fruit culturist will thoroughly
consider the subject of pruning in its
relation to the proportionate capacity
of the leaf to the plant and the fruit,
and will guard his knife accoixlingly.

THE ONION MAGGOT.

Miss E. A. Ormerod, an English lad}'
of considerable note as an entomologist?
says of this pest : —

" The amount of damage to onion
crops from the maggot is frequently so
groat that for some years I have been
experimenting on the subject. I found
that the fly (wlien it could) laid its eggs
on some exposed part of the bulb, often
almost beneath it, which in common
onion ]:)ractice the exposed state of the
bulb allows. On noticing this, about
three years ago, I covered a plant u])
to the neck of the bulbs, and next
morning found fly eggs deposited on
the onion leaves, and dropped at hap-
hazard on the ground — where they
perished, and the onions, being saved
from attack, did well. The following
year I had some part of the crop in
rows earthed up with success. The
onions were firm and sweet, and though
not as thoroughly protected by the
rough earthing up as by my own hand
dressing, it answered to some extent,
and the onions in many cases were not
injured, or grew past attack from being
in favorable condition. This year 1
had a trench prepared as if for celery,
and had the onions sown along the
bottom, and as they grew the sides of
the trench were filled in on the bulbs.
They grew extremely well, notably
better than those in the bed alongside,
and on raising them to-day I find them
sound and fine bulbs, very free from

THE CANADIAN riOUTICULTUUIST.

187

any mark of insect injury. I venture
to submit the plan of growing to your
inspection, as though it jjrobably coukl
not be brought to bear in field use, it
appeal's available for garden growth,
and especially for cottage gardens, where
there is only a small quantity of ground,
arid where the loss of the little crop
is a serious lessening of comfort to the
family."

THE MARECHAL KIEL ROSE.

The following stoiy of the origin and
christening of this famous rose is clip-
ped from the Floral World. Like many
a bit of charming romance it will not
bear the clear light of day, since this
lovely rose first appeared on earth in
1864. Nevertheless it is a well-writ-
ten conceit: —

"In 1859, while in Italy command-
ing the Third Army Corps, its com-
mander, Neil, was created a Marshal of
France when the peace of Paris was
made. He remained in Italy after the
army had returned to France. General
Neil, as his name implies, came of one
of those Irish noble families who emi-
grated to France after the death of
Charles I. He was in feeble health at
the time I speak of, having suft'ered
with wounds and that deadly fever of
the Italian marshes. One day a pea-
sant woman brought him a whole
basket of roses, of which he was ex-
tremely fond, from the Campagna re-
gion. They were new to him, and thus
served to amuse him until they were
withered. He observed, however, that
one particular shoot had not faded and
died, like the others, but had grown
into a beautiful green shoot of perhaps
ten inches in length. When he looked
to see why this one had grown and the
others faded, he found that a bit of the
root had been cut away with the
flower, which was a single-leafed wild
rose of the marshes, and palish yellow

in hue. Hardly knowing why, Neil de-
termined to keep the shoot socui-iousJy
preserved, and next spring it bore four
of the loveliest buds in the world, of a
pale lemon tinge. Just then Neil was
sent for to receive the highest militarv
rank then known to Europe, the Grand
Cross of the Legion, and his commission
as Marshal of France, in presence of
three emperors and all the kings in
Europe worth naming. After the
solemn ceremony was ended, and he
wore for the first time on that day the
Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor,
he went to the Empress — who was
splendid in her perfection of beauty —
and presented to her a curious yellowish
rose of perfect form and perfume, but
different from any she had ever seen,
and told her its story.

" And so you have pi'oved the truth
of what the old Abbe used to say iu
his dreadfully tedious sermons at Pan
about casting bread on the waters,"
said the Empress to the handsomest
and most daring, as well as one of the
ablest, of the Marshals of the Second
Empire. " Dear me, but he was te-
dious, that good Abbe," continued the
Empress, with the softest look of re-
trospection in her lovely dark eyes.
" Now, Monsier le Mar-eclial," said she,
vivaciously, " I shall christen this rose
for you." " Do so," said the Franco-
Irish soldier, bowing very low, but
flash Big at her a glance of profound ad-
miration. Lightly putting the rose to
her lips, she said : '" It is named the
Marechal Neil for the soldier sans jyeur
et sans reproche, as gallant in the salon
as he is on the battlefield." This gra
cious si)eech went straight to the great
soldier's Irish heart. " You will wear
it to-night, your Majesty, will you not,
and afterward give it me to keep, this
happy rose'?" ^'' Monsier le Marechal !"
said the Empress, with great dignity.
" I pray your forgiveness," he answered.
"No, no ; I am not as angry as I ought

ISS

THE CANADIAN nORTICULTURIST.

10 be/' slie rei)lie(l, " but — Init — people
might hear." And thus it is th;it since
that gracious day in 1859 until now,
the rose which is in the first rank for
lomance and beauty has been called
• the Mareclial Neil."

A SCHOOL OF GAKDEiS'IXG.

Near the little village of St. Osso,
•vliich lies at the foot of the Mount
iSumano, one of the most interesting
docalities in Euro[)e to lovers of Alpine
flowers, a horticultural school on a
magnificent scale was founded last year
))y Senator Kossi, an enthusiastic
amateur. The amouiit of land devoted
to this purpose is about five thousand
acres, the whole of whicli is encompassed
by walls. Nothing seems to have been
7ieglected to render this model pomo-
logical and horticultural farm, as the
tbunder terms it, a success. Thus there
are houses for the workmen, covered
places for soils and manure, immense
reservoirs for water, glass houses of all
kinds, including an extensive range for
grape-forcing, a chemical laboratory,
museum, class-rooms, semi-subterranean
rooms for jireserving i'ruits and vege-
tables and extensive piggeries for mak-
ing manure. The system of irrigation
is very thorough, the ground being por-
tioned out into squares of 3,2GO feet, di-
vided by roads, along the borders of
vrliich flow streams of warer that form
channels of transport. Electric lights
are distributed in every part of the
grounds, so that any kind of work,
such as transplanting, which it would
be difficult to perform satisfactorily in
the daytime may be accomplished at
night. The whole of the soil has been
trenclied to the depth of one yard.
There are 8,000 square yards of wall
lor espalier fruits, 1,500 acres of eating
grapes, which a reservoir containing
1,'Mb cubic yards of water and the
continual flow from Mount Sumano
tjuarantee against drought ; a vineyard

containing 50,000 vines, a fruit garden
of 30,000 trees, a trial ground of 200
acres, and some 300 aci-es of asparagus.
Accommodation is provided for ninety
pupils, some of whom will be main-
tained at their own expense, while others
will receive a stibsidy from the various
communes and provinces of which they
may be natives. — Floral World.

THE CODLTN MOTH.

In my practice I have discovered how
to destroy easily this insect in such num-
bers that it is no longer a pest ; but I
have never made this method known
outside of the circle in which I live.
I was instructed by a friend to place
sweetened water on the bee stand to
catch the bee moth. I did so, and went
the next morning and found six moths,
but from examination they proved to
be the codlin moth. I then determined
to try an experiment to catch codlin
moths, and in the evening a basin of
sweetened water was hung on a limb of
a Harvest Ai)ple tree ; to my joy and
surprise I found, next morning, the
liquid in the basin was completely
covered with codlin moths. I at once
ordered the tinsmith to make me thirty-
five or forty basins, holding a trifle over
a pint each, with wire bales by which
to hang them up.

The place selected to hang the basins
should be open and easy of access. No
more liquid should be prepared than is
needed for immediate use, for if kept
it will lose its ripe apple or new cider
smell and taste. For thirty or thirty-
five basins, take a gallon of rain water
and sweeten it, and then add a little
vinegar to give it aroma, for it is the
ripe apple or cider smell that attracts
the moths to their liquid graves. I
think Sorghum molasses is best for
sweetening. The time for commencing
the use of the bath will depend on the
season, somewhere from first to the

THE CAKAPIAN nOKTICULTURIST.

ISO

fifteenth of May, and it shonld be con-
tinued uncil July, whim the first bi'ood
of moths will have been captured. —
From a i^rize Esi^ay in Vick's Aiaga-

zine for May. [Note by Editor

OP Canadian Horticulturist. — We
doubt the catching of Codlin Moth in
this way. The Canadian species are not
thus caught.]

lEOFlT IN FRUIT RAISING.
With all the tons of Grapes rai.sed,
how is it there is not a gallon of Grape
syrup to be liad for love or money
in market % If you don't know that
Grape juice boiled down to a clear
syrup is the most relishing thing in
sickness or health, for consumptives
and to keep people from getting con-
sumptive, to be eaten as food or diluted
for drink, that would banish wine
sooner than the temperance societies,
you have something to learn. This
article, once known, would prevent all
danger of an over-crop of Grapes, for it
would be made and kept by the barrel,
«nd exported for use in all climates.
The new production of cider jell}^, which
is merely cider boiled down, without
any addition till it is a solid, dark jelly,
is a great gift to the housekeeper, and
will be the salvation of the Apple
orcliards. What if Apples are fifty
cents a barrel in October"? Set the
cider mills going, and the huge enameled
evaporating pans. Perhaps cider jelly
at twelve cents a. pound will pay you,
as there is no sugar to be used. — Susan
Power in Vick's Magazine.

North Windows. — To those who have
only north windows which are available
for growing plants, I would recommend
the Chinese Primrose. This is, every-
thing considered, the best winter bloomer
for sunless windows that I know of, and
can be relied on for a constant supply of
flowers from November until " Nature
awakes from her long sleep." — Viclis
Magadnt.

MAINE'S APPLE SHIPMENTS.

The city of Portland has now become
the third port in importance for the
shipping of apples of any place in Amer-
ica, as appears from statistics gathered
by the New England Grocer. The
shipments of apples from Portland to
Europe had not been very large until
the past winter, when two or three en-
terjirising shippers took hold of the
business and gave it a great impetus.
It is now definitely settled that Maine
a])ples can be successfully forwarded to
Europe from a Maine port, and that it
is not necessary to send them to Bos-
ton.

The tot-d shipments of apples from
the port of Portland from the opening
of the season to date were 91,483 bar-
rels, 52,497 barrels of which were car-
ried out by the Allan line, and 33,9t>7
barrels by the Dominion line. All
these were not Maine apples, however,
as thousands of barrels of fruit grown
in Canada were brought to Portland by
tiie Grand Trunk for shipment from
tliat port. Of the total shipments,
62,974 barrels were Maine apples, and
L'b,509 barrels Canadian fruit. These
figures come from an official source.

The following table, giving the ship-
ments from the leading ports for the
season ending April 25th, will show
that Portland is now the third apple
port on the continent, Boston being the
first and New York the second : —

Boston — shipments 308, 118 barrels-

New York " 254,5:30 "

Portland " 91,483 "

Montreal " 85,479 "

Hahfax " 36,07G "

Annapolis " 8,612 "

Total 784,295 barrels.

So Europe has consumed 784,295
barrels of American apples the past
season. Of this total, 508,813 barrels
went to Liverpool, the great apple mart
of England, 1 16,22G to London, 140.875
to Glasgow, 102 to Hamburg, 586 to

190

THE CANAniA.N HOKTICULTURIST.

Newcastle, 2,244 to Hull, and the bal-
ance to other ports in small lots.

The 62,974 barrels of Maine ajiples
shipped from Portland to Europe do
not begin to rejiresent the total Maine
exportation. Thousands of barrels
have been carried by Portland to Bos-
ton for shipment. One buyer at Bridg-
ton has forwarded 5,000 ban-els, and
thei'e may be other buyers who have
sent more, but his shipments afford a
hint of the extent of the Vjusiness. Of
the 508,118 barrels exported from Bos-
ton, a large per centage was Maine
fruit. The Grocer thinks it is probably
striking undei", rather than over, the
actual figures to estimate the total num-
ber of barrels of Maine apples export-
ed since last fall at two hundred thou-
sand.

Averaging the price which the farm-
ers received for this fruit in their cellars
at $1 60 per barrel — which Mr. Isaac
Beiry, of Messrs. I. Berry & Bro.,
Portland, the leading Maine shippers,
thinks is about right — then the very
comfortable sum of $320,000 was re-
ceived by Maine farmers for the 200,000
barrels which they furnished to Eu-
ro])e.

The reason why more Maine apples
are shipped from Boston than Irom
Portland is the difference in freight,
which has been nearly a shilling less
from the foi-mer than from the Maine
port. Portland i-ates have run from
2s. ^d. to Zs. a barrel. — Home Farm.

Transactions of the Massachu-
setts Horticultural Society for the
year 1884, Part II., have just been
received from Mr. Robert Manning,
Seci-etary. From it we learn that the
display of plums at the Society's Ex-
hibitions has steadily increased for
several years, hence we infer that more
attention is being paid to the cultivation
of this fruit than formerly.

MARKET GARDENING IN THE WEST.

As a rule the cheapest manures ai-e
not the best. The competition is very
keen, and you can now get fertilizers at
quite reasonable jirices in proportion to
their real value. But can not you buy
stable manure at a cheap rate ? To grow '
celery plants, you can probably use
artificial fertilizers to advantage. But
for growing the crop itself, plenty of
well-rotted stable manure should be vour
main reliance. If you had a slough that
is well-drained twoandahalfto three feet
deep, with a supply of water in August
within two feet of the surface, then you
could raise celery to perfection and at
small cost. Celery is a semi-aquatic
plant. If you cannot get the moist
land, you must depend on an extra dose
of manure that will, by decomposition,
furnish jilenty of nitrates. A supply
of nitrates to a considerable extent is
equivalent to a supply of water. The
same remarks will apply to cabbages.
For raising the plants, or for very early
cabbges, artificial fertilizers may prove
])rohtable, but for the main crop,
stable manure ought to be sufficient.
Do not plant too close. Cabbages pumj)
up a great deal of water out of the soil
and eva[)orate it through their leaves.

If you have a limited supply of water,
as you undoubtedly have, it is unwise
to have too many pumps. Some of them
will soon " suck air," and run down,
others that go deeper will hold on
longer. The fewer the pumps the better
will it be for you when the dry weather
comes. How to conserve water in the
soil is an important question for the
market-gardener. Heavy manuring on
the one hand and thorough cultivation
and no weeds on the other hand, are
the principal factors — and if you have
five cabbages with only moisture enough
for three, two of them are weeds. —
Joseph Harris in American Agricul-
turist/or March.

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

191

FLAMEN POMONALTS.

(Read at the Meeting of the Maine State Pomolorjical

Society, at Gardiner. J

BY J. M. LARUABEE.

In ancient days of myth and gnome,
When gods and goddesses in Rome, —
Witii tempk^s numerous and grand,
And altars crowned on every hand, — ■
Hekl sway : When nymphs with thoughtful

care.
In human lahors had a share.
And loved and were beloved in turn,—
As human hearts. for love light yearn, —
Pomona, fairest of her race.
Among the fruit trees held a place,
And from her garden, orehanl, held
I'roduced bj^ skill the highest yield ;
And while she helped with cultured hand
The growing products of her land,
Or gathered fruits in garners laid
For future use ; this virtuous maid
Determined in her heart that she
A celibate for life would be.
So shutting up her garden gate,
'1 he young gods left outside to wait.

Vertumnus, sought by human guise
This beauteous goddess to surprise,
And many a cunning scheme he planned
To win her virgin heart and hantl.
(Sometimes a reaper lad was lie ;
Again a ploughman he would be ;
Sometimes vine dressing was his plan ;
A soldier next, or lisherman ;
But all in vain : the obdurate miss
Would never grant a single kiss.

Pomona, watching, saw one day

An aged woman pass that way,

Aiid bade her, with a kindly smile,

To sto}) and rest herself awhile.

The woman, talkative and gay,

Related in a pleasant way,

(As any garrulous woman would).

The gossip of the neighborhood.

Her manners gentle, unrestrained

Pomona's conlidence obtained.

She, still conversing, did relate

The blessings of the marriage state ;

The joys that crown a loving wife ;

The evils of a single life.

The charming nymph was not amazed

To hear the god, Vertumnus, pi'aised,

And there iirst felt within her heart

The painless sting of Cupid's dart ;

Then saw a transformation strange, —

The woman to Vertumnus change.

Tlie nymph of fruit, became with pride.

The god of season's lovely bride.

Pomona's worshippers with cheer,
Their sacrifices made each year

To her, that she in preservation
Would keep the best fruits of the nation.
Her Flamcn Pomonalix stirs
The hearts of all her followers.

Fair nymphs and goddesses to-day
As deities have lost their sway.
Uur " Hamadryads " by their arts
Become each one, a queen of hearts,
And pleased, each at her hreside,
As goddesses of home preside .
But still, upon the roll of fame
We find Pomona's honored name ;
Her pomological relation
]s seen in your association.

Pomologists of wintry Maine,
The virtues of the nymph retain ;
The super excellence of their fruit
Proclaims them members of her suite.
And many a " Pine Tree " orchardist
Pomona's "Maiden's Blush" has kissed.
Then "seek-no-farther," "Northern Spy ; "
Kext summer " WiUiams' Favorite " try.
And should you an " Early Harvest " plan.
Forget not, bright, "Red Astrachan."
And when the " Pumpkin Russet" turns,
And "Sops of Wine" your stomach yearns.
When "Moses Wood" is "President,"
When "Rambo" wins the "Beauty- Kent,"
When "Minister" becomes a "Dean,"
And " Duchess-Oldenburgh " a queen.
Then let your "Granite Beauty " meet
On "Kilham Hill," her " Frankhn Sweet,"
And have your " Fameuse " "Porter" wait
Beside the "King of Tompkins'" gate.
Above his head the "Hightop Sweet,"
The " Garden Royal " at his feet.
Until he sees the "Golden Ball"
Ascend above "Tetofsky" wall,
Then "Jonathan" and he can eat
Each "Twenty Ounce" of "Superb Sweet;"
But should his " Mother " hungry get,
She'll send him off to " Somerset,"
From good ' ' Benoni " to obtain
A "ISodhead" and "Blue Pearmain."
Should " llubbardston Nonsuch" allow,
But chase him with a " Yellow Bough ;"
Then " Sarah" will be pleased, I ween,
If he brings home a " Gravenstein."
Pomologists, if we are wise.
We all shall seek "Sweet Paradise,"
Or at "Peck's Pleasant" quarters stay
When "Gloria Mundi" slips away.
And let us, when the " Winter White "
Shuts " Winthrop Greening" out of sight ;
Rest, till the "Baldwin(d)" rudely shakes
The " Golden Russet " down in flakes.
Then shall the " Ladies' Sweet" be ours
Enwreathed with fairest of "Bellfiowers."
— Home Farm.

192

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

GARDEN TOWN.
(For the Canadian HorticuUut^t.)
Miss Lucy Lettuce retired to bed
Oue evening when the sky was red.
Bye-and-by Miss Lucy aro.se,
And dress'd herself in her tlnest clothes
Of delicate green and gauzy brown,
The sweetest maiden in Garden Town.

She called to her neighbour, Miss PuUy Pea,
" Polly, I am invited out to tea."

I heard cook say to John in the stable,
' Bring Lucy Lettuce in to table."

And what do you think, that sour old sinner,

Miss Rachel Rhubarb, was out to dinner.

She piques herself on her pedigree,
And her foggie old relative " Gregory." *
She's but a vulgar village fixture ;
All make grimmaces at her mixture.
Bah ! the meanest grubs in Garden Town
Shy from her with scornful frown.

But Polly, I wish that you and I

Could be as easily i^assed by.

I noticed this morning, when you arose.

How pale and pinched was the curl on your nose

Those loafing dudes, the worms, I fear,

Are undermining your health, my dear.

There's our cousins Cabbage, on the next block,
You know they have come of a hardy stock.
Well, those very same scamps, I hear folks .say,
Revel and feast with them uight and day ;
So this riotous life and "do as-you- please,"
Was ended iu hopeless heart disease :

See Celia Celery, tall and fair.
Aristocratic in her air.
She is the elite of Garden Town,
With green top-knots and ecru gown.
Why should she feel so very crusty,
I've seen her look both old and rusty.

And she looks down with haughty mein
On dear, wee, modest Betty Bean.
Friend of the great Bonanza King,
The muscle of stalw^art western men
Was got from thee, thou peerless gem.
Could I compare you with such trash
As wishy-washy Suky Squash ?

Oh, I should feel myself a felon
To equal thee to Watermelon.
Look ! Pat Potatoe opes his eyes.
While I laud Betty to the skies.
And Sissy Sage, a very Plato,
With flaring red-head Tom Tomato.

Miss Onion, you aro too impressive ;
I'll pass you, lest I weep excessive.

Tho' mummies bowed to you the knee,
I cannot choose but turn from thee
And leave thee with thy Leeks and Garlick.
Come near me and you'll find me warlike.

Patricia Parsley, if you knew
How ancient builders copied you.
Your Gothic leaf I've traced on tombs —
Seen carved on grandly pillared domes —
And " Parsley Peel," the weaver chief.
His daughter traced thy lovely leaf;
On costly fabrics now we see
Designs of foliage all from thee.

Ah, who is he there by the wall,
Piiising and bowing to old Sul?
The Sunflower, looking proudly mild
Since patronized by Oscar Wilde.
He's warning me 'tis growing late.
And Father Thyme rejects to wait—
Nurse Dolly Dew is hastening down
To batue the maids of Garden Town.
Montreal. Grasdma Gowan".

The Potato Beetle. — An Ohio farmer,
in relation to killing the potato beetle,
says : — " Take equal parts of copperas and
slaked lime, using five pounds of each for
twenty gallons of water, and sprinkle it on
the vines with a brush. I had a field
alive with beetles, and after one dose not
a single live one could be found, and be-
sides, it benefits the plant." — Farmer and
Fruit G-rovjer.

Yellow Tkaxsparent. — I found out a
curious thing about the Yellow Transpar-
ent Apple last year. My " original tree "
(from the one cion I got from \v ashington
in 1870) is in grass, in a rather poor spot,
and bore an immense crop ; but the fruit
was so small that it was not gathered for
market, as that of the others was, in Au-
gust. The friiit hung on, growing better
and better, and whiter and whiter, until
the last of September, and visitors, when
they came around to that tree, declared
the apples to be the best on the place.
Tliej' were the size of Fameuse, as white
as the vrhitest ivory, and really equal to
Early Harvest, which I cannot say they
are when gathered in August, though they
are very eatable then. This apple is the
best shipper and keeper of any early apple
I know. — T. H., in Bural Nev>Yorker.

PRINTED AT THK STEAM PRESS ESTABLISHMENT Or COPP, CLARK & CO., COLBORSE STREET, TOROKTO.

THE

VOL. VIII.]

SEPTEMBER, 1885.

\{No. 9^..

THE JEWELL STRAWBERRY..

Throngh the courtesy of Messrs.
P. M. Augur & Sons, of Middlefield,
Conn., we are enabled to present our
readers with a colored phite of this
new candidate for popular favor. The
history of the origin of the Jewell is
given us by the Messrs. Augur as
follows : — In the month of June, 1880,
they brought from New Jersey a quart
of very fine berries of the Jersey
Queen, and another of the Prince of
Berries, and sowed the seed in the
open ground. The E>ext year they
transplanted the seedling plants ob-
t^^ined from this seed inta a heavy,
clay loam soil, and gave them ordinary
cultivation. These seedlings fruited
in 1882, and this one manifested great
vigor and productiveness, yielding large
berries, which maintained their size
throughout the season.

They then took plants from the
heavy clay loam, and planted them on
the lightest soil on their farm, which
they regarded as going from one ex-
treme to the other in point of soil.
On this light land, they state, that in
1883 they picked from a single row,
sixteen feet long, over twenty quarts
of choice fruit.

The color of Jewell, we are told, is

a bright red, changing to crimson when-
fully ripe ; and the quality very good
to best. The shape conical, often wedge
shaped ; seldom flat or coxcombed.
The berries arc said to be firm, and
therefore carry well ; the blossoms
pistillate, that is, not self-fertilizing.
The season of ripening medium to late.

The Rural New-Yorker of last year
says : " The plants are unusually vigor-
ous and productive as judged from this
imperfect test of spring set plants.
Each plant averaged from two to three
fruit stems, each bearing from six to
thirteen berries of goodly size. There
are no small onesi The shape is some-
times conical, sometimes broadly ovate,
broadened at the tip. The color is a
bright i-ed, the season (time of ripening)
medium, quality fair." In the number
of 11th July, 1885, the Rurcd Nevr
Yorker further says : " Last year the
Rural said that the Jewell strawberry
has come to stay ; this season's experi-
ence does not change our opinion."

Mr. T. S. Gold, Secretary of the
Connecticut Board of Agriculture, says:
" The fruit, as produced on my few
plants, was of the largest size, fine
color, and of excellent quality."

Mr. T. T. Lyon received some plants

104

THE CANADIAN IIORTICULTUKIST.

from Messrs. A.!igur in si)ring of 1884,
wliicli fniite 1 this season. He says :
'■Its bright color, very Livge size and
great productiveness, so far, as well as
tl)e vigor of the ])lant, indicate great
promise as a market variety, and I
imagine it will prove firm enough to
handle unusually vviiU for so large a
fruit."

At the Strawberry Sliow held in
Boston, Massachusetts, on June 25th
and 26th, 1885, the Jewell was awarded
the silver medal for the best seedling
strawbeiry.

The above is all the testimony we
ai-e able to lay before our readers in
i-fliition to this new strawberry at the
present time. We have not yet seen
I he friitt, nor the plant, and, therefore,
can not express any opinion. We
understand that it is being tested in
Canada, and shall avail ourselves of
the first o])portunity to inform our
readers how it behaves on CJaiiadian
soil, and in our Canadian climate.

WANTED,

A few copies of the January number
of the Canadiu}!. llorticulttirltit for
1S85. We will send in return there-
for Vol. I., XL, III. or IV. complete,
if desired.

D. W. BEADLE, Editor.

THE DAVISON'S THORNLESS.

This black-cap raspberry La^ proved
itself earlier in ripening this season than
H )uhegan or Tyler or Hopkins. The
cro[) of fruit is not quite as great noi-
tlie berries quite as large as are those of
tiie al>ove named sores, but this year it
lipcjiirid it^ fruit fully a week earliei'.

THE ANNUAL MEETING
Of the Fruit Grower.s' Association of
Ontario will be held in the Town Hall,
Wingham, on Wednesday and Thurs-
day, the IGth and 17th of 8epteniber
next.

The following subjects will be dis-
cussed : —

L — What are the best varieties of apple
for export, and Avhy ; that is, what
are the points of superiority i

2.- - Wiiich varieties are the mcst de-
sirable for domestic use, for the table
and for tlie kitchen ?

3. — Wliat varieties of apple are found to
be best adapted to the climate and
soil in the County of Huron I

4.-— Wliat method of cultivation is found
to yield the best results, keeping the
orchard under clean cultivation ; or
planting the orchard Avith hoed crops,
as corn and potatoes ; or sowing with
cereals ; or seeding down to grass ]

5. — What varieties of pears are success-
fully grown in Huron.

C. — Are cherries grown in Huron, arid
if so, what kinds ?

7. — Do plum trees suffer from the win-
ters in Huron ? Are they afflicted
witli the black knot ] Is the fruit
stung by the curculio ?

8. — What varieties of plum are best
adapted to the climate of Huron ?

9. — Which varieties of grape ripen their
fruit well and yield good crops in
Huron I
10. — Which are the earliest ripening

grapes and the most hardy ']
11. — .Vre gooseberries grown in this part
of the country, and if so, what vari-
eties, and with what success ?
12. — Do raspberries succeed well in Hu-
ron, and what sorts are grown ?

13. — What varieties of currants are grown

here ]
14. — What ornamental trees and shrubs

are planted in the lawns and around

the dwellings in this part of the
country ?

THE CANADIAN IIORTICULTUEIST.

195

15. — Have any insects appeared in nnu-
sual ninubers injuring any of our
fniits during the present season.

16. — Do the large flowering Clematis suc-
ceed in this vicin.ity i

17. — Which are the most desirable vari-
eties of cabbage to grow in this sec-
tion for the table I

18. — Is celery grown in this part of the
country, and if so, how is it kept
through the winter ?

10. — What squashes are grown here 1 Can
any of them be kept through the
winter I

20. — Has the Norway spruce been planted
in this section of the cmnitry for
shelter, and with what results ]

The first half hour of each session
will be devoted to the answering of
such questions as may be handed iu to
tlie Secretary.

At this meeting the President will
deliver his annual address, and the ofii-
cers for the ensuing year will be elected.

Men)bers intending to attend tlie
meeting will please apply to the Secre-
tary for a certificate, which will entitle
them to a reduction of railway fare if
the certificate is presented tt) the ticket
agent at the station where the journey
is commenced.

The " Brunswick " House will ac-
commodate members at $1 50 per day ;
the " Queen's," " Dinsley," " Central,"
"Exchange," and '' British," at $1 00
per day.

THE CRESCENT STRAWBERRY.

A. correspondent of the Farmer and
Fruit (jfixoer, Illinois, says " Crescents
are still ihn berry for a yield, and tliey
are good enough to eat, too, when fully
ripe. They yield with me about G,000
quarts to the acre."

APPLES IN THE COUNTY OF SIMCOE.

Mr. Charles Hickling, of Barrie,
writes us that apples are a moderate
crop, while cherries and small fi-uits
are good.

APPLE CROP IN STORMONT COUNTY.

We have received a letter from Mr.
John Croil, of Aultsville, in which he
says that the apple crop is a failure in
his vicinity.

FRUIT CROP IX MISSOURI.
The Missouri State Horticultural
Society reports that

Apples will be y'onths of a crop.

Plums

■jygtllS

Pears

"■ Tcfot'is

Grapes

" 1%'atlis

THE DOWNING GOOSEBERRY.

We have a few hundred fruiting
plants of this gooseberry which last
year were covered with fruit. This
year they are fully as heavily laden as
they were last ; there is no mildew on
j)lant Of fruit, nor hju there ever been
any. The berries sell readily to the
grocers and dealers in fruit at a dollar
per basket of twelve quarts.

RED OR PINK CELERY.

Peter Henderson, writing to the
Rural New-Yoikei\ says that all the
red or pink celeries not only keej)
mucli better than the white, but are
more solid and infinitely su])erior in
flavor to any of the white varieties,
and the wonder is that these are not
better appreciated. In London, Eng-
land, and in otlier European markets,
at least two-thirds of all the celeries
sold, he says, are led or pink ; consum-
ers there having long ago discovered
the superiority of these kinds over the
white.

106

THE CANADIAN nORTlCCLTURIST.

MASSON'S HIGH-GRADE POTASH
FERTILIZER.

The New York Agricultural Expe-
riment Station reports that on the
18th of June there was taken from a
package of 350 pounds of this fertilizer
a samj)le which on analysis was found
to contain as follows : Available ])hos-
phoric acid, Sy^ij pounds in a ton ;
Potash, 0^'^% of a pound in a ton ;
Lime, 143 pounds ; and Moisture
564^°^ pounds in a ton ; and to be
worth $1.52 per ton. The manufac-
turers sell it at 830 per ton.

AMERICAN POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Our readers will remember that this
Society meets at Grand Rapids, Michi-
gan, on the 9th of September, at ten
o'clock a. m. We are informed that
there will be a large attendance of pro-
minent horticulturists and many fine
collections of fruit. Members of the
Fruit Growers' Association of Ontario
who intend to be present should write
at once to Prof. W. J. Beall, Agricul-
tural College, Michigan, for blanks and
instructions to secure railway commu-
tation i-ates ; and to D. W. Beadle,
St. Catharines, for delegates' certificate.

"MONEY IN POTATOES"

Is the title of a very interesting little
book of fifty pages, published by the
Franklin News Company of Philadel-
phia. The author treats of the soils
to be prefeiTed, manures to be used,
preparation of the soil, selection of the
seed, cutting the seed, planting, culti-
Tating, harvesting, marketing and stor-
ing. Our author prefers the nearly
level system of culture, doing the hill-
ing with the outside teeth of the culti-
vator. He also prefers to plant whole
potatoes, weighing about four ounces,
especially in the case of the early
varieties, which have been carefully
selected for symmetry of form. He

believes in pedigree potatoes, and that
by his methods a field crop of four
hundred bushels to the acre can be
grown in favorable seasons. We com-
mend the book to the careful attention
of our intelliijent cultivators.

THE HANSELL RASPBERRY.

On the fourteenth of last July we
made an examination of our Hansell
Raspberry plants and found a very
small crop indeed. There was some
ripe fruit to be found by careful search-
ing, while the Brandywine near by
was laden with ripe fruit. In point
of quality we found nothing in the
Hansell superior to the Brandywine,
while in fruit production it was very
for behind. Our soil is a sandy loam.
It may be that the Hansell requires a
stronger soil, certainly its performance
in this is not at all satisfactorv.

MANURE FOR FRUIT TREES.

Animal m:\nures are not what is
wanted for fruit ti-ees, including grape-
vines and berries. We have known
prolific grape-vines to bear more fruit,
but at an expense of quality, where the
contents of the barn-yard were freely
used by manuring. We have always
found the best success when leaves, the
weedings of the garden and forest mold,
have been freely combined. These
seem to contain the difi'erent materials,
in proportion, that is, the organic,
the carbonaceous, and the nitrogenous ;
the mineral needs to be supplied,
and nothing does this so satisfactorily
as wood ashes. It supplies largely
potash, which is needed. The best
success, and it has been fully achieved,
which fruit growers ever attained, was
bv applying a coat of leaves in the fall,
worked into the soil in the spring, fol-
lowed by weedings from the garden,
clippings of the vines, with other veg-
etable refuse, as a mulch, sprinkled

THE CANADIAN HOKTICULTDRIST.

197

over with wood aslies, leached or iin-
leached, if the latter, more was required.
This made a healthy, not excessive
growth, and increased both the quality
and quantity of the fruit. It makes a
sounder and better keeping fruit.

A NEW RASPBERRY.

We received on the 14th day of
July last, by mail, a small box contain-
ing a sample of a new seedling Raspberry
which was sent us by Mr. C. H. Biggar.
The fruit was badly damaged, so very
much bruised that the juice was running
out of the box. There was sufficient
form remaining to some of the berries
to enable us to see that they were of
large size, much larger than the Brandy-
wine, which this seedling evidently
rivals in earliness. It is not possible to
form an o}nnion of the flavor of the
fruit when it is in such a condition.
Its large .size and eai'ly ripening are im-
portant considerations in its favor.

THE CRAB APPLE AS A STOCK.

Last spring one of our Ontario
nurseries had an application for some
of the hardier varieties of apple trees
for planting in the cold north, provided
they were grafted on the crab apple
stock. Tiie gentleman stated in his let-
tar that Mr. C. Gibb of Abbotsford, Que.
had assured him that even the Russian
varieties would be worthless at the
north unless they were grafted on the
erab apple stock. Many years ago your
Editor made a number of experiments
in working several varieties of apples
on erab stocks, but the result was not
at all satisfactory. \Ye now lay before
our readers an article on this subject
from the pen of Prof J. L. Budd of
the Iowa Agricultural College which
we find in the Prairie Farmer. It will
be remembered that Prof. Budd has
made this matter of fruit trees for the
cold north a special study for many

years, and that he went, in' company
with Mr. Chas. Gil)b, to Russia for the
very purpose of studying the fruit trees
of that country.

It will be seen that the view enter-
tained by Mr. Gibb as to the supposed
advantage to be secured by working on
the Siberian crab is not sustained by
experiment.

The following is Prof. Budd's
article : —

Mr. T. Boos of Marion Co., 111., says he
has one thousand or more Siberian crabs,
and wishes to know if it will pay to plant
them in an orchard with view of top-work-
ing with desii-able varieties of the apple.
In Minnesota and North Iowa the crab
has been used quite extensively for a
stock for the Wealthy, Fameuse, Willow,
and a number of the Russian apples. I
do not know of a single instance where
the experiment has proved satisfactory.
The union is rarely perfect and the varie-
ties that make a fairly perfect union pro-
duce dwarfed fruit with a more or less
marked trace of the crab flavour. Last
year I tasted specimens of the Anis apple
grown on crab stocks which were decidedly
bitter, while Anis grown on Duchess stocks
were larger, fairer and as perfect in flavour
as well grown Winesap. Dr. Hoskins
gives a very similar report in regard to
the quite extensive use of crab stocks in
Vermont State.

In practice the wild crab has proven a
better stock. In Dupage Co. , 111. , many
crab thickets were top-worked a few years
ago with the Bethlehemite. The union
seHmed good and they bore good crops of
good fruit for a number of years, but at
this time the trees left produce nice spec-
imens of Bethlehemite in shape and color,
but they have too much of the wild crab
astringency for dessert use. Whitney's
No. 20 works well, however, on the wild
crab, and does fairly well on the Siberian.
H. W. Lathrop, of Iowa City, la. , markets
many bushels every year of this apple
grown on wild crab stocks. All things
considered, the Duchess of Oldenburg has
proved the best stock tried in Central and
Northern Iowa for varieties not quite iron-
clad Avhen imgrafted.

The wild crab referred to by Prof.

IDS

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST,

Budd is th'e very astringent cvab found
growing wild in many parts of Ontario,
known as the Pi/rus coronaria of bot-
anists.

of cigars will do, and dip the branches
that are infested with the lice in the
tobacco water iis often as the lice
make their appearance.

A NEW HARDY MULBERRY.

MORI'S FAKIVA.

We clip the following Ity Professor
Bndd from the 7i'M?v//f Xew-Yorker : —
" On the tine sjiecirnen grounds of A.
Rosenthal, near Vienna, Austria, I
was much interested in a ])ecnliar
looking and growing mulberry with
the above name. It is a clean, upright
grower, with medium-sized, thick, re-
gularly shaped leaves. The fruit was
said to be large, and of excellent
quality. I failed to learn its native
clime, and I have not l)een able to find
the naine in Kock's Dendrogie, or to
hear of it from any other source. It
]iroves on our grounds hardier than the
Russian Mulberry introduced from the
section north of the sea of Azoff, by
the Mennonites ; hence is of interest
to the West. If any reader of the
liural knows of the origin of this in-
teresting species or aught for or against
it, I hope it will be reported."

QUESTION DRAWER.

Can you tell me a remedy for moss
in lawn graas % John' L. Warken.

Brooklin.

Reply. — The presence of moss in the
lawn is probably owing to superabund-
ance of water in the soil. If this be the
case the best remedy is thoi-ough drain-
age. If the soil be already well drained
lr\' a top dressing of hai'd wood ashes.

Please tell me how to get rid of
green lice on black current bushes.

JoHX S. Warren,
Brooklin.

Reply. — Steep some tobacco, the

stems or refuse from the manufacturers

WHAT THE PEOPLE SAY.
GIJAPES AND GRAPE CULTURE.

BV P. E. BL'CKE, VICK-PKESIDEN P F. O. A.

The cultivation of no fruit has made
such an advance in so short a time on
this continent as the grape. It is true
the grape we have always had with us ;
they were found here wild when Ame-
rica was first discovei'ed in the year
1492.

The cultivated grapes of the North-
ern States and Canada are chiefly de-
rived from two wild native types —
Vilis lahrnsca and V. riparia, or cur-
difulia. Sometimes these are crossed
with the European V. vinifera.

V. labriisca has its home between
the Atlantic and the Alleghany Moun-
tains. From this wild vine sjirings
most of our table grapes ; its offspring
are considered to be over-estimated for
wine. There aj-e two ty[)es of the
Labrusca : the northern is of a foxy
nature ; the southern has a musky
flavour. The earliest vai'ieties culti-
vated derived from this class are —
Early Victoi-, very early, black; Moore's
Early, very early, black ; Worden,
earh', black ; Cottage, veiy early,
black ; Vergennes, not very early, red ;
Lady, early, white ; Martha, early^
white ; Perkins, very early, white.
These are all children of the northern
or Fox grape. The descendants of the
southern type are : — Prentiss, medium
in ripening, white ; Adirondac, early,
black.

V. r'lparia, or cordifolia, is called
the frost grape. Its home is in the
Northern States and Canada. Its most
noi'thern limit is on Lake St. John,
ninety miles north of the City of Que-

THE CANADIAN nOBTICULTURIST.

199

bee. This is eminently a wine grape.
Soine of the cultivated varieties are —
Clinton, from which i.s derived mo.st of
Arnold's hybrids, whicli have the Clin-
ton, for one of their parents. All the
grapes of this class grow readily from
cuttings ; it makes the best grafting
stock for foreign varieties, the roots
being free from the luvages of phyl-
loxera. Millions of vines in France
are placed on this stock with the most
satisfactory results. The thi-ee white
grapes of this class, from which will
)»robably come the best light-coloured
wines of America, are- — Faith, very
early; Pearl, early; Elviia, medium.
Most of tlie hybrids aTid crosses of this
class, so faV, are late ; but the reason
of this is probably because less atten-
tion has been paid to working with the
Riparia class than with the Labrusca.
If it should become firmly established
that the best wines of this continent
are to be produced from V. riparia
and its seedlings, the ingenuity of the
hybridist will soon produce seedlings
with as early ripening proclivities as
the native Kiparia, which ripens, or
rather turns black in August, though
ib requires frost to break down its
acidity.

Our native species have been so
crossed and mixed amongst themselves,
and with V. vinifera, that we have
to-day some five hundred and fifty va-
rieties of native grapes, which number
is rapidly on the increase, though of
course many of the least desirable are
dropping out of notice, and will in a
few years be entirely lost sight of, as
better strains are being produceil.

What this country really wants is
early ripening sorts both for table and
vviue. The Jeiferson, so highly spoken
of in the August number of the Horti-
culturist, is, I fear, too late for this
part of Canada, ripening after Concord.
During the past few weeks, in com-
pany with John Lowe, Esq., Secretary

of the Bureau of Agriculture, the writer
liHS been visiting some of the larger
vineyards in proximity to the City of
Ottawa. The first visited wero those
of Mr. Alfred French and Mr. Wm.
Graham, of New Edinburgh. The
latter is celebrated for the production
of the finest clusters of grapes pro-
bably on this continent of every va-
riety grown there, and also for their
early ripening. On one occasion fif-
teen varieties were shown at the Exhi-
bition at Toronto, and resulted in car-
rying off thirteen first prizes and two
second. The soil is a black slate or
shale, not over i-ich, with a consider-
able slope to the south. The dark soil
and the southern slope give admirable
conditions for early ri[)ening of fruit
and wood. ]n point of fact the grapes
are generally ten days ahead of any in
this vicinity. The mode of training is
to erect a trellis on cedar posts four to
six inches in diameter, five feet above
ground. To tliese are attached two
scantling 1| x 3 inches, 1:^ feet long,
the lower one a foot from the ground,
the other on the top of the posts. To
each panel is nailed four liglit upright
scantling (round cedar poles slightly
flattened at each end were nailed to
scantling, two inches thick) ; these
will be three feet apart ; the vines are
planted in the centre of the panels ;
the arms grown the previous year are
fastened to the lower scantling ; a cane
is tied to each upright pole for bearing
fruit, and another of the present year's
growth is taken from the base of this,
or from the arm, and is tied up for
next year's fruiting, when the previous
year's cane, which has already fruited,
is cut away. So that the .system fol-
lowed is the arm renewal plan. The
object to be attained is to have new
fruiting wood for each year.

When the Fruit Growers' Associa-
tion met here in 1875 some of its otti-
cei's visited this vineyard to examine

200

THE CANADIAN nORTICULTURIST.

the crop and mode of traininfj. The
verdict then arriA'ed at was that the
])]ants were being dwarfed too much,
:tnd that if continued death would
result. I can only say I visited the
gardens two weeks ago and the vines
and crop looked as vigorous and abun-
dant as they did in former times. Mr.
Graham's vines are all of the l.abrusca
I'amily. The grapes are grown for
table use.

W'e ne.Kt inspected five acres of a
vineyard owned and i)lanted by W.
Mosgrove, Esq., Barrister, five miles
fiom the city, at the foot of Lake
Duchene ; which lies to the north-west
of the farm, and gives ami)le protection
iroiu late s[)ring and eai'ly autumn
frosts, but allows a free sweep of the
most prevailing winds of winter, which
appears to have had the effect of
swooping away the snow covering and
exposed the vines to too violent changes
of temperature. If not from this i-eason
vhere must be some other cause for the
high death rate amongst the vines, as
they have been killed by hundreds.
]Mr. Mosgrove has decided to erect an
eight-foot boai-d fence between the
water and the vine plot, and, if neces-
sary, set out a wind-break of trees ;
something of this sort is certainly
necessiry. Mr. Mosgrove is endowed
with one of the gi'eatest elements of
success, and that is perseverance and a
determination to succeed. He is coinw
ex])enuiental]y into the wine business,
and his grapes are chiefly of the Rij -
aria class, such as Faith, Pearl, and
Elvira — of which the latter is the
strongest grower. Mr. Mosgrove en-
tertained the Committee most hospit-
ably, and produced some Elvira wine,
which had a most fragrant bouquet.

Another vineyard visited was that
of Daniel O'Connor, Barrister. Four
miles up the Rideau River he has three
acres of grajies, principally Lindley
(Roger's No. \)) and Brighton. As an

amateur he has made a decidedly good
selection in planting these two vines so
largely. His vineyard is beautifully
neat, the ground is kept free from
weeds by a cultivator and harrow pass-
ing frequently between the trellises,
the space along the trellis and between
the vines being dug over with a fork.
Hardly a twig was out of place, he had
no blanks in his rows, theie was no
sign of thrips, rot, or any other dis-
ease ; all was health and luxuriance,
and a splendid show for a crop of fruit.

EASPBEERY NOTES.

BY T. C. ROBINSON, OWEK SOUKD.

Ilansell. — This variety Avas first to
ripen with me this year, and seems to
be an acquisition. Those who grow
ras])beiTies only for home use, and
have been accustomed to pet the large,
delicious, but fastidious, A-arieties of
foreign origin, are not likely to see
much value in the Hansell ; for upon
first acquaintance it seems to be no-
thing but a wild variety ; the size —
ft-om five-eighths to three-quartei-s of
an inch in diameter; the qiialit}',
which is sweet, without tlie peculiar
aroma found in most cultivated vari-
ieties ; the leathei-y foliage, and persis-
tent wiry habit of growth, all point
clearly back to parents in pasture or
fence-corner. But what matter] It
is early, handsome, and firm, and ap-
pears so large and good foi- its season —
when the large late varieties have not
had time to ripen ; and it is so hardy,
having stood the past winter green
almost to the tips by the side of Cuth-
berts badly injured, that it must be of
decided value to persons who need
early raspberries for either homo use
or market. It is not so strong a
grower as Turner and Cuthbert, and
so should have rich soil. It begins to
ripen fair pickings when late straw-
berries are at their best.

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

201

Crimson Beauty. — A fence-corner
variety sure enough ; and I can find
many wild plants in pasture fields
around that are far better, if its beha-
viour with me is a fair sample of its
capacity. The plant is very vigorous
indeed, sprouting from the root ex-
tremities at a tremendous rate ; but it
shows that profuseness of small spines
to the very extremity of the new-grow-
ing cane, which is not found in Han-
sell, Cuthbert, or any other cultivated
variety that I know. It appears quite
hardy, but the berries are soft, crumbly,
and very small, while they do not seem
very early. Perhaps this is enough to
say with only one season's test of full-
grown 2:)lants ; but it is hard to keep
down the disgust with which one views
the performance of this praise-bespat-
tered brier !

ISuferh. — A good, vigorous grower —
eai-ly, large to very large ; but the
color is rather too dark, the berries in-
clined to crumble, and the quality de-
cidedly inlerior. Where people are
fond of the old Philadelphia this sort
may find friends ; but, in spite of its
larger size, I do not think it will prove
as profitable as the earlier, brighter,
sweeter and better-ship})ing
Very hardy.

Of the older varieties, the

Cuthbert is just beginning
as Hansell is almost done,
combined good qualities — size, firm-
ness, quality and productiveness — I
still regard the Cuthbert as the best of
its season. If the Marlboro' with its
earlinfss will, according to rumour,
stretch over the whole season with its
larger and brighter-coloured berries,
then the Cuthbert must rank further
back ; but until I fruit the new comer,
my loudest hurrah must be for the
royal Cuthbert. Last winter was hard
on it here : one plantation, one year
old, wintei-killed to the very ground ;
anoth r plantation of same age got oft

Hansell.

to ripen
For its

with slight injury; while my old
plants five feet high were partially in-
jured, but ai-e now fruiting freely. "NVe
never had such a winter before, and
Cuthbert may never thus suffoi- again ;
but I do not think this variety can be
depended upon where the thermometer
touches thirty degi'ees below zero.

Txirner. — This " stand-by " is work-
ing away in its usual laudable fashion ;
berries of good size, fine colour, very
sweet, and lots of them. The plant is
an admirable grower, and the large,
tliornless canes stand smilingly erect
through the woi'st winter we can bring
on. Where only one variety can be
grown for family use, and not much
care given, by all* means let Turner be
the one ; but we want something firmer
and larger in its season for market.

Highland Hardy. — Nearly as large
in berry as Turner, and quite early,
coming close after Hansell. The berry
seems nearly as large and nearly as
firm as Hansell, and the taste more
nearly conforms to the standard of
those persons who are accustomed to
the foreign varieties. But the Cana-
dian public will prefer the handsomer
Hansell. The Highland Hardy is also
distinctively a market variety, and
during the last few seasons has here
won increasing regard for this purpose.
For home use, as already indicated, I
pi'efer the sweeter, larger, hardier and
more vigorous Turner, which is only a
few days later ; but for market tise I
consider the firmer and earlier High-
land Hardy more profitable. Its crop
ripens np in shorter time, and hence is
more satisfactory to the pickers, be-
sides getting well out of the way before
Cuthbert and other late ones come in.
I would plant it freely for market if I
could not get Hansell. It seems hardy
enough.

Of " Black Caps " the first to ripen
of course is

Tyler or Souhegan. — If there is any

202

THE CAXADIAN IIORTTCCLTCKIST.

difference between these varieties no
one around liere is clever enough to
distinguish it. But we keep them in
different fields for separate propaga-
tion ; close together a slight difference
mif/ht be manifest. The berry is very
black, of tine size, and veiy good to
take Avhen it first comes in, and the
bush is very productive. It begins to
iil)en nearly with Highland Hardy,
and utterly supersedes here the old
l)avidsoii Thornless, which had become
vei-y unproductive and generally nn-
ii'liable.

Now, as the season of Tyler is about
over, the

Gregj is just coming in. It is not
nearly so black as the former (on ac-
count of the light-grey bloom in the
little hollows of the berry), and it is
not so hardy in winter, nor will it be-
liave so well on light soils ; yet of all
tested sorts it still stands ahead, for its
unrivalled firmness and .size. It is also
sweeter than Tyler. On loamy soil
with fair treatment it is very produc-
tive, and when it comes into market
nil other black caps must stand aside.
But it comes in very late.

Ohio. — This is the sort that attracts
so much attention in New York State
as a berry for drying. I don't see
how it can be as profitable for this pur-
j^o.se — quart for quart — as Gregg, for
the latter is certainly firmer, and ap-
parently less watei-y. But, I daresay,
more quarts can be i-aised per acre of
the Ohio. I find it, without question,
the healthiest growing Black Cap that
I have tested. It is also about the
sweete.st and most delicious. So, if I
coidd plant only am Black Cap for the
use of my family, I would set out
Ohio; but I would try hard for an
earlier one, and a later one also. The
Ohio is about medium in season.

Centennial. — This new sort pleases
me exceedingly. The fruit is quite
large. Selected specimens, indeed,

crowding closely the larfjest Gre^-fi',
though the average size s^ems smaller
than the Gregg average. It is quite
black, and it is sweeter and better than
Tyler, about as delicious as Ohio, while
it appears firmer than either. I feel
that a test on one year ])lants is not
sufficient to pass settled judgment
upon ; V)ut if it fulfils its pi-esent pro-
mise with me, I must place it as far
away the best of ail the eai hj Black
Caps tested here.

Cltapinan and Nemaha grow well,
but have not fruited yet. They were
]jlanted in spring of this yeai-.

Befhes Golden. — A new sort that
grows a yellow berry on a " Black
Cap " bush. The fruit is about the size
of Gregg, or nearly so, sweet, exceed-
ingly firm, and is produced very
abundantly. The bush appears very
hardy and vigorous. The oidy objec-
tion seems to be that the color v/lien
over-i-ipe becomes rather too dark, so
that purchasei-s at first think the fruit
dirty or decaying. A little experience,
however, will overcome that idea, and
at present this variety is the only
valuable " white " variety I know that
can be ship)>ed to market, so I have
good hopes of its future record. It
tastes better than the following : —

Caroline. — A noble A^ariety for home
use or near market. The plant is re-
markably vigorous and overwhelmingly
productive, while the berries are rather
lar::re and of the attractive orange-bufi'
tint of the old Brinkle. But the re-
semblance ends with the color. The
quality is decidedly inferior to that of
the Brinkle, and the form of the berry
is shorter. But the children like it,
and visitors exclaim ovei- it in rapture.s.
We must think well of a fruit that
every one likes, except the connoissinir.
So with its beauty, hardiness, antl
almost unequalled productiveness, the
Caroline shoidd stand first of its color
everywhere, except in the garden of

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTUKIST.

203

the amateur, or in the market field for
shipment.

Slinffers Colossal. — After three sea-
sons fruiting, tliis is the only sort
which, I think, excels tlie Caroline in
productiveness. Tlie busli is the largest
I have seen, and it covei-s itself with
dark brownish-red bei'ries, that taste
very good, and are of about the largest
size. Tlie fruit is too soft when fully
ripe, and this defect, along with its
dark color, hinders it as a market
variety, but for home use I consider it
unequalled. The roots do not send up
'• suckers."

Knevet's Ginnt. — The largest rasp-
berry I have seen. It is of the foi-eign
family, and except with petting, on
rich loamy soil, it cannot be de|)ended
upon for large yield. But when just
suited it appears very productive, and
the quality is delicious. Distinctively
a variety for the amateur. Hardy
enough here with deep snows, but not
so hardy as Cuthbert.

Victoria. — Another English A'ariety,
of the same general character as the
last, only that the berry, while rather
smaller and firmer, is one of the sweetest,
and is decidedly the most delicious red
raspberry that I have tasted.

Brinkles Orange does exceedingly
well with some of my neighbors, but I
have not got it on suitable soil at pre-
sent. It has given ns some splendid
fruit — ^just the acme of raspberry flavor.
It is usuall}^ liardy here, but it needs
too much petting for any but the
amateur's garden.

Franconia is another variety that
sometimes does well for market. It is
so inferior in general behavior to Cuth-
l)ert, that I purpose rooting it out.

THE ONTARIO APPLE.
Dear Sir, — The Ontario Apple
proves excellently adapted to our sea-
shore sections, the thick, strong leaf
not being aff"ected by our salt-laden

ocean breezes. The tree makes a vigor-
ous growth, fruits early and annually ;
the apples are above medium in size,
of good quality for us, and with nae
outlast any other variety, keeping in
perfect condition this season until July.
It would probably prove a most valu-
able acquisition lor this Province.
How much we owe to Mi-. Ai-nokl.
The American Wonder Pea I grow
almost exclusively to supjily my own
table, having introduced it here when
first placed in the catalogues, I think
in 1878. It requires a rich soil to
yield well, and succeeds best when not
too thickly sown. I have three of Mr.
Arnold's strawberries, Maggie, Ar-
nold's Pride, and Alpha. Tlie first is
enormously productive, the second not
far behind it on this [mint ; l)ut both
have the fault of not ripening up well,
become soft while still partly green,
and not red wlien fully ripe. Alpha
colors better, and is also productive.
Very truly yours,

Charles E. Brov>'n.
Yarmouth, N.S., 16tli July, ISSo.

THE WHITE FRINGE.

Dear Sir, — In your July copy you
show a branch of Fringe Tree, and you
ask reports on it.

In May last I was at Dr. Girdwood's,
near St. Ann's de Bellevue, P. Q., and
noticed this beautiful shrub in all its
glory of leaf and flower. It was a
pleasant object to look at. I think it
stood from seven to eight feet high,
and say four feet across the base, look-
ing very thrifty and hardy. The doc-
tor's place is one of the islands in the
Ottawa, near the extreme elbow of the
Island of Montreal, very much exposed
to heavy drifts of snow and high
winds. No place can be more exposed
to intense cold and high winds than
where this tree was growing. Some
of the lower branches were terribly

201

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTUiviol.

torn by the weight of snow and ice,
yet the rest of it showed vigorous
growth.

Ti-uly youre,

George Baekv,
Montreal, Que, Jxily 9th, 1885.

REPORT ON FRUITS,

East Simcoc Scmi-Ccntennlal Ezhibition, held at
Urillia, '2nd and 3rd of October, ISSi.

In accord. mce with instructions re-
ceived at Barrie, I went to Orillia on
Thurschiy evening, the 2nd October.
On Friday morning I proceeded to the
F.iir grounds, where I at once foiind
the Seci'etary of the Association, H.
S. Scadding, Esq., who kindly went
with me to the Hail and gave the
necessary instructions to enable me to
examine the fruit to the best advantage.
The building was a very large struc-
ture ; well suited for the purpose. It
was well lilled with all that usually
appertains to a large County, Central,
or Union Exhibition. There was
nothing crowded — every class had
[)lenty of room ; yet there was none to
spare. The fiuit exhibit was well
placed in tlie centi^ of the hall and
well protected with railings.

The fruit exhibit, consisting of ap-
)des, pears and grapes, was much larger
than I expected to see. All had been
judged the day before. Prizes had
been ofiered for exhibits of apples un-
der four heads : 1 st, ]ieck of Fall Ap-
j)les ; 2ud, peck of Winter Apples ;
yrd, collection of Fall Apples, named;
and 4th, col]e«tix)n of Winter Apples,
named. There were eight exhibits of
fall apples and ten of winter apples on
the table. The judges seemed to have
luiderstood the word " best " to signify
" largest," consequently in both these
sections the prizes had been all given
to the largest apples, while much bet-
ter varieties were on the table. This !

was particularly noticeable in the win-
ter section, where a peck of English
Golden Russets — a most excellent sam-
ple— had not received a piize ; while
tirst, second and third prizes had been
awarded to lots inferior in quality and
profitableness.

The collection of Fall Apples con-
sisted of fourteen varieties, most of
them of unusual excellence, several of
which were varieties not often seen.
This lot, as well as the winter apples,
were all named ; but I could only re-
cognize St. Lawrence, Snow, Pumpkin
Sweet, Beaut}^ of Kent, and, probably,
the one named " Duchess" as being the
Duchess de Brabant. All the otheis
seemed to have been named for the
occasion.

The collection of Winter Apples to
which had been awarded the tii'st prize
consisted of eighteen varieties, amongst
which I found R. I. Greening, Ameri-
can Golden Ru.sset, Northern Spy,
Wealthy, Canada Red, and Snow — all
remarkably good sjjecimens. Amongst
the remainder I found varieties named
Mcintosh Red, Lady Apple, Pomme
Grise, English Golden Russet, and
Porter, all good names, but the apples
were not there. This collection also
contained three seedlings of very infe-
rior quality.

The second prize lot contained twen-
ty-one varieties : Canada Red, R. I.
Greening, Snow, Golden Russet, and
Ponmie Grise, were fair samples, and
true to name. Amongst the remainder
I found varieties named Pewaukee,
Porter, Haas and Rox. Russet — all in-
correctly. Most of the others were
seedlings of no merit.

Pears — There were six exhibits, all
late A^arieties, only two of which were
named— Flemish Beauty (incorrectly)
and Duchess d'Angouleme. All the
samples shown were very fine speci-
mens.

THE CANADIAN nORTICULTURIST.

20c

Grapes — Prizes were ofFei-ed for the
best three pounds and for the best col-
lection, named. For the three pounds
the first prize had been awarded to an
excellent plate of Massasoit, second to
Agawam, and third to Salem. Both
varieties equally as well grown as the
first prize lot.

For the collection, the first prize lot
contained eleven varieties, amongst
which I recognized Mooi-e's Early,
Brighton', Massasoit, Delaware (named
Salem), Concord, Champion, Clinton,
Isabella (1) and Prentiss.

The second pi-ize lot consisted of
Ptogers' No. 13. Rogers' No. 9 (not
quite ripe), Salem (not Salem), Dela-
ware, Concord, Rogers' No. 3, Rogers'
No. 8, and Brighton (not Brighton).

This exhibit of grapes was to me the
most interesting sight in the buiUling,
as all the samples shown (with one or
two exceptions) were of unusual excel-
lence. The size of both berry and
bunch, and in nearly every case the
maturity of the fruit, evidenced careful
culture, and also gave tlie best possible
proof that Orillia and its vicinity must
be peculiarly suited both in soil and
climate for the successful and profitable
cultivation of grapes.

The building was lighted with elec-
tric lights in the evening. I was one
of the fir.st to enter and found the care-
takers cleaning the dust from the ex-
hibits wherever necessary — a practice
to be highly commended.

The president of the society, P. Ber-
tram, Esq. (who seemed to be every-
where), visited me several times during
the day and evening, and gave me
every assistance and encouragement
possible.

Respectfully submitted.

Thos. Beall.

Lindsay, Nov. 1st, 1884.

FRUIT GROWING IX CANADA.

To THE Editor of the Canadian Horticulturist
Sir, — I am in receipt of the tenth
annual report of the Montreal Horti-
cultural Society and Fruit Growers'
Association of the Province of Quebec,
and wish to bear testimony to the high
merit which always characterizes the
publications of that Society. The pro-
gress of fi'uit culture in almost all the
provinces of the Dominion is rapidly
advancing ; especially is this the case
in Ontario and Quebec, where it is
fostered by the governments of these
provinces. This enables the sister
societies to distribute a large amount
of useful information, and plants,
annually.

I notice, however, an error at page
50, which I take the lil)erty of pointing
out. Dempsey's 25 is placed among
the black gi-apes ; both his 25 and GO
are white ; the foi-mer is altogether too
late for this part of Canada, or Montreal.
No. 60 is rather small, about the size
of Delawai-e ; I do not think it will
ever take much of a place in public
estimation. Dempsey's best grape is
undoubtedly his Burnet ; it ripens with,
or a little before. Concord. It is short
jointed, is a good grower, and is fresh
and vigorous where soil and situation
are suitable. It is free from thrips,
rot and mildew, and is the highest
flavored out-door grape grown.

One of its parents is the Black Ham-
burg, after which the Burnet takes
many of its finer qualities.

The fruit gi'owers of Ontaiio are
alrefidy taking steps with regard to
getting up exhibits in ghiss jars ; the
fruits are beinf preserved in salisylic
acid, and are intended for the Prince
of Wales' Colonial Exhibition, in Lon-
don, England, in 1880. It will be
remembered at the Exhibitions held in
1851 and 1862 in that city, some furs,
sleighs, buffalo robes, and toboggans

206

THE CANADIAN HORTICCLTDRIST.

were shown ; the Curnival Number of
the Montrciil iStar and Witness for the
hist two seasons have been distributed
broadcast over Britain and the Empire.
Photographs, as a rule, taken in Canada
ft)i- exportation, geneially show hei" sons
in their Avinter costumes of fur coats
and caps. So hirgely has winter taken
precedence in all works of art sent from
this to the mother country, that the
impression in the old world still ob-
tains, tiiat the French King only ceded
to his bi'other of England a few acres
of snow. No pains have hitherto been
taken to show our lovely spring, slim-
mer, and autumn climate to advantage.
There is only one way in which this
can be done in a jjractical manner, and
that is through the fruits we ripen.
Such gi-ains as wheat, barley, oats and
])eas, of course, give evidence of " seed
time and harvest," but the bloom on a
peach, or the grape, or the lovely
bright color of the apple's cheek can
only be given by our bright clear sky,
and an unveiled sun. The Fruit
Growers' Association of Ontario, if
properly su])portod by the Government,
;ire determined to make such an exhi-
bition as will wipe away from Canada
the reproacli which rests ui)on her in
this matter, and also the idea tliab we
are only a people whose not very remote
jirogenitors was a cross between the
native Indian and the p]s<jiiimaux.

Fruit such as we cultivate is the
culmination of one of nature's choicest
gifts. Centuries have been expended
in Itringing the apple, the pear, and
the grajje to their present excellence in
Europe ; they have advanced in a i)aral-
lel line with civilization itself, with
which they keep pace, but in Canada
we are adapting new varieties fi-om
heretofore unknown strains to our soil
and climate, and we are doing so at a
rate which astonishes the workers them-
selves. It is well known to fruit
"rowers that English gooseberries and

sti'awlierries, and the foreign gi'apes are
not suited to our climate ; that they
have to be united by the hybridist, or
accidentally by nature, to the native
])lants of this country, and that the
oflspririg of these parents, such as the
Dempsey grape, or children of that, or
some other variety, will eventually be
obtained with hardy constitutions, early
ripening, and of a quality which will
vie with, if it does not exceed, those of
the vines of the Ehine and the Seine.
We know our fruits will ' show our
climate, and Ave trust they Avill testify
to the high standard to which our
people have i-eached in the a])))reciatiou
of nature's bountiful and best gift to
man — good fruit.

We hope, as a Society, we will have
the friendly rivalry of our sister of the
Province of Quebec, in London in 1 88G.
We shall ever remember with pleasant
feelings the time we met in the beauti-
ful park at Philadelphia, during the
American Centennial in 187G ; and we
look forward to a similar meeting on
British soil next year. The decade has
not passed without a considerable ad-
vance in the cultm-e of fruit in both
Provinces. p. e. Bucke,

Vice-Prcs. Fniit Gmvas' Ais'n of Ontario,
Ottawa, August 3rd, 1885.

STRA^^^ERRIES -THEIR KIXDS AKD
CULTURE.

Worth far more than the annual
subscription to the Horticulturist are
to its readers the excellent letters on
strawberry culture in late numbers of
the magazine from the pens of Mr.
John Little, of Fish Creek (Canada's
Strawberrif King) ; Mr. T. C. Bobin-
son, of Owen Sound ; Mr. W. W. Hil-
boi-n, of Arkona, and others. In
kinds, among the legion of them, we
could hardly ex|)ect them all to agree ;
nor do they in the manner of culture,
but like wise men thev agree to differ

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

207

and ask the experience of their fellow
fruit-growei's.

Although I have tried kinds enough
to entitle me to the name of an experi-
mental grower, it would be out of place
in me to enter into what has been so
thoroughly done in their descri])tion.
Of just three kinds I will venture a
remark.

Early Ca/irfc/a.— Although a poor
berry, and liable to be destroyed by
late sjiiing frosts, I consider it valu-
able. S[)ring of 1884 I liad half a
crop of them destroyed by the frost of
2yth May. Discouraged by this, I this
year ]>lanted of them only iu the jjro-
portion of one row in 30. Director
Smith is a good hand at reminding us
of our mistakes, let him add the follow-
ing to Ins spicv list in Report 1884:, p.
150:—

Tills year my Early Canadas were in
the market, a line ci-op, two weeks be-
fore the Wilson, and found a ready sale
at 12^ cents while I had to take 8
cents for the others. So severe a fi'ost
at that season we might not have for
many years, and I would i-ather risk it
than the chances of a glutted market,
as we had this yeai', with the price
down to 4 and 5 cents per basket.

tShmyless. — Tempted bv their size
and beauty I planted this year a large
projtortion, but soon found out to my
cost that Mr. Robinson's words are no
mistake when he says, " It's one of the
best beriies to lose money on I ever
tried." Besides their lack of llavor,
}0u can't carry them farther than the
table. I I'ooted out a large patch of as
thriving plants as I could desire,
jilanted this spring, considering the
lirst loss the least. That was mistake
No. 2.

(Jlendule. — Sometime.s called the lazy
maJi's berry, thriving with so little
care. Appropriate name enough — a
lazy man he would be to grow no bet-
ter. A basket of these has a little

tasteless fruit and any amount of hnsks.
Good, methinks, for such as have prodi-
gal sons.

Matted Bows v. Hills. — I think the
majority of large growers have iavored
the former ; Mr. Robinson, however,
does the hills, and his remarks, evi-
dently ])enned as the result of careful
trial, are worthy of much consideration
and his system of unprejudiced trial.

Mr. C. M. Purdy favors a system
between the two, " The Hill and Row
System," keeping the runners off till
late in the season, and then running
into rows. It looks well on paper.

But there's another sy.stem, the same
author calls it '' 1"he Slip-shod System."
May he it's the best o' them a'. The
Editor will laugh when he hears the
Scotchman's story ; but let him not
misunderstand the word story — its a
fact, a stahborn thing. As sJudr as
daitli, I'll vouch for it.

In our neighboi'hood lives a good
honest man. With no px-etentions to
gardening he bethought him to try
some of these wonderful methods books
tell us of, of making money easy, and
he has well succeeded. Report I'eacheil
me of a wondei-ful crop of strawberries
he had on a very suiall ])iece of ground.
Curiosity led me to visit him and satisfy
myself in the matter. I found his
strawberry patch in a nearly square
piece of ground measuring 48 x 28
yards. That Editor of ours is good at
figuring, he'll tell you it's a trifle over a
quai'ter of an acre, but so little that for
convenience sake we'll call it that. Off
this he sold this summer 1,500 baskets,
besides used iu the family and giftetl
200; say 1,700 ba.skets he sold at 8
cents = §13G, i. e., at the rate of G,800
baskets :=; ;5544 per acre.

His plants were all Wilson's, set in
the spring of 1884, in rows 3 feet
apart, 1 8 inches a])art in the rows. As
soon as tlie runners a})peai-ed they were
left unmolested and ^ o ui covered the

208

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

whole ground, with no further cultui-e
than an occasional cutting down with
the hoe of trespassing weeds. But be-
fore the berries were ripe it was a mass
of weeds ; but weeds and all the results
were such I could not help telling him
I didn't know if he could ado])t any-
easier or more paying method of culti-
vation. J)ist in one point he agrees
with friends Dempsey and Hilborn,
skilful cultivators, i. e., in adopting the
one year system, which he must.

^Yonderful crop T think even the
Strawberry King must admit under the
circumstances (about 200 bushels to the
acre), and although neither he nor I can
recommend the method of cultui'e, is'nt
there here encouragement for every
poor man, and rich too, to read the
HorticuHurisf, and supply his family at
least liberally^ with this wholesome and
delicious fruit. The slothful man says,
" There is a lion Avithout, I shall be
slain in the streets," and will harp
over an imaginary bit of trouble and
expense. Everything that's worth hav-
ing costs trouble, and as to the ex-
pense, this man's outlay, about $4:, was
insignificant compared with the profits.
John Croil.
Aultsville, August, 18S5.

The Pr.^irie Far.mer is published
at loO Monroe Street, Chicago, Illinois,
eveiT Saturday, and sent post paid for
82 a year. It is now edited by^ Orange
Judd, who has been favorably known
as an agricultural writer for many
years. The paper is offered to new
subscribers for six months at the nomi-
nal price of fifty cents to give the pub-
lic an opportunity of becoming ac-
quainted with this neatly printed and
illustrated paper. The number for
July 2oth contains a complete copy of
the law passed at the last session of the
Illinois Legislature for the promotion
of drainage, jjroviding for cooperation

in draining farm lands. A copy of this
number will be supplied for five cents.
Our own farmei'S should study this law
and seek to have such of its ])rovisions
as are applicable and needetl enacted
bv our own Legislature.

FRUIT PROSPECTS IN ONTARIO.

We gathei-from the i-eturns published
by the Rural New Yorker thei following
particulars : —

Appin. — Aj)ple crop large, not many
Cherries.

Arkoiia. — Apples promise about an
average crop. Cherries very' scai'ce,
not many plums or pears, no peaches.
Raspberries, cun-ants and goosebei-ries
are average or perhaps a little above.

Brewster. — Apples promise well,
currants and gooseberries very well,
peach trees badly frozen. Grapes be-
low the snow line all right and promise
a good crop.

Duatroon. — Prospects good for all
kinds of fruit, especially apples and
plums.

Grimsby. — Fruit prospects good.

Harrow. — Ap[)les an average crop,
not many pears, and veiy few cherries.
Peaches all killed by the hard winter.
A few quinces. Very few plums.

Oxford Centre, — Pears promise to
be a large crop. Small fruits in abun-
dance. Apples a failure.

Sarnia. — Apples and pears very
promising. Peaches, grapes and cur-
rants somewhat damaged by the late
frosts and severe winter.

Tinij. — The fruit crop promises to be
very large.

Westminster. — Fruit about an aver-
age.

Whitby. — Fruit a good average.

Wolf Island. — Orchard fruits poor,
cause late frost.

Ayr. — Apples not half a crop.
Cherries and plums less than half a

THE CANADIAN HOK TICULTURTST.

209

crop. Currants and gooseberries an
average.

Barrie. — A goofl crop of plums and
Chei-ries, just medium of apples and
small fruits.

Bridgeport. — The apple crop is med-
ium good.

Dawn JfiUs. — Prospect for fruit
better than for two 3'ears.

Delaware. — A^jples medium, also
cherries, no f)eaches, very few pears.

Edgely. — Fruit of all kinds, such as
ai)ples, plums, and currants very short.
Grapes an average crop.

Ingersoll. — Apples light bloom, pears
heavy, grapes killed a good deal, peaches
,all dead.

BUUboroiigh, — A])]-)le prospects good.

Listowel. — But little bloom on apples,
jtears and crabs. Plums nearly all kil-
led. Small fruits look well.

Mohawk. — Early apples plentiful.
Winter apples very scarce. Good show
for small fruits.

y Ottawa. — Apples good, but the hard
winter hurt plums and pears

Port Rowan. — Fruits a light crop.

Sea/orth. — Prospects of all kinds of
fruit excellent.

Scotland. — Apples scarce. Pears
above an average. Peaches very few.
Plums covered with the mark of cur-
culio. Small fruits good.

St. George. — Apples belowan average.
Small fruits pi'omise good crops.

Stratford. — There is promise of
abundant yield of fruit of all kinds.

Strathrog. — Fruit from pi-esent ap-
jiearances will be a heavy crop, trees
looking healthy with a splendid set.

FRUIT SYRUPS.
Making syrup is an all day affair,
and a good plan is to set the jars of
juice in the oven at evening and keep
a low fire all night, finishing off next
forenoon. Six quarts of Grape juice
should make one of syrup, wine-colored,
lucent, of delicious, refreshing perfume
2

and flavor. One tablespoonful in a
glass of water gives a delightful drink,
like fresh Grape juice, the true sub-
stitute for wine with all temperate
peojde, and the finest medicine for cor-
recting a feverish, bilious state ever
known. The syrup itself is valuable
for restoring strength, and consumptive
])ersons should take it by the tumbler
daily, sipping it leisurely, with sugar,
if too tart for the taste. It makes new,
I'ich blood, it cleanses the system, clears
brain and feeds starved nerves. It has
the hypophos|)hites v/hich doctors pres-
cribe for wastes of tissue, and taken freely
will an-est even critical stages of disease.
People fed on pure food with abundance
of fruic need never dreadcancer, Bright's
disease, gout, neui'algia, dropsy, or a
dozen other of the race. — Susan Power,
hi Vick's Magazine.

ROSES FOR THE HOUSE.
The following varities are the most
suitable for window garden cultivation :
Twelve Teas — Safrano, Bon Silene, Isa-
bella Sprunt, Rubens, Odorata, Perle
des Jardins, Gen Tartas, Yellow Tea,
Madame Bravy, Madame de Vatry,
Madame Ltimbard and Souvenir d' un
Ami. Four Bengals — Queen's Scarlet,
Douglass, Duchess of Edinburg and
Ducher. Four Bourbons — Herraosa,
Queen of Bourbons, Queen of Bedders
and Edward Desfosses. Besides these
there is a class of recent introduction,
known as the Polyantha Roses ; they
are of dwarf habit and are continually,
in bloom, the flowers being produced
in clustex'S, and although the individual
flowers are not large are very perfect..
Of these, the most desirable are Mio--
nonette, rose, Mile. Cecile Brunner,
salmon pink, Little White Pet, light
])ink, and Paquerette, pure white.
Besides these we have the dwarf form
of Rosa Indica, commonly called the
Fairy Rose. It is a very pretty little
miniature Rose, having double, rose-

210

THE CANADIAN nORTIOULTURTST.

colored fio-.vers, about the size of a clime.
As it is constantly in bloom it is a
])lant that will always attract considei--
able attention, and is deserving of a
])lace in every window garden. — Chas.
E. Paknell, in Vic/cs Magazine.

RASPBERRIES AND STRAWBERRIES.

We ]iav(? great difticulty, so far north,
in getting raspberries hardy enough to
withstand our severe climate. Occa-
sion^dly there are seasons when snow
comes early, and in such quantities as
to cover the bushes, aud thus afford
ample protection. But these are very
exceptional, and consequently we are
obliged to protect the canes by laying
them down, which at best is an expen-
sive and troublesome undertaking. As
yet there is an abundance of wild rasp-
lierries sold on the market at such a
i-ate as not to guai'antee the expense
of growing raspberries, except in an
amateur way. Among the reds Cuth-
bert is certainly the best ; although late
in ripening it is well worth waiting for.
The cold-resisting powers are found to
the greatest extent in Saunder's No. 60 j
but in quality it is inferior to the Cuth-
bert, and not prepossessing in color,
being a sort of purplish black. For our
northern sections it is, however, an
acquisition. Among the blacks Gregg,
v.'hen well pinched back and grown low,
has given tlie best satisfaction. — [If
Mr. "Wright will can some of Saunders'
No. CO he will find them by no means
inferior to the Cuthbert. — Ed. Can.
Jlort.]

Strawberries can be grown in greater

■variety, as they are more easily pro-
tected. Wilson seems to be the general
favorite, although of late many are
speaking in warm terms of the Crescent
Seedling. Those of my neighbors who
have tested it spoke of it in the high-

• est terms. I consider it one of the best
■v\ e have. As for me, it produces more

i'.uit with less trouble than any berry

on my gi'ounds. For a voy large,
showy berry I have none that surpasses
the Sharpless, but as it is so irregular
in shape and berry, also less productive
for the labor spent on it than these last
mentioned varieties, I grow it in lim-
ited quantities only. — A. A. Wright,
in IluuU Neiv Yoi'ker.

THE OSTHEIM WEICHSEL CHERRY.

PKOFESSOH J. L. BUDD.

Over a large portion of Europe,
where the Heart and Duke varieties of
cherries fail to do well, and even in
many parts where the latter succeed
perfectly, the Ostheim is a general
favorite, of prince and peasant. As'
.European pomologists xirato in report-
ing it hardier in tree, firmer in leaf,
and much higher in quality of fruit
than any of the Montmorency vari-
eties (of which our Riclnnond is one),
it seems strange that it has not been
introduced and propagated by our large
nurseries of the Eastern States. Pos-
sibl}' the small size of the tree and its
bushy haV)it of growth may account
for this general neglect ; yet, Mdthout
the aid of nurseries or horticultui-al so-
cieties, it has been introduced at a
number of points in the West by
settlers from Eastern Germany, Poland
and Silesia, and is rapidly coming to
the front as one of the best and most
profitable of the sorts yet tried in the
Mississippi Valley.

At several points in Minnesota, it
has lived and fruited where the Rich-
mond has utterly failed, Avhile in Iowa,
Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri, it has
radiated from several centers of sprout
distribution.

During the summer of 1884 the foli-
age of the Richmond and English Mo-
rello was so injured by rust that the
wood failed to properly mature, and
during the past test winter the trees
have been lost, except on the most
favorable soils, while the thicker and

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTUKIST.

211

firmer leaves of the Ostheim were free
from rust, and the trees now promise
a heavy ci'op of fruit.

My experience and observation fully
sustain Downing's estimate of the
fruit, viz. : Fruit large, roundish-
oblate. Skin red, dark liver-color at
maturity. Stalk long. Flesh, liver-
colored, tender, juicy, almost sweet
sub-acid.

It may be well to say that a num-
ber of varieties of the Griotte race
have the name of Ostheim in various
parts of Europe.

We have Ostheimer, Cerise d'Os-
theim, Ostheim Weichsel and Griotte
d'Ostheim imported from Euro]>e.
These all seem identical, as does also
the variety introduced by settlers from
the Old Country into Kansas and Mis-
souri under the name of Ostheim. —
Rural NeLO-Yorker.

COCA— WHAT IS COCAINE?

The discovery that Cocaine will pro-
duce local anaesthesia, or insensibility
to pain, is next in importance to the
discovery of the properties of ether.
Cocaine has of late been used in impor-
tant o[)ftrations on the eye ; this, and
especially its recent employment to
allay the pain in the terrible disease
under which General Grant has suffered
so long, have given it unusual proini-
nonce.

The earliest European travellers in
Peru, mention the use, by the natives,
of a leaf, which they chewed to produce
a stimulating effect, similar to that of
opium, The leaves, known as Coca, are
from a shrub which bears the same
native name, and is cultivated in
Huanuco, and other mountainous
provinces in the Peruvian Andes, which
have an altitude of two to ftve thousand
feet above the sea. The shrub reaches
the height of six or ei2;ht feet, and has
very thick, evergreen leaves. The
name of the genus is Erythroxylon,

which means i-ed-wood ; sevei-al of the-
species, natives of tropical countries,,
having wood of a red color. The
specitic name of the Peruvian species,
is that given to it by the natives, hence
its scientilic name is Eri/tliroxi/Uyu coca.
In its relationship the shrub is nearest
to the flax and the geranium families.
The shrub is cultivated in a rude
manner by the natives, who raise the
young plants from the seeds, to form
])lantations known as Cocals. In from
three to five years from planting, the
shrubs afford a gathering of leaves, .
and after that a picking is made
annually. The leaves are mature when
they break on being bent. They are
dried on platfoi-ms. or on a portion of
ground made smooth by stami)ing. Tlie
leaves when diy, are packed in bales
of about eighty pounds, which are
covered by a coarse cloth made by the
natives. In this form it is an impor-
tant article of domestic traffic in Peru,
and recently it has been sent to this
country and to Europe in considerable
quantities. The wholesale value of the
leaves is fi'om one dollar, to one dollar
and fffty cents ])cr pound. In Peru,
the use of Coca is very general.,
especially among the natives. Tile
leaves, mixed with lime, are chewed
and the saliva swallowed, the individual
nnnaining quiet the while.

The effects of Coca are said to be
most pleasurably intoxicating, and those
who become addicted to its use, rarely
abandon it. It is claimed that by the
use of Coca, the Peruvians can perform ,
a great amount of labour in the mines, .
and as porters in carrying loads, \iitoii
very little food. The active principle
Cocaine (not " Cocoaine," as sometimes
incorrectly written), has been separated.
The process is expensive and the product
small, hence the price has been very
high, the salt of Cocaine having been
sold at over a dollar a grain. — American
Agriculturist.

212

THE CANADIAN HOKTICULTURIST.

CORNUS FLORIDA.
- I have always esteemed the flowering
Dogwood as one of the most beautiful
of our small, native trees, and never
let an opportunity pass without recom-
mending it for the lawn, where it is
not often seen, sijuply because it is a
native, and not because it is not beauti-
ful. I know of seA'oral specimens
that are worth widking miles to see.
The largest stands in the middle of a
10 acre lot, about two miles from the
village of Koslyn, L. I. It is altogether
tlie finest Dogwood I ever saw. The
tree is upward of 30 feet high, with a
round and perfectly symmetrical head
about 30 feet in diameter, supported by
a clean, straight trunk neai-ly six feet
high and some nine or ten inches in
diameter. It is as nearly perfect as a
tree can be, and a grand sight when in
flower. It was a sight of this tree many
yeai'S ago that gave me my first im-
pression of the great value of the Dog-
wood as a tree for the lawn. Another
very tine specimen stands by itself on
the beautiful lawn of Mrs. W. Barr,
at Orange, N. J. I saw it this Spring
just as it was coming into full bloom.
In sight at the same time wei'e Mag-
nolia stellata, M. Soiilangeana and M.
conspiciia ; and the nearness of the
latter naturally led to comparisons, very
much, to my mind, in favor of the Dog-
wood. Liking company when enjoying
a good thing, I asked Mrs. Barr and
others ,pi-esent to look at- the Magnolias
and the Dogwood and tfell me which
tliey thought the more beautiful. They
all agreed with me tliat the Dogwood
Avas more beautiful than the Magnolia.
The Dogwood has this also in its favour,
that it clothes itself in the most lovely
of autumn tints. It is also a very
clean and symmetrical tree. Therefore.
I say that the Dogwood is another
native tree that is worthy of a place
even on the smallest of lawns. Plant
it. To have it at its best, it should be

at least 15 feet from any other tree or
shrub. Choose a small plant rather
than a lai'ge one. — Rural Ntto-Yorker.

THE CABBAGE MAGGOT.

For the past two weeks I have had
scores of letters complaining of the
ravages of the Cabbage 3Iaggot, which
is evidently more than usually destruc-
tive tliis year. In many ])laces in this
vicinity not a single head will mature.
To counteract its luvages in our sample
grounds, where we test all our varieties
of cabbage and cauliflowers, we had
until this season dressed the land heavih'
witli oyster shell lime, using at the rate
of 150 bushels to tlie acre, sown on the
land after plowing, and then well
hari'owed in. But this year the man
in charge of our trial grounds was
absent at the time the ground was being
])repared for the cabbage and cauliflower,
and the dressing of lime was, for the
first time in five years, omitted. The
cabbage and cauliflower plants, which
were strong spring-sown transplanted
j)lants, weie set out about the middle
of April. They started well, but about
the middle of May the droop in the
leaf showed that the maggot was at
work. We at once scraped the soil
from the stem of each plant and dusted
lime around it, again drawing the soil
up to the stem. In addition to this a
goo:l handful of guano was dusted
around every five or six plants, or
about as thick on the surface of the
soil as sand is usually strewn on the
floor.

The application of lime at once
arrested the work of the maggots on
the stems, and the guano started a
quick growth, causing each plant to
make strong roots above the wounds
made by the maggot.s^ The result is
that the crop to all appearances is saved.
We left a few rows without applying
the lime and guano, to test the result
of the experiment, and in these rows

THE CANADIAN HOKTICULTURIST.

213

hardly a yil-ant will head up. Of course,
this remedy is expensive, prol)a1)ly cost-
ing in guano and labour .$"J0 to $2^) for
^very acre of 1(>,000 plants. — Peter
Henderson, iu Rural Aew- Yorker.

THE GRAPES OF CENTRAL ASIA.

PK'OF. J. L. BUDD.

When at the great commercial fair
at Nishny Novgorod, on the upper
Volga, in the Fall of 1882, we saw
many tons of raisins and dried grapes
of quality equal to the best grown and
])ut up in 8outhei"n France or Spain.
These were ])ut up and grown in Persia
and North Bokhara, and we were told
by the intelligent Persian Consul that
varieties of equal excellence were grown
in Turkestan, Afghanistan, North Bok-
liai-a, and on the foothills of the North
Himalayas. The leaves of these or-
iental varieties are thick and firm, like
those of the Eastern apples, pears,
cherries and plums. Hence we liave
the best reasons for believing they would
prove moi-e valuable for crossing with
our native species than the varieties of
Vinifera we have tried from the soft,
hmnid climates of Southwest Europe.

In the Southern States some of these
thick leaved varieties may prove desir-
able without modification by seedling-
production or crossing ; while at the
North, crosses on our hardy native
forms may give us the perfect leaf and
the relatively perfect fruit we have
been seeking for the Upper Mississippi
Valley. As the belief is general that
the raisin, and the best dessert grapes
of the Old World are all of the Vini-
fera family, it may be urged that the
phylloxei-a will head off the culture of
these thicker-leaved varieties of the
East. On this point we cannot be
certain ; but it is proper to say that Dr.
Karl Koch and Dr. E. Kegel have
raised the question of the separate and
distinct origin of the grapes of West
Asia, The foliage of all of them comes

nearer to that of the primitive forms
known as Vitis Amurensis, and Vitis
Davidii, than to any primitive or cul-
tivated forms of the West.

Again, it may be urged that some of
the Turkish and Indian gi'apes have
been tried iu West Europe, and with
us, and found wanting. On this point
it should be remembered that we have
imported, so far, from the coast climates,
while the pi-esent thought is to in-
troduce the varieties of the arid in-
terior. With his well known love for,
and sympathy with the " art which does
mend Nature," we can hoj)e and trust
that Col. Colman, our new Commiss-
ioner of Agriculture, will aid in intro-
ducing, not only the grapes,but the fruits
generally, and the cereals, grasses, and
shrubs of the little known region of
Western Asia. With needed instruc-
tions, our Consul at St. Petersburg can
aid in securing the products of Bokhara,
while the Persian Consul, if encouraged
to do so, can secure many valuable
products from Persia, Turkistan, and
even Afghanistan. — Ihiral jVew-Yorker.

TWO FINE NEW ROSES.

A Philadelphia firm invested $1,000
in the stock of a single rose from an Eng-
lish fiorist two years ago, but finding
this winter that there were still some
plants of it held by its originator, pur
chased them at an expense of .$2,000
more. Not a single plant has yet been
sold of this stock, for which $0,000 was
paid. It will be put wpon the market
in March. It is antici{)ated that it will
create a sensation in cut flowers next
fall, in winter giving us for the first
time a rose equal to the General Jac-
queminot in every res|>ect, with even a
richer fi-agi-ance. Its great value with
the commercial florist lies in its being a
continuous bloomer, giving buds as free-
ly as any of the monthly varieties. A
rival appears, however, now that the

214

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

time approaches for the Bennett rose to
be given to the i)ublic.

A florist in Wasliington has had the
good fortune to originate a variety of a
hansdonie shade of crimson rose of large
size and excellent form, and in fragrance
siirj)assing any rose in cultivation. The
scent is a blending of the tea and Eng-
lish moss-rose jterfume; a few buds will
till a rooui with the most delightful odor.
To complete its good qualities it is
monthly, blooming as freely ;us the La
France or other roses of that class ;
moreover, being part h3'brid jjcrpetual,
it will prove hardy in most localities,
and in consequence be as valuable for
out-door culture as for forcing. This
rose has been named the " American
Beauty." — X. Y. Evenimj Post.

ANEMONE HEPATICA.
Among the spring wild Howers of
this country there is no greater favorite
than the Hepatica, or Liver leaf, or
Liverwort. It is among the very first
we expect at the opening of spring ;
its handsome and peculiar leaves dis-
tinguish it among all low-growing
plants, and being evergreen are in full
lorm and beauty at a season when most
herbaceous plants are destitute of fo-
liage. Its small pur})lish flowers, borne
on long stems, seemingly offer them-
selves to their admirers, and they are
borne away by loving hands as gifts for
friends, and to grace our table vases,
welcome tokens of the awakening of
vegetation from its winter slumber.

'• Sweet are the memories that ye bring
Of the pleasant, leafy woods of spring ;
< If the wild bee, so gladly humming.
Joyous that earth's young flowers are coming.

Much as this plant is admired, it is
strange that it has not been commonly
cultivated ; it is a single instance of
numberless cases illustrating the well
known fact that we prize for our gar-
dens, plants of foreign origin in prefer-
ence to native ones, without regard
always to real worth. By-the-by, this

plant is a denizen of the woods and
copses and wild grounds of Eurojje
and Great Britain as well as of this
country, and there it has been far
more freely introduced into gardens
than here, in fact, it is practically
unknown in this country as a gar-
den plant. As it grows naturally in
cool and somewhat shaded places, no
doubt many have inferred that it would
not be suited to the garden fully exposed
to the sun. This however is not the
case, as the writer has seen it in most
trying situations, one of which was on
the south side of a house, near the wall,
where the soil was dry, and where
it received the full sunshine all day
and the reflected heat from the wall,
a place particularly well adapted to
that heat-loving plant, the Portu-
laca, and yet in this situation the
Hepatica has lived and flourished, un-
disturbed, for many years. True, this
is not the treatment we shotild advise
for it, but it demonstrates the vitality
of the plant. In a deej), rich soil in a
well cultivated border it will do well,
and it will be quite at home in a place
a little shaded by the tops of trees, or
among shrubs. — Vick's Magazme.

SNOWDROP AND SNOWTLAKE.

As these plants are so hardy and
thrifty, there is no reason that they
should not be plentiful not only in our
gardens and on our lawns, but in
country places by the roadsides and in
groves, and by the sides of shady
walks. A little attention given to
planting the surplus bulbs of the garden
in such places, would give them a chance
to live and spread, and to beautify
places whose attractions are none too
numerous. The })lants do not object to
shade, as many others do, and will
send up their snow-white bells under
trees and shrubs. Those who are em-
bellishing school grounds with plants
will find the Snowdrop and Snowflake

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

21^-

most acceptable ; and they are exceed-
ingly appropriate forcenieteries. After
the plants have finished blooming, and
the foliage begins to turn yellow, they
can be lifted and divided and planted
out again immediately. It is not
necessary to dry off the bulbs. — Vicks
Magazine.

POPULUS ALBA BOLLEANA.

In 1879, Prof. Sargent published a
translation of the notes of Dr. Chas.
BoUe, of Berlin, in regard to the rare
beaiitv and value of this upright form
of the White Poplar. He said : " The
bai-k, even in old specimens, is smoothed
out, as if it were polished ; it is of a
clear bluish green color, without spots
or cracks. The ramification is strong
and characteristic. The brilliant white
of the lower side of the leaves,
which remains unchanged throughout
the summer, makes a strong contrast
with the shining dark-green of the
upper side, producing a striking effect
and rendering this tree visible for a long
distance. The wood of this fastigiate
])oplar is of finer quality and more
highly esteemed here than any of the
other poplars. It is an ornamental tree
of the first order, and I cannot too highly
commend it."

When I first saw specimens of this
rarely beautiful tree in South Russia,
and was told that it was native to
Turkistan, I was fearful that it might
not prove an iron-clad in the Northwest,
but we afterwards found grand speci-
mens in the Volga region, and learned
that its range was up to the 54th
j)arallel in Centi'al Asia. With a view
to testing its capacity to endure low
temperature under the most unfavorable
circumstances, we grafted it last Spring
on the crown of one-year Populus
Wobsty plants standing on very rich
garden soil. The cions made an upright
growth of six feet, yet 35° below zero

has not bi'owned the finest terminal
points.

I wish to direct the attention of
Eastern and Western pro])agators to
this tree, as it is cei'tain to become a
general favorite over a large part of the
continent as soon as its merits become
known. It is so unique and peculiar in
habit and expression of foliage that the
introduction of single specimens, here
and there, will create a demand for
the plants which our nurserymen
7nust supply, as it is not easy to pro-
pagate from cuttings, except by skilful
management. If put out in the Spring
in the usual way of propagating the
poplars and willows, not one cutting in
500 will grow. To insure success, the
cuttings must be ])laced in a propagat-
ing pit in Autumn, with bundles inver-
ted, as we manage the grajje and mul-
berry.— J. L. BuDD, in Rural New
Yorker.

A New Climber (Clematis crispa). —
Color, lavender blue tint on the surface and
margins of petals ; the centre, an opaque
white ; thick and leathery in substance,
and highly perfumed. The flower is very
unique in appearance, resembling a min-
iature lily, with a spread of flower \\ to 2
inches wide, and 1| to Ih inches in length.
It is likely to become very popular. Not
quite so strong a grower as the C. coccintu
but as beautiful. — Prairie Farmer.

The Red Bietigheimer is a very large
and beautiful fall apple that must rapidly
take a place among the lists of standaril
varieties for all sections. The tree is a
rapid grower, with large dark-green leaves,
making a beautiful tree. It bears large
crops of fine, rich, red-striped fruit al-
ternate years. It is very productive, but
not an unusuallj' early bearer. This
variety is valuable for market, where its
fine appearance will always attract buyers,
and its good cooking qualities will make
it one held in high esteem everywhere.
We believe the tree will prove hardy in
most sections, and will prove a popular
and valuable fall apple. — Farm and Gar-
den.

21G

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTCRIST.

OLD AGE'S GARLAND.

While resting in my easy chair,
With [fldsed eyes. I hear him tliere,
Oowau, with the golden hair —
Goklen hair and starry eyes,
]51ue as liis lovely western skies,
Whispering softly, " Grandma, rise !"

Here's Frankie, Jack, and Geo. and Chris.,
And Susie, too, our little sis,
Waiting t<i give Grandma a kiss ;
For this was Grandma's natal day,
A'ld they had twined a garland gay
To make old Grandmamma a Fay !

So to the bower I had to go.

Quite pleased to think tliey loved me so.

How could I say the darlings, no?

And full of glee tliey marched along,

A little regiment twenty strong,

A laughing, happy, merry throng.

And there a wreath awaited me
As lovely as a wreath could be.
Of Oasies, Ja.sniine, and .Sweet Pea;
They placed it gently on my hair,
Then hip, hurrali ! rose in the air.
But, oh, niy heart it felt sae sair.

I wcjit and laughed, and laughed and wept,
A sad, sad anguish o'er me crept.
My slender thread of life nigh nipp'd.
A tower of memories on me piled,
1 thought I was again a cliild
Hoamiug 'mang the heather wild,

Laviug in my n itive linns.
Gathering bloom frae off the whins
And rashes, where the burnie rins.
A monicut, and the spell wa-s o'er.
Old Grandma was their Fay once more.
The blithest of the piginy corps.

With crown of flowers up m her brow
Her staff was turned to Sijptre now,
And tlien was held a grand pow-wow.
I wished to see them all rejoice.
But, oil, the wild discordant noise
That came from those wee drum;ner boys !

Enough to throw their Fay In fits.
Rosy, rollicking, darling pets.
Splendid five-year-old cadets !
Montreal. Graxdma Gowax.

Amaryllis Hallii. — The newAmarylUa
Hailii is hardy and very beautiful : it
makes its foliage early in spring, and after
maturing it dies down. Late in the sum-
mer the liower stalks spring up almost
like magic, so rapid is their groAvth, and

produce a number of pink blossoms, un-
like any other amarj-Uis or lily. It is a
great acquisition to the list of hardy bulbs.

A New Shrub. — Lespedeza bicolor is a
charming lawn shrub from China and
Japan, perfectly hardy, with fine acacia-
like foliage and abundant long spraj's of
rosy purple pea-shaped flowers, which
show to advantage when contrasted with
its dark green foliage. This is an excel-
lent shrub for small places, as it seldom
exceeds five feet in height. — Philadclpliia
Press.

To Keep Rose-bushes Free from In-
sects.— J. H Woodford said that he keeps
insects from his roses by dredging the
bushes with hellebore early in the morn-
ing, before the buds form, which kills the
first insects that come ; then again before
they blooui, and again after blooming.
These three applications are sufficient. —
Proceediiijs Massachassetts Horticulturcd
Society.

Southern Cultivator.— The advent of
of June brings to our table that old and
standard publication. The Sonthcni Culti-
vator, for the current month. While it
has seemed in the past not possible to im-
prove it, the varied and valuable table of
contents of the present number is conclu-
sive evidence of its improvement. Its
readers can but approve of its present get
up and make up. They will find valu-
able suggestions and information in
'•Thoughts for the Month." It is not
possible, in the limits of a newspaper
article, to enumerate the large number
of articles of marked interest and de-
cided importance. Every department is
fidl, while the editorial department shows
a freshness and vigor that commend it to
the thoughtful and progressive reader.
To be appreciated. The Cultivator must
be read ; if it is read it cannot fail of being
appreciated. The article on " The Ex-
perimental Farm at Vincennes " is worth
a year's subscription. We urge it as a
matter of self-interest that every reader
of our Journal send 81 50 to Jas. P.
Harrison, Business Manager Cultivator
Publishing Company, Atlanta, Ga , for a
years subscription, or if they prefer we
will send our paper and The Cultimtor one
year for §2 2'.

PRINTED AT THK STEAM PRESS E.STABLISH1[ENT OF COPP, CLARK t CO., COLBORXE STREET, TORONTO.

i — ■ I r V'

cu

T LEAVED MAPLE,

PAINTED FOR THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIS i .

THE

Hiftl

VOL. VIII.]

OCTOBER, 1885.

[No. 10.

THE CITT-LEATED MAPLES.

We present our readers this montli
with a colored phite of Weir's Ciitleaved
Maple. Fully a dozen years have
passed since this tree was introduced
to the tree planting public, and although
it is perfectly adapted to our climate,
and thrives almost anywhere, one seldom
meets with a specimen growing among
the trees on our lawns. Our neighbors
over the border have planted it very
generally, so much so that it is regarded
as one of their most popular ornamen-
tal trees. It would not be very sur-
prising to us, judging from its ]-arity
here, to learn that a large proportion
of our readers were quite unacquainted
with its appearance. To them at least
the colored plate will be a new i-evela-
tion, making them acquainted with a
maple whose foliage and habit are among
the maples, what the Cutleaved Birch
is among the birches.

This tree is a variety of the Silver
Maple. The form of the leaf varies
from that of the type in being much^
more deei)ly cut, as will be seen by a
glance at the leaf shown on the plate,
where the contrast between the color
of the upper and under sides, as well
as the peculiar shape of the leaf, is well
brought out. The young: shoots are

also much longer and more slendei',
hence more drooping in habit. Like
the parent Silver Maple it is of very
rapid growth, and its delicately cut
leaves have the same silvery whiteness
on the under side, which gives name to
the species. The leaf stalks are long,
and tinted with red on the upper surface.
The contrast and blending of these
varied colors, when the long slender
branches are swaying in the wind, are
very pleasing. An avenue planted
with this cutleaved vai-iety would be a
very attractive and interesting feature
of any of our cities.

Another cutleaved variety from seed
of the Silver Maple originated in the
grounds of Messrs Ellwanger and Barry.
It is quite upright in its style of growth,
and the young shoots have none of the
slender, drooping habit which is such a
distinguishing feature of Weir's. The
leaves are remarkable for great diversity
of form, some of them are even more
deeply cut than are those of Weir's, and
others again will be but slightly lobed.
This also is a very rapid growing tree,
a feature so generally desired by plant-
ers in these hurrying days.

A third variety, raised in the grounds
of the same establishment and from seed

218

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

of the Silver Maple also, having much
the same habit of growth as the one
last mentioned, is remai-kable for having
its leaves lobed almost to the midrib in
such fashion as to give to the leaf a
three parted appearance ; hence it has
received the name of three-parted
Maple.

There are also cutleaved varieties of
the Norway Maple. One of these has
its leaves divided into thi'ee parts much
after the style of the one last mentioned.
Another is known as Lorberg's, which
differs but little from the preceding.
The most distinct and unique cutleaved
vai'iety of this sjiecies of maple is known
as the Eagle's Claw. The leaves of
this are not only very deeply cut, but
the divisions are very sharp pointed,
giving to them such a marked resem-
blance to the claws of some large bird
of prey, that it is very appropriately
designated by the name it bears.

These maples, as indeed is nearly all
the genus, are hardy, enduring our
climate perfectly ; they flourish in
almost every soil, are seldom defoliated
by insects, and are withal very orna-
mental.

NOTICE TO NEW SUBSCRIBERS.

If any of our new subscribers desire
to have the Report of the Fruit Grow-
ers' Association for 1884, and the Ca-
7iadian Horticulturist for 1885, Vol.
VIII., complete, by remitting sixty
cents additional these will be forwarded
to them post-paid. For $1 60 you
will receive the Report for 1884 and for
1885, and the Canadian Horticulturist
for the years 1885 and 1886.

CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST
FOR 1886.

PREMIUMS FOR OBTAINING NEW
SUBSCRIBERS.

We desii'e to extend the circulation
of this magazine to at least double the
present issue, and appeal to our readers
to help us. We think you can unhesi-
tatingly recommend it as being fully
worth more than the subscription price
to every one who cultivates even the
smallest garden. In order to make
you some return for your kindness in
procuring new subscribers we will send
you any one of the following collections
of bulbs or plants on the receipt of five
new subscribers and five dollars, name-
ly : — Collection No. 1, one Chionodoxa
lucillfB, one Lilium longiflorum, two
Frittillaria meleagris, two Spanish Iris,
and two Narcissus poeticus ; No. 2,
five Tulips, two Chinese Peonias, one
Spotted Calla, one Tiger Lily ; No. 3,
a collection of five different lillies ; No.
4, a collection of five diflei-ent sorts of
Iris ; No. 5, two double and two single
Hyacinths, and three double and three
single Narcissus ; No. 6, five herbace-
ous perennials, Fraxinella, Blyanthus,
Japan Anemone, Japan Spirea, Clima-
tis erecta ; No. 7, three hardy flower-
ing shrubs. Hydrangea paniculata,
Spirea Van Houtte, and purple Fringe;
No. 8, twelve papers of flower seed of
different sorts.

For ten new subscribers and ten dol-
lars v>'e will send any two of the above
collections that may be desired, or if
preferred will send one yearling tree of
the Russian Vladimir Cherry, the stock
of which was imported by the Fruit
Growers' Association direct from
Russia.

Every new subscriber will receive
the Canadian Horticulturist from the
time his subscription is received until
the end of the year 1886, also the
Report of the Fruit Growers' Associa-

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

219

tion of Ontario for the year 1885 as
soon as it is printed, and which ever
one of the following ai-ticles he may
prefer to have sent him in the spring
of 1886, namely, either (1) three plants
of the Atlantic Strawberry, or (2) a
yearling tree of the Russian Yellow
Transparent Apple, or (3) a plant of
the Lucretia Dewberry, or (4) a year-
ling Vine of the Early Victor Grape,
or (5) two plants of the Marlboro'
Raspberry, or (6) a package containing
thi'ee varieties of flower seeds. These
will be sent by mail prepaid to the
subscriber. The collections mentioned
above vvill be sent prepaid to the address
of the person who remits the money
and new subscribers names.

THE ANNUAL MEETING

Of the Fruit Growers' Association of
Ontario was held in the Town Hall,
Wingham, on the 16th and 17th of
September, 1885 ; at which the fol-
lowing Officers were elected for the
ensuing year, namely : President, Wm.
Saunders, London ; Vice-President, A.
McD. Allan, Godei'ich; Directors: John
Croil, Aultsville ; A. A. Wright, Ren-
frew ; J. R. Dunlop, Kingston ; P. C.
Dempsey, Trenton ; Thos. Beall, Lind-
say ; W. E. Wellington, Toronto ; Mur-
ray Pettit, Winona ; A. M. Smith, St.
Cathai-ines ; F. Mitchell, Innerkip ; J.
A. Morton, Wingham ; J. M. Denton,
London ; W. W. Hilborn, Arkona,
and Chai'les Hickling, Barrie. Audi-
tors : Charles Drury, Crown Hill, and
James Goldie, Giielph. Secretary-
Treasurer : D. W. Beadle, St. Catha-

WANTED.

A few copies of the January num-
ber of the Canadian Horticulturist for
1882, Volume V. We will send in
return therefor Vol. I., II., III. or
IV. complete, if desired.

EASY LESSONS IN BOTANIC

BY H. B. SPOTTO>f, BARRIE.

LESSON IV.

For this lesson we shall require a
lily of some kind — any variety found
in the garden will do, or in spring-time
our native Dog's-tooth violet Avill an-
swer the purpose admirably — and a
specimen of the well-known Calla, popu-
larly regarded as a lily also, though
not at all related to the true lilies. If
you have the common tiger-lily at
hand, and can procui'e a complete speci-
men, root and all, you will find at the
very base of the stem a swollen mass,
made up chiefly of fleshy white scales,
from the midst of which the stem as-
cends. These scales may all be re-
moved in succession until nothing is
left except the flatfish piece to which
they are all attached by their Jower
ends, and from the lower side of which
the large fibrous roots are given off.
These scales are fleshy underground
leaves, and a mass of them sucli as we
find here is called a hulh. You will at
once think of the onion, with its coats
which can be peeled ofi" one after an-
other, as another instance of a bulb,
and of the tulip, hyacinth, &c., as
masses of similar structure. The stem
of the lily, then, rises fi'om a bulb, and
in the plant now before us .numerous
leaves are developed on the sides of the
stem. These leaves, when compared
with any of those belonging to the
plants already examined, show very
marked differences. There is no ap-
pearance of a petiole, and as the blade
is attached directly to the stem the leaf
is said to be sessile. The veining, you
will see, is peculiar. Here there is no
network such as we found in the other
leaves, but the veins run the whole
length of the blade without branching.
This arrangement of the veins is de-
scribed by the term straight-veined.
Many other instances of this mode of
veining will also occur to vou. Everv

220

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

blade of grass is an example. The
leaves of the Calla, also, are marked in
the same way.

The flowers next invite our attention.
You see that they are ])roduced near
the end of the stem, but as each of
them arises from the axil of a bract the
inflorescence will be described as axil-
lary. Whilst you are looking at the
upper part of the stem you will doubt-
less notice the little black l)odies in the
axils of many of the leaves, and perhaps
will wonder what they are. If you
dissect one of them with a sharp knife
you will discover it to be a bud, a good
deal resembling the bulb in its struc-
ture ; it is, in fact, what is called a
bulblet, and if you look about the old
plants in the spring you will find that
the bulblets which have fallen to the
ground in the autumn have sprouted
and produced new plants. In the
flower of the lily the showy part con-
sists of six similar pieces, curved back-
ward, or recurved, as the botanist says.
These six pieces are in two sets of three
each, one set being outside the other,
but as they all so closely resemble each
other it will be better not to call one
set the calyx and the other the corolla,
but to describe the two sets collectively
as the peiianih. In that case, though
the parts are all separate, we can not
very well use either of the terms poly-
sepalous or polypetalous to describe
that fact, but shall adopt a new term,
polyphyllous ; and so also, if we find
the parts of a perianth joined together,
we shall use the term gamophyllous to
describe that fact.

The parts of the perianth will be
found to be attached to the receptacle.

The stamens are six in number, and
you will observe that the anthers are
attached by their centres, and swing
freely about, discharging great quan-
tities of dark brown pollen. Anthers
which swing about in this way are
said to be versatile.

The pistil has its three parts, ovary,
style, and stiyma, well marked. The
upper part of the style and the stigma
are three cornered, and the ovary is
six-lobed. If the ovary be cut across
it will be found to be three-celled, with
two rows of seeds in each cell.

Now it is desirable to notice the
prevalence of the number three in rela-
tion to the parts of this flower. The
perianth is in two sets of three each ;
so are the stamens, and the ovary
clearly consists of three carpels. The
flowers of our first group of plants had
not their parts in threes, but for the
most part in Jives. So that we have
nov/ discovered at least two important
differences between the lily and the
other plants examined : first, in the
veining of the leaves, and secondly, in
the number of parts in each floral
whorl.

Now we may turn to the Calla, which
by the way is not properly a Calla, but
a Richardia, from South Africa. The
leaf-stalks and the scape which bears
the brilliant white lily-like growth at
its summit may be easily traced down-
wai-ds to their origin in a thick under-
ground stem, which differs fi'om the
lily-bulb in being a solid mass, inca-
pable of being separated into scales or
coats. This underground stem of the
Calla is a kind of tuber, not altogether
unlike a potato in its structure. The
leaves, you observe, are straight veined,
but, unlike the lily leaves, have both
blade and petiole.

We are chiefly concerned, however,
with the flower. The white showy
part is in one piece, enfolding below a
cui-ious kind of stalk or column, and
expanding above. Let us carefully
remove this lily-like leaf, so as to com-
pletely expose the column it contains.
The lower part of this column is now
seen to be crowded with small greenish
bodies, whilst the upper part is sur-
rounded by innumerable yellow pro-

THE CANADIAN HOKTICULTURI8T.

22 L

jections, which on closer inspection
turn out to be anthers. The gi-eenish
bodies at the base on examination
prove to be ovaries, so that we have
here an entirely novel arrangement of
stamens and pistil, these organs being
ci'owded together about a fleshy column
or axis. Such a column is known as a
spadix, and the white leaf which we
removed is merely a kind of bract, and
not a calyx or corolla, as you would at
first probably suppose. Such special
bracts as these, surrounding a spadix,
are known as spathes. If in the spring
you can find a specimen of Indian Tur-
nip, or of our common Marsh Calla,
you will see that the structure of the
flowers is similar to that which we are
now examining.

The lily, then, with its colored peri-
anth, is a type of one group of plants,
while the Calla, with its spadix and
spathe, is a type of another group. In
both, however, the leaves are straight-
veined, and there are also some other
resemblances which will be pointed
out presently.

CORRECTION.

We do not need any copies of the
January number of this year. The
year 1885 is an error, it should have
read 1882, Volume Y.

THE EOUNDLING APPLE.

Doctor Haskins says, in the Rural
New-Yorker, that this is the apple
which has become quite popular in
Lower Canada (Province of Quebec)
under the name of Late Strawberry ;
that it originated in Groton, Massachu-
setts, and that the tree is of slow
growth and ungainly in form in the
nursery, not long lived but very pro-
ductive, ranking in hardiness about
with the Fameuse, but not a true iron-
clad.

ONTARIO STRAWBERRY.
Mr. John Little, of Granton, our
Strawberry King, says of this variety
that the plant is healthy, foliage good,
fruit large to very large ; by early
picking it would ship a good distance.
I can recommend the Ontario, after
two years' fruiting, as woi'thy of dis-
semination.

THE CENTENNIAL CHERRY.

Last July we received through the
mail a little tin box in which we found
a number of fine cherries, every one of
which was perfectly sound and in
excellent eating condition. It trans-
pired that these cherries had been sent
to us from Napa City, in California, and
had taken this long overland journey in
the mail bags during the hot weather of
that month, and had come through
without injury. We found the fruit
on sampling it to be very firm fleshed,
sweet, rich, and of excellent flavour.

It was sent us by Messrs. Coates and
Tool of that City, who inform us that
it is a seedling from tlie Napoleon Big-
arreau, that it first bore fruit in 1876,
from which circumstance it derives its
name. The tree is said to be a heavy
grower with coarse wood, and very
glossy, shining leaves ; fruit spurs to
be developed on many trees at one year
from the bud ; its habit low and spread-
ing, and thus far an early, abundant
and regular bearer. The Cheri-ies are
large, of a pale yellow color splashed
and marbled with crimson, the flesh
very firm and sweet, with a small stone.

If the tree should prove to be suffi-
ciently hardy to endure our climate,
and the fruit exempt from that tendency
to rot so often found in our sweet
cherries, we believe that this would be
a most profitable Cherry to plant for
market.

222

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

QUESTION DRAWER.

(1.) Some two years ago I noticed
in the Horticulturist some mention of
fruit culture in Algoma, and would be
glad to hear what kinds have fruited
there after the severe test of last
■winter.

(2.) Also I have heai-d parties argue
that it is very important in transplant-
ing to mark the trees, so as to keep
the same side to the north as before.
Is this of any consequence ?

Henry J. Bird.

(1.) Will our readers in Algoma
please reply to this inquiry.

(2.) If any have made experiments
by way of testing the importance of
marking the north side, will they please
to communicate the result. We have
never paid any attention to this matter
of the north side when transplanting.

Dear Sir, — I have a few questions
to ask, the answering of which through
your valuable and interesting journal
will greatly oblige.

1. Many of my Cuthbert and Turner
Raspberries have had some insect
working on them doing much damage ;
the grub works round the cane in
rings, generally two, about an inch
apart, just below the skin, which pre-
vents the sap rising, causing the shoot
to wither up and fall off. What is the
best remedy — cut the shoot off and
burn it ?

2. When is the best time to use
ashes to my strawberries and bushes,
spring or fall, and about what quan-
tity may I use (with safety) to each
plant and bush?

3. I find that in the January num-
ber of the Canadian Horticulturist
jOM. speak and give an illustration of a
lai-ge yellow gooseberry, " The Large

Golden Prolific." Have you fruited
it and found it as represented ?

4. Let me know the best red goose-
berry.

5. When is the best time to take
root-cuttings of black-caps, and the
method of taking them ; is it merely
dividing the root between the canes,
leaving the canes with so much root
attached 1

Yours respectfully,

E. Robinson.
London South, Ont., Aug. 17, 1885.

Reply. — \. This is done by the
raspberry cane-borer. See Saunders'
" Insects Injurious to Fruits," page
305. If you have not a copy you are
without one of the most valuable books
written for fruit growers. A copy will
be sent to anyone, post paid, who will
send us twelve new subscribers and the
twelve dollars. The best remedy is to
break off all the withei-ed twigs at the
lowest ring and burn them.

2. The spring is probably the best
time ; yet the time, fall or spring, is
not a matter of much importance. The
quantity depends upon the strength of
the ashes, whether leached or unleached,
whether from hard wood or soft wood ;
and upon the sLze of the plant or bush.
Try a small quantity — a gill, or a i>iut,
or a quart — graduating it according to
the size of the plant and the strength
of the ashes, and if you think after Ihe
trial that more would be better, then
increase the quantity slowly.

3. We have not fruited the Golden
Prolific Gooseberry.

4. Hitherto the Ci-ownbob has been
considered the best red English goose-
berry. Lately the Industry has been

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

223

advertised as the most prolific, and not
subject to mildew. The best red Ameri-
can gooseberry that we have tested is
the Houghton.

0. We have never propagated Black-
cap Raspberries from root-cuttings or
division of the stools. The growing
canes root freely at the tips in the
autumn. These looted tips are taken
up in the spring and planted.

WHAT THE PEOPLE SAY.

NEW STRAWBERRIES.

(To the Editor of the Canadian Horticulturist.)

There is always a risk in buying new
varieties of the strawberry, and those
who love this fruit, so pleasing to the
eye and taste, will run the risk for bet-
ter or worse.

If there is any fruit outside of Eden's
lovely garden that sin has not marred
its beauty, it is the strawberry. ,

I have tasted every variety that has
been offered to the public, and some
that have not been offered yet ; and
some have not proved satisfactory here.

If we only had a testing plan in
Canada like the R. JV. Yorker's, and
have the patience to await the decision
of such men as President Saunders,
Beadle, Dempsey, Croil and Bucke.
But until we get this boon let us be
sparing in our investing much in new
varieties without the recommend of
such parties as the R. JV. Yorker, Presi-
dent Lyon, M. Crawford, C. A. Green,
E. Johnston.

In 1884 I got the following varieties :

Prince of Berries. — Like all of Dur-
and's seedlings it requires the best of
cultivation, and more care than most
men can give who grow largely for
market. The berries are large in size
and beautiful in color ; plant healthy ;
late in fruiting ; not profitable here for
market.

Atlantic. — This fias proved the most
profitable hei'e of all the new varieties
of 1884. Plant vigorous and healthy;
foliage lai'ge ; very productive ; berries
large and good.

Legal Tender. — The fruit is from
medium to large ; uniform in shape ;
firm, rich color ; not very productive ;
pistillate.

Iron-Clad. — The plant of this variety
would please any man (or ought to).
It is the strongest grower we have,
making large stools ; color light green ;
fruit large, firm ; ripens early.

Vineland. — A vigorous, healthy
plant ; more so than Kentucky, which
it resembles in fruit and plant.

Conn. Queen. — Late, vigorous, and a
good bearer ; color not bright enough
for market.

Lawn. — A healthy plant ; produc-
tive ; berries all shapes ; qiiality not the
best.

Cornelia. — I have fruited this variety
the first in Canada, but will give the
experience of others about it : — A very
late berry of great merit ; the plants
are large and stocky ; the fruit is in
shape and size like the Jucunda, very
firm and of good quality. The Cor-
nelia will be a profitable market berry,
for the i-eason that it has the market
mainly to itself.

The new varieties of 1885 :

I have not fruited yet the one dis-
seminated by reliable men, none having
any pow-wow over them but the PaiTy.

The R. N. Yorker says :— " Parry
gives us our earliest and finest berries
this year." The foliage is scanty, and
does not seem to ripen the fruit late in
the season. A light bright crimson in
color ; the quality is not so good as the
Prince of Ben-ies.

May King. — A seedling of the Cres-
cent, with perfect blossoms, and said to
be even earlier. Plants vigorous, heal-
thy and productive ; fruit large, bright
scarlet, and best quality.

224

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

Jewell. — A seedling of P. M. Augur
(fe Son's now offered for sale this fall.
They sent me some plants this spring.
The plant is large and healthy, and a
good grower. The R. N. Yorker says,
June 21st:— "Jewell is now in the
height of ripening. The peduncles are
strong and bear from 5 to 1 4 berries ;
some plants have from 4 to 5 peduncles,
so that such jjlants may be said to be
laden with fruit. No other has ever
given us more fruit to a given length
of row."

Amateur. — June 25th — Amateur is
very prolific ; the berries drop from the
peduncles rather too easily ; the color
a light red, the flesh white or rose-col-
ored ; they are regular in shape, and
the quality is somewhat better than
Jewell.

Hathaways, Nos. 3, 6 and 9. — These
were sent me by President Lyon in
1884. They fruited here this season ;
they did not ri[)en here till June 22nd ;
they did about the same here as at
the Rural grounds. I would not like
to give a verdict on No. 3 until another
year's trial. No. 5, color brilliant
crimson, shape conical, quality excel-
lent, plants vigorous and fruitful. No.
9 began to ripen a few days after No.
5. Plant very vigorous ; a nice berry ;
color red, golden seeds, which makes it
look very handsome.

Needle s Seedling, Iowa. — I got these
at the same time as Hathawaj^s. Plant
a dark green ; not very stocky, but
healthy ; very like the Wilson both in
plant and fruit, but commenced to
ripen with the Crescent and gave more
or less fruit to the end of the season.

Crawford's Xo. 6. — Not yet offered
for sale. T like to be among Craw-
ford's seedlings, they respond so quickly
to my soil and care. I have no interest
in plants sent me for trial beyond truth-
fully stating how they have done here.
No. (■) is a very large beriy, well formed,
bright red, and good quality. I have

not yet gro\v^i anything to beat it for
size and beauty, and sold by weight all
other varieties would be in the shade.
R. Johnston' s Seedling, ■' Ontario." —
I have fruited it for two years. From
our experience with it we believe it is
worthy of all he claims for it. The
blossom is large ; stamens being very
sti'ong, securing perfect fertilization,
and as it is quite firm its large size and
bright apjiearance recommend it as a
market beriy.

Respectfully yours,

John Littl?:.
Grantou, August 24, 18S5.

EXPERIENCE FROM THE COLD
NORTH.

The winter of 1884-'8a is one that
will linger for years in the memory of
fruit-growers as one of disaster and
disa])pointment ; yet at the same time
it is one replete with knowledge most
valuable to the pi'ofessional fruit grower
as well as to the amateur who chances
to I'eside in a cold northern clime.

It is particularly disheartening to
cultivate your fruit-bearing ti'ees suc-
cessfully for several years, and then,
just when you begin to hope and be-
lieve that 3'ou have at length secured a
collection of trees that will withstand
the rigor of your climate, to have one
of those " test winters " come moving
along and sweep neai'ly all before it.
Such an one is that through which we
have just passed.

We have learned, however, that in
apple trees the cold-resisting powers
ai-e greatest in the following : —

The Wealthy must stand at the head
of the list. On every side we hear
nothing but good reports of its hardi-
ness and excellence of fruit. So far ai;
least as we now know it is the longest
keeper we can grow, and is in eveiy
respect a most desirable tree to plant.

"The Yellow IVansjmrent, too, came
through the past season without the

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

225

loss of 11 single bud, and my trees are
now (August 2Uth) laden with beauti-
ful golden yellow fruit almost ripe
enough for the harvest. It is the earli-
est ripener I have yet grown, and being
undoubtedly hardy is a very valuable
a.nd desirable tree to plant.

The Peach of Montreal, as well as
the Alexander, can also be highly
recommended for extreme northern
sections.

You will doubtless be surpi-ised to
learn that the Duchess of Oldenburg has
this season not sustained its well-earned
reputation for hardiness and endurance
of extreme cold. Mine are not dead,
but strange to say that in the spring
they failed to leaf out as usual, but
instead there came quite a profusion of
blossom, which soon died away, leaving
only a bleak, leafless tree, having all
the appearance of a dead worthless
thing. In about three weeks, when
the later rains came on, signs of return-
ing life were to be seen, and in the
course of time new leaves appeared,
and although there is no fruit I have
hopes that the trees will yet survive
and be of some use to me.

I may add that this is exaclly the
expeiience of several of my neighbours,
and applies not only to the Duchess,
but also the Tetofskey, Scott's Winter,
Canada Baldwin, Magog Red Streak,
and several other so-called ironclads.

The death-rate, however, is not con-
fined to our older varieties, but sad
havoc has been made among the Rus-
sians.

Experience here goes to show that
these ace not all by any means hardy,
but only after years of trial shall we
be able to know those that will with-
stand our climate.

I may here state that I have just
received a letter from Mr. Wragg, of
Iowa, in which he also states that " a
very considerable weeding will have to
be done amoiiar the Russians before we

shall know just what to plant." I
have not yet received reports from all
the trees of this kind that have been
planted in this section, but enough is
now known to warrant me in saying
that Cardinal, Belle de Boskoop, Peter
the Great and Red Russian are entirely
worthless for this section, and the same
Gan be said of several more that are
known to me only by numbers.

Among a consignment of those trees
received from Prof. Budd there were
half a dozen pears. They came with-
out any number or name, and they
were given no great attention, as I do
not care to have a fruit the name of
which I cannot tell. However, they
have so far done i^emarkably well —
living through last winter without the
loss of a single bud, and as they are all
Russian varieties I am hopeful of some-
thing that we have been so long and so
anxiously looking for, viz., a pear that
will live and bear fruit in our northern
home. If we have found it, it will be
an acquisition indeed.

More anon. A. A. Wright.

Renfrew, August 20th, 1885.

THE FRUIT GROWERS' ASSOCIATION.

Dear Mr. Secretary, — I find that
my horticultural life would be incom-
plete without membership in an insti-
tution so useful and so national. I
think it is quite safe to say that the
Fruit Growers' Association of Ontario
with its organ, the Canadian Horticul-
turist, well represents and gives body
and voice to the spirit of rural refine-
ment in Canada. But more than that,
it is a factor of the highest value in
develojjing those sources of m ealth and
of beauty, which together more than
any other thing must yet make our
Canada the most delightful land in
which to live.

Yours truly,

S. p. MOKSE.

Miltou, August, 1885.

226

THE CANADIAN HORTICCTLTURIST.

STRAWBERRIES AND RASPBERRIES.

I commenced our picking of the
strawberry on June 1 9th. The Cres-
cent still takes the lead, and this year
the choicest fruit I ever had from this
variety, and sold at twenty cents per
quart. The next in ripening was
Phelps or Old-Iron Clad. Remarkable
for its large size and very productive.
Next Wilson's Albany, a medium crop
of medium size berries. "Whatever it
may do in other places, it does not suc-
ceed here. Mr. Piper set the following
this season : Jumbo, Big Bob, Col.
Cheney,' Sharpless, Jas. Vick, and some
others. Mancliester, a splendid berry
and plenty of them. Daniel Boone,
one of my favorites, an old friend, and
one that keeps its size to the last.

Captain Jack- — Plant and beny all
that can be desired. Berry larger than
the Wilson, moi-e of them and better
flavor. Kentucky and Vineland re-
semble each other, both late, of good
size, rather soft for shipping a long dis-
tance. I have been testing more of
the new varieties, and all pi'ove worth-
less here, except the Atlantic.

There has been an extraordinary
crop of the strawberry in our locality
this year, and after all prices ruled so
low it did not pay the cost of labor
attending them. I have not found
prices so low before, down to four cents
a box. Growers from a distance came
to our local villages and almost giving
them away, putting this healthful, luci-
ous fruit in reach of both old and young
in town and country.

I am sure the readers of the Horti-
culturist must be pleased with my
fiiend Robinson's article on his ex-
perience with the strawberry this sea-
son. From his long list of varieties
the most fastidious might select what
would please them.

There are two varieties in his list
that he is wide of the mark in com-
paring them with the old sorts he men-

tions. Jocky Cap colors all at once,
whilst Miners Prolific shows the white
feather in his tail, and does not ripen
evenly. There is no resemblance in
the two varieties in either plant or
fruit. And the Howell looks more
like the Manchester, but is not. In
respect to these his judgment is hasty
and too soon.

RASPBERRIES BLACK.

In raspberries there has been a ready
market here and prices good without
foreign competition, there also has
been a very fair crop. The first to
ripen was "Tyler. I prefer it to Soug-
hegan, as it was subject to rust. Hop-
kins a little later and berry a little
larger. Then comes Ohio, the best of
the three here every way. There is
not much demand for the Red Rasp-
berry here, the wild ones ai'e so plenti-
ful, but still we grow such as Arnold's
Red, Reder, Cuthbert, Rancocas, Han-
sell. This one has done well, owing,
as I suppose, to the plants being moi'e
mature.

JoHX Little.

Granton, August 9th.

GRAPE GROWING IN CENTRAL ONT-
ARIO IN THE FUTURE.

There is at present reasonable
grounds for expecting a fairly good
grape crop in Central Ontario this
season. If this expectation is realized
it will do much to confirm the opinion
which is so rapidly gaining ground re-
specting the capabilities of this Pro-
vince for the production of wine, and
of its being one of the most profitable
branches of husbandry suitable to the
soil and to the climatic conditions of
lai-ge tracts of land in Ontario. " Live"
men are already looking about them for
suitable lands for vineyard purposes on
which large sums of money will un-
doubtedly be soon invested.

But few persons comparatively have
any clear idea of the profits resulting

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

227

troiu a judicious investment in this
business. Farmers no doubt would be
well pleased if they could be assured
of say 30 bushels of wheat to the acre,
and especially so if they could also be
assured for many years in the future
that they would obtain $1 25 per
bushel therefor. Yet in this case the
gross sum i-ealized per acre would
amount only to $37 50.

A vineyard producing a crop of
grapes proportioned to the yield of
wheat, even if sold at the small sum of
one cent per pound, would produce
over $100 per acre.

Now we have — as shown in pp. 80—
82 of the present volume of the Gan-
adian Horticulturist — an almost un-
limited ai"ea of land in Central Ontario,
where both soil and climate are more
suitable for the prolitable production of
grapes than that of the larger portion
of the wine-producing countries of
Europe. Scott Act speakers are already
predicting an over-supply of grapes for
dessert purposes at an early date, and
fear ( 1 wouldn't they like it) the sur-
plus may be made into wine. We have
no sympathy with such croakers, and
sincerely hope the time may soon arrive
when a very small proportion of the
grapes grown in Ontario will suffice for
dessert purposes for all our people, even
though excellent fruit may be obtained
at five or six cents a pound. The
balance can then be made into wine,
for which purpose good sound grapes
are worth from 3 to 5 cents per pound.
For Canadian wine there is an unlim-
ited demand ; England alone will be
glad to get all Ontario can prodvice for
generations to come, and at highly re-
mvinerative prices.

The vineyardist may therefore reason-
ably expect that for generations to come
from $300 to $500 per acre per annum
may be realized from his vineyard if he
sold his grapes to the wine-maker, and
yet a larger sum if he became his own

wine-maker. At the price of grapes
given above, say from 3 to 5 cents per
pound, a much better and more whole-
some wine can be produced for less
than .$1 per gallon than can usually l)e
obtained in our markets.

Wine has been made in this vicinity
by amateur wine-makers for many years
past which has been pronounced by
connosieurs to be " good sound wine,"
many dozens of bottles of which have
been sold in Montreal at more than
double the price above named.

Thos. Beall.

Lindsay, August, 1885.

BLACK RASPBERRIES FROM LAYERS.

I notice one of your correspondents
wants to know if Black Cap Rasp-
berries can be grown from layers. I
answer, "Yes." I have grown all mine
that way, and consider it the best.
F. W. Porter.

Mount Forest.

FRUIT NEAR MOUNT FOREST.

All small fruits around this part of
the country are a plentiful crop. Plums
are nearly a failure, the more tender
sorts are dying off from the effects of
last winter's frost, even the hardy
Lombard did not escape altogether. I
don't consider the much puffed Arctic
plum to be hardy at all ; mine got
nearly killed the winter before last, and
this last winter finished them. Neither
is the Wealthy apple hardy with me, it
too got cut to the ground these last two
winters, although it still lives and has
made good growth this season. (See
page 224.) But the most complete
fraud of the so-called Iron-clads is the
Russian Mulberry. With me it would
not stand a summer's frost. The Ca-
talpa sent me by the Fruit Growers'
Association this spring is doing first-
class so far.

F. W. Porter.

228

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

NOTES ON STRAWBERRIES.

The strawberry crop has this year
been the largest ever gathered in Can-
ada. Prices wei-e low, but those who
srrew good fruit and sent it to market
in nice clean packages in good condition,
had no difficulty in disposing of their
crop at paying prices.

They were very late : I made my
first shipment, June 25th ; and last
shipment, July 24th.

First to I'ipen were Early Canada
and Old Iron-clad, both of which are
quite promising where locality suits
them. They bloom very early, hence,
are often injured by late spring frosts.
Old Iron-dad is the best very early
berry I have seen ; fruit bright scarlet,
of good quality, about the size of Wil-
son, and about four days earlier than
Crescent.

Crescent Seedling is much the best
and most profitable market berry I can
find, fruit of better color than Wilson,
ripens several days earlier, and much
moi-e productive. Although not quite
so firm, it will stand shii)ping very
well, will average perhaps a little larger
than Wilson on my soil, (clay loam)
grown by the matted row system.

Wilson still holds a place in every
well selected list of strawberries for
market.

Capt. Jack is a splendid variety on
clay loam, it is quite late, will average
larger than Wilson ; bright color, of
good form, very hardy and productive ;
as firm as Crescent, does not do so well
on sandy soil.

Among those of more recent intro-
duction Manchester is perhaps the most
promising. It is quite late, fruit large,
light scarlet, of good quality ; very
productive, holds out well to the end
of the season. Not firm enough to
carry to a distant market, but for near
market (say fifty miles) it is one of the
best to plant in every plantation.

Daniel Boone ripens about midsum-
mer. Fruit will aveiage large and very
even in size, fine bright scarlet, about
as firm as Manchester ; one that you
need not be afraid to plant on either
sand or clay loam, for either home use
or market. I had it in full fruiting
two seasons, this year I had over one-
half an acre, and shipped them as far
as Detroit (ninety miles) in perfect
condition. No sort in my collection
looked so well in the crate as Daniel
Eoone.

James Vick must be grown either
in hills or very narrow matted rows to
make them profitable : they set more
fruit than any variety can bring to
perfection when grown in the ordinaiy
matted i-ow. I had about three-fourths
of an acre this season, but allowed
most of the rows to get too wide,
hence the fruit was too small ; but
where grown in hills or very narrow
matted rows, it produces a great crop
of vei'y Vjiight scarlet fruit, about as
firm and large as Wilson. Begins to
ripen quite late, and holds out as late
as any.

The plant is one of the most vigorous
and hardy of any sort grown.

Arnold's Haggle has, perhaps, given
us the largest quantity of fruit to a
given space, of any in the collection.
It begins to ripen with Crescent, and
continues quite late. Fruit lai'ge, first
picking nearly as large as Sharpless ;
not firm enough for a market berry,
and not of best quality. Arnold's
Pride gives some very large fruit. 7iot
of good color or quality ; it will not
pay to grow it. Bright Ida not as
good as Maggie, later, and not quite as
productive.

Sharplees ; largest of any, and quite
productive some seasons. It will not
pay to grow for market when we have
so many varieties that are more reli-
able.

rHB CANADIAN HORriCULTUKIST.

229

Bidwell is large and pi-oductive, but
not tirui enough for a good market
berry.

Cinderella about like Bidwell in form
and color ; of better quality ; not quite
so large, but quite eai-ly.

Seneca Queen ; very large and pro-
ductiv e ; good for home use, not firm
enough for market.

Cumberland Triumph is one of the
finest sorts for home use, plant very
vigorous and hardy ; fruit very large,
of iiiiiform shape, good quality, and
productive.

Among the new varieties fruiting
this season Atlantic gives promise of
being the best late market berry I have
seen among either old or new sorts. A
berry must be very firm to make it a
first-class late market sort, as late in
the season weather is hot, and fruit
ripens faster, hence, does not carry so
well. The Atlantic is more firm than
Wilson, in fact, it is the firmest berry
I have ever grown ; fruit quite large,
conical, of a very rich, bright, dark red
color, very productive, and altogether
the most promising late market berry
I have seen.

Ct. Queen. This new berry came to
me from Connecticut as the best late
market sort. I have had it in full
fruiting condition, and find the plant
most hardy of any; fruit of good quality,
medium size, quite productive, not very
firui, and of such a poor dull green
color that will prevent it ever being
planted to any extent.

Cornelia ; another claimant for the
latest market berry. I will have to
give it another trial before saying much
about it ; must say that it has not come
up to my expectations this year.

Woodruff No. 1. A new variety I
received from Michigan, where it is
said to be taking the place of Wilson
as a market berry. Plant very healthy
and vigorous, foliage somewhat like

Wilson, better grower. Late spring
set plants gave some very fine fruit,
quite like Atlantic, not quite so firm,
about like Wilson in that respect. I
shall watch it with interest.

Prince of Berries is by far the highest
flavoretl berry I have seen. Although
not as productive as many sorts, it will
give a fair crop, and its extra fine
quality will well repay all growers to
plant a few of them. All who visited
my plantation during tlie fruiting sea-
son voted it the best fiavored berry
they ever tasted.

With me it is a good grower, hardy,
and fruit medium to large size, quite
firm, late, of a rich dark red color.

Lacon is a very strong growing plant,
fruit of good size and color, very pro-
ductive, quite promising.

Jersey Queen, Sucker State, Grand
Duke, Vineland, Legal Tender, Oliver
Goldsmith, Belle, Nigh's Superb, Hart's
Minnesota, Finche's Prolific, Ray's Pro-
lific, Big Bob, Longfellow, Warren,
Piper's Seedling, Marvin, Primo, Ster-
ling, Gipsy, and Miner's Prolific, liave
some good points, but as there is so
many other varieties with a greater
combination of good qualities, I think
they could be dropped from the list,
and leave a suflScient number to choose
from. It does not pay to grow too
many varieties.

May King, Parry, Wonderful, Ama-
teur, Jumbo, Moodna, and Polopel, I
have not had long enough to fruit to
any extent. Wonderful is a new vari-
ety from Ohio ; its name is said to be
taken from its wonderful productive
qualities. It came to me so late this
spring, and in such bad condition that
I did not expect to see a berry, but it
is a wonderful good grower and y)ro-
duced some very pretty, bright glossy
scarlet berries of good quality.

W. W. HlLBORN.

Arkona, Ont., Aug. 29th, 1885.

230

THK CANADIAN HORTIODLTDRIST.

NIAGARA RASPBERRY.

The Raspberry received a year ago
from the Fruit Growers' Association
has fruited, producing very fine berries,
better flavored (to my taste) and larger
than the celebrated Hansell, but not so
early. It made a very tine growth last
season, so I had about twenty shoots
for transplanting. All these have
borne this summer. It has another
advantage over Hansell in that it is
not attacked by the Easpberry Sawfly,
which makes skeletons of the leaves.
At least it was not injured last year,
while Hansell was. Neither have yet
been hurt by this fly this season ; but
on the other hand I fear (although last
winter was an exceptionally severe
one) it is tender. One of my neigh-
bors covered his, and it was killed to
the roots. I did not pi'otect mine in
any manner, and strange to say it was
only partially killed back. G. H. F.

Ottawa, 11th Aug., 1885.

WHITE FRINGE AND BIGNONIA
RADICANS.

Dear Sir, — I note your remarks in
July number of the Borticulhcrist res-
pecting the hardiness of Chionanthus,
or White Fi-inge. I have had a speci-
men in ray garden for some years ; it
is qu.ite hardy in the severe climate of
this region. Last wintez-, which was
the coldest I ever remember, nearly
all the plum trees and many of the
apple trees were destroyed. The White
Fringe had not a bud injured ; it
bloomed well in the beginning of July ;
it appears to grow rather slowly and
keep the form of a low shrub, and is
very pretty.

I saw a statement in the magazine
that Bignonia Radicans was hardy ;
such is not the case here. I have re-
peatedly tried it, and always failed, it
being killed to the ground about every
third winter, ^^ours respectfully,
Guelph, Aug. 1st, 1885. Geo. Elliott.

CULTIVATION OF HOUSE PLAISTS.

{Read by Mr. John G. Barker be/ore the Massachusetts
Horticultmral Society.)

Mr. Barker named as the first and
most essential requisite for the cultiva-
tion of house plants, a good window
facing the south ; a bay window is pre-
ferable, as giving light on three sides.
A glass door or sashes to shut oft' the
window from the room is desirable, to
exclude dust and cold draughts when
sweeping or ventilating the room. Ven-
tilation should always be given at the
toj) of the window. Cleanliness cannot
be too well attended to ; it is as neces-
sary to the health of ])lants as to that
of our bodies. Washing the leaves
with a sponge with water of the same
temperature as the air of the room, as
well as an occasional sprinkling on a
fine day, which may be done with a small
brush when a syringe cannot conven-
iently be used, will be a great help.

There is nothing more annoying to
the cultivator of house plants than the
green fly ; smoking with tobacco is the
best remedy, but however closely the
partition between the window and the
room may be shut, the scent will get
into the room more or less. Therefore,
use an infusion of tobacco made by
filling a pail with stems and pouring
on them all the water the pail will
hold. This should stand twenty-four
hours and be used in the proportion of
half a pint to a pail of water. The
plants should be turned bottom up,
placing the left hand over the top of
the pot to prevent accident, and then
plunging it in the solution once or
twice, until the flies drop off. Some of
this solution should always be kept on
hand and used on the first appearance
of the green fly. After using, the plant
must be rinsed in clean water, of the
same temperature as the room. A
florist in Philadelphia kept his plants
clean in this way without fumigating.
A scaley insect more common on

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

231

oleanders and othei- thick-leaved plants,
adhering closely to the stems and leaves,
is not so easily destroyed. These may be
washed with whale-oil soap and water,
or better, with Gishnrst compound, an
English remedy. A sponge dipped in
a little sweet or kei'osene oil, and wiped
u{) the stem and under the leaves oc-
cassionally, will keej) off the scale
effectually. The speaker had applied
this successfully to plants which had
been neglected and got very dirty,
using kerosene so freely as to have
some misgivings how it would affect
the plants, but they are now showing
remarkably fine growth. The method
given for destroying the green fly and
scale will also be effectual for the red
spider.

Injudicious watering is a gi"eat in-
juiy to plants ; too much water is
oftener the trouble than not enough.
The soil on the top of the pot will
indicate the need of water by looking
dry, and, when water' is given, it should
be done thoroughly, and not in a mere
driblet, that will not go half through
the soil. No rule can be given for
watering, except to give when the
plants need it, and never without tak-
ing off the chill, if cold, by letting it
stand in the room or adding warm
water. Plants in warm rooms require
to be kept moist at all times, but not
saturated. As the days grow longer
and the sun gets higher, and the plants
begin to grow and flower, more water
will be needed. For plants close to
the glass a box filled with sphagnum,
in which the pots may be plunged,
will be of great help in keeping an even
degree of moisture and avoid spattering
the soil on the shelves and glass.
Lycofodium denticxdatum planted on
the sphagnum, will give a clean green
carpet for the plants, but must not be
allowed to cover the soil so that it
cannot be judged when water is re-
((uired.

In regard to heat, a good rule is that
when you feel comfortable yourself the
temperature is about right for house,
plants, most of them being from tem-
l)erate climates. But never be without
a thermometer in the room ; from 70^
to 75° by day, and 45° at night, will be
a good guide. The blinds should be
arranged to slide between the shelves
and the glass, and there should be out-
side shutters to put up in unusually
cold weather. They should be light,
and in small sections, to as to be easily
put up by any one who happens to be
at home.

As to the kind of plants, Mr. Barker
recommended for each side of the bay
window a vine of some kind, such as
the variegated Gohcea i^candens and
tropseolums, or some of the maurandyas.
One or more wires may be run up each
side and over the top, on which to train
the vines, and they may hang from the
top in festoons. Then wich some hooks
in the top on which to suspend hanging
baskets, the window will be well start-
ed. For these baskets, the Saxifraga
umbrosa, better known as London pride,
and the Lysimachia nummtdaria, or
moneywort, though old and common,
are very pretty ; and with such other
plants as good taste may dictate, the
baskets will add much to the effect of
the window.

A very pretty plant is Torenia
Fournieri. The flowers are produced
so freely as to form a complete bouquet ;
the habit is compact and the foliage
dark green. It is an annual, and
easily I'aised from seed. Callas are
beautiful both in foliage and flower.
Do not overpot them, for when pot-
bound and well watered they bloom all
the better. A very essential point in
their culture is to give them a season
of rest in summer by turning the pots
on their sides \inder a wall or fence,
keeping them there till they show signs
of gi'owth in fall ; then shake ofl the

232

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

old soil and repot in new, and bring to
the light and water.

Geraniums will be the standard
))lants. Of the many good varieties,
Mr. Barker recommended for single —
GeneralGrant and Orbiculatum, scarlet;
May Queen and Master Christine, pink ;
Miss Gertrude and !Mrs. George Smith,
salmon ; and Paul Lueca and Snow-
flake, white. For double varieties —
Bishop Wood, crimson shaded with
cherry red ; Henry Cannell, bright
scarlet, and Mme. Thibaut, pink. A
few pots of cai'nations will work in well
Though petunias are considei'ed common,
nothing makes a better show. A few
pots of mignonette, sweet alyssum and
candytuft will add to the fragrance.

As to the arrangement, the plants
above mentioned, and all soft-wooded
plants, should be placed nearest the
light, and the hard or smooth-leaved,
such as ficuses, gardenias, dracsenas,
coprosmas, and Iloi/a carnosa in the
rear. The best hoya the essayist ever
knew was grown in a window, where it
was stimulated with soapsuds as regu-
larly as washing day came round, and
the same with gardenias.

Among bulbs, hyacinths come first,
and should be potted in November and
December and placed in the cellar, or
out-doors, where they will not fi-eeze,
covering up the pots entirely. Here
they will root, and by bringing in a few
every week or ten days after the first
of January a display of these beautiful
flowers may be kept up many weeks.
Crocuses and tulips may be had in the
same way if desii-ed.

The oxalis, sparaxis, and tritomas
must not be omitted, and cyclamens
are admirable window plants, which
should not be overlooked.

The plants mentioned have been
named on the supposition that the
grower has a good bay window. The
floor of this should be a little higher
than that of the room, with the lowest

point in the centre, and a pipe to carry
off" waste water from washing or water-
ing. The pipe may run outside the wall
or into a pail or barrel in the cellar.

For the north or more shaded windows,
the oak-leaved pelargoniums, Aloysia
citriodora, all the finer ivies, and many
of the variegated-leaved plants will do
well. Plant-cases are very desirable
whei'e a window cannot be entirely
given up. An excellent plan for de-
corating a room is to procure a pan
twelve or more inches in diameter and
six inches deep ; place in the centre a
seven or eight inch pot, then place
proper drainage and soil in the pan, and
plant Lycopodiu'in denticulatum, or any
of the varieties of tradescantia, which
will cover the surface and hang over
the sides. In the pot in the centre put
a plant o(Cop7'osma Baueriana, dracsena,
palm, or any which suits your fancy,
and place the whole in a stand just
large enough to hold it and set opposite
the window, and with one or two
brackets on each side of the window for
such plants as you may choose, you have
it decoi-ated with very little trouble. A
few cut flowers may be placed in the
pan, and will last a long time. The
vines will completely hide both pot and
pan, and the centre plant can be changed
whenever desired without breaking up
the ariangement. If more than one is
used in a I'oom they should not be alike.

In ])otting, give plenty of drainage,
and cover with a little moss or rough
material to prevent it from getting
clogged up. For if the surplus water
does not pass ofi", the soil will become
sour, the roots rot, and the plants die.
For the plants recommended, a compost
of one-third leaf mould and two-thirds
of good turfy loam, with a little sharp
sand, will answer well, adding a little
fine manure for geraniums and other
soft-wooded plants, and for the bulbs,
especially the hyacinths, a liberal sup-
ply of well-decomposed cow manure.

THK CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

233

APPLES IN ENGLAND AND AMERICA.
Ill relation to apples and popular
varieties, Mr. Josiah Hoopes, a well
known Pennsylvania authority, com-
municates the following to the New
York Tribune. So thorough a com-
petitive test was never before attempt-
ed as ut the English Apple Convention
of last autumn. It resulted in teaching
our trans-Atlantic brethren at lea^t
one good lesson, and we may ])rofit by
it as well. Of the 1,54;") varieties on
exhibition, two were better than all
the rest. To arrive at this coi\clusion
each exhibitor was invited to name
the best varieties of his district, for
dessert as well as cooking, " so the
whole of Great Britain was polled,"
and the resiilt was : King of the Pip-
pins headed the list for dessert, and
Lord SufHeld for culinaiy uses. The
report is noticeable for the absence of
American varieties, showing the im-
portance of each country, and of each
section as well, depending upon its own
native kinds for a supply of fruit. No
better evidence is needed of the truth
of this than the fact that the King of
the Pippins, mentioned above as the
best dessert apple for p]ngland, is with
us a very acid, poor fruit, unwoi'thy of
cultivation. The Ribstone Pippin,
which I pi-esumed was the standard for
quality in English api)les, comes third
on the list, and is a fine fruit with us,
although inferior to many of our own
excellent varieties. The greater portion
of the specimens on exhibition were
taken from the dwarf bush and pyramid
trees but a few years old, and very few
from large standards such as are pop-
ular with us. The London Gardeners'
Chronicle said to English readers :
" Unless we are favored by warmer and
drier seasons than the average of the
last eight years, home-grown apples —
whatever enthusiasts may say of our
notions as patriots — will hardly be
found profitable." With Americans

abundance of good apples is indispen-
sable, and happily we have to spare for
foreign friends less favored. Visiting
a few years ago, a noted garden within
a short distance of Edinburg, I was in-
formed that " hundreds of people in the
vicinity had doubtless never tasted an
apple," and, judging from the care and
expense bestowed upon the few trees I
saw, the assertion could readily be be-
lieved.

THE VARIETIES OF THE COCKSCOMB.
Probably but few who admire the
lax-ge, velvety, dark-crimson crests
of the cockscomb, are aware that these
are due to a malformation which has be-
come fixed by cultivation. These combs
or crests are sometimes of enormous
size : some even have measured eighteen
inches across. They show no distinct
flowers. It not rarely happens that the
parts of a plant, that are usually distinct
and separate, grow together ; it is not
rare to find twin cucumbers, formed by
two which are united for their whole
length. This union often takes place
with stems. Squash vines are some-
times found grown together for some
distance, and a similar growth is often
seen in the asparagus. The Cockscomb,
Celosia oristata, is an annual, a native
of the East Indies, and in its normal
state produces numerous erect branches,
terminated in time by long spikes of
flowers. The numerous flowers them-
selves are small, and not at all showy,
but each has at its base several bracts,
or floral leaves, which are highly color-
ed. These are usually dark-crimson,
but there are white, yellow, and rose-
colored varieties. In the form cultiv-
ated as cockscomb, the stems and
branches are united and soldered to
gether, as it were, into a confused mass,
which is sometimes very wavy on the
top. In the branching form, only the
flowers on the lower portions of the
branches are fertile ; accordingly those

234

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

on the lower pai-ts of the crest only,
produce seeds. The velvety texture of
the crest is caused by the ends of the
numerous bracts that appear at the
surface. Though these crests are mon-
strosities, the peculiarity is well tixed.
This is one of the oldest of garden plants,
having been cultivated in English gar-
dens for over three hundred years. The
variety known as Japanese, is peculiarly
rich in color. To raise the largest crests,
and of the most brilliant color, the soil
must be excessively rich. The finest
and largest specimens are produced by
growing the plants in pots, and shifting
them into larger pots as they need it. —
American Agricidtui'ist.

SETTING OUT CURRANT BUSHES.
The most important point in setting
out currant bushes is to set them out.
Set them where you can cultivate on
each side of them, and not against the
fence or wall. As often treated, cur-
rants are a nuisance. The bushes soon
become stunted and covered with moss,
the caterpillars destroy the leaves, and
what few currants we get are small,
unripe and nearly worthless. Why
should they be otherwise 1 They are
never manured, never cultivated or
hoed, rarely pruned, and no eiforts are
made to destroy the caterpillars i;ntil
half the leaves are stripped from the
branches. If any of our readers have
such bushes, the first thing to do is to
set out new ones on new land. Let
the old ones remain until the new ones
come into bearing, and in the mean-
time give the old ones a dressing of
manure, cultivate or fork and hoe the
ground ai'ound them and keep down
the weeds, afterwards cut out all dead
branches, and all that are so far gone
as to be hopeless. As a field crop,
when you have access to a railroad
station or near market, and can secure
pickers, currants can be grown with
considerable profit. But you must

plant on rich land, or make it rich
with manure, and keep the soil all
through the growing season well culti-
vated and free from weeds. Were we
about to set out several acres of cur-
rants, we should set them out in rows
not less than six feet apart, and three
feet apart in the rows. This would
give twenty-four hundred and twenty
bushes per acre. Seven or eight feet
ai)art would be better. The most popu-
lar led variety is the Cherry. This is
owing to its large size and handsome
appearance. But with us it is not as
productive as the common Red Dutch,
or Victoria. The Versailles is also a
productive and good currant of large
size. Size, however, is largely a ques-
tion of rich land, good cultivation, and
judicious pruning. ^.4m«/'ica7i Agricul-
turist.

THE NEW GRAPES.

Moore's Early. — This variety is a
pure native. It ripened September 8th,
about the same time as Massasoit, three
days after the Hartford, fourteen days
after the Champion, two or three days
before Lady and Brighton, about two
weeks before the Concord. The bunch
is of medium size, moderately compact,
berry large to very large, round ; color,
black, with a blue bloom ; flesh, pulpy
and of medium quality, better than
Champion, but hardly equal to the Con-
cord ; vine, vigorous and hardy, but so
far as we can see, only moderately pro-
ductive. It is a handsome grape, and
will sell well in market, although we
think the Champion or Hartford to be
more profitable.

Rochester. — Ellwanger and Barry's
seedling is also a native, and ripened
September 10th. The bunch is large,
generally double shouldered, ^'ery com-
pact, berry of medium size, dark purple ;
flesh melting, vinous, sweet, highly
perfumed and rich. The vine is vigor-
ous, hardy, with remarkably healthy

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

235

foliage and bears heavy crops in the
worst of seasons, the fruit setting well
under the most adverse circumstances.
The fruit must be gathered and used
as soon as it is ripe, for if allowed to
become too ripe, it drops. Although
this grape was introduced several years
ago, it is rarely found, owing to the
difficulty experienced in propagating it.
It is referred to here on account ot its
excellence, either for the gai-den or vine-
yard, and we think it deserves to be dis-
seminated, even if its propagation be
slow and expensive. One cultivator in
Canada goes so far as to say that the
originators have not bestowed on it the
praise to which it is justly entitled.
On further trial over a wider extent of
territory it may develop faults which
have not been noticed here.

Lady. — A white seedling of the Con-
cord. Bunch of medium size, moder-
ately compact ; flesh tender and pleas-
ant, but not rich ; vine vigorous, hardy
and productive. It ripened September
10th, and is a valuable, early, white
grape.

Ewnelan. — Introduced several years
ago by Dr. Grant, is almost too old a
variety to be mentioned among these
grapes, but its fine quality entitles it to
consideration as an amateur's grape.
Propagators cannot increase it profit-
ably, hence it does not find its way in-
to as many gardens as it should. Bunch
of medium size, but variable, sometimes
large, often small, somewhat loose, berry
of medium size, black with a thick, blue
bloom ; flesh jucy, rich and superior
quality. Vine moderately vigorous,
hardy and yields well. It succeeds best
when grafted on a strong grower, and
is valuable only for the amateur who
desires a fruit of the best quality. It
ripened September 11th.

Brighton. — A cross of the Concord
and Diana Hamburg, is another rather
old sort wdiich has done so well this
year that it would seem unfair to over-

look it. In point of quality it is not
excelled by any grape grown in the
open air, but it must be gathered and
eaten as soon as it is ripe, for when
permitted to remain on the vines too
long it loses its flavor. The berry and
bunch ai-e lai-ge and handsome, and the
vine is vigorous and productive. In
some situations the foliage mildews,
sometimes only slightly, and again seri-
ously ; but it generally succeeds in
favorable localities under careful cul-
ture. Recently it has been planted
quite extensively for market, but care
should be observed in selecting a suit-
able location. An amateur's collection
which does not include the Brighton
would certainly be incomplete. It
ripened September 11th, ten days be-
fore the Concord and about a week
after the Hartford.

Early Victor. — Raised by John Burr,
is one of the newest grapes, and there-
fore not very widely distributed as
yet. The bunch is rather small or of
medium size, and compact ; the berry is
of medium size, round, black, covei-ed
with bloom ; flesh slightly pulpy, very
sweet and pleasant, but without any
vinous spirit, which to some tastes is
agreeable. It ripened September 1 3th,
five days after Moore's Early, eight
days after the Hartford and eighteen
days after the Champion, and only ten
days before the Concord. It was sup-
posed to be earlier than Moore's Early,
but it does not prove to be so this sea-
son, and it looks as if this sort would
not occupy the place destined for it,
although it is a good grape in its way.

Amber Queen. — Is a variety in which
I have been considerably interested on
account of its superior quality, but I
doubt whether it is destined to become
popular, owing to a serious defect which
it has of not setting its fruit well. The
bunch and berry are of mediuni size,
color a bronzed purple, overspread
with bloom ; flesh tender, sprightly,

236

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

vinous and very rich. Vine vigorous
and pi'oductive, with healthy foliage,
but its leaves have a yellowish tint by
which plants of this variety may be
quickly and sui-ely identified. It ri[)en-
ed September 1." th.

Lindley: — One of Rogers' red varie-
ties, has done so well in several local-
ities as to be esteemed one of the best
red grapes in cultivation. Like all
hybrid grapes, it develops faults occa-
sionally which are often of slight im-
poi'tance, but frequently serious under
certain unfavorable circumstances. So
far as I know, its greatest defect is that
of failing to set a full crop regularly.
One of its striking characteristics is its
beautiful color, a bright, clear shade of
red which attracts the eye to it at once,
even when it is surrounded by larger
and more showy grapes. Nor is it one
liable to be disappointing after tasting it.
Its good quality renders it a favorite
immediately, and the })leasure it gives
the palate is not easily forgotten. We
regard it as one of the best red grapes
in our vineyard, and from what we know
of it, we should rank it among the stand-
ard sorts for the garden or vineyard.
Strange to say, for some cause or another,
this variety of the Rodgers has not been
disseminated to the same extent as
some others less worthy. It ripened
September 1,5th, a week before the
Concord.

Duchess. — One of the new white
grapes, is said to have been produced
by crossing a white Concord seedling
with Delaware or Walter. The bunch
is medium to lai-ge, long, shouldered,
very compact, somewhat crowded ;
berries of medium size, but not uniform,
some being quite small ; form roundish ;
skin thick, generally dotted with small,
black spots, about the size of a pin's
head ; color light green at first, becom-
ing greenish yellow when ripe ; fruit
almost transparent ; flesh tender, with-
out pulp, jucy, sweet, crisp, rich, and

in quality it holds the highest place.
Vine vigorous and productive, and the
foliage that I have seen is healthy,
though in some places it is said to mil-
dew badly. Grown with care, the
Duchess will, no doubt, prove to be a
valuable white grape for the amateur,
and, perhaps, in favorable localities
may be cultivated successfully on a
larger scale for market. It ripened
September 18th, with Rebecca, five
days before the Concord.— W. C. Barry
in the Country Gentleman.

IMPROVED STRAWBERRIES.
I thought that varieties which proved
so su})erb on my own grounds would
do as well elsewhere; but I had much
to learn. There had been a rage for
novelties, a disposition to think that
the past "would be utterly eclipsed.
VV^e should be slow in discarding old
and well-tested varieties. Their appa-
rent deterioration usually results from
bad treatment and careless propagation.
This tendency to part with the good
qualities which once made a variety
famous should be checked, and a pro-
cess of higher development entered
upon. I think it can be done in this
simple way. I am referring to old
standard kinds. For instance, take a
bed of Wilson's seedling, select a plant
that for some reason exhibits all the
earliest and best Wilson characteristics.
In every garden or field there are such
plants that are head and shoulders
above the others. Clear a space around
such plants, and pi-ojiagate from them.
Repeat the pi'ocess with the best child-
ren of these progenitois. We all know
how well-known breeds in live stock
and old varieties of vegetables are de-
veloped and improved by a careful and
continued selection and propagation
from the best. Apply this principle to
the standard strawberiies, and a new
competitor must be great, indeed, to
rival them. In the futui'e, as in the

THE CANADIAN HOKTICULTUKIST.

23^

past, success in the development of the
strawberry will lie in the dii'ection of
out native species.' We should employ
the most vigorous strains of our native
stock in developing new varieties, choos-
ing hardy mothers, or pistillate varie-
ties, like the old " Champion." Instead
of petting and stimulating new seed-
lings, I should put them in poor, thin
soil, and then discard all except those
which persist in thriving under un-
favouralole conditions. If on sandy or
gravelly soil a new variety maintains
vigour and productiveness of large, fine-
flavoured fruit, we should have good
reason to believe that it would succeed
in varied soils and climates, when sent
out into the rough-and-tumble of the
world. — E. P. Roe, in American Agri-
culturist.

HEATING GREENHOUSES.
Heating greenhouses with steam has
been on trial for several years, but the
merits of the method have been various-
ly estimated, so as to leave some doubt
in the public mind whether it, or by the
more common method of the use of hot
water, was the better way. At the late
meeting of the American Association of
Nurserymen, Mr. Hunt, of Illinois,
stated his preference for the employ-
ment of steam, though his own place is
fitted out, "at a hirge expense," with
hot water apparatus, and " it works
well." In heating by steam, he says,
experience has proved " that there is
economy in construction, and a great
economy in fuel." He gives facts and
figures in two cases to support his posi-
tion. In the first of these, where by
some small changes nearly the same
apparatus was employed for steam lieat-
ing as had been previously used for hot
water, the saving of fuel was thirty-
three per cent. In the other, thirty-
five per cent was saved in construction,
and thirty -three per cent, in fuel. —
Vick's Maijazine.

CHERRY TREES vs. CHERRY BUSHES.

Dui'infif a two weeks visit amonsf the
oi-chardists and nurserymen of the north
half of Iowa and Illinois, and the south
half of Wisconsin, dead or dying cherry
trees have been an ever present subject
for discussion, and the pile of letters
on my retui'n has a dozen or more que-
ries as to the cause of this general de-
struction, and the possibility of secur-
ing a hardier set of varities. While
this is not the time to set cherry trees,
it may be well to discuss a few general
principles with our tens of thousands
of dead and dying trees as object les-
sons before our minds.

A careful inspection reveals the fact
that I'upture of the cells of the cam-
bium layer of the stems is the real
cause of death. In former years we
have often noted cases where whole
cherry orchards lived and fruited two
years after fatal injury of stem by
means of a narrow bridge or two of
live cells growing inward from the bark
and outside of the dead wood of the
stem. Mr. L. A. Williams, of Mills Co.,
Iowa, for instance, reported his large
cherry orchards healthy and full of
fruit. At the next meeting of the
Western Iowa Horticultural Society,
he I'eported his trees dead or dying.
A section in our wood-collection of one
of these stems shows plainly that the
real injury of stems occurred two years
previous to his first favoi'able report
and that two annual deposits of wood
had formed over a nariow layer of live
cells. This narrow bridge connecting
i-oot and top sustained life, and per-
fected a crop as the last expiring effort
of the tree. A careful inspection of
dozens of stems, now, shows that the
.stems were nearly or quite ruined in
the winter of 1882-3, and the work was
finished by the last year's crop and our
past test winter.

Again we notice that young trees
standing alone of the Early Richmond,

238

THE CANADIAN HORIIUDLTURIBT,

Late Richmond and English Morello
varieties are mainly in good condition
and now making healthy growth, and
we find young trees in thick clumps in
still better condition. Without specul-
ating as to leaf rust, toughening of the
outer lacing of bark, etc., of okler trees
and stems, it is a proper time to con-
sider the common plan of growing the
cherry in Northeastern Europe, where
soil and clima e are much like ours. On
the grounds of amateurs, peasants, and
in large commercial cherry orchards,
the hole is not filled uj) at planting,
and the lower buds near the crown are
encouraged to grow so that when lev-
eled up the earth covers the bases of
the limbs. By pinching the center
shoots the outer whorl of branches is
enabled to spread outward and upward,
giving a large amount of bearing wood
in bush foim. As the ])lants attain size
and age, the pruning is on the renewal
plan ; that is, the old stems are taken
out and the young growth is encouraged
to fill the vacant space. Possibly this
plan may not please those who have a
mania for high stems, yet it will win
its way if carefully and systematically
tried. Practically the same idea is in-
volved in the cordon training of the
cherry in Silesia, Poland and South
Russia, on all well managed estates.
The plants are started bush fashion,
and the shoots are trained diagonally
or horizontally on wire or pole trellis
toioards the South. The evident pur-
pose is to screen the main branches,
from the direct rays of the noonday
sun, and to permit the removal of older
branches, very much after our manner
of growing the grape on wire trellises.
Long experience has proved that re-
gular crops and long lived plants can
be secured by the low bush system, or
the low cordon training, in sections
where isolated trees wdth even low
stems are short lived and uncertain in
fruitage. Theory and practise seem to

favor the adoption of this Eastern plan
of growing the cherry, even if we get
hardier and better varieties. — Prof. J.
L. BuDD, in Prairie Fa 'Trier.

THE LUTOOKA CHERRY.

The recent almost complete failure of
all West Europe varieties of the cherry
westward of Lake Michigan, and over
large areas farther East and North,
makes it specially desirable to experi-
ment with the fine varieties of East
Europe, where the conditions of soil
and air are more like ours.

Of the varieties in our collection, the
one known in Poland and Silesia as
Liitooka seems specially promising. I
first saw it loaded with fine fruit on the
estates near Warsaw. Later I found it
hardy and profitable on varied soils in
North Silesia and in South Russia as
far East as Kiev. The fruit is large,
with small, oval pit pointed at both
ends. The color is dark-red when ripe,
but in the sun, a yellow expression is
given by the yellow flesh showing
through the traTisparent skin. Flesh
firm, tender, juicy, mildly sub-acid.
Dr. E. Jankowski, the eminent Polish
pomologist, gives this variety two stars
for dessert use, and a like number for
the kitchen.

In leaf, bud, and habit of growth it
does not seem to be closely related to
any of the varieties described by Leroy,
Lucas, Lauche, or other authorities of
West Europe. On the other hand, it
closely resembles in habit and fruit the
Besarabian, and our numbers l.'3 and 25
impoi'ted from Orel in Centj'al Russia,
which varieties I was told by Dr. Fi-
scher came originally from Central Asia.
The leaves are peculiarly large, thick,
and firm. The last two Summers have
been peculiarly favorable for fungus
growths upon the leaf of the cherry ;
yet this variety has escaped damage ex-
cept a slight show of surface mildew on

THE CANADIAN HORTICOLTCKIST.

239

some of the young leaves. As this does
not penetrate the tissue, it seems to do
no harm.

As to hardiness of tree, I can only
say, as yet, that its young wood and stem
were bright and perfect last Spring after
the severe test Winter wliich killed
our Richmonds of all ages. It has growiL
from the terminal points which such
luxuriance that the shoots are assuming
a pendent habit, which seems common
to about all the varieties of the cherries
of the East. — Prof. J. L. Budd, in
Rural New Yorker.

THE MARLBORO' RASPBERRY.

The Hon. M. P. Wilder, President
of the American Pomological Society,
writing to the Rural New Yorker, says :
" I am anxious to see what you have to
say about the Marlboro Raspberry. We
gathered some berries on the 4th, and
the bushes are now at their best. The
great number of big suckers, four to six
feet in height, detract from the size and
earliness of the fi uit. It is the earliest
I have, and if the suckers had been
treated as weeds, I have no doubt that
the size, earliness and quantity of fruit
would have been much increased. I
have never seen a raspberry of such ro-
bust growth and productiveness of an-
nual plants before, most of which must
be destroyed if you wish for a crop of
fruit. It is perfectly hardy, canes eight
feet in length not injured at all. The
Souchetii, or White Transparent, is now
coming in ; if yoit have it not, I should
be glad to send you plants. I would
not part with it."

APPLE ORCHARDS.

" The Apple is our staple fruit in
Western New York, and after three
years of failure of the crop the prices
have been somewhat discourao-inir. It
must be said, however, that a large
portion of our Ajjple crop was not up

to the usual standard of excellence,
very much not fit to go into market as
first-class fruit. The main cause of this
was that the trees were heavily loaded
and poorly fed. We have good orchar-
ists in Western New York, and many
of them, but I must say, and I say it
from actual observation, that a large
number of our orchards are in a very
low state of cultivation, neither credit-
aVjle nor profitable to the owners.

" Without attempting any details of
orchard culture, I would say that to
make orchards productiveand profitable,
the fertility of the soil must be main-
tained by the use of suitable fertilizers,
so that the trees will make a vigorous
annual growth. Judicious pruning must
be given, and insect enemies kept in
subjection. Then when the fruits are
grown and well grown, they must have
proper care in gathering, assorting,
packing and marketing. All these
require skill and watchfulness at every
step. Orcharding, even in our favored
section, cannot be made profitable
without thoroughness in every detail.
The best method of preventing the rav-
ages of the codlin moth is still a matter
of anxious inquiry and experiment.
The efficacy of Paris-green and other
poisons, as well as the propriety of using
them, are still open questions, and can
only be answered satisfactorily by care-
ful experiment. Thus far I think ex-
perience favors the iise of Paris-green,
when used with judgment and caj-e." —
Address ofP. Barry, before the W. N.
Y. Hort. Society, i'n Vick's Magazi'iie.

The Thrip. — Mr. Cockburn said the
thrip may be killed by spraying with a
solution of one pound of sulphur and four
of unslaked lime in a bari'el of water.
The thrip infests the Delaware more than
any other grape ; hence he would separate
the Delaware from others. He suggested
the running of all vines in one direction,
so they may be laid down more easily for
winter protection. — Michigan Farmer.

240

THK CANADIAN HOKTICULTUBIST.

AN ODD BIT ABOUT TREES.

THE TREE PUZZLE, WITH ANSWERS APPENDED.

The "tree puzzle" that follows is one of
the most ingenious trifles of the kind now
current :

1. What's the social tree,

2. And the danc.ing tree,

3. And the tree that is nearest the sea ?

4. The dandiest tree,

5. And the kissable tree,

6. And the tree where ships may be ?

7. What's the tell-tale tree,

8. And the traitor's tree,

9. And the tree that's the warmest clad ?

10. The laugui.shing tree,

1 1 . The chronologist's tree,

12. And the tree that makes one sad ?

13. What's the emulous tree,

14. The industrious tree,

15. And the tree that will never stand still ?

16. The unhejdthiest tree,

17. The Efxyvtian-plngue tree,

18. And the tree ncitlier up nor down hill?

19 The oonteni]itible tree,

20. The most yielding tree,
21. And the tree tliat hears a curse?

22. The reddish brown tree,

23 The reddish blue tree,
24. And the tree like an Irish nurse?

25. What is the tree

That makes each townsman flee ?
20. And what round itself doth twine ?

27. What's the housewife's tree,

28. And the fisherman's tree ;

29. What by cockneys is turned into wine ?

30. What's the tree that got up,

31. And the tree that was lazy,

32. And the tree that guides ships to go forth?

33. The tree that's immortal,

34. The tret's that are not,

35. And the tree whose wood faces the north ?

36. The tree in a bottle,

37. The tree in a fog,

38. And wliat each must become ere he's old ?

39. The tree of the people,

40. The traveler's tree,

41. And the sad tree when school-masters hold ?

42. What's the tree that has passed through the fiery

heat,
43. That half-given to doctors when ill ?
44. The tree that we offer to friends when we meet,
4,'i. And the tree tve may use as a quill?

46. What's the tree that in death will benight you ?

47. And the tree that yimr wants vrill supply ?
48. And the tree that to travel invites you,

49. And the tree that forbids you to die ?

ANSWERS.

, /Pear 9. Fir

'• 1 Ten 10. Pine

2. Hop 11. Date

3. Beech 12. Weeping- willow

4. Spruce 13. Ivy

- /Tulip 14. Spindle-tree

I Yew 15. Caper

6. Bay 16. Sycamore

7. Peach 17. Locust

8. Judas 18. Plane

19. Medlar

2Q j India-rubber

■ I Sago palm

21 I '*''-

■ 1 Damson

22. Chestnut

23. Lilac

24. Honevsuckle

25. Citron

26. W"()dl)ine

27. Broom

28. Ba.sswood

29. Vine

30. Kose

.,. f Satin wood

■ I Aloe

32. (Il)elm

33. Arbor-vitfc

— Philadelphia Times.

34. Dyewoods

35. Southernwood

36. Cork

.,„ (Smoke-tree

■^'- (Hazel

38. Elder

39. Poplar

40. Wavfaring-tree

41. Biri'h

42. Ash

43. Coffee

44. Palm

45. Aspen

46 Deadly night-shade

47. Breadfruit

43. Orange

49. Olive

The Russiaist Apricot.

Professor

Budd, of the Iowa Agricultural College
writes to the Prairie Farmer that it runs
into many varieties, as grown from seed
by the Mennonites of Nebraska. Some
of them have stood the past winter fairly
well ; others have not. We have on our
grounds varieties from Central Russia
which seem perfectly hardy.

Asparagus Tenuisstmus — Nothing can
exceed the feathery grace of foliage of this
most beautiful of all vines for pot culture,
and it grows up a string nearly as fast as
Smilax. It keeps fresh so long after cut-
ting that it is particularly desirable as a
green for bouquet making. One of the
most handsome and unique bridal bou-
quets we ever saw was composed of Nip-
hetos Rose-buds just shadowed over with
a filmj' veil of the downy foilage of Aspar-
agus tenuissimus. This plant grows so
readily from cuttings that it wall soon be-
come plentiful. — Am. Garden.

The James Vick Str.\wbekky. — We
have given the James Vick strawberry
another trial, this time under high culti-
vation and under the sin^jle-plant system.
Yet, the yield was anything but satisfac-
tory. The plants were very large and
thrifty, the fruit stalks numerous and
well loaded, but the berries hardly medium
in size, with only few large, and many
small and imperfect ones. The berry is
firm and solid, good for canning, which is
about all that 1 can say in its favor.
Under the matted-row system, the James
Vick has proved of no account every-
where I met with it. — Farm and Oarden.

PRINTED AT THK STKAM PRESS ESTABLISHMENT OF COPP, CLARK & CO. i;0LB0RNE STREET, TORONTO.

^f-^tftr-

PAINTED FOR THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

PRUNUS PESSARDI.

VOL. VIII. ]

THE

lit l^f tittHif if t.

NOVEMBER, 1885.

[No. 11.

THE PURPLE-LEAVED PLUM.

After all there is something very
attractive in the foliage of our purple-
leaved trees and shrubs when they are
so planted as to bring it in contrast
■with the green leaves of other trees,
forming a back ground upon which the
rich coloring is projected and with
which it is contrasted. We have a
few very fine purple foliaged plants
that are well worthy of attention. The
Purple-leaved Beech has been in cultiva-
tion for many years, but it is so difficult
to transplant a tree of any size and
have it thi'ive well that few specimens
of it are to be found. Were our plant-
ers willing to abide the day of small
things, and be content to plant it when
its size is so diminutive as to make it
seem insignihcant, it would more fre-
quently survive and in a few years
become a beautiful ornament. A very
fine specimen of this tree we saw some
years ago in the grounds of Senator
Macpherson, at Yorkville ; and, if no
calamity has befallen it, by this time it
must be a prominent and beautiful
feature of the park.

The Purple-leaved Birch is of more
recent introduction, and well worthy of
the attention of ornamental planters.
Less difficult to ti-ansplant than the

beech, it is much more likely to succeed
with ordinary care. In habit it is as
vigorous as any of its fellows, and its
young shoots are brilliant in their color-
ing throughout the season of growth.
Even the bark of the branches and twigs
is of a dark purjile hue. In our grounds
the trees have been perfectly hardy, not
the slightest injury I'esulting from sum-
mer's heat or winter's cold ; indeed it
would seem to be able to stand by the
side of our native birches in our most
northern latitudes.

In those parts of the land where the
peach tree can be siiccessfully grown,
the Blood-leaved Peach can be planted
as confidently as any other peach tree.
It is said to have been found growing
in Kentucky, on the battlefield of Fort
Donelson. Were this the age of myth-
ology we should, no doubt, be told that
the blood of some hero who fell on that
aceldama had nurtured the young sap-
ling, and so dyed its natural juices that
the very leaves ai'e red. If this tx-ee
be well pruned back every spring it
will form a handsome compact head,
and the young growth will be of a deep
blood color throughout the summer.

Besides these there is a purple-leaved
Oak, whose dark purple leaves retain

242

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

their peculiar color all through the
season. It is a variety of the Royal
Oak of England.

Also a variety of the Norway Maple
known as Sehwedler's, whose young
shoots are of a bright, almost crimson
color. The foliage becomes darker with
age, until in the autumn it assumes a
purplish green.

But it was our intention to bring to
the notice of planters a tree of yet
more recent introduction, known as the
Purple-leaved Phim. Our colored plate
is a very good z-epresentation of its
foliage. We imported a few trees of it
a short time ago from Europe, and have
been much pleased with its behavior.
It has been perfectly at home in our
climate, and made a good healthy
growth. Although it has flowered
twice, no fruit was formed. We learn
from the Rural New-Yorker that it has
fruited in the grounds of P. J. Berck-
mans, of Georgia ; that the fruit is of
the myrobolan order, of the color of the
Acme tomato, firm in flesh, moderately
acid, but not of high flavor. In the
early spring the leaves are of a beauti-
ful rosy purple ; these change, as the
season advances, to a deep purple, and
afterward to a greenish purple, and
finally to a bronzy green; but the young
shoots during the season of growth ai'e
of the rosy purple of early spring, thus
giving to the tree a most pleasing
variety of coloring during all the sum-
mer months.

Hakdy Lilies.— C. E. K., of Little
Rock, Arkansas, asks about Lilies suited
to the open garden, and as I have had
large experience with all the various spec-
ies of the Lily family, I answer, that L.
Thunbergianum, in its many varieties,
from chocolate to lemon in color, will be
found the hardiest and surest to bloom of
all Lilies, and they are very beautiful, too.
They are as hardy and as sure to bloom as
Tulips. — G. B. W. , in Vkk's Magazine.

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

PROSPECTUS FOR 1886.

This magazine has been for the past
eight years, and is now, the only pub-
lication devoted to horticulture in Can-
ada, having special reference to the va-
rieties of fruits, flowers, trees, shrubs,
and vegetables, and modes of cultiva-
tion best suited to our climate. It is
intended to make it during the year
1886 more valuable, if possible, and
attractive than it has ever been. Ca-
nadian contributoi's, residing in vai'ious
parts of our Province, will give the
results of their own practice and ex-
perience, which will be invaluable to
others in similar cii'cvim stances. The
subscription price is only one dollar a
year, for which the subscriber will re-
ceive not only the Canadian Horticul-
turist, which is issued regularly on the
first of every month, but also the An-
nual Report of the Fruit Growers' As-
sociation of Ontario for 1885, as soon
as printed, containing the discussions
at the meetings held during the year,
accurately reported by a competent
stenogi'apher. In addition each sub-
scriber will receive in the spring of
1886, by mail, post-paid, whichever he
may choose of the following articles,
namely, either (1) three plants of the
Ontario Strawberry, or (2) a yearling
tree of the Russian Yellow Transpa-
rent Apple, or (3) a plant of the Lu-
cretia Dewberry, or (4) a yearling vine
of the Early Victor Grape, or (5) two
plants of the Marlboro' Raspberry, or
(6) a package containing three vari-
eties of flower seeds, viz., Gypsophyla

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

243

paniciilata, Aquilegia cerulea, and Del-
phinium, mixed colors.

Subscriptions may be sent at any
time to the Editor, D. W. Beadle, St.
Catharines, Ont.

TO OUR READERS.

The Canadian Horticulturist is not
published with the expectation or desire
of pecuniary profit. Every dollar received
from subscribers is ex})ended in procur-
ing and publishing information that will
be both interesting and valuable to its
readers. If yon have found our monthly
interesting and valuable to you during
the past year, will you not please to
help us increase its attractiveness and
usefulness by obtaining a few new sub-
scribers. It costs but a little more to
publish an edition of five or six thou-
sand, than of only two thousand. The
increased funds that would be at our dis-
posal if the subscription list were dou-
bled, would enable us to greatly improve
the Magazine. Will you not help us to
make our Canadian Horticulturist the
best and most attractive horticultural
monthly.

As some acknowledgment of your
kindness in obtaining new subscribers
we will send to you, prepaid, on the
I'eceipt of five dollars and the ad-
dress of five new siibscribers, any
one of the following collections of
bulbs or plants. Collection No. 1,
one Chionodoxa lucillte, one Lilium
longiflorum, two Frittillaria meleag-
ris, two Spanish Iris, and two Nar-
cissus Poeticus ; No. 2, five tulips, two
Chinese Peonias, one Spotted Calla, one
Tiger Lily ; No. o, a Collection of five
difierent Lilies ; No. 4, a Collection of
five different sorts of Iris ; No. 5, two
double and two single Hyacinths, and
three double and three single Narcissus ;
No. 6, Five herbaceous perennials, Frax-
inella, Dianthus, Japan Anemone, Jap-
an Spirea, and Clematis erecta ; No. 7,
Three hardy flowering slirubs, Hydi-an-

gea paniculata, Spirea Van Houtte and
Purple Fringe ; No. 8, a collection of
twelve difierent sorts of flower seeds ;
No. 9, four hardy Roses; No. 10, Four
Tea Roses ; No. 1 1 , Three Polyantha or
Miniature Roses ; No. 1 2 Four climbing
Roses.

For ten dollars and ten new sub-
subscribers we will send, prepaid, any
two of the above collections you may
designate ; or if preferred, we will send
you one strong yearling tree of the
Russian Vladimir Cherry, grown from
trees imported by the Fruit Growers'
Association direct from Russia.

If you prefer books we will send you,
prepaid, on receipt of three dollars and
three new subscribers. Every Woman
her own flower gardener, l-tS pages,
bound in cloth.

For five dollars and five new subscri-
bers, Window Gardening, 300 pages,
illusti'ated with 126 engravings.

For twelve dollars and twelve new
subscribei'S, Saunders Insects Injurious
to Fruits, 4.36 pages, 440 engravings,
bound in cloth.

For fifteen new subscribers and fif-
teen dollars the Floral Kingdom, a
magnificient art book, splendidly bound,
450 pages, 200 illustrations.

Our prospectus for 1886 will explain
fully what each subscriber is entitled
to receive during the year.

New subscribers will receive the
Canadian Horticulturist from the time
the subscription is received until the
end of the year 1886.

TO OUR NEW SUBSCRIBERS.
If you desire to have the report of tht
Fruit Growers' Association for 1884 ana
the Canadian Horticulturist complete
from the first of January 1885 they
will be sent to you on i-eceipt of sixty
cents. Thus for $1. 60 you will receive
the Reports of 1884 and 1885 and Vol-
umes VIII and IX of the Canadian
Horticulturist, complete.

244

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

THE SAUNDERS PLUM.

We received about the first of Sept-
ember last from Messrs. Stone and
Wellington a sample of this plum, which
the Fruit Growers' Association of Ont-
tario has named the " Saunders " in
honor of their much esteemed President.
The samples received were of medium
size, yellow in color, and in flavor
strongly suggestive of the Imperial
Gage, and wlien we say this we cannot
say more in favor of its quality, for the
Imperial Gage is considered to rank
as " best."

We are informed that the tree is ex-
ceedingly hardy and has never been af-
fected with the black-knot, although
other trees surrounding the Saunders
are literally covered with black-knots.
It is a heavy annual bearer, always
yielding fruit even when other varieties
in the neighborhood fail. The tree is a
chance seedling found growing in the
eastern part of Ontario.

CANADA BALDWIN.

The following description of this
hardy variety is kindly furnished by
Mr. George Leslie, jun : Fruit medium
size, roundish oblong, slightly larger
on one side than on the other, hand-
some, stalk thin, 1 to 1^ inch long, set
in a deep open basin, eye closed in a
rather shallow open corrugated de-
pression. Skin, thick, smooth, yellow,
deepening on the sunny side into a
deep dark red, striped and blotched
with cai-mine varying to dark crimson,
Avith distinct purplish grey dots, the
most of the stem end being clouded
with a purplish grey bloom. Flesh,
white tinged with pink, sometimes
slightly striped with pink, breaking,
not very juicy, pleasant, mild subacid
flavor, verging on sweetness, some-
what resembling the Fameuse. Tree,
hardy, moderate grower, productive.

TO OUR SUBSCRIBERS.

Will you have the kindness to i-enew
your subscriptions before the end of
the year so that we may know how
many copies will be required. It is a
waste of funds to print more than will
supply our readers, yet even those who
do not renew until after the new year
want to get the whole year complete.
It may be impossible to supply the
whole volume to those whose subscrip-
tions are not received until after the
January number goes to press, which
is about the 15th of December.

QUESTION DRAWER.

REMOV^ING GRAPE LEAVES.

Dear Sir, — Would you kindly let
me know if it is pi'oper to remove the
leaves, or I should say foliage, from
over the grapes to hasten their growth
and ripening. I hold that it is not
proper to do so, and I never do it with
my own. R. H. S.

Penetangiiishene.

Reply. — The leaves are the organs
in which the sap is elaborated so that
it will nourish the plant and continue
its growth, which involves the fruit as
well. They also are the organs in
which the process of assimilation takes
place ; carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and
nitrogen being taken from the air and
converted into organic compounds.
How can these processes go on if the
leaves are taken away? It is not the
action of the sun or of the air direct-
ly upon the fruit of the vine that
causes it to grow and ripen. Indeed
the grapes are much finer every way, in
color and in flavor, when ripened under
the shadow of the foliage than when
exposed directly to the sun's rays. But

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

245

the leaves require to be exposed freely
to the sun and air in order that these
processes of elaboration and assimila-
tion may take place. Hence it follows
that the vine may be allowed to grow
in such a tangled mass of leaves that
they are not fully exposed to these
agencies without which they cannot
perform these functions ; for this reason
judicious pruning is necessary, and the
taking away of superfluous shoots, so
that every leaf may have its full measure
of light and air, and so be able to per-
fox'm its work of developing and ripen-
ing the clusters which hang beneath
them in the shade.

BUDDING.
Sir, — Would you kindly inform us
through the Horticulturist how to
bud apple trees. After removing the
wood of the bud should the bud be
taken out also, when should the tying
be removed, and will the bud start to
grow the same season it is put in?

Edward Bartlett.

Reply. — Select a smooth place in
the stock and with a sharp, thin-blad-
ed knife make first a horizontal cut,
just deep enough to cut through the
bai'k, and then from the centime of this
make a perpendicular cut of the same
depth, the two cuts forming a T. After
having made these incisions in the
bark, take your scion, or stick of buds,
in your left hand and cut out one of
the buds together with a strip of the
bark and a very thin slice of the wood,
beginning to cut about half an inch
from the bud, and bringing the knife
out about the same distance above it.
It is desirable that the slice of wood

shoiild be exceedingly thin. Now care-
fully raise the bark at the corners of
your cut, and holding the bud by the
leaf stalk insert the lower end under
the bark and slide it down the perpen-
dicular slit until the upper end of the
bark of the bud coincides with the
cross or horizontal cut of the T. If a
little of the bark of the bud extends
above the horizontal cut it should be
cut off with the knife so as to form a
square shoulder exactly fitting to the
bark of the stock above. The bud
should be kept in place by winding
around the stock some bass matting,
or woollen or cotton yarn, taking care
to bind the bark of the stock securely
over the bud, leaving only the bud
with its leaf stalk projecting. After
the bud has become united to the
stock and the ligature begins to bind
too tightly the string should be taken
off. I do not remove the wood from
the bud. The bud will not usually
start to grow until the next spring.
You should procure five new sub-
scribers to the Canadian Horticulturist
and send their names and five dollars
to the Editor and receive in return for
vour trouble a copy of the Can-
adian Fruity Flower and Kitchen
Gardener, in which you will find the
methods of grafting and budding nob
only described but fully illustrated
with engravings, besides much other
very valuable and intei-esting matter.

EUROPEAN APPLE ORCHARDS.

I want to find out something about
the prospective foreign demand for
apples, about tlie areas in the old world
devoted to orchards and to what extent

246

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

apple orchards are there being planted,
and what parts of Europe are most
given to apple culture, etc., etc. If you
have any items of interest in this
direction, perhaps you would kindly
give us the benefit in the Horticulturist.

L. W.

Will some of our readers who ai-e
familiar with the fruit markets of
Europe, and especially if having a
knowledge of the area of orcharding in
Great Britain and on the continent,
and whether that area is being in-
creased or not, please reply to this in-
teresting inquiry. — Ed. Can. Hort.

BLACK CURRANTS.

What is the proper soil for black
currants, and proper mode of cultiva-
tion. Would they do well on black
muck soil 1 J. C. Cummer.

Reply. — While thriving well in
almost every soil, they will produce
the best results in a well drained
clayey loam, which is deep and rich,
and if well supplied with manure will
respond accordingly. We have not
had any experience with them in black
muck, but if well drained and liberally
dressed with hardwood ashes, we should
expect good results. The best fruit of
next year's crop will be borne on the
young wood of this season's growth,
therefore in pruning preserve the young
wood, and prune out old wood to secure
a sufficiency of young bearing wood.

NUT PLANTING.

(1.) Is it best to plant walnuts in
the fall, or to dry them and plant in
the spring.

(2.) If planted in the fall do they

require to be taken up in the following
spring and transjjlanted.

Yours, etc.,
Simcoe. C. W. Culver.

Reply. — (I.) It is best to plant the
nuts as soon as they fall from the tree.
If not convenient to plant them where
you wish them to grow, place them on
the ground and cover them with four
inches of soil. Early in the spring,
before they begin to gi'ow, plant them
where you wish them to remain.

(2.) If you can plant them in the
fall where you wish them to grow, it
is better never to disturb them, but let
them gi'ow on until they attain their
full size.

WHAT THE PEOPLE SAY.

FRUIT IN COUNTY OF GREY.

I have a good crop of apples and
grapes and the Flemish Beauty pear tree
was very heavily laden with fruit this
season, but apples in general are
scarce.-

William Brown.

Annau, Co. Grey.

HARDY CATALPA.

Dear Sir, — As you like to hear of
the success of the plants sent out by
the Association I beg to inform you
that the " Hardy Catalpa " I got is
growing well and I have great expecta-
tions that it will be a handsome tree in
a very few years It has made eighteen
inches of strong wood, the leaf is six
and a half inches wide and eight and a
half inches long, and including the leaf
stalk thirteen inches.
Yours,

M. Armstrong.

Hamilton, Sept. 8. 1885.

THK CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

247

FRUIT NEAR AULTSVILLE,
STURAIONT.

Apples are not so much spotted as
last year, but still badly affected, espec-
ially the St. Lawrence and Fameuse,
although I gathered twenty four barrels
of Fameuse yesterday from four trees
with hardly a spot. I could not give
like experience for many years back.
Yet at least half of my Fameuse trees
are bearing fruit that is almost worth-
less. The east side of the orchard is
always the worse. Trees that are much
shaded are not always most spotted.
The fruit on young trees is as badly
spotted as on old. Trees in an orchard
seeded down for ten years are this year
more free from spot than those in the
garden. We have had frosts, 29th
September, but not enough to hurt the
grapes, which are doing well. Worden
was ripe a week ago, and Moore's Early,
both tine grapes, the former especially.
I pulled some Delaware, Wilder,
Massasoit and Brighton to-day fairly
ripe. Massasoit, although quite eat-
able, shews a good many uncolored
berries.

John Croil.

THE CLEMATIS.

(For the Horticulturist.}

In the County of Lambton this
beautiful and thiifty climber and ele-
gant flowering plant, in some of its im-
pi'oved and modern forms, is likely to
be a grand success. It is true we are
only just getting our interest in the
Clematis in its improved form properly
ai'oused, but yet several have been in-
duced to try their luck by planting a
root or two in our climate and surround-
ings, and when tliis has been properly
done the satisfaction even for the tirst
season has genei-ally been very great.
The consequence is that the interest in
it is extending among our people. The
Clematis seems to have so many tine
qualities to recommend it that it can-

not fail of being a great favorite
amongst us when thoroughly introduc-
ed. In the first place by means of
slight winter protection the roots are
known to be perennial, and although
the tops should die down to the ground
yet the next season's growth produces
such a remarkable profusion of vine,
foliage and beautiful flowers that it is
quite astonishing, and will never fail
to draw the attention of the most casual
observers to so gorgeous a spectacle.
These vines can readily be made to
climb over and cover an old fence, or a
trellis made for the purpose, and in
either case the result will be attractive
and charming, or they may be made to
fill artificially prepared lattice work or
wiie work about the home varandah
and produce the finest effects immagin-
able in the decoration of the home. The
flowering season, commencing as it
does in June or July, will last until
October, thus filled by a succession of
bloom during the whole season. In
my travel this summer I came to the
home of a lady who had been induced
by some tree agent to purchase a root
of an improved Clematis the year before
at a great price. The lady had care-
fully planted it just at the west end of
her beautiful residence in Watford
where it grew finely and made her
home still more beautiful by its abund-
ant foliage and mass of gorgeous flowers.
About the first object of interest on
her lawn that she had to show me with
an honorable pride was this Clematis,
then in full bloom, planted by the side
of her house only the summer before.
The growth was very surprising. It was
trained on a nice, neat trellis about
ei<dit feet hit;h and five or six feet wide
at the top, and the whole space was
almost covered by the most georgeous
mass of distinctive blue bloom. It
was most certainly a very atti-active
object to her family and her visitors,
and not only abundantly repaid her for

248

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

hei' expense and care, bi;t greatly help-
ed to adorn and beautify the home
where it stood.

MY EARNEST ATTENTION

has of late been very strongly drawn to
the study of the Clematis as a decora-
tive lawn ])lant likely to be very much
used in this country as it has several
points of great merit. Last season I
was induced to select and purchase
and plant some twenty or twenty-five
of the best sorts of improved Clematis
I could find described. Some of these
have done remarkably well this season,
have grown finely and have shown
some of their most attractive and finest
blooms. Although this result has been
very satisfactory to me, yet I am hoping
for far better results next year when
their roots have become established in
their new homes and strengthened for
the production of moi-e and better
blooms. The Clematis likes a high, dry
and very warm soil, or a good, strong,
well-drained sandy loam seems to suit
them even better, and for the best re-
sults in bloom it must be made very
rich with strong fertilizers and good
mulching. A slight protection in
winter will be found very beneficial
and help very much the succeeding
season's growth and quantity and qual-
ity of bloom. To do this take down
the vines from the trellis and if old
wood must be saved prune nicely late
in the season and cover the whole with
a moderately heavy covering of leaves
or light litter. Some varieties pro-
duce flowers or flowering shoots on
their old wood and others produce new
from the root, but in either case the
results will be very satisfactory if gen-
erous treatment is given. I have
noticed the Clematis is never inquired
for or brought out at our floral exhi-
bitions, although they may be procured
in their season. Why this is so I can-
not explain.

THE VARITIES

I secured this season were the follow-
ing : Belisarius, Fair Rosamond, For-
tuneii, Helena, Henryii, J. G. Veitch,
Lanuginosa Candida, Lawsoniana,
Stella, Madam Grange, Gem, Ran-
datlerii, Flammula, Tom Moore, Tun-
bridgensis flammula, Standishii, Ci'ispa,
Jackraanii, Coccinnea, Duchess of Edin-
burgh, Verchafeltii, Virgineana, Vita
Alba, etc. To these I intend adding
others as they may be brought to my
notice. Of these, Viticella, Venosa,
Henryii and Belisarius have bloomed
very finely this season, and promise to
be something very attracting indeed
by their magnificent blooms. I am
hoping to be able at some future time to
report to you far more fully of their
behaviour, and the result of my ex-
periments with this interesting and
promising class of plants for ornament-
al purjjoses.

Yours very truly,

B. GOTT.
Arkona Xurseries, Oct. 5th, 1885.

\YIXTER PROTECTION OF TREES
AND PLANTS.

BV A. M. SMITH.

The loss of fruit trees and plants by
freezing of the roots during the last
and two or three previous winters in
the Niagara district and other places
which had been always considered to
be the most favored sections for fruit
growing in Ontario, has become some-
thing alarming, and fruit growers are
beginning to ask, " What shall we do to
protect our trees and vines ?" lu many
places large vineyards of young vines
have been almost totally destroyed and
older ones have been badly injured, and
peach, pear and cherry trees have also
suffered to a great extent. The want
of proper covering has allowed tlie
frost to penetrate beyond its usual
depth and the want of sufficient mois-
ture in the soil (the winters having set

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

249

in when the gi'ound was very dry) to
draw the frost from the roots has been
the cause of the trouble, and the ques-
tion is how shall we retain nature's
covering or what shall we use as a sub-
stitute to protect the roots of the ])lants.
Everyone knows that where banks of
snow lay through the winter that wheat,
grass, and all kinds of vegetation come
out fresh aiid green in the spring. The
writer planted a vineyard three years
ago last spring on the east side of a
Norway spruce hedge, which held the
snow for the space of two rows ; the fol-
lowing winter killed every vine beyond
the extension of the snow drifts while
those under the drifts came out all
right. A few days ago I visited a vine-
yard in Stamford which was planted
two years ago. In the highest and
most exposed part there had been
planted a row of black currant bushes
between each row of vines which had
retauied the snow in winter around
their roots. These vines were thrifty
and some of them bearing fruit, while
rows adjoining, which had received
equally as good care and cultivation,
but had no currants between, had been
wholly or partly killed the past winter.
This has suggested an idea to a neigh-
bor of mine, who has planted a drill of
corn between each row of his young
plants or vines which will be about
three feet high when the frost comes,
which he intends to let stand to hold
the snow. His strawberry plants he
has treated in a similar way by sowing
peas along each side of the rows allow-
ing them to fall over as a protection.
I see that the Niagara Grape Co. have
recommended to planters of their vine-
yards in Canada to sow rye early in
the season so it will get a gi'owth to
protect the roots, and the plowing of it
in in the sjjriiig will help to eni'ich the
ground. But to those who have not
taken any of these precautions I would
recommend mulching heavily with

coarse manure-straw, corn stalks, or
anything that will keep out the frost
or hold the snow from blowing away.
If there is danger from mice place a
little Rough on Rats or poisoned wheat
around the fields under old boards or
rubbish where they burrow, and next
spring don't forget to plant wind-breaks
arouiid your orchards and vineyards. I
am satisfied that the hedge referred to
on my own place has more than paid
for the cost of it in protecting two rows
of grape vines for two years.
St. Ccatharines, Oct. 10th, 18S5.

EXPERIENCE WITH APPLE TREES IN
THE COUNTY OF GREY.

In the spring of 1883 I planted some
trees which I expected to be hai'dy, but
I have been disappointed as the follow-
ing will show : Out of three Wealthy
apple trees one is almost dead and an-
other is badly injured. My pi-emium
Wealthy is also badly hurt. Out of
two Pewaukees one is dead and the
other is badly injured, and one Wolf
River killed to the ground. This
damage was all done last winter, these
ti^ees being almost untouched the previ-
ous winter. The injury was almost
entirely on the trunk, the bark being
killed in patches, sometimes quite
girdling the ti-ee. Five Wallbridge
were all badly killed back in the young
wood both winters, but not hurt in
trunk ; three Mann the same, but one
of them killed to the snow line hist
winter. Two Haas, killed back in the
young wood, but not quite so bad last
winter as the one previous. One
Whitney number 20, unhurc. I have
nine trees of the Duchess of Olden-
burgh, eight years planted, which are
quite hardy, also some which I think
are Red Astrachan and some Fameuse
of the same age that are pretty hardy.
My orchard is high and exposed on all

250

THE CANADIAN H0RTICDLTDRI8T.

sides, with a hard pan subsoil and un-
di-ained. R. Scott.

Hopeville.

Such notes of experience are among
the most valuable contributions we
receive, and are always welcome. —
Editor.

CURRANTS.

Currants are not receiving the at-
tention they demand ; years ago every-
body had their row of currant bushes,
it was no trouble to grow them, just
plant them out and with a very little
attention all the currants could be
gi'own that were wanted. When the
currant worm came along and destroy-
ed most of the bushes nearly everybody
was discouraged, and gave up in des-
pair, but they are so easily gotten rid
• of by the use of Hellebore with one
application (if put on in time), that
there is no longer any excuse for not
growing them. Among the most profit-
able sorts I have grown, I would name
Raby Castle and Victoria. Some say
they are the same, but I think there is
some difference in favor of Raby Castle.
They both hold their foliage very late
in the season, which protects the fruit
so that it can be left on the bushes for
a month after they are ripe. They
improve in quality and will bring a
much better price in mai-ket. The
Cherry currant is not as productive as
the above, and does not hold its foliage
so well, and but little larger when
gi'Own side by side. The cherry will
give larger berries while the bushes are
young, but do not continue to do so in
old plantations.

Fay's Prolific is said to be far ahead
of all others, but it has not been tested
sufficiently in Canada to know that it
will be what has been claimed for it.

White d'ape is a splendid variety (I
have just been out to-day, Sept. 30th,

eating some fiom the bushes, and find
they are first-class in quality) with less
acid than the red sorts. The White
Crape is one of the best for home use,
and in some markets they will bring
one cent per quart more than the red.
I think there are too many people that
go into small fruit growing who confine
themselves to perhajJS strawberries and
raspberries, or some other two or three
kinds, while if they would grow all of
the small fr-uits (a few standard vai'ie-
ties of each sort) they would have less
failures, and the work of growing and
marketing can be done to much better
advantage.

Unless we can find some black cur-
rant that is more productive and reli-
able than Black Naples or Lee's Pro-
lific, we cannot plant them with the
hope of getting a paying crop more than
once in three years ; true, there are
some localities where they are quite
regular and heavy bearers.

Perhaps in no other small fruit is
there so much need of improvement as
in the black currant. It is to be hoped
that some of the many new seedlings of
Wm. Saimders, of London, may prove
to be much more valuable than any-
thing we now have. P. C. Dempsy, of
Trenton, is also testing a number of his
own new seedlings, some of which are
vei'V promising.

W. W. HiLBORX.

Arkona, Sept. 30, 1885.

JEWELL STRAWBERRY.

J. S. Woodai'd, of the Rural New
Yorker, writes us as follows : "I have
examined the Jewell on all kinds of
soils, and we have fruited it two years,
and I do not hesitate to say that it is
the best berry, all things considered,
that we have. I believe that it will
be more universally popular than the
Wilson, and that is saying a good
deal."

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

251

CAN THE APPLE BE RAISED WITH
PROFIT ?

The impoi"tant question which our
northern fruit growers have now to de-
cide is in regard to the Apple. Can it
be raised with profit 1 We cannot, at
present, examine the question in detail,
but it may be said that the planting of
Apple orchards has greatly fallen off
for a few years past ; many have been
nesrlected and left a i>rev to insects,
mainly for the reason, perhaps, that
some seasons of unfortunate weather
have prevailed for awhile, and left us
without a crop until last year ; and for
the same cause some have even cut down
their orchards. This course is wrong,
and a few years more will make it plain.
"We shall always need the Apple in
abundance ; no other fruit can wholly
take its place. With the present low
rate of orchard planting the demand
for good Apples will soon exceed the
supply, no matter what other fruits
are in the market. — Vick's Magazine.

THE TRIUMPH GOOSEBERRY.

A new Gooseberry is now being in-
troduced by Mr. Geo. Achelis under
the above name. It is said to be re-
markable for the size of the berries, they
being in actual measurement seven
eighths of an inch in diameter, which
would make them about two and
a half inches in circumference. It is
an American seedling, but of what par-
entage we are not informed. The
introducer claims for it that dui'ing the
dozen years in which it has borne fruit
it has not shewn the slightest sign of
mildew ; also that it is exceedingly
jn'oductive, one branch a foot long
having on it sixty five berries which
were, on an average, one inch in dia-
metei".

We shall eventually get gooseberries
that will thrive in our peculiar climate
which will rival in size and excel in
flavour tlie famous ({ooseberries of EiiLr-

land ; for our more sunny skies impart
to all fruits a richer coloring, and to
most of them a higher flavor than they
can acquire in the moi"e moist atmos-
phere and under the more cloudy skies
of the British Isles. Our Canadian
hybridizers are at work upon this fruit,
and we believe that Mr. Dempsey has
already i-aised some seedlings of great
promise. They have not been brought
to public notice, for it is his practice to
test thoroiighly all his productions and
ascertain by years of trial whether they
are worthy of attention Vjefore he speaks
of them in public. Should they prove
to be adapted to our climate, to be of
fine flavor, good size and rod uctive,
the public will hear more of them ; if
not, they will be consigned to the land of
forwetfulness.

SUMMER PRUNING OF GRAPE VINES.

Professor Budd writes to the Prairie
Farmer on this subject as follows : — In
our hot diy air of the West very little
trimming is needed in summer, if the
vines are properly pruned when laid
down in November. In this connection
I will say that vines left on the trellis
have been generally killed at the West
the past winter. We find it best in
laying down to cover the tops with
earth when bent over to the ground,
and to throw a small mound of earth
over the crowns. The bow, formed in
bendingover the canes, is left uncovered.
The object in view is merely to lessen
evaporation from the canes when the
roots are locked in frost. Again, tens
of thousands of recently planted vines
have been I'oot killed. In all cases
where the vines have been planted two
feet in depth — filling the holes gradu-
ally as the canes made growth, they
have come through in perfect condi-
tion. On dry porous soils our i)eople
must leai-n to j)lant deeply if they
would be successful.

252

THE CANADIAN HOETICDLTUKIST.

PEAR BLIGHT.

N. Y. Agricultural Experiment Station,
Geneva, N. Y., Aug. 24, 1885.

The progress of the work at the
Station on pear bliglit this season has
been substantial and pi'actical. The
work last year established the infecti-
ous nature of thft disease. The large
number of artificial inoculations made
for this purpose wei-e quite free from
any danger of accidental contamination,
as there was no spontaneous occurrence
of the disoi'der in the orchard or the
immediate vicinity. This year the
disease has shown itself in force, over
one-third of the trees in the orchard
being attacked, as well as the trees in
the adjoining grounds, and the nursery
stock, hawthorn hedges, etc., of the
vicinity. This opportune visitation
has permitted a very thorough study of
the progress of the disease in its viru-
lent form.

Last year's work, as well as that of
Professor Burrill in Illinois some time
since, indicated that the disease does
not as a rule spread from limb to limb,
and we have now discovered the reason
why it does not, and what is moi'e im-
portant, have found out the manner
and time of its real attack upon the
tree — when it first finds entrance into
the tissues and begins the work of des-
truction.

While taking a stroll the last day of
June a solitary hawthorn shrub was
met, with the larger part of the leaves
brown and dead. Its odd appearance
attracted attention, and a close inspec-
tion indicated that it was suflfering
from blight, a conclusion fullj corrobo-
rated by a subsequent microscopic ex-
amination. In all cases the bliofhtine
had evidently begun at the ends of the
branches, and largely at the ends of the
short spurs along the sides of the limbs.
These spurs usually terminate in one or
more clusters of flowers in the haw-
thorn, wbich at that time had Ions

passed, and on the uninjured parts had
matured into fruit fully two-thirds
grown. On the diseased spurs, how-
ever, the dead flowers had not precep-
tibly developed beyond the condition
at flowering. Here was surely a sig-
nificant fact. The blight must have
attacked these parts not later than the
period of flowering, which this year
was from the middle to the twentieth
of May. The germs found a favorable
place of entrance through the moist
surface inside the flower, and from that
point passed down the flower stalk into
the Vjranch, and so on, killing the tissues
as it progressed. In cases where it did
not find entrance in this way it had
attacked those shoots of the present
season which were making the most
vigorous growth, as the length of the
intei'nodes and the number of partially
grown leaves on the dying portion
readily showed. Subsequent inspection
of several untrimmed hawthorn hedges
near the Station confirmed all that has
been said above, both in regard co the
behavior and extent of the disease.

The orchai'd was at once carefully
gone over, and evidences of blight were
found in no less than one-third of tlie
trees. The following varieties were
among the blighted ones .• Bartlett,
Buflfum, Doyenn^ Boussock, Flemish
Beauty. Mt. Yernori, Seckel, Sheldon
and White Doyenn^. In fact the
blight seemed no respecter of varieties
so far as our assortment was concerned,
for all kinds on one side of the orchard
were touched, while almost every tree
on the opposite side i-emained free. It
was found that in many instances the
entry had been made through the
flowers as in the hawthorn, but more
often through the growing tip of a
branch. An armful of blighted branches
from Kiefler pears, which are not found
in oiir orchard, were brought me on
July 24 as badly blighted as one often
sees.

THE CANADIAN HORTIODLTDKIST.

253

The blighted branches were removed
with pruning shears on July 1, by a
clay laborer who was none too keen
eyed. Ten days afterward the orchard
seemed far more blighted than at first,
and in many instances it had struck at
the bodies of the lai'ger limbs, and in
one instance at the trunk below the
limbs.

There was now a marked difference
in the amount of blight showing on the
several varieties. The Bartlett led
them all, some of the laro;er trees being
SO much atiected that wljen the diseased
branches were removed there was bat
little of the top left.

At first this was puzzling. A care-
ful study of the case, however, furnish-
ed a solution. Although all had pro-
bably taken the blight about equally,
yet it had spread thi'ough the tissues
at very difierent rates in the difier-
ent varieties. The Bartlett showed
itself the most susceptible. The ap-
parently rapid blighting of large limbs
was I'eadily traced to the incur-
sions of the disease through the shoi't
spurs near their bases. In the less
susceptible varieties the disease had
not travelled the whole length of the
spur at the time of the first pruning,
and was therefore all removed. In the
most susceptible kinds it had gone
the length of the spur and already
entei'ed the large limb when the spur
was cut away. Here it did not take
long to girdle the limb, prevent the
passage of sap, and thus practically kill
it. In the single instance where blight
occurred on the trunk of a tree below
the branches, it was perfectly evident
that it had entered through a vigorous
young shoot that had started out at that
point this spring. The failure to cut it
away before the blight reached the
trunk cost us the entire tree.

In addition to the out-of-door observa-
tions, a very extended course of experi-
ments in the house have been carried

on. It is only necessary to refer to
these in the present connection in order
to mention the artificial cultivation of
the germs of the blight. These have
been grown in sterilized infusions of
corn meal, hay, barn-yard manure,
green fruits, starch, etc. The import-
ant point is that they will live and
thrive outside the tree in dead organic
substances.

These are the facts. They explain
the phenomena of pear blight in this
way. The disease is due to living
germs. These germs can live and
multiply indefinitely in any damp spot
where there is decomposing vegetable
matter. Fi-om such places they are
raised into the air when dry, or carried
up by moisture. From the air they
lodge upon the trees, and when the
conditions are favorable pass into the
tissues and cause the blight. The con-
ditions referred to are in general (1)
very tender tissues, such as are found
within the flowers and at the ends of
expanding shoots in spring, and (2) a
moist atmosphere. No varieties are
entirely blight proof, but the disease
spreads so slowly in some that they
receive little injury, especially when
not making too rapid growth. The
reason why the blight, when seen in
July and later, does not pass directly
from one limb to another, or from one
tree to another, is because in the ^rst
place the germs cannot escape, being
confined by the bark, or else escape in
a viscid exudation which holds them
firmly together, and in the second place
there are very few places on the tree at
this time of the year where the surface
tissues are sufficiently tender for them
to find an entrance.

Does not all this suggest some
thoughts regarding pi'eventives and
remedies 1 Do not force the tree into
too rapid growth by heavy fertilizing or
otherwise. Place no confidence in
sulphvir, lime, or washes and applica-

254

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

tions of any sort. Promptly remove
every trace of the disease a foot or
more below the lowest spot where it
shows, and burn the branches.

PEAR ORCHARDS.
The old fashioned pear trees that grew
to the size of some oaks and yielded
annual crops of many bushels were not,
says the Philadelphia Record, affected
by blight. The trees were frequently
subjected to the axe in order to rid
them of their surplus wood, but little
caretul j)runing was given them and
they received no cultivation at all. The
fruit, however, was entirely different
from that which is now sold in the mar-
ket, being hard and fit only for pres-
erving. With the introduction of the
Duchess and Bartlett pears and other
varieties, the quality of the fruit was
greatly improved, but the trees do not
grow as lai-ge as the common kind, nor
are they as hai-dy. With the advent
of the improved pear came the blight,
and since it made its first wholesale
attack on the pear orchards it has ruled
supreme, as no remedy other than the
destruction of the tree is known for its
cure. The methods of cultivation may
have much to do with this disease, but
probably forcing the trees to a very
rapid growth is the cause, more than
anything else, of pear blight. Our
orchards of improved pears have not
been treated in a natural manner, for the
pear tree is a slow grower and does not
bear until it is a fair-sized tree, but
growers have compelled the improved
varieties to assume conditions not suit-
able for health and vigor, which render
the tree subject to the blight and other
diseases incidental to pears. Two fruit
growers at Newfield, N. J., procured
the same varieties of pears from the
same nursery and put the trees in the
ground at the same time. They were
cultivated, however, quite differently.
One of the growers yearly cultivated in

his orchard garden crops, with occasion-
ally corn, applying liberal dressings of
manure, under which treatment the
trees grew rapidly, and not only im-
proved in appearance and color, but
bore early and gave large yields. His
neighbor did not use his orchard for
any other purpose than the growing of
grass, which was occasionally mowed,
ploughed and seeded to grass again.
The orchard that was kept in grass has
on it to-day trees that are only half the
size of those in the orchard that was
cultivated with hoed crops. It has
never borne as well, nor has it equalled
it in appearance and other respects.
The bliglit, however, has nearly des-
troyed the orchard that looked the most
promising, %v4nle the slow growing trees
ai"e as sound as when first set out, al-
though both orchards are very near each
other. The pear orchard that gave its
owner such heavy yields is nearly des-
troyed, but the other seems likely to
last for several years, not a ti'ee being
affected with the blight. As these or-
chards were alike (soil included) in
ever}' respect, but differently treated,
this ex[)eriment may furnish a lesson to
pear growers.

xMY CELERY HOUSE.

I have used this house for three
years for storing and blanching. It
will hold 30,000 stools, and I have not
lost %5 worth from rot or other causes.
The plants have been well blanched^
crisp, without rust or earthy flavor. I
have no trenches to dig, no banking
for winter and less earthing during
growth. My stock can be inspected
any time, taken out in cold or rain or
at night, cleaned, washed and packed
for market in the 'same place. Celery
once handled can hei-e be blanched in
three weeks, and the temperature can
be kept cool and damp, to insure the
best quality.

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

255

The cellar, sixteen by forty feet and
thi'ee feet deep, has a wall eighteen
inches thick and rising a foot above
ground, upon which plates for rafters
are bolted to keep the roof from spread-
ing. Inside, the house is four feet
high at the eaves and eleven at the
peak. The ends are weather-boarded
on both sides of six-inch studs and
filled in with sawdust, which is also
packed between the roof and a lining
of rough boards nailed on the lower
side of the rafters. This is frost proof
and protects against sudden changes.
A ventilator ten inches wide the entire
length of the roof at the peak, with
lifting lid worked by a lever inside,
admits air when needed and gives escape
for any heat that may generate from
the celery. A door at each end, lined
and packed, a small window over each
to admit light, and steps to get down
with, complete the house, costing about
$200.

In putting away the celery, posts are
set in the ground ten inches apart be-
ginning at each side of the end of the
house and coming towards the centre,
which gives seven feet to the side, leav-
ing a passage-way two feet wide through
the entire length of the building. Three
sets of posts on one side and four on
the other will just suit sixteen-feet
boards, two and a half length on one
side and two lengths on the other, with
a space eight feet square for a washing-
tank and room to prepare for market.
Beginning next to the wall, we nail a
board one foot wide to the posts, so
that the tops of the celery are even
with the top of the board, leaving a
space from four to six inches between
the bottom of the board and the ground,
through which one hand can be thrust
to pack the I'oots, while the other holds
the tops of the celery above. We have
some loose rich soil to throw over tlie
roots, but not on the stalks. After
the trench or box is full from end to

end, with a hose throwing a small
sti'eam we wet and settle the soil around
the roots, which form new rootlets in a
few days. We never handle when wet
or damp from any cause, neither allow
the stalks to be wet when wetting the
soil around the roots.

After the house has been filled about
five days, care mvist be taken to give
proper ventilation at the top, as there
will be a violent heat created by the
mass of celery so packed, and unless
that heat is allowed vent rot will follow.
After this heat subsides there will be
no further trouble or danger, though it
is best to ventilate freely in warm
weather, but always from the top. —
T. F. Baker.

SOIL FOR ROSES.
The ground for roses should be tho-
roughly drained and rendered as jdoi'Ous
as possible, and fertilized. In clay soils
the vise of sand, lime, soot, burnt earth
and loose, light vegetable matter, such
as leaf mould, will alter the texture and
improve the quality. At the time of
planting, strong fertilizers are not re-
quired, and should not be given until
the bushes have become established ;
they then like rich soil, which should
be made light for the delicate rooting
kinds, and more tenacious for the robust
and hardy, and it would be reasonable
that the classes and varieties differing
in their nature should have more than
one soil, if all ax'e to receive that which
is the most suitable. A renewal of the
surface soil with old pasture loam every
two or thi'ee years will supply import-
ant elements unattainable by any other
method. We should avoid the applica-
tion of more fertilizers in a soluble state
than the plants can consume. It is well
that the earth should be filled with
stimulants in difi'erent stages of de-
composition, that the plant may in all
conditions of growth have plenty of
food. When the plant is gi'owing and

25 ()

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

especially wlien flowering, weak liquid
manures may be applied. Bone and
potash act favorably early in the spring.
A frequent sprinkling of water adds
health to the foliage and prevents in-
jury by insects. The earth should be
wet only when dry, and then tliorougli-
ly. — J. H. Bourn, before the Massa-
chusetts Horticultural Society.

EPIPHYLLUMS.

The two species of Crab's Claw Cac-
tus, Epiphi/lluni Russellianuvi and E.
truncatuni, the hybrids of which orna-
ment our greenhouses during winter
with their exquisitely colored and
strangely shaped flowers, are natives
of Brazil, where they are found growing
upon the trunks and bi'anches of trees.
They are of the easiest culture, bloom-
ing abundantly even when small, and
adapted as well for the Avindow-garden
as the greenhouse. Grafted on the
Pereskia stock, with stems from eight
to twelve inches high, they make beauti-
ful objects ; but much more lovely are
they when grown on their own roots
and in a basket. They do not want
anything else in the basket with them,
but show their beauty best when
planted alone, the long fringy flowers
being just the kind most suitable for
adorning the flat, leaf-like branches,
and which are set ofi" to best advantage
when drooping over the edges of the
basket.

The soil most suitable for them is
good, turfy loam, having abouc one-
fourth of thoroughly decayed manure
or leaf-mold, well mixed, and sufiicient
sand to give porosity to the whole, as
it is imperative to allow the water to
pass ofi" freely, anything approaching
soui-ness of the soil from too much
water being deti'iraental to the plant's
growth. When the plants get large
enough to be put in tive-inch pots and
over, they should have plenty of drain-
age.

Cuttings should be taken off" just
before the plants begin to grow, and
inserted in the cutting-bench, where
they can get a good, shai-p, bottom
heat ; when I'ooted, put into small pots
and place near the light. As they
increase in size, put into larger pots,
and keep growing by giving plenty of
water, pinching the points out of any
shoots which may be taking the lead.
About the month of June set out of
doors in a sunny position, and when
their growth is completed, withhold
water gradually, but not sufiicient to
cause them to wilt. If wanted to
flower in succession, and a good many
plants are on hand when housed in the
fall, keep part of them in a cool house,
and bring into heat as required ; but
do not water much those kept in a cool
house, as they ai-e apt to loose their
roots from rot, especially if growing on
their own roots. Grown on the Per-
eskia, they are more hardy, and capable
of enduring greater haixlships than, on
their own roots. They can be grafted
on some of the Cereus family, but the
Pereskia is the best stock for their
successful culture. The number of
flowers a single plant sometimes pro-
duces, when well treated, is astonishing.
I counted, to-day, the flowers on a
plant growing in a eix-inch pot, and
the number was seventy-six. The
flowers are very useful in the an-anging
of bouquets and baskets, lasting a good
while in perfection after being cut.

The following are some of the best
and most distinct kinds in cultivation :
■ E. Eussellianum. — This species flow-
ers later in the season than truncatum,
and has flowers of somewhat difi'erent
shape. There are some varieties of
this species distinct and superior, the
most conspicuous being ruhrum, having
large, bright red flowers.

E. truncatum has large, rose-colored
flowers, and blooms earlier in the sea-
son than the preceding species. Seed-

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTUKIST.

25'

lings from this, and also hybrids
between this and Eussellianum, are
numex-ous, some of them of the most
delicate colors. Among them are bi-
color, white edged with rose, fine ;
Ruckerlanum, dark red, violet center ;
and violaceum, pure white, purple edges.
This class of plants deserves better
treatment than is genei-ally given to it ;
although, for all the neglect and inat-
tention the plants receive during sum-
mer, they will often bloom during
winter. They repay good treatment as
well as any plants, and it is during the
period when they are least attractive
that they prepare for flowering, and
should have the most attention. —
American Garden

THE BENEFITS OF FRUIT.
Among the most admirable of the
characteristics of an advancing civi-
lization seems to be a tendency to de-
mand fruit in ever-increasing quantities.
This is shewn by the speed with which
the enormous supplies now poured into
the market are disposed of. In the
U nited States ingenious physicians have
adopted a plan of curing inebriety,
which depends largely upon the adop-
tion of a fruit diet. The " grape-cure "
has, of course, long been known in Eu-
rope as a pleasant and efficacious way
of treating certain ailments ; and the
salts and other chemical ingredients
contained in fruit are found to act as a
substitute for alchoholic liquor, and
also, it is said, as a remedy for the
drink-craving. However that may be,
it is an undoubted fixct that an increas-
ing number of individuals, not being
drunkards, do in this country, as every
summer comes round, adopt of their
own free choice the fi-uitcure for thirst.
In every age and in every country the
natural love for fruits which has been
implantei] in the human breast has been
strikingly exemplified in the imageiy of
the celestial regions. As a refresher

and a blood-purifier fruit stands un-
rivalled, and the only precaution which
need be inculcated is to beware of that
which is unsound. Barring misadven-
ture, howevei', a fruit harvest is gener-
ally sui'e to be a profitable speculation ;
andj as it enriches the growers so, or in
even greater measure, it is certain to
benefit the consumers. — London Tele-
graph.

PRUNING THE CURRANT.

The late much lamented Charles Dow-
ning advocated cutting out the superflu-
ous buds when the slip is first set, and
starting from the ground with a single
stock, which is allowed to branch out a
foot from the earth, and grow to the
height of three or four feet. Currants
trained in this style of dwarf trees are
not only ornamental, but bear fine fruit
and have the advantage of being easily
kept free from grass and weeds, and are
convenient to prune after several years
of growth, by cutting out a portion
yeai'ly of the oldest branches and allow-
ing new shoots to take their place.

On the other hand many of the most
successful cultivators prefer the bush
form ; but to have success for a term of
years, the ground mvist be stirred often
so that the bushes may be kept free from
all other growth.

After ti-ying botlj methods of training
I prefer the bush form for the following
reasons : — the currant is a great bearer
of fx'uit and this tendency to overbear,
after several crops, so exhausts the older
branches, that a portion of them — de-
pending upon how much enfeebled they
are — need to be removed yearly, and
only the most vigorous new shoots al-
lowed to take their place, the weak ones
being cut back to the roots, that the top
may not become too thick. By this
mode, as there is no main trunk to be
kept, the whole bush is renewed in few
years, three or tour at most, which is

258

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTCEIST.

more easily done than in the tree form.
A second reason why I prefer the bush
form is that tlie currant like all other
good fruits, has its insect enemies, which
if not promptly destroyed, themselves
will destroy its vigor. Nothing can be
more weakening to any plant than to
have its foliage suddenly stripped off,
as so often happens to the currant when
the worm is neglected. I find a perfect
remedy for this in mulching heavily
with coal ashes, after loosening the earth
in the fall, or as soon as frost is out in
the spring. Another — but most insidi-
ous because concealed — enemy of the
currant, is the borer, which perforates
the stem its entire length, and soon des-
troys its vigor. The only remedy I
know for this is to cut away the
branch below where it is punctured, and
burn all such to destroy the borer with-
in.

Having wandered so far from the sub-
ject of pruning currrants, in giving my
own ex])erience in raising them, I
repeat that whichever form is adopted,
the tree or bush, a portion of the old
growth must be cut away yearly to give
place to new and thrifty shoots. — S. C.
Harlow, in Home Farm.

APPLES FOR NORTHERN NEW ENG-.
LAND, AND GOOD FOR NORT-
HERN ONTARIO.

Here is a list for northern New Eng-
gland, which does not include a single
variety now grown in southei-n New
England and New York, yet every one
of them is the equal, in its season and
use of the best fruits of like season and
use in that section.

Summer — Yellow Transparent, Grand
Sultan, Chai'lottenthaler, Tetofsky.

Autumn — Switzer, Peach of Mont-
treal, St. Peter's Prolific Sweeting,
Duchess of Oldenburg, Golden White.

Winter — Wealthy, Scott's Winter,
Newport Winter Sweet, Mcintosh Red,
Giant Swan (of Minnesota).

In addition, we have on trial the fol-
lowing most promising Winter Russians
from the importations of the Iowa Ag-
i-icultural College : — Longfield, Anton-
ovka, Anis, Titovka, Arabskoe and
Bogdanoff. These Russian and " iron-
clad " Apples have tlieir place, and a
big one, in these United States. — Dr.
T. H. HosKiNS, i7i American Garden.

THE BLACK WALNUT.

One of the most valuable ti*ees of the
North American forests is the Black
Walnut (Juglans nigra). It is a hardy
tree, with pinnates leaves and deeply
fuiTOwed bark. The flowers are monoe-
cious, that is, the staminate and pistil-
late grow on the same tree. The male
or staminate flowers are produced in
rather short catkins, while the fertile
or pistillate are in terminal pairs. The
species is widely disti-ibuted, its native
habitat extending from western Massa-
chusetts to eastern Nebraska and Kan-
sas, and from Ontario, Canada, to north-
ern Florida and Texas. But the greatest
aboriginal growth, both in numbers and
magnitude, was found in the forests
which covei-ed the river bottoms and
hillsides in the region lying between
the great lakes and the Ohio River.
Some specimens found there wei'e truly
forest giants. On the shore of Lake
Erie, near the mouth of Walnut Creek,
in Western New York, a Black Walnut
tree was cut, some 50 years ago, which
attained much celebrity as the " big
tree." The hollow lower section of 15
feet, after being exhibited in this coun-
try, was carried to England, and there
converted into a gin-shop. No authentic
data of its actual dimensions are at
hand, but tradition gives its diameter
as between 12 and 15 feet. Near where
that grew, a freshet, a few years since,
revealed a buried Black Walnut trunk
which was afterwards unearthed. The
" butt cut " was nearly eight feet in

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

25!

diameter, and was split into quarters
with wedges to bring it within reach
of a mill-saw. Of course these were
exceptional growths, and show the ulti-
mate magnitude attained by the species
under favoring conditions ; yet the aver-
age growth is from three to six feet in
diameter, and the liight from 60 to 90
feet.

As a T'imber Tree, it is the most val-
uable of our native species. The wood
is a rich, dark brown, deepening with
age, fine-gi'ained, and susceptible of a
high polish. For cabinet work, gun-
stalks, counter-tops, stair-rails, and fine
inside finish for buildings, it is unri-
valed by any other native wood. In
the Chicago market, good Black Wal-
nut lumber is quoted at $50 to $150
per 1,000 feet, board measure, in car-
load lots. Crotches, burls and other
parts with feathered or wavy grain,
sell at very much higher prices for ve-
neers. In the early days, while the
country was still covered with "' the
forest primeval," the settlers were ac-
customed to work up this timber into
fence posts and rails. That which was
not straight in the grain was burned,
to clear the ground. Many farms in
Ohio and Indiana were laboriously
cleared of Walnut timber which would
now be worth thousands of dollars
more than the value of the land from
which it was cut.

For Cultivation on the prairies and
eastern borders of the plains, the Black
Walnut is deservedly popular. At the
17th Annual Meeting of the Kansas
State Horticultural Society this tree
was placed at the head of a list of 15
species which had proved succesful in
that state. The Black Walnut, when
young, is successfully [)lanted from
nursery rows, but having a long tap-
root, it is better, perhaps, to plant the
nuts where the tree is to remain. They
are gathered only in the fall, and de-
posited in beds, two or three deep, wei-e

they are lightly covered with earth o
sand. Keep the bed moist through th(
winter, and subjected to the action o
the frost. When fairly sprouted in th{
spring, the nuts are cai-efully taken uj
and planted where the tree is to stand
It is recommended to plant in alternate
rows with Cottonwood, Box Elder, oi
some rapid growing evergreen, to shel
ter the young trees from high winds
and hot sunshine. The sheltering trees
may be removed before they interfere
with the growth of the Black Walnuts
The latter begin to produce nuts when
eight or ten years old. The nuts, when
fresh, are large and roundish, some-
what resembling a green orange. The
kernel is less palatable than that oi
any of the allied species, somewhat
rank in flavor, yet is relished by many.
The largest market for them at present
is for planting; they bring little for
eating purposes. — Prairie Farmer.

WHITNEY'S NO. 20.
During a late visit to Mr. A. R.
Whitney's orchard we found something
over 1,000 trees of this famous variety
in bearing, every one of which seemed
to have passed the last severe winter
unscathed, while nearly all other varie-
ties suffered, as our apples generally did
throughout the Northwest. Their hardi-
ness is established beyond cavil. The
parent tree has fruited abundantly every
season since 1854, but this year its
crop is light. Yet the tree seems per-
fectly vigorous, and good for many
more paying crops. Mr. Whitney's
history of the origin of No. 20 is as
follows : In the autumn of 1849, he
washed the seeds from a lot of pomace
from the common Siberian ci-ab apple.
These were planted in the spring of
1850. The following winter he grafted
500 Willow Twigs on these Siberian
seedlings. In September, 1854, one of
the seedling roots, in nursery plot No.
20, on which the graft had perished, a^

260

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

did many others that season, was found
bearing. This one tree was left stand-
ing and the others cleared away. In
the autumn of 1859 or 1860, samples
of the fruit were shown in the Prairie
Farmer office and public attention call-
ed to No. 20, which name had been
given it from the plot on which it grew.
The fruit of No. 20 bears little or no
evidence of ci'ab origin. It is of very
pleasant flavor, excellent for table use,
or for preserving and canning. For
both quality and abundance of fruit
and hardiness, No. 20 is a most valuable
acquisition to the orchai'd. — Prairie
Farmer.

APPLE TREES FOR THE NORTH-
WEST.

For the special benefit of such as
have had little or no experience as to
the best varieties of apple ti'ees to grow
here in the Northwest, we name the
few varieties which have passed nearly
unharmed the most trying ordeal ever
known to the old settlers of this local-
ity. We name these four kinds as the
best, all things considered. Each of
these kinds is now growing and bear-
ing fine crops of choice fruit, which is
the best possible test known to orchard-
ists. Let experts and experimenters
set and care for as many more of the
old or new kinds as they have patience,
time and money to spare. But let the
man who lives by his hai'd labor set
only these kinds, and if you ai-e advised
and beseiged by the many smooth
tongued tree agents to add or extend
the list, don't you do it. If you do so
remember that you do it at a fearful
risk of disappointment and fiiilure. We
know of no law that compels any man
to please a tree tramp.

We name the Duchess first as being
the most reliable of all for hardiness.
The Wealthy has been occasionally in-
jured in close protected sites. But all
points considered, it has no peer either

in America or Europe where hardiness
is a necessity. Whitney's No. 20 and
Briar's Sweet are commonly called
hybrids. They ai-e the two be.st can-
ning apples known. No. 20 is the
best cooking apple ; the Duchess next.
All but the Duchess are fine apples to
eat out of hand. They all bear j'oung,
abundantly and annually. The Duchess
is an early summer apple. The Whitney
and Briar's Sweet ai"e early Fall. The
Wealthy early Winter. We have no
tried Winter apple to recommend. The
hopeful Walbridge is a failure. This
has been our last hope but it has per-
ished, and let it go. " It's a poor
apple anyway." — Edson Gaylord, in
Westeryi Rural.

MUSHROOMS— OPEN AIR CULTURE.

In England, mushrooms are grown
in large quantities by beds made in the
open air, and are regarded as the most
profitable crop raised by the market
orardener. The climate in Enjirland
allows mushrooms to be grown all the
year round, but the heat of our sum-
mer months, and the severity of our
winters, essentially curtail the time
during which mushrooms can be cul-
tivated out of doors. There is no
doubt that with us, beds would be pi'o-
ductive during the months in which
wild mushrooms are abundant, and
probably they could be grown in the
spring months also. To make the bed,
manure from horse stables is needed.
The long litter is forked out and laid
aside to cover the bed later, and the
remainder, consisting of equal parts,
more or less, of solid droppings and
short litter, such as one would use for
a hot-bed, is made into a heap. The
heap has from four to six turnings on
alternate days, to bring all into an even
state of fermentation. The beds are
made two and a half feet wide at base,
six inches wide at top, two and a half

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

261

feet high, and of any convenient length.
When the ridge is three feet high, beat
and tread it down to two feeb ; then
add the remaining six inches, beating
it firmly with the fork. After it is
built, and its temperature an inch be-
low the surface is eighty degrees, the
bed is to be spawned. Spawn is sold
at the principal seed stores, in the form
of large and thin bricks. Each of these
bricks is broken into about eight pieces ;
these pieces are thrust into the bed
some nine inches apart. The spawn, if
good, will commence to " run " in about
three days, when the bed is to be covei*-
ed with soil, or " cased," from an inch
to two inches thick, according to the
stiffness of the soil. The mushrooms
break up through the covering of soil
from below. To retain its heat, the
bed must be covered, using the coarse
litter separated from the manure for the
purpose, and other straw, if needed ;
the covering varying in thickness from
six inches to two feet, according to the
temperature. — American Agriculturist.

LILY CULTURE.

The increasing culture of this class
of plants within tlie last decade is
astonishing ; and along with the in-
creasing culture has been the introduc-
tion of some e.Kcellent new species and
varieties. A bed of lilies in a con-
spicuous place in the gai'den has an
effect peculiar to itself, especially if it
contains a goodly number of the large
flowering kinds. Mixed at regular in-
tervals along the herbaceous border
with other hardy plants, they also look
pretty ; in fact, in any place where the
ground is suitable they are pretty.

For soil, any kind in Avhich flowers
of all kinds flourish, if well drained, is
suitable for their culture. Have it
deeply dug, having thoroughly incor-
porated through it a good apjjlication
of well rotted barnyard manure. See
that it is well decomposed, for if not,

fresh manure coming in contact with
the bulbs is very apt to make them
decay. Often people in their anxiety
to fertilize the ground well, for the re-
ception of some newly received lily
bulb, dig into the ground a large amount
of fresh manure, and plant their bulbs
in it ; then wonder why they never
start into growth. The reason is obvi-
ous. The fresh unfermented manure
desti'oyed the bulbs before they got a
chance to start. Better, if manure
cannot be got that is not well decayed,
plant in the soil as it is, and apply a
good coating of the fresh manure on
the surface of the soil after the planting
is done. Any bed shaded considerably,
but not over-hung with branches, is a
good place to plant lilies ; they succeed
better in just such a position than most
anything else, and will remain for years
and flower freely every season without
lifting to replant.

Lilium candidum, and allied kinds,
are best planted in August, or not later
than September, for this reason, that
in order to secure good flowering shoots
the following season, a good growth
has to be made in the fall, which will
not be done unless planted thus early.

L. auratum, speciosum, and such
kinds, do best planted during October
and November, and should be planted
five or six inches deep.

When replanting a lily bed, select
the largest bulbs and plant them by
themselves, separate from the small
ones, which can be set thickly together
in some place where they can be left to
make a growth and form flowering
bulbs.

Some beautiful species and varieties
of lilies are natives of the United States,
the best of which are : L. j^fhiladeljjhi-
cum, L. superhwm, L. canadense, L.
pardalinum, L. jfO'Tryii, L. californi-
cum, and the beautiful L. Washing-
tonianum. Among exotic species, but
well adapted for out-door culture, select

262

THE CANADIAN HOETICULTURIST.

L. auratum, L. tigrimim and varieties.
L. thiinbei-gianum, L. candidum, L.
kramerii, L, chcdcedonicum, L. tenui-
folium, and the many varieties of L.
sjKciosum.

During winter the bed should have
a good mulching of manure or leaves,
the rough pai-t of which should only be
removed in the spring, the rest being-
left to serve as a mulch during sum-
mer.— M. Milton, in Country Gentle-
man.

THE SHAFFER RASPBERRY.

This raspberry was a chance seedling
\\hich sprang \ip in a garden twelve
miles from Rochester, N.Y., among red
and black raspberries. It has been
thought by many that it was a hybrid,
but no one has claimed this for a cer-
tainty.

The fruit will remain on the bushes
a long time after they appear to be ripe,
and will continue to improve in quality,
until they drop off on the ground.
Those who have not eaten Shaffei\s with
cream, after reaching the last stages of
ripening, have never tasted Shaffers in
their best state. In this condition,
however, their color has become very
dark, and they are exceedingly soft.
Therefore, for market purposes, they are
picked while the color is bright and
before they are entirely ripe. It thrives
on sand or clay eqvially well, and it is
not absolutely necessary to have rich
soil. It bears enormous crops here on
thin land. I do not understand why
the Shaffer should prove as hardy as it
does in the severe sections of the West.
When it was first inti-oduced,my fi-iends
in Northern Iowa asked if I could re-
commend it for that locality, and I told
them I could not. I did not think
that it would be hardy enough. But
to my surprise it succeeds there, and
gives the best satisfaction. Correspon-
dents have written recently that it has

passed through the Winter safely wit
the thermometer 40 degrees below zen
This raspberry is attracting the ai
tention of canning houses. The pr(
prietor of one of our largest at Roches
ter, says he thinks it is one of the ver
best for that purpose. Canning house
desire a fruit possessing marked charac
ter. A sweet, mild, berry would b
about worthless for canning. One suii
able for that purpose should have
pronounced raspberry flavor, and posses
great acidity. The popularity of th
Wilson Strawberry as a canning frui
is largely owing to the acid it contains
Nothing but a sour berry will d(
Sweet berries that are much better fo
table use fresh, are not valued by car
ning houses. The Shaffer Raspberr
has a faculty of long endurance. Th
parent plant remained in full bearin
for fifteen years, and I presume is i
good condition yet. Its roots are fa:
reaching, and remarkably vigorou
The defect of color in the Shaffer cam
vei-y near consigning it to oblivioi
On account of its purplish color,
hesitated long before introducinsf i
It is an evidence of its valuable charai
teristics, that it has become popular i
spite of its uninviting color. — Charle
A. Green, in Rural New Yorker.

ANOTHER LARGEST AND BEST
STRAWBERRY.

Mr. R. Johnston is introducing
strawberry which he has named Ontari(
in honor of our magnificent Provinc
we presume, which he describes in
recent number of Fruit Notes to be th
strongest plant of any variety he ha
ever grown, free from burning in th
sun, and from all disease whatever an
producing the largest berries he ha
ever gathered in his long expei'ience c
five and twenty years. In form he say
they somewhat resemble Cumberlan
Triumph, but are much bi-ighter i:
color, that visitors pronounce it the bes

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

263

flavoured berry they have ever seen,
sweet but sprightly, fairly productive
on light soil, doing better on better
land, perfect in blossom, and he is con-
fi-dent that because of its firmness, large
size, bright appearance and quality, it
will be a very popular market berry.
The season of ripening is about the
same as that of Manchester. Wonder
if Mr. Johnston has fruited Jewell,
which was the largest berry out and the
strongest plant a short time ago.

BEGONIA RUBRA.
The foliage was attractive enough in
itself to make the plant very satisfactory
and well worth growing, but it was mag-
nificent when the clusters of flowers
were developed. The bright coral-red
blooms, borne on stalks of the same
color, formed a most delightful and
striking contrast with the foliage. The
plant received more admiration from
visitors than any other one in my con-
servatory that winter. It kept growing
and blooming, and from that time to
this it has never been without flowers
on every branch. For a year and a
half it has been in constant bloom, and
has never shown any tendency or desire
to rest. Several times over forty clus-
tei'S of flowers were counted on it at
one time, and each cluster was made up
of dozens of individual flowers. The
flower-stems are produced at the axil of
each leaf. They are long, drooping and
much branched, and each little branch
or sub-division of the stem bearing sev-
eral flowers. The general effect of the
flower clusters is nnich like that pro-
duced by Euphorbia Jacquiniflora,
though on a much larger scale. It is
seldom that we get a plant in which the
attractiveness of flower and foliage is so
evenly balanced as in this instance. —
Vick's Magazine.

THE HELIOTROPE.

One day the botanist, Jussieu, was
herborizing on the Cordilleries, when he
suddenly found himself inebriated by
the most delicious perfume. He looked
around expecting to discover some
splendid flower, but perceived nothing
but some pretty clumps of a gentle
green, from the bottom of which little
capsvdes of a faded blue color were de-
taching themselves. He observed that
the flowers turned toward the svm, and
he therefore gave it the name of Helio-
trope. Charmed with his acquisition,
he collected some of the seeds, and sent
them to the Jardin du Roi. The
French ladies were charmed with it,
and made of it a floral pet. They
placed it in costly vases and christened
it the flower of love. From thence it
soon spread to other parts of the world,
and has eveiywhere been greatly ad-
mired. One day, a very charming
woman, who doted passionately on
the Heliotrope, was asked what she
could see in this dull and sombre looking
plant to justify so much admiration.

"Because," she i-eplied, "the Helio-
trope's perfume is to my parterre what
the soul is to beauty, refinement to love,
and love to youth." — Mrs. M. D.
Wellcome, in Vick's Magazine.

Professor. Budd, of Iowa writes to the
Prairie Farmer of the Bogdanolf apple,
speaking of it in very high terms for its
hardiness, color, size, keeping, and dessert
qualities. During the last cold winter it
bore the severity of climate exceedingly
well, coming out with its wood bright and
uncolored, while the Wealthy was discol-
ored. He describes the Bogdanolf as sim-
iliar in appearance to the Domine, but
larger and higher colored, and keeps well
imtil May. We make it our duty to learn
all we can of fruit that promises well in
each section, and describe them from those
who test them. When we speak of hardy
varieties, they are recouuneuded especi-
ally for severely cold climates, and not for
general cultivation. — Farm atid Garden.

264

THE CANADIAN H0BTICULTUKI8T.

■ AUTUMN LEAVES.

(For the Canadian Horticulturist. J

And hast thou tlius been cast away.

Poor sear and yellow leaves ;
Sliort has been thy happy day.

Ah ! how my lone heart grieves.

I've watched thee dancing in the sun,

"Trees have tongues "; I've heard thee say,

" In oblivion's gulf we'll soon be flung.
Let us be merry while we may."

Poor cashiered leaves, you've done your duty,
And played your little part so well ;

Living your S]>an, m I'aultlcss beauty
Within this flowery dell.

Oft when o)iprcsscd by anxious care,

Thy sweet Elysian shade
Of fluttering leaves, and balmy air,

A sanctuary made'.

Sweet autumn leaves, I too, like thee,

Have had my joyful day ;
But it is nature's firm decree

That we should fade, fall, and decay.

But, blessed is the hope to me.

All who till- " Truth " receives.
The glorious " Tree of Life " shall see.

And kiss the " healing leaves."
Montreal. Grandma Gowax.

The Eumelan Gkape. — From my ex-
perience I would give up a good many
fancy grapes before I would spare the Eu-
melan. It has one fault — it is shy of
starting and I have not been successful
in raising new plants. But the fruit was
worth 20 cents a pound in Montreal when
Concords were selling for nine cents. It
is a good bearer with me, never drops its
berries. So, like doctors, grape growers
differ in opinion. — Annie L. Jack, in
Rural New- Yorker.

The Salome Apple seems to be growing
in favor in Illinois, being very hardy, pro-
ductive, and a long keeper. The apple is
of very good quality, size only medium,
color from a light to a dark red or nearly
so. Bears well annually, but more
heavily alternate years. Keeps well until
May or even June. The Western Rural
says in the issue of June 13th, that sam-
ples received at that office from Mr. A.
Bryant, were then as soiuid as bullets, and
gave evidence of being good keepers —
Farm and Garden.

The Jessica Grape.— -This new variety
of white Grape, sent out a few years since
by D. W. Beadle, of St. Catherines, Ont-
ario, we found ripe on the 22d of August,

at Vine Valley, on Canandaigua Lake, ten
days earlier than Champion, in the same
locality, was fit to gather. At that time
it was quite ripe, and liad been so, appar-
ently, for several days, as the birds had
discovered its condition, and eaten quite
a number of the berries. The fruit is of
medium size in bunch and berry, has a
pleasant, but not a high, flavor, somewhat
acid, without foxiness, and no hard pulp,
birt juicy. Altogether, it is a fair Grajie,
and the earliest we know. It is a strong
grower, with thick, healthy foliage. —
Vick^s Magazine.

About Callas. — Every one knows that
the Calla requires rich soil and frequent
watering, but very few amateurs give
enough heed to this so as to have the earth
sufficiently rich or the wvder supply
sufficiently abundant. Nothing but the
most severe perseverance in having the
earth as much as half manure will insure
success ; then the plants when growing
vigorously must not only be kept as wet
as possible, but tliey delight in warm, and
even moderately hot water. As ordinary
saucers are shallow, we have placed a pot
of Calla in a large earthern wash-basin,
which we keep filled with warm water.
It is also requisite to cut off each flower as
soon as it shows any signs of withering ;
the result will be that a new bud will very
soon make its appearance, often before the
old stem is wilted. — American Garden.

Newly Planted Trees — Importance
of Cidtivating. — The soil will dry very
rapidl}^ and to a great depth if allowed
to get hard and compact. There is but a
small si>ace left for air in solid soils, and
from this fact they become hot and dry to
a great depth in the summer. VVhile if
air is present, as it is in loose soils, being
such a poor conductor of heat, it will
allow only a small portion of soil to be-
come hot, which soon cools at night and
is filled with a copious dew, not only re-
taining the moisture already in the soil,
but adding to it at a season when moisture
is especially desirable. Newly-set trees
are always benefitted by cultivation, be-
cause all their roots are surface-roots, and
cannot thrive in a hot, dry, compact soil.
Hence the necessity of summer surface-
cultivation of newly-set trees. — Farm and
Garden.

PRINTED AT THK STKAM PRESS ESTABLISHMENT OF COPP, CLARK ft CO. (JOLBORNE STREET, TORONTO.

PAINTED FOR THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

INDUSTRY.

THE

liftiitl

VOL. VIII.]

DECEMBER 1885.

[No. 12.

THE i:ndustry gooseberry.

We have at present but a meagTe
supply of desii'able gooseberries adapt-
ed to onr climate. Tlie EnoHsli varie-
ties will succeed in but few localities^
and oi;r American species have not
yet been brought up to the standard in
size and quality. It is to be hoped
that some of our experimenters will be
so fortunate as to raise seedlings from
our native varieties which will not be
subject to mildew, whose fruit will
compare favorably in size and flavor
with the European sorts.

The Industry, of which our colored
plate is a good I'epresentation, is a
foreign variety which Messrs. Ell-
wanger & Barry have found to do well
on their grounds, it having fruited
with them for four seasons without
shewing any signs of mildew. In a
letter written in reply to our inquiry
as to its behaviour this season they say
that it has during the past season of
1885 fully sustained its character for
health, vigor, and productiveness, but
cannot say that it has not shown any
sign of mildew. The season was bad,
wet, with sudden changes of tempera-
ture, and a little mildew was observed
in some cases, but was scarcely notice-
able, and did no harm. Even the

American sorts were affected. Mr.
Thos. Beall. of Lindsay, says that the
Industry Gooseberry was very seri-
ously affected witli mildew this sea-
son on his grounds. We have had
it for only one season and find it
to be a very vigorous grower. In
the summer of 1884 we saw it in
the grounds of these gentlemen, and
were very favorably impressed with
the quality and size of the fruit. They
have also fovmd it to be immensely
productive. Should this variety prove
on general cultivation to be able to
maintain its vigorous and healthy char-
actei', we shall have much reason to
thank these gentlemen for bringing it
to the notice of fruit growers.

During the past summer our small
sized American gooseberries brought
very satisfactory prices, yet the few
Whitesmiths that found their way to
market brought nearly twice as much,
on account of their superior size. Could
we have varieties as large as the In-
dustiy and as productive as our native
sorts, which can be depended upon
from year to year, the grower would
find their cultivation exceedingly re-
munerative. We are moving even now
in this direction.

266

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

THE END OF THE YEAR.

To OUR SUBSCKIBERS :

It seems but yesterday that we placed
in your hands the number for January,
now we lay Ijefore you that for Decem-
ber. These pages have been filled
throughout the year with useful infor-
mation, such as will keep you abreast
of the times on horticultural subjects,
and be of service to you in this part of I
the world in which we live. There \
have been no serial stories, no humorous ■
anecdotes, no column of witticisms.
It is our intention to maintain this
character for the Canadian Horticultu-
rist. Does this meet with your approba-
tion 1 If it does, will you kindly ex-
press your approval by promptly renew-
ing your subscription so that it will
reach this office by the fifteenth of De-
cember. The publishing committee has
decided for reasons of economy to print
only sufficient copies to supply subscii-
bers whose names have been received at
the time of going to press. This will
make it impossible to supply back num-
bers. Subscriptions will run for one year
from the date on which they are received.
Therefore if you desire to secure all the
numbers of the Ninth Volume it will be
necessary that your subscriptions reach
us by the day mentioned.

When you remit the subscription will
you please mention which of the pre-
miums you desire should be sent to you
in the spring. If this is not done then
there is danger that you will forget to
do it afterwards, and be disappointed
at not receiving the article you want,
and by that time think vou have asked
for.

Another favor. If you think our
Canadian Horticulturist worthy of
being sustained, and its publication
continued, please to show it to your
friends, and use your influence to in-
crease its circulation.

Pardon us. One more I'equest.
Please communicate the results of vour

own experience, whether successful or
unsuccessful. Your experience will be
helpful to some fellow toiler; and your
giving of it to others an act of kindness
so akin to mei'cy that it will be twice
blessed.

" It blesseth hira that gives, and him that takes."

SUBSCRIBERS' PREMIUMS.
The object which the Fruit Growers'
Association of Ontario has in view in
offering these plants and seeds to the
subscribers to the Canadian Horticul-
turist is two-fold : the first that these
may be planted and tested in our
Province ; the second that the person
testing will report his experience, fa-
vorable or unfavorable, as the case may
be, through the medium of this Maga-
zine, so that intending planters may
have the benefit of that experience to
guide them in their selections. The
Directors regret that so few have taken
the trouble to make a report of their
experience. They consider that every
subscriber who accepts of one of these
premiums does so with the understand-
ing and implied promise on the part of
the recipient that a report will be made
to the Canadian Horticulturist of the
receiver's experience with the article
received.

Every subscriber will receive, in ad-
dition to the monthly issue of this
Magazine, the Fruit Growers' Associa-
tion Report for 1885, which is already
in the hands of the pi-inter, and which-
ever one of the following articles the
subscriber may designate to have sent
in the spring of 1886, namely : (I)
Three plants of the Ontario Strawberry;
or, (2) a yearling tree of the Russian
Yellow TransjKirent Ajjple ; or, (3) a
plant of the Lucretia Dewberry ; or, (4)
a yearling vine of the Early Victor
Grape ; or, (5) two j^lants of the Marl-
boro' Raspberry; or, (6) a package
containing a paper of seeds of Gypso-
2)hila jyaniculata, Aquilegia Ceridea,

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

267

and Delphinium, mixed colors. These
will all be sent by mail, post-paid.

SSEDLING APPLES FROM ELORA.

We have received from Mr. James
Middlemiss, of Elora, a sample of a seed-
linLf apple, the tree of which is some
fifteen yeai-s old and has been in bearing
a number of years. We are told that
the crop this year was quite heavy,
though there was a very good show of
fruit both last year and the year before.
The sample received was about the size
of a well grown Grimes Golden, of a
rich yellow color, and in good eating
condition. In quality it will rank as
" very good " by Downing's standard
of " good," " very good," " best." Mr.
Middlemiss states that he kept this
fruit last year until past the new year ;
and thinks that with care it would pro-
bably keep till the end of January.

BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS WITHOUT

COST.

Have you considered what a variety
of beautiful things are offered you for
the trouble of obtaining only five new
subscribers 1 If you want a sample
copy of the Canadian Horticulturist,
or of the Fruit Growers' Report, or of
both of them, you have only to address
a postal card to the Editor, St. Cath-
ai'ines, asking for them, and they will
be mailed to you at once. Is there any-
thing more beautiful than the various
collections of fiovvering plants oftered
you ? That Chionodoxa with its light
azure blue flowers with white centre is
just charming ; the lily has large
beautiful snow-white, trumpet-shaped
flowers ; Fritillaria bears lily-like flow-
ers, singularly checquered ; the Spanish
Iris are most richly colored ; and the
Narcissus flowers are snowy white with
a lovely red cup. But it is not need-
ful that we describe these beautiful
things, the most of them ai'e well known
to our readers as very desii'able orna-

ments in every flower garden, as charm-
ing adornments to every home. Can
you not spare a little time and show
our Alagazine to your friends and neigh-
bours and send us their subscriptions
for the coming year. They will surely
thank you before the year closes for
calling their attention to a monthly
that imparts so much information,
that is so veiy useful to every culti-
vator of the soil, even though it be but
one mere rood of land ; and you will
have helped us to make it yet more
attractive and useful, and by increasing
its circulation to scatter yet more widely
the seeds of improved Canadian horti-
culture.

CANADIAN HORTICULTU PvIST,
VOL. VIII.

And the Report of the Fruit Growers'
Association for 1881, will be sent to
any subscriber, postpaid, for sixty
cents, so long as there are copies on
hand to send. A few copies of Yol.
YII. and of the Report for 1883 yet
remain, which also will be sent on re-
ceipt of sixty cents. The whole will
be mailed to any address on receipt of
one dollar. This is an unparalleled op-
portunity to secure a large amount of
practical information worth many times
the cost. Indeed it will save to any
one interested in any way in horticul-
ture many an expensive experiment.

CROWS DEVOURING APPLES.

A correspondent residing in Nova
Scotia writes us that the crows are
very fond of the Gravenstein a])ple,
that being the only one out of a large
number of vaiieties which they con-
descend to eat, and that this fall he
lost over a barrel, the crows alighting
on the tree and pecking the apples un-
til they fell half eaten and ruined, but
they would not touch them on the
ground. He was finally compelled to
ffiither them to save what remained.

268

THE CANADIAN HORTICCLTDRI8T.

PREMIUMS FOR NEW SUBSCBIBERS.

For five new subscribers and five
dollars we will send pi-epaid any one of
the following collections of choice bulbs
or plants. This is an opiwrtunity to
secure a fine assortment of beautiful
flowers and valuable plants without
cost, other than the pleasure of doing
a favour to your friends by introducing
this monthly to their notice, and of
enlarging the circulation and extend-
ing the usefulness of the only horti-
cultural magazine published for the
benefit of Canadian lovers of fruits
and flowers : —

Collection No. 1, one Chionodoxa
lucilla^, one Lilium longiflorum, two
Frittillavia meleagris, two Spanish
Iris, and two Narcissus poeticus ; No.

2, five Tulips, two Chinese Peonias,
one Spotted Calla, one Tiger Lily ; No.

3, a collection of five difierent Lilies ;
No. 4, a collection of five different
sorts of Iris ; No. 5, two double and
two single Hyacinths, and three double
and three single Narcissus ; No. 6, five
Herbaceous Perennials — Fraxinella,
Dianthus, Japan Anemone, Japan
Spirea, and Clematis Erecta ; No. 7,
three hai-dy flowering shrubs — Hy-
drangea paniculata, Spii'ea Van
Houtte, and Purple Fringe ; No. 8, a
collection of twelve different sorts of
Flower Seeds ; No. 9, four hardy Roses ;
No. 10, four Tea Poses; No. 11, three
Polyantha or miniature Poses ; No.
12, four Climbing Roses ; No. 13, ten
plants, to be chosen by you from the
following list : Geraniums, single ; Ger-
aniums, double ; Fvichsias, single ;
Fuchsias, double ; Petunias, double,
blotched and fringed ; Abutilons, rose-
coloured ; Abutilons, white ; Abutil-
ons, straw-coloured ; Begonias, scarlet ;
Begonias, rose-coloured ; Begonias,
white-flowered ; Coleus, with most
beautifully variegated foliage ; Hy-
drangea Thomas Hogg and Hydrangea
Otaksa. These plants will be securely

packed and sent by mail. You are at
liberty to choose the ten from any one
or more of these diff"erent kinds of
plants. No. 14-, six beautiful clove-
scented carnations ; No. 15, six Double
Dahlias, different colours ; No. 16,
twelve Gladiolus bulbs ; No. 17, twelve
Tuberose bull)S and six Gladiolus ; No.
1?, a Jessica Grape-vine; No. lU, a
Niagara Grape-vine ; No. 20, an Am-
ber Queen Grape-vine.

For ten dollars and ten new sub-
scribers we will send, prepaid, any two
of the above collections you may desig-
nate ; or if pi-eferred, we will send you
one strong yearling tree of the Russian
Vladimir Cherry, grown from trees
imported by the Fruit Growers' Asso-
ciation direct from Russia.

If you prefer books, we will send you,
prepaid, on receipt of three dollars and
thi'ee new subsci'ibers, Every Woman
Her Own Flower Gardener, 148 pages,
bound in cloth.

For five dollai's and five new sub-
scribers. Window Gardening, 300 pages,
illustrated with 126 engravings.

For twelve dollars and twelve new
subscribers, Saundei's' Insects Injurious
to Fruits, 436 pages, 440 engravings,
bound in cloth.

For fifteen new subscribers and
fifteen dollars, the Floral Kinydora, a
magnificent art book, splendidly bound,
450 pages, 200 illustrartions.

THE RITSOX PEAR.

We have I'eceived from Messrs.
Stone k, Wellington a specimen of
this pear, which they inform us had
its origin at Oshawa, Ontario, and that
the original tree is now over sixty-five
years old and still bears large crops of
fine fruit. While other varieties have
been planted in the same field that after
a few years succumbed to the pear-
blight or perished from some othercause,
this tree has never been affected in any

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

269

way, either by the severity of the
weather or by disease of any kind.

The pear received by us measured
two and a half inches in length and six
inches in circumference at its largest
part. In shape it is obtuse pyriform,
light gi-een in color with splashes of rus-
set. The flesh is tender, juicy, sweet,
somewhat gritty about the core, quality
" good." It seems to be in season from
the middle to end of October. This
may prove to be a valuable pear for
some of our colder sections because of
the apparent hardiness and healthiness
of the tree.

ONTAUIO FRUITS FOR THE COLONIAL
EXHIBITION.

The President of the Ontario Fruit
Growers' Association, Wm. Saunders,
Esq., London, Ont., has undertaken to
superintend the prepai-ation of a collec-
tion of Ontario fruits, for the Indian
and Colonial Exhibition, to be held in
London, England, next summer. He
desires to receive contributions of choice
specimens of fruit from persons residing
in any part of Ontario, which will be
preserved in fluid in glass jars. He
now wishes to obtain all the varieties
that can be had of apples, pears, grapes
and nuts. Of large fruits three or four
specimens will be sufficient ; of medium
size, six specimens ; of small size, suffi-
cient to till a qviart jar. The samples
should be carefully named, and for-
warded in baskets, by express. The
express charges will be paid in London.

It is important for the credit of our
Province, and the advancement of its
fruit interests commercially, that this
collection should be of great excellence ;
therefore, Mr. Saunders hopes that all
who can will forward, and induce their
neighbors to forward, samples of any
fine fruit that may be had in their
neighborhood. All such contributions
will be duly acknowledged.

The following is a list of those who
had contributed up to the 3rd of Nov-
ember : —

A. M. Smith, St. Catharines, 8 varieties
of apples, 4 jjears, 1 of crabs, 1 peaches, 3
grapes, 2 quinces, some jjej^pers ; also egg
plants, and tomatoes.

S. Parnall, St. Catharines, 3 varieties
apples, 3 jjears, I crab apples, 1 grapes.

Beadle & Dunlop, St. Catharines, 3 v
eties apples, 3 grapes.

Albert Pay, St. Catharines, 8 varieties
pears, 1 peachfs.

T. R. Merritt, St. Catharines, 6 varieties
of pears.

W. Fletcher, St. Catharines, 6 varieties
of pears.

W. Haskins, Hamilton, 7 varieties of
grapes.

S. Burner, Hamilton, 20 varieties of
grapes .

H. Saltmarch, Hamilton, 8 varieties of
grapes.

John Mellon, Hamilton, 6 varieties of
grapes.

S. Woodley, Hamilton, 18 varieties pears.

D. Murray, Hamilton, 5 varieties apples,
5 pears ; also 11 jars of grapes, crab apples,
and peppers.

Thomas Harper, Hamilton, 5 varieties
pears.

John Gordon, Hamilton, 22 vai'ieties
h,pples, 3 pears.

J. W. Sinclair, Hamilton, 5 varieties
pears.

R. Postan, Oakville, Niagara grajies.

Chas. W. Culver, Simcoe, fine Alexander

B. Gott, Arkona, 2 varieties apples, 13
grapes.

P. E. Bucke, Ottawa, 9 varieties grapes.

W. Graham, Ottawa, 6 varieties grapes.

A. McD. Allan, Goderich, a very fine
collection, consisting of 31 varieties apples,
16 pears, and 4 plums.

Thos. Beall, Lindsay, 6 varieties apples,
11 bottles of gooseberries, 2 strawbei'ries,
1 currants, and an excellent sample of
Niagara grapes.

S. P. Stipes, Barton, 1 variety pear.

Wm. Rynor, Barton, 3 varieties apples,
5 pears.

John Lamont, Barton, 3 varieties apples.

S. Lovel, Barton, 6 varieties apples.

D. Vanduzer, Grimsby, 3 varieties apples,
8 pears, 3 peaches.

W. P. Coyne, London, 1 variety apple.

P. Mackenzie, London, 2 varieties apples.

An excellent collection of apples and
pears, forwarded by Mr. A. McD. Allan,

270

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

from the Ridgetown Exhibition, contributed
by the Howard Branch Agricultural Society,
consisting of 33 varieties.

George Nixon, Hyde Park, several varie-
ties each of apples, pears, and crabs.

Wm. Kotmire, St. Catharines, 6 varieties
apples, 2 pears.

Pi. D. Colgrove, London, 2 varieties apples.

D. Nicol, Cataraqui, 3 varieties apples.

J. B. Osborne, Beamsville, 4 varieties
pears, 3 apples, 1 grapes.

James Briody, London, 3 varieties apples.

P. C. Dempsey. Albury, a iine collection,
including 3(5 varieties apples, 4 pears, and
33 grapes.

Henry Woodruff, St. Da\'id's, Niagara
grapes.

Dr. Flock, London, yellow egg plums.

James Griifiths, Westminster, Wilson's
Earlv blackberries.

T.' H. Parker, Woodstock, Glass' Seedling
plums.

James Emmerson, Valencia, 10 varieties
apples.

George Davy, Valencia, 3 varieties apples.

Henry Paffard, Niagara, four very fine
samples of grapes, one being a very large
bunch of Black Hamburghs, grown in the
open air.

J. Grmond, Niagara, 3 varieties peaches,
3 apples, I pears, 1 grapes.

Gage J. Miller, Niagara, 7 varieties pears.

Edward Brammer, London Township, ,6
varieties apples.

F. Farncomb, Newcastle, 7 varieties apples,
8 pears.

James Dorman, Byron, 5 varieties apples.

John Plummer, London, a line sample of
walnuts.

Judge Hughes, St. Thomas, Jonathan
apples.

J. M. Denton, London, 3 varieties apples.

THE REYNAPvD APPLE.

Mr. Charles E. Brown, a life mem-
ber of the Fruit Growers' Association
of Ontario, says : " We have a seedling
in this county, the Reynard, season
Kovember to February, a very large,
symmetrical, round apple, greenish
yellow, with sometimes a faint blush,
that I should like to see tried in On-
tario, and would be glad to send scions
gratis to any one who will try it, with
the assurance that they will be pleased
■with the result ; also scions of a Corn-
"wallis seedling. Bishop Bourne, from

seed of Ribston Pippin, of which you
will see a notice in next report of the
American Pomological Society. My
idea concerning the Reynolds is that
the quality would improve in a warmer
region, and that it would be a valuable
market variety."

We will give Mr. Brown's address
to any one wishing to try one or both
of these varieties of apple in Ontario.

VERBATIM HORTICULTLTRAL
REPORTS.

In noticing the report of the Fiuit
Growers' Association of Ontario the
Rural New -Yorker spoke in terms of
commendation of the peculiar feature of
these reports that the words of the
speaker are taken down exactly as
spoken by a skilful shorthand writer.
One of its correspondents takes notice
of this fact in the following terms :■ —
The Rural is right, as usual, when it
says that a full report of the discussions
at horticultural meetings makes the
most valuable part of the record when
published. If verbatim i-eporting ever
pays, it pays there. Even a little
shade of expression from an expert,
fully given, will sometimes speak vol-
umes.

A DISHONEST TREE AGENT.
We notice that a dishonest tree
agent by the name of Archibald Drink-
water has met with his deserts. It
seems that he forged several orders for
trees by increasing the amount ordered
after the order was given, and that he
tried this game on at least two differ-
ent nursery fii'ms for whom he engaged
to sell trees. Fearing he might be
called to account he fled the country
and domicilled himself near Chicago,
not being aware that the extradition
ti-eaty covered his case. He was hunt-
ed up by a shrewd detective, brought
back and tried at the Fall Assizes in
Owen Sound, and sentenced to five

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

271

years in the penitentiary. This may
serve as a commentary on the okl
adage that " honesty is the best policy,"
and be a warning to others.

THE SMALL FRUIT GROWERS'
ASSOCIATION.

"We learn from Mr. S. Cornwell that
the annual meeting of the Small Frnit
Growers' Association of the Counties
of Oxford and Brant will be held in
the Town Hall, Norwich, on Tluirs-
day, January 14th, 1886, at 10 o'clock
a.m. sharp. All persons interested in
fruit growing are respectfully request-
ed to be present at the meeting and
take part in the discussion on fruit
growing.

MICHIGAN STATE HORTICULTURAL
SOCIETY.

The annual meeting of the Michigan
Horticultural Society will convene in
Conkey's Opera House, Benton Har-
bor, December 1, 2 and 3, 1885.
Delegates in attendance will be enter-
tained by members ot the local society.
The Convention will open on the after-
noon of Tuesday. December 1, at 2.30
o'clock, and close with an evening ses-
sion on Thursday. On the evenings of
the second and third days popular lec-
tures will be delivered. The hrst even-
ing and the day sessions will be de-
voted to the discussion of topics con-
nected with horticultui-al pursuits, the
following being an outline of the pro-
gramme : —

Tuesday — Market fruit growing.

Wednesday Tnorning — The vegetable
garden.

Wednesday afternoon — Ornamental
horticulture.

TJiursday morning — Amateur fruit
growing.

Thursday afternoon — Arboriculture
and forestry.

Kindred organizations are cordially
invited to send delegations. For rail-

way certificates and further informa-
tion, address the secretary, Chas. W.
Garfield, at Grand Rapids, Michigan.

THE INDIANA HORTICULTURAL
SOCIETY

Will hold its Annual Meeting at Pur-
due University, Lafayette, Ind., on the
1st, 2nd and 3rd of December, 1885.

The following are some of the sub-
jects to be considered : Pears, Plums,
and Cherries of North-east Europe,
Horticultural Entomology, The Pro-
tection of our Birds, Progress in Horti-
culture, When and How to Plant,
When and How to Prune, The Efiects
of Frost on Plants, Horticulture and
School Sanitation, The Ornamentation
of School Property, and Its Permanent
Influence upon the Pupils, Distribution
and Presei-vation of Species, Fruits for
Fai-mers' Families, What Experimental
Stations can do for Horticulture, What
Fruit Trees shall we Plant] All per-
sons attending the meeting will be
entertained free of cost at the Uni-
versitv.

FLOWERS IN THE SCHOOL GROUNDS.

Mr. Morgan, Inspector, has sent a
crate of flowers to Orillia Public
School.

Mr. Ellis, gardener, proposes to pre-
sent fifty packages of flower seeds to
the Public School, to give the pupils
instructions in ])lanting them, and
prizes to the most successful cultiva-
tors.— Orillia Packet.

PRICES OF APPLES IN ENGLAND.
We learn from Keeling & Hunt,
fruit brokers, Monument Buildings,
London, E. C , England, that on the
21st of October last the following
prices per bbl. were realized : Bald-
wins, from 12s. to 18s. ; a few choice,
21s. ; Greenings, from 13s. to 15s. ;

272

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

Jonathan, from 12s. Gd. to 17s. ; King,
from 13s. to 16s. ; Spitzenburg, from
12s. to 17s. Qd. ; Spy, from lis. to
16s. M. ; Vandevere, from 10s. to
lis. 6d.

QUESTION DRAWER.

NEW DISASTERS.

Dear Sir, — The present year's ex-
perience has introduced me to two
iresh and unexpected disasters — one
connected with plums, and the other
with grapes ; both, however, being some
insect or disease which causes the pre-
mature death and removal of the leaves.
With the (1) plums this commences
before the fruit is ripe, and the destruc-
tion was not so coniplete as altogether
to prevent its ripening. Although in
two or three cases very few leaves being
left, and the fruit at the time quite
green, I considered it advisable to re-
move it rather than endanger the life
of the trees. With (2) grapes, the
Delaware was the greatest sufferer,
while Brant, Rogers' 9 and 15, and
Clinton did not altogether escape. Of
the Delawares not a single bunch
ripened or a single bemy ever turned
colour out of a crop of between 100 and
200 pounds, and I may also say that
there was not a leaf on any of the
vines, old, young, or seedlings, long
befoi'e there was any frost to injure
them. I noticed a small, light-colored
insect under the leaves, and tried Paris
green without effect ; afterwards wings
grew on these insects, and they infested
the vines like a swarm of gnats. I
suspect them to be thrip, but don't
know. On the plums I saw no insect,
but noticed dark spots on the leaves,
and they became so brittle that at the
slightest touch they fell off the trees.
Although my vines and trees were
loaded with fruit, overbearing could
not have been the cause in either case,

for I had both vines and trees that had
never borne fruit affected in the same
way.

If you can point out a remedy for
these disasters you will confer a favor
on Tours truly,

A. Hood.
Barrie, 9th Xov., 1885.

Reply. — (1). Plum trees are very
apt to loose their leaves prematurely
under the following circumstances : —
(a) When growing in poor soil, (b)
when growing in wet or insufficiently
drained ground, ( c) in very dry weather
or protracted drouth, and (d) if the soil
be sandy. The remedies are to plant
in a rich, well drained clay soil, and to
keep it rich by liberal manuring, and a
yearly ai)plication of a liberal supply of
salt on the surface of the ground, from
two quarts to half a bushel, every
spring, according to the size of the tree.

(2). Your insect is probably the
grape-vine leaf-hopper, Erythi-oneura
vitis. They live over winter in the
winged state under the dead leaves or
such other rubbish as they may tind.
In the early summer they lay their eggs
on the young vine leaves. When the
larvse hatch out they resemble the pei'-
fect insect, except that they have no
wings. They feed on the young leaves
by puncturing them with their sharp
proboscis, through which they suck up
the juices. The injury appears on the
upper surface of the leaf in the form of
yellow or brownish spots, which in-
crease in size with the growth of the
insects, at length involving the whole
leaf, which looks as if scorched, and at
length drop from the vine. This work

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTUKIST.

273

is continued during the life of the
insect, which in its hist stages acquires
wings and flies from vine to vine. The
Delaware and other thin-leaved sorts
sufier more from these insects than the
leathery-leaved sorts. The remedy is
one of prevention, by gathering all the
vine leaves in autumn and burning
them, and raking the surface frequently
and cleaning up all rubbish where they
can hibernate. Syringing with tobacco-
water, whale oil soap, kerosene emul-
sion, etc., when the insects are first
hatched is recommended, but these ai*e
wholly inefficient when they have ac-
quired their wings.

CATALPA SPECIOSA.

My Catalpa has grown nicely, but it
has two shoots forming a fork. Would
you advise (1) cutting away one or let-
ting it grow as it is "? I planted it in
a tub with holes bored in the bottom
so that I can remove it to its proper
place in the spring, knock the staves
away, and plant it without injuring
the roots : is this (2) a good plan 1 I
have a Biguonia which has grown about
three feet since it was planted in the
spring : ought I (3) to lay it down and
cover it, or does it spring up afresh in
the spring, the old vine dying I I like
the appearance of the Catalpa ; its foli-
age is tine ; and if its bloom is as nice
as represented in the Canadian Horti-
culturist and Rural New-Yorker, it will
be a beautiful tree. At about what
(4) age does it begin to bloom \

R.* Kennedy.
Bethany.

Reply. — (1), Cut away one of the
shoots when you plant it out next
spring. (2), Yes, your plan is a good
one, especially with trees that are dif-

ficult to transplant, but we have found
the Catalpa speciosa, or Hardy Ca-
talpa, to bear transplanting remark-
ably well. (3), You would do well to
lay your Bignonia down this fall and
cover it lightly. It does not die down
in autumn and spring up afresh from
the root in the spring. (4), The Ca-
talpa speciosa often begins to bloom at
three and four years old.

FERN" FROXDS.
Among some ferns I have just re-
ceived from Muskoka I found one, a
frond of which I enclose to you, all the
petioles of which were covered with
what appears to be a parasite, but
whether vegetable or animal I cannot
judge. I shall be greatly obliged for
your opinion on the subject, and for
any information about it which you.
may be able to give. I have quite a
collection of native varieties gathered
from various parts of the Province, bu.t
I never saw anything of the nature of
a parasite on any specimens before, and
the resemblance of the present example
to violet or pansy seed is so remarkable
as to excite wonder as to its origin.

S. A. C.
Torouto, 23rd Sept., 1885.

Reply. — That we might have the
opinion of an authority in this matter
we sent the specimen to a student of
Cornell University at Ithaca, N. Y.,
with the request that he would submit
the specimen to the professor of botany.
This was done, and the pi-ofessor stated
that the fern was one of the Moon-
worts, but so very much dried up that
he could not identify the species, that
the bodies having the appearance of
pansy seeds wei-e not parasitic, but
sporangia.

274

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

It will be remembered that the
Moon worts belong to the suborder
Ojjhioglossacece, the sporangia of which
are spiked, and in Ophioglossum the
co)-iaceons sporangia are in two ranks
on the edges of a simple spike, which
in O. vulgatum is single and placed on
a stalk.

Will you please inform me through
the medium of the Canadian Horticxd-
tarist whether the bulbs of tuberoses
and tigridias should be taken up in the
fiill and presei'ved in a dry state over
winter, or can they be left in the
ground ?

John Ksowlson.

Lindsay, Out.

Reply. — Tigridia — The plants of
this family will not bear the least frost.
The bulbs should be taken up in the
fall, thoroughly dried, and kept in a
dry, frost-proof cellar, securely pi'o-
tected from mice. Plant again in
spring, when the ground has become
warm. Tuberose bulbs should also be
kept in a warm, dry place. If they
are kept in a temperature below 50° F.
the flower germ is apt to decay ; and,
although the bulb may appear sound
outwardly, and send forth an abun-
dance of leaves, it will not flower.

HEATING A VINERY.

I have a cold grapery 30 x 15 feet,
in which the grapes have not I'ipened
properly for the last two or three
yeai's. Will you oblige me by stating
in the Canadian Horticidturist the
best way of heating it 1

Toronto. W. W. R.

Reply. — The best method of heating
a vinery is by means of hot water in

four-inch pipes, with one foot in length
of i)ipe to every fourteen cubic feet of
space, running the pipes under the
walk within the house. At page 142
of the Canadian Fruit, Flower, and
Kitchen Gardener will be found a full
description of the simplest mode of
heating a vinery, with diagrams illus-
trating the method.

WHAT THE PEOPLE SAY.

NEW GRAPES.

p. E. BUCKE, OTTAWA.

The past season has fully demon-
strated the value of two candidates for
public favour in the grape line ; and
though they are not absolutely new,
yet their introduction is of such recent
date they have neither of them become
so universally disseminated as they de-
serve to be. I allude to the Brighton
and the Amber Queen.

The Brighton was raised by Jacob
Moore, of Brighton, New York, and is
a fine, strong grower. It gives an ex-
ceedingly handsome conical bunch, of
moderate compactness, neither too
loose nor apt to jam ; berries large, of
a deep red colour ; ripens with Creve-
ling or a little before Concord ; has a
fine, sprightly, aromatic flavour ; flesh
tender, with a very slight pulp. It is
not a good keeper, as it lose.^ somewhat
of its flavour when over-ripe. No col-
lection of grapes is complete without
the Brighton, and if only one vine is
planted it should be of this variety.

The Amber Queen, which I obtained
from Messrs. -Stone & Wellington, nur-
serymen, Toronto, some three years ago,
produced a good crop this season. The
plant is a vigorous one, and has not
been attacked with any disease. The
grapes are free from I'ot and mildew ;
the berries hauij well on the bunch : it
is the earliest red grape I have so far

THK CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

275

fruited ; it has a sweet, rich flavour ;
berry a little smaller than Brighton,
but much larger than Delaware ; it is
a good keeper. The leaves on the
young shoots of this variety have a
beautiful golden bronze apj)earance, and
are quite ornamental.

The Delaware is the most sought
after by the public of all the red
grapes ; but it is believed when the
Amber Queen and the Brighton come
to the front, as they are bound to do,
they will take the highest rank both
for market and table, their appearance
and flavour being of first quality.

GRAPE NOTES.

BY T. C. ROBINSON, OWES SOUND.

As the vineyai-d season comes and
goes, what sweet spots and streaks are
indented on the memory in judging the
merits of the multitudinous varieties
that so successfully claim our attention !
Some of the introductions of recent
years are certainly i-emarkable for their
excellence. Among these the one which
has attracted the most attention, pei'-
haps, is the

Niagara. — I find it well up to the
claims made for it. Season of ripening
about with Worden ; cluster large, and
quite compact without cracking ; bei'ry
as large as Concord, rather oval, of a
fine shade of greenish yellow ; and
quality very sweet and delicious, though
not as rich as some others ; while the
vine is a remarkably strong grower,
very productive, and the foliage is of
the healthy Labrusca type. Unfortu-
nately, my crop of all varieties was cut
short by a late spring frost ; but the
abundant blossoms showed what the
Niagara could do. In sjjite of the
strong foxy smell which it develops
when kept in the house for some weeks,
I would rather grow it for profit than
any other variety which I have tested.

Jessica. — I have not yet fruited this,
and shall watch the columns of the

Horticulturist with interest for the
reports of those who have it in bearing.
Some vines that I have have grown
well.

Moore's Early. — Perhaps this grape
will pay the best of all the black
varieties that can be grown for a dis-
tant market, provided it is given rich
soil. This condition touches its weak
point, viz : its lack of vigor in growth.
I would not like to call it a jwor
grower, yet it is notably behind Con-
cord and the Rogers' varieties in this
respect. Yet we cannot expect to have
the great advantages of extra earliness,
size, etc., without paying for them in
some way. And when the Moore puts
so large a measure of its sap into fine
clusters of very large, firm, handsome,
and well flavored fruit, that rijjens
along with Champion, we should not
grudge a little extra manure and elbow-
grease, to enable the vine to stand the
strain, and grow enough wood to do it
again next year. I find the fruit to be
tougher-skinned than either Concord or
Worden, and the quality about like
Concord.

Lady is another variety which labors
under the same defect. If it gets good
treatment it ripens about with Moore
and Champion, and while the clusters
are only of medium size, yet the berries
are often as large as Concord. It
seems a rather slower grower than
Moore's Early, with rich soil and fair
cultivation. I think it will be found
of great value as the earliest white
gi'ape in general cultivation. The fruit
is sweet and good, and the foliage, like
Moore's Early, is of the hardy, insect-
proof and disease-resisting Concord
type. The fruit of the Lady is too
tender-skinned to ship far.

Champion. — What a poser this grape
is. How one would like to kick it out
for its sourness when first colored, and
for its poor quality that is worse than
sourness when fully ripe ! And yet,.

276

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

with its extreme earliness, its good-
sized beny, and compact (if not good-
sized) cluster, its healthful foliage, and
great vigor, hai'diness and productive-
ness,— there it is, — come to stay, I
verily believe ! We may tcdk about
kicking it out : but as long as men find
that with Champion vines they ai-e
sure of big grapes and lots of them, so
long it will rear its crest triumphant.
People will certainly be shy of all black
grapes on the fruit stands while the
Ohampion is around, yet most folks
who buy would prefer Champion grapes
to no grapes. So let us as a remedy
ti-y to work market quotations into a
sepai'ate rate for Champion, and then
let this irrepi-essible Labrusca have its
fling !

I don't succeed with Pocklington, or
Prentiss, or Lady Washington. I have
them in a sunny spot on very rich soil,
but where we neglected proper cultiva-
tion. Some other varieties with poorer
treatment have done well. Some have
utterly failed. So I am not competent
to pass an oi:)inion upon these from
experience.

Jefferson has been a disappointment.
The fruit sent me some years ago, upon
its introduction, was the most delicious
I remember ever tasting ; the foliage is
of the healthy native type, and the
growth vigorous. But it winter-killed
with me, when left exposed, so that I
liave never grown a cluster : 1 must
experiment further. It proves fully as
late as Concord, on the grounds of a
friend in town.

It would never do to omit mention
of the " old i^eliable "

Concord. — This has ripened here
this season ; that is, it has fully
colored. But was it ripe ? The fact is
the Concord demands a longer period
of sunshiny weather than we usually
get in this northern lake region ; so
that even when it does color you have
to lay it down, gently or otherwise,

with the sad conviction that you are
eating Concords that are not Concords.
The Concord body there, but the Con-
cord soul is henc(! !

But whatever our Concords lack in
sweetness, etc., is more than made up
in its noble child, the

Worden. — Here we have to the full
the th rip-proof, mildew-proof, Concord
leaf, almost the Concord vigour of
growth, more than Concord size of
cluster and berry, a time of i-ipening
close behind Moore's Early, and by far
the purest, most delicious flavor of all
the Concord family. Indeed, after
comparing it with well ripened Eume-
lan. Early Victor, Delaware, the best
of the Rogers varieties, and with well
ripened Concoi-d from southern dis-
tricts, I must confess that, so far as
this season's grapes are concerned, I
prefer the Worden to any other what-
ever.

After giving such an unusual opinion
(which I hope some of the newer varie-
ties may give me reason to change)
perhaps I had better not go on to speak
of the Rogers, and other hybrids, at
this time.

GREAT STRAWBERRY YIELD.

In looking over the September num-
ber, I see Mr. Croil mentions a won-
derful yield of strawberries on the
" Slip-shod System." There is a some-
wliat similar case in this village, only
with fiir more astonishing results. I
ean verify the statement as to yield,
and I measured the patch myself.

A man put in a patch in his garden
Sharpless strawberries in the spring of
1883, one foot apart every way, kept
them as clean as he coiild, but allowed
the runners to cover the ground. Last
year he raised 75 baskets, and this year
375 baskets ! The piece of ground
measures 7 yards by 17. He says he
has had very little trouble this year
with weeds ; and no wonder, when I

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

277

saw the piece there was no room for
weeds. I need not say the soil is
splendid. Hitherto 1 have planted in
matted rows, and kept as clean as I
could with a good deal of labor ; but
in future I tliink I shall try to grow
sti'awberries as this man does. How
is it all one's theoi-ies are so upset 1 It
is very discouraging to a beginner like,
myself. Perliaps some experienced
sti-aw])eny-grower will explain the
reasons for this wondeiful yield.
I remain, Sir, yours truly,

A. J. Wkigiit.
Lakefiekl, Out., Nov. 5, 1885.
[Will Messrs. Little, Hilborn, and
Robinson please to explain ?]

AX AMATEUR'S FURTHER EXPE-
l;IENCE.

To the Editor of the Canadian Horticulturist.

Dear Sir, — In the number for No-
vember, 1884, I gave my views gath-
ered in a small garden in the suburbs
of Toronto. I do not know that I
have very much more to add, but pos-
sibly the little may be of some \me to
amateur gardeners.

Mr. Croil took exception to the
opinion passed by me upon " Bliss'
American Wonder Pea," and kindly
sent me some seed I'aised bj^ himself.
I sowed them at the same time and
side by side with Carter's Little Gem.
The " Wonder " was ready a week or
ten days ahead of the " Gem," and was
more prolific ; so I must withdraw the
statement in my former letter. My
peas were ready to gather two months
after they "were sown.

I saw in the seed catalogue mention
of a new sweet corn, "Ne Plus Ultra."
I planted some, and found it very good.
It bears plentifully, and although the
grains look small, yet they are deeper
set than the other varieties. It looks
like popcorn in size, but the dei)th
makes the grain more than double the

size. It is vei-y sweet. I still find the
" Tom Thumb " very satisfactory.

CaiTots and beets have done well. I
tried the Hanson lettuce, and found it
very satisfactory. Cabbage and cauli-
flower have both done well, and I have
not been troubled by the worm. To-
matoes have been decidedly unsatisfac-
tory. The crop was plentiful enough,
but very few ripened. For the last
three years I have found it difficult to
raise a satisfactory crop, for the reason
that the summers have been so cool.

Raspberries were a very abundant
crop. I would still recommend the
" Cuthbert," particulai^ly to the ama-
teur. Mine came through the winter
uninjured.

I have dug up my blackberries (Tay-
lor's Prolific). I find the canes are
tender and tie crop uncertain. They
take up too much room, and become a
weed. The " Hopkins " blackcap is
hardy and productive. I have a seed-
ling of my own which ripens two or
three days earlier and is jucier.

Goosebei'ries (" Downing " and
" Smith's Improved") bore heavily, but
were attacked by mildew. Have any
of your readers seen the new one, " The
Triumph?" Is it mildew proof?

Grapes have been a very plentiful
crop, but the season has been a very
unsatisfactory one. I haven't ta.sted a
grape thoroughly ripe. I have sujQTered
from mildew more than any previous
year. Even the Delaware, which has
never before suffered with me, was at-
tacked severely. The "Brighton," I
may say, was destroyed. Has any one
tried the remedy recommended by an
Italian grape grower, viz. : " Sprinkle
the foliage with a solution of soda —
two kilos of soda in one hectolitre of
water, or 4^ lbs. of soda dissolved in
26 gallons of water." The remedy is
simple if it is only effective. I gave
the " Lady " and " Mooi'e's Early " one
more chance, and dug them up this

^78

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

fall. I gathered from the both, after
having cultivated them for five years,
twelve bunches, and I came to the con-
clusion that I could do better than that
with some other varieties. I am much
pleased with the " Vergennes." Mine
bore about fifty bunches, fair size. I
have put away the greater part of
them for the winter, and shall watch
with some interest the result, for if
they will keep, then it will be well to
cultivate them. They ripened fairly
Avell, and since I gatliered them they
have appeared to ripen more. The
Jessica bore a very good crop, and
ripened. I notice that if it is allowed
to remain too long on the vine it
shrivels. The " Purity " also ripened.
The great fault with this vai-iety is that
the bunch is small. The berry is very
firm, of a bright amber colour, and rich
flavour, and the vine is a fair grower
and bearer. Any one cultivating a
few vines I think would be pleased
with this kind. The Burnet I have
discarded. The Rogers varieties did
not mature very well. I am disap-
pointed with the " Massasoit" (Rogers'
3). The bunches are small, irregularly
set, and the vine a poor bearer with
me.

I was glad to read in the Annual
Report that you spoke at Barrie so
highly of the " Lindley " (Rogers' 9).
I have now grown it seven or eight
years, and from the first day it fruited
have had a high opinion of it. Its
fault is that the bunches are irregular.
The Pocklington turned out satisfac-
tory. It has a very handsome appear-
ance, and for that reason people like it.
The flavour is not high class, but still
it is a reasonably good grape. The
lona did not ripen»- nor the Elvira.
Notwithstanding the " Elvira " did not
ripen, I have a high opinion of it, and
think our Canadian cultivators should
endeavour to x-aise seedlings from it.
It is healthy, hardy, and an immense

bearer, but a little late ; but if the
summer had been an usual one it would
have ripened. We made jam of the
fruit and it went to a jelly, the skins
being entirely absorbed into the juice.
The colour was rather of a greenish
hue, but that could be remedied by
adding the juice of some black variety.
I have this year planted the " ]\Ionte-
fiore " and " Black Elvii-a " (seedlings of
the " Elvira "), and the " Golden Gem "
and " Bacchus." I don't know whether
they will ripen, but they appear to be
highly recommended. All but the
Golden Gem appear to be wine grapes,
and the Gem should be a wine grape
too, as it is a cross of the Delaware and
lona.

Our Canadian fruit growers do not
appear to go in for raising seedling
grapes, except a few, and those which
are raised we hear very little of I
have noticed from time to time for
several years past that Mr. Mills, of
Hamilton, had some valuable seedlings,
but they do not appear to have been
oftered to the public. What we want
is a grape which will ripen in the last
week in September, and of a quality
superior to the Concord, and at the
same time as hardy as that variety.
Surely perseverance will produce us
such a grape.

Notwithstanding I covei-ed my
grapes last winter, three or four were
frozen to the ground, and several of
my neighbours who did not cover lost
all their wood. I think it is absolutely
necessary in the vicinity of Toronto to
cover eveiy winter ; for even if the
winter is mild the chances are that the
spring will injuriously atfect them, and
besides, it prevents their budding too
early, and they thereby escape the
spring frosts.

Several of my peach trees were
killed last winter, and I have come to
the conclusion that the game is not
worth the candle.

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

279

I had a very fine crop of plums.
The heaviest bearer was the St. Law-
rence, a seedling- raised by Ellwanger
&, Barry. It is about the same coloiir
as Smith's Orleans, but I tliink a little
smaller. 1 admire Pond's seedling the
most. I used both Paris green and
air-slacked lime, but as the crop was
universally good I should like another
trial of these remedies before express-
ing an opinion as to their efficacy.

Cherries did not even blossom. I
am afraid they are not a very encour-
aging fruit to gi'ow.

I think I have now gone over a list
of my productions. I might add that
my soil is a sand.

I paid a visit to Manitoba last sum-
mer. The only wild fruit T saw was
the black currant. Some berries were
larger than the cultivated. The leaves
are different, and do not possess the
same aroma. On the wild cherry I
noticed the black knot. The wild
flowers are very abundant, and some of
them very fine. The prairie rose is
very sweet, and does not grow higher
than about a foot. I saw three colours
— white, light, and deep rose. I think
many of your readers would be delight-
ed to have it in their gardens. The
wild vetch is very pretty, and so is the
wild coreopsis. A gentleman who was
there at the same time told me he had
collected and pressed fifty varieties of
wild flowers. I was too late for straw-
berries, but the plants were to be seen
everywhere. I saw the cultivated
black, red, and white currant and the
raspberry growing, and they appeared
to be thriving. From what I saw,
there is no reason why the smaller
fruits should not be grown there, but
there will be greater difficulty in rais-
ing the larger fruits.

Yours, etc.,

Alfred Hoskix.
Toronto, Nov. 5th, 1885.

GRAPES— A REVIEW.
It has seemed to me that a brief state-
ment of experience with several varie-
ties of grapes might not be uninteresting,
to the readers of the Canadian Horti-
culturist. My soil is a sandy loam, the
sand predominating, naturally cool and
moist, and situate in the County of Lin-
coln, within the limits of the City of
St. Catharines. The climate is modified
at this place by the proximity of Lake
Ontario, which lies not quite three
miles to the northward. The winters
are often quite open, usually variable
weather with sudden changes from cold
to warm and warm to cold. The snow
can not be depended upon as a covering
in winter, a heavy fall of several inches
being often quite melted and gone in
two or three days. The thermometer
rarely falls to 1 5° below zero, Fahren-
heit, and often does not get much lower
than zero during the whole winter.
The summers are usually warm and
frequently with long peidods of dry
weather, it not being uncommon to be
without rain for four to six weeks. A
cool summer, with frequent showers,
such as the one just passed, is excep-
tional. This much by way of explana-
tion of the circumstances under which
this expei'ience has been gained which
is now given.

Adirondac has proved to be a tender
variety, unable to endure our changeable
winters. Had it been laid down in the
fall and slightly protected, it would pro-
bably have survived ; as it is, there is
not a plant left out of some dozen or
more.

Allen's Hybrid is so strongly imbued
with the characteristics of the viuifera
family that it has proved to be as sub-
ject to mildew as any of the European
grapes. All of the vines have fallen a
pi'ey to mildew.

Agawam (Rogers' No. 15) in favoi-able
seasons, and with long pruning, will
ripen well ; but in such a season as the

280

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTrRIST.

past, in which east winds have been pre-
valent, the leaves are badly injured by
mildew, and the fruit is not only affected
by it, but exhibits considei-able rot.

Antoinette is a white grape, ripening
before the Concord, having some of the
flavor and aroma of that grape. It has
not suffered from mildew or rot, and I
seems to have a hardy, vigoi-ous con- i
stitution. i

Brighton will yet be a very popular
grape. The vine is hardy, a strong
grower, very productive ; the bunches
are large ; berries medium, maroon col-
ored when fully ripe and covered with
a thick bloom ; the flesh tender, with
very little piilp, sweet, juicy, and very
agreeable flavour when first ripe. It
ripens early, before the Delaware, and
sells readily at good prices.

Burnet has not been a success in my
hands. The vine has not been vigorous
nor productive, and sufiers severely
from mildew.

Champion is the poorest in quality
of any in my grounds, and yet it is the
most hardy, the most productive and
the first to ripen.

Clinton, in my estimation, is one of
the most desirable grapes we have. In
hot seasons it develops sufiicient sugar
to become an excellent table grape ; and
in nearly every season is the best of
them all, so far as my experience goes,
for culinary purposes. Where properly
canned it is not to be excelled by any
other fruit. For hardiness and pi'o-
ductiveness it is surpassed by none.

Concord has been more extensively
planted for market than any other
grape. Its hardiness and pi-oductive-
ness, combined with fair quality, have
given it great j^opularity. There are
much better grapes in point of flavour,
but whether any of those we now have
will equal it as a profitable market
variety over as large a territory, is as
yet a matter of gi-eat doubt.

Creveling persists in setting its fruit

very imperfectly. Were it not for this
defect it would be a valuable variety,
on account of its earlj^ ripening and its
very agreeable flavor.

Delaware needs no commendation.
In soils suited to it, and with judicious
cultivation it is not surpassed by any.
The vine is perfectly haixly and the
fruit is entirely free from rot, at least
I have not yet seen any rot in it. The
vines require a rich, deep and well
drained soil, which must be kept rich,
to be pruned short, and the crop well
thinned out.

Duchess has mildewed so badly with
me that I despair of ever obtaining a
good sample of fruit.

Early Dawn is also very subject to
mildew, and cannot be relied upon.

Early Victor has not proved to be as
early in ripening as I had expected, but
nevertheless I think it will be a
valuable variety. The vine is very
hardy and very healthy, not having
shown any signs of mildew, and very
pi'oductive. The bunches and berries
are small, which points are against it as
a market grape ; nor is it as early as
the Champion, but the berries do not
drop from the bunch, and are far su-
perior in qualitv to the Hartford Pro-
lific.

Hartford Prolific, to my taste, is not
much better than Champion, and I
want none of it.

lona ripens just a little too late,
being in perfection about three seasons
out of five. It needs rich soil and good
cultivation and a warm exposure.
When it does ripen the quality is just
" best."

Ives does not ripen as early as the
Concord, and is decidedly more foxy.

Jessica has fruited in New Jersey and
proved to be a very early ripening
variety there also. J. T. Lovett says
of it, •' Very early and of splendid
quality. The fruit is all that can be
desii-ed for an early white gra|>e, but

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

281

the vine mildews veiy badly." This
season, in which mildew nearly ruined
my Rogers Hybrids of every name, the
Jessica was not affected.

Lady did not ripen this season as
early as I supposed it would. This is
the first time that my vines have borne.
The bunches and berries are larger than
those of Martha, and somewhat less
foxy, but quite too foxy to suit my
taste.

Linden ripens before the Concord,
before the Worden, somewhat smaller
in both bunch and berry than either,
quality about equal to Concord. The
berries do not drop from the bunch,
which is handsomely shouldered, and
will remain on the vine until frost
without deteriorating in flavour. To
my taste it is not as good as Moore's
Early, but will probably be more profit-
able as a market grape in northern
localities.

Martha is too small and too late in
ripening and too foxy when ripe to suit
me.

Massasoii ripens as early as Hartfoi'd
Prolific, and is to my taste a much bet-
ter grape. The bunches are short,
berries large, red and sweet.

Merrimack seems to be less subject
to mildew and rot than most of the
Rogers Hybrids. The bunches are not
large, berries large, black, sweet and
" good"

Moores Early has not been ripe
quite as early as the Cham2;)ion, is much
better in quality, being about as good
as Concord ; the berries are not quite as
large as Concord, and when dead ripe
drop from the bunch ; nor is the vine as
productive or vigorous.

Pocklington, after several seasons'
trial, has proved to ripen after the Con-
cord. The bunches and berries are
large, handsome, and when fully j
ripe have a decided yellow tinge. In
quality as good as the Concord.

Prentiss ripens about with the Con-

cord ; bunches and berries of medium
size, pale yellow when ripe, with some-
thing of the Isabella flavour.

Salem will mildew and rot with me
three seasons out of five. When well
ripened it is a good keeper.

Vergemies does not ripen any earlier
than Concord, or my vine is not true
to name. It is not of high quality, but
it is agreeable ; the flesh is somewhat
tough or pulpy. It will keep well.

Wilder is a grape of magnificent ap-
pearance, veiy large in bunch and berry,
ripening about with Concord, and of
" good " quality. Like all of Rogers'
Hybrids it is subject to mildew and
rot.

Worden is steadily gaining in favour
as a grape for genei'al cultivation in
Ontario. The vine is healthy, hardy,
productive ; bunch and berry about the
same in size as Concord, less pulpy, but
otherwise having much the same flavor,
and ripening about ten days earlier ;
this difference in time of ripening being
more marked in northern Ontario than
in the southern portion. The fruit is
covered with a rich bloom which gives
it a very attractive appearance.

PRUNING ROSES.
I should like to say a few words
about pruning roses, bringing out an
important principle in regard to it that
I have not seen elsewhere mentioned,
except in a most incidental manner ;
and which, experience has taught me,
is the very key-note of success in this
respect. Every article on the subject
that I have read is always emphatic in
recommending pruning, and severe
pruning. In fact, they say you can
hardly prune too much (with a few
cautions) and the English Rosarians'
Year Book (which is, perhaps, the best
authority for everything regarding rose
culture) gives an article by one of the
noted English I'osarians, in which he
says that he never had as fine flowers

282

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

as one year when a donkey accidentally
got into his garden, and cropped his
rose bushes almost even with the
ground. So, full of this idea, I pruned
my own accordingly one summer, and
the result was, that, on the vigorous
canes, the few eyes left burst with such
vigor that it took them all summer to
finish growing the long shoots, induced
by throwing all the vigor of the bush
into so few eyes ; and on some I had
no flowers, on others but a few. I
have since learned that this one maxim
is without exception : "the stouter the
wood, the larger the flower, and vice
versa." So that it is best to cut ofi" to
the ground the canes which are thinnest
and weakest, and cut away all wood
that has bloomed, leaving only the
stoutest canes of the present season's
growth. Do this in the autumn early,
so that the sun and air may have free
access to ripen all the wood you intend
to keep, and in the fall bend down and
cover these strong branches. When
you uncover them in the spring take
ofi" only short pieces from the tops of
each stalk, the most stout and vigorous
should be shortened very little, and see
what roses you will have, both for
quality and quantity. The hybrid
Noisettes — which are perfectly hardy,
if bent down and covered — need this
caution particularly, for, although they
produce no very vigorous canes, like
Jacqueminot, still they send up such a
number, and each cane produces such a
multitude of buds, that often the plant
will not open a single one of them ; and
they decay and drop oS" in the unopened
bud. The remedy for this is to cut
out all two year old wood, and all the
weakest shoots ; and on the varieties
given to producing more buds than
they can open, it is better not to prune
the remaining shoots at all. I have
tried this plan with perfect success on
some bushes that were very bad cases
of this kind of rose troiible. In hybrid

Noisette roses, where the habit is
thoroughly remontant, that is, where
new shoots are freely produced from the
I'oots, I never leave more than the four
best on each bush. In fact, I treat all
remontant roses exactly as I treat
raspberries, and I am sure that, for
this country, if not for every country,
it is bv far the best plan.

H. S. L.
Vine Lyniie, Oct. 21st, 1885.

THE LUCRETIA DEWBERRY.

By referring to the list of subscribers'
premiums it will be seen that one of
the plants offered is the Lucretia Dew-
berry. It is said that it was found
growing in West Virginia. In the
Rural N^ew-Yorher we find the follow-
ing testimony in regard to this fruit.

The Rural New-Yorker says : —
Hitherto we are not aware that the
Dewberry (Rubus Canadensis) has held
any recognized place among cultivated
small fruits. Several varieties have
been talked of from time to time, but
have soon been forgotten.

A few specimens of the Lucretia
Dewberry were ordered from Mr. J. T.
Lovett, of New Jersey, last May, one
of which fruited during the summer.
It ripened with Early Harvest, the
earliest of all the kinds growing at the
Rural Grounds. The berries and
drupes are large, and though of good
quality when fully ripe, they are rather
sour if picked sooner. This may be
said of all blackberries ; but moi'e
especially of this, if judged from its
first season of fruiting. The vines are
thus far hard3^ As, if left to them-
selves, they would cover too much land,
it is a question for others to decide
whether it would pay to give them
support by trellises or otherwise.

FROM R. G. CHASE & CO.

We have fruited the Lucretia Dew-
berry this year, and found the fruit to
be of good size, perhaps we should

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

283

pioperly say, of large size and good
quality. The Adne is witli us a free
grower. For home use we deem it a
desirable thing, but it is too soft to
ship. It did not suffer any from the
severity of ihe i)ast winter, although it
received no special care.
Geneva, jS. Y.

FROM WILLIAM PARRY.

The Lucretia Dewberry has been
cultivated here two or three years. It
is a strong, vigorous grower and hai'dy.
Fruit large, early and of good quality.
Its trailing habit I'enders support of
some kind necessary to hold up the
vines. The plan we have adopted is to
lift the vines occasionally over wire
extended along the whole length of the
row, supported by stakes driven into
the ground about one rod apart. To
increase the number of vines, in the
latter part of summer and early fall
with a trowel set the tips in the ground
pointing downward. They send up no
suckers. We have planted some hills
in the rows of Wilson Junior and other
high-bush blackberries, over which they
trail nicely, for the purpose of hybridiz-
ing or cross fertilizing the blossoms.

Parry, N. J.

FROM PUES. T. T. LYON.

I have now fruited the Lucretia
Dewberry three years. Aside from
the trailing habit of the class, and the
consequent liability of the fruit to be-
come soiled or injured from contact
with the earth, I regard it as very
desirable, since the fruit is very large
— quite as large as that of the Kitta-
tinny Blackberry — and of very good
liavor. Besides, it ripens before the
early blackberries, nearly or quite as
early as the earliest black-caps. With
me it has so far been veiy productive,
yielding a fair crop this year, when
nearly all the blackberries fail to fruit
in consequence of injury from the
severe cold of last wintei-.

South Haven, Mich.

FROM J. S. COLLINS.

The Lucretia Dewberry produces
large berries, of good quality and early;
but owing to its trailing habit, I do
not value it as much as several sorts of
blackberries we have; perhaps I do
not know how it should be treated to
secure the best I'esults.

Moorestown, X. J.

FROM J. T. LOVETT.

I have fruited many Dewberries,
such as the Mammoth, Bartles, etc. All
bloomed freely but shed their blossoms,
proving unproductive and worthless.
For this reason the Lucretia Dewberry
is a pleasing surprise. I have now
fruited it two years, and find it both
hardy and productive, and of " mam-
moth " size in very truth. All who
do not plant it will make a mistake. I
am yet unable to recommend it for
mai'ket growing, having fruited it only
in my trial grounds.

Little Silver, N. .J.

FROM SEC. GEO. W. CAMPBELL.

So far as I have knowledge of the
Lucretia Dewberry, my impressions are
favourable. I have not fruited it
sufhciently to give any personal ex-
perience ; but I have seen it in bearing
and found it enormously productive,
and ripening early — July 2Uth. When
fully ripe, I think it is as good as the
best blackberry I ever tasted ; but as
it colors some little time before it is
I'ipe, and while it is still too sour to be
good, that might be an objection. In
size I thought it averaged larger than
any blackberry I had ever seen. Its
trailing habit might or might not be an
objection in cultivation. It runs along
nearly recumbent, the weight of its
fruit causing much of it to lie upon the
ground, and requiring some kind of
mulch upon the su)face to keep it clean.
As grown in Miami County in this
State, it seems to be very successful,
and is certainly very large, very pro-

284

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURISf i

ductive and veiy good. I can see no
reason why it should not be a good and
profitable fruit for general use, unless
its trailing habit of growth should be
objectionable.
Delaware, Ohio.

FROM J. H. HALE.

The common wild Dewberry has
always been to me the most delicious
of all the blackberry family, and in the
hopes of finding one worth cultivation,
I have bought, for testing, every new
sort that has been offered for some
years past ; but the Lucretia is the
fii-st and only one that has ever given
promise of being valuable, not only as
a delicious family berry, but also for
market, especially here in New Eng-
land where the valuable early market
varieties are not hardy enough to stand
our winters. The trailing habit of the
Lucretia renders it a very easy plant
to protect through the winter, as it is
not quite hardy here. It is wonder-
fully prolific of extremely lai'ge berries,
of jet black color, rather soft for a
blackberry and in quality far superior
to any other cultivated blackberry or
dewberry I have ever tested. I have
lots of faith in it, but it has not been
tested long enough here in the East to
warrant any one planting it very ex-
tensively till we know more about it.
Two or three other sorts having been
sent out as Lucretia for a year or two
past, I fear that the opinions in regai-d
to it will be likely to be rather mixed
for a few years to come.
South Glastonbury, Conn.

KEEPING GRAPES.

A lady who has for several years
kept a considerable quantity of grapes
through the winter, makes the following
note in reference to it : —

Grapes should be picked and allowed
to stand three or four days, then sorted
and put into small-sized or eight-quart

baskets, and hung up in a cool, dry
cellar. Thin-skinned varieties, such as
Brighton, Concord, and Rogers' 44, or
Herbert, should be eaten before Christ-
mas. Rogers' 4, 9, and 15, respectively
Wilder, Lindley, and Agawam, and
also Salem, are all good keepers.
Wilder, Agawam, and Salem we ate
the last of May, in I88i.— Vick's
Magazine.

SLANTING GEAPE TRELLIS^

FROM PETER FULLER, V.AKAGER MOLSOSS' BAKKT,.
MEAFORD.

We had mosc beautiful grapes this'
fall, Rogers' 3 and 4, the best I have
ever grown, but only good and thor-
oughly ripe on my low trellises.

Where the land can be spared for it,
I am sure this is the best plan : Drive
some cedar stakes along the back of
the vines, and nail on a scantling ; set
some posts, three feet high, about
eleven feet back to the north, and
board it up ; nail some strips from the
scantling to top of the boarding, on
which train your wood. I never have
to lay my vines down at all, and they
never suffer in the winter.

Have any other of our readers tried
this inclined trellis ]

SEED POTATOES.

Shall we plant our potatoes whole or
cut them into pieces as our fathers did ]
That's the question. Doctor Sturte-
vant has been trying some experiments
at the New York Agricultural Experi-
ment Station and sums up the results
as follows : — It would seem from these
data that even on very fertile soil, the
stored nutriment in the potato tuber
furnishes a more congenial food for the
growing plant than fertilizing elements
contained in the soil ; and that upon
poor soils at least, an advantage may
be gained by planting whole tubers or
large sections.

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

285

A writer in the Farm and Garden
says : — Even experienced potato grow-
ers would hardly recognize the Early
Ohio potato in our patch. The plants
of this very dwarf sort, which were
grown from whole potatoes, are so un-
usually large and dark-colored that they
might be mistaken for a late, tall-
growing variety. The patch pi-omises
a very large yield.

The difference in color of plants
grown from whole tubers and from less
seed, even from as much as one-half of
whole tubers, was very marked, par-
ticularly in the early stages of growth.
The plants from smaller seeding ap-
peared decidedly yellow, compared with
the rich dark-green of the whole potato
plantings.

CAUSE OF FAILURE OF AGRICUL-
TURAL COLLEGES.
As we gain experience by the lapse
of years, problems apparently insoluble
at one time slowly and gradually solve
themselves at a later period. Thus in
the matter of the success of some and
the failure of other agricultural colleges
both appeared at the first quite inex-
plicable. But the truth is gradually
becoming apparent that no institution
will succeed as an agricultural school
of which the president and chief is not
something more than a mere successful
teacher ; he must be an enthusiastic
agriculturist. There have been regents
and presidents at the head of some of
our leading agricultural colleges, who
were and are all eminent as teachers,
great as pedagogues, with wide literary
reputations and renowned in history,
theology, politics, and law ; but not
one of these has succeeded, even in a
moderate measure, in making these
schools agricultural colleges indeed In
fact several have so erred in their man-
agement as to have practically driven
agriculture out of the schools where
they were chiefs, of which we need not

go far for an example. The lesson
taught by these facts then is, that any
who, in appointing chiefs of agricultural
schools hereafter, choose any but prac-
tical and scientific agriculturists, will
be sinning against light and knowledge.
— Rural New- Yorker.

DECIDUOUS SHRUBS AND VINES.

The Imperial Cut-leaved Alder is
hardy. The thinness of its top gives
the plant an appearance of poverty,
however, and the persistent old cones
are unsightly.

The wild climbing bittersweet or
wax-woi"k, Celastrus scandens, is desir-
able for a rear building or rough object.
A very pretty covering for a tree trunk
is a mixed festoon of bittersweet and
Virginia Creeper. The contrasts in
autumn coloring of foliage and berries
are striking. The Virginia Creeper is
still our popular climber. Some indi-
viduals do not climb well. Dr. Beall
propagated two plants from one parent,
but they are quite dissimilar in habits
of clinging to a building. The Japa-
nese Aiiipelopsis will probably prove
hardy when once established. The
Chinese Wistaria, is not hardy.

The ordinary choke cherry, Prunus
Virginiana, is one of our most beauti-
ful shrubs ; so a^lso is the common flow-
ering dogwood, Cormis Jlorida. The
flower buds of the dogwood were killed
last winter, however.

The smoke tree, Rhus cotinus, both
the white and purple sorts, are always
desirable.

The common wild dwarf sumach,
Rhus copallina, is one of the very best
small shrubs for autumn coloring.

The wild crab, Pyrus coronaria, is
very attractive when in flower. It
should find a place in the shrubbery.

The fringe, Chionanthus Virginica,
is hardy. The English hawthorn,
Gratcegus oxyacantha, has not been,
hardy.

286

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTUKIST.

Our three lilacs, the common, Syr-
inga vuh/aris ; Persian, S. Persica,
and the Josikea, S. Josikcea, are hardj
and satisfactory. The latter is to be
recommended Ijecaiise it blossoms three
or four weeks later than the other sorts.

Tamarix gallica, Tamarisk, was in-
jured last winter. Hitherto it had
stood well.

The chaste little Deutzia gracilis,
with some protection of leaves, is very
desirable.

Fi-om Spiroea triloba we get onr most
profuse white flowers.

Attempts at Rhododendron culture
have so far proved unsatisfactory.

Doiible-jiuwering Almond was in-
jured last winter.

The Mock Orange, Philadelphus
coronayius, is always hardy.

The Rose Acacia, Robinia hispida, is
hardy and very attracti\ e.

The Missouri or Buffalo Currant,
Ribes aureum, is haixly and popular.
It is often sold by nurserymen under
the name of Ribes fragrans.

The Japanese Quince is not hardy.

[We take the above from a bulletin .
of the Agricultural College of Michi-
gan, dated October, I 685 ]

PLANTS FOR LIVING ROOMS.

Many people, both in city and coim-
try, keep plants in their rooms, and not
a few grow them thei'e from one year's
end to the other. Of course, plants do
not thrive as well in dwelling-rooms as
in green-houses, and a common impres-
sion exists that gas is particularly ob-
noxious to them — that is, gas light.
The heat-drying effect of the gas flame
no doubt affects plants, but not to the
extent that it is supposed to ;. anyhow
not much more than a lamp or stove
would. This evil effect may be reme-
died, to a very great extent, by setting
the plants on saucers inverted into
others of larger size, and keeping these

large saucers constantly full of water.
This will gradually evaporate and keep
the air around the plants in a moist
condition, sufficient to counteract the
evil effects of gas or stove heat. The
inverted saucers shoidd be large enough
so that the base of the pot in which
the plants are growing does not actu-
ally stand in the water, although occa-
sionally this is beneficial to the i)lant,
especially when much drainage has
been used. Maiden Hair Ferns, Aca-
cias, and Primulas do first rate under
these cii'cumstances. Also the beauti-
ful-leaved Marantas, if kept warm
enough during winter. What really
destroys room plants is mismanagement
and want of light and air. Few plants
will thrive long unless tliey have both.
But where there is plenty of both,
almost anything may be made to grow
and blossom beautifully. Geraniums,
Fuchsias, Begonias, Gloxinias, and
Abutilons will all give an abundance
of flowers, and what is more, these will
not be infested by insects, as Roses and
Chrysanthennims would be. If flow-
ers are not an object, we would suggest
Aspidisira lurida variegata, Maran-
tas, Ferns, the beautiful Sanseveria
metallica, Ficus elastica, Areca lutes-
cens, or almost any palm. Even small
Agaves look nice, and if kept in rather
small pots they will not outgrow your
window-sill very soon. Mentioning
Agaves reminds us of Cacti. These
are the plants just suitable for room-
culture j neither gas light nor fire heat
will hurt them. In fact, they will not
require any heat at all during winter,
providing frost is excluded. If flowers
are expected from them in spring, they
should have plenty of sun during win-
ter, but they will not want any water
except once in two weeks. Of course
you do not expect these to grow during
winter, as this is their season of rest,
excepting, however, the Crab Cactus or
Ejiiphyllums, which, with good man-

THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST.

287

agement, may be had in bloom from
dclober to March. Many pei'sons try
to grow Crotons, Azaleas, and Camellias
in rooms, but as a general thing the
result is failure and destruction of the
plants, as these require an abundance
of syringing and moisture. — Farm and
Garden.

HISTORICAL ITEM.
In the last century a vessel came
into London docks with yellow fever,
and the captain was suffering severely
from it, and no one would go near the
suff"ei-ers. Dr. Fothergill, however,
went on board, partly out of compas-
sion and partly from his desire to study
a disease which was new to him, and
he removed the captain to his own
house, and finally succeeded in getting
him through the fever. When the
captain recovered he inquired from the
doctor what he was in his debt, but
Fothergill refused to receive any pay-
ment. The captain then wished to
know how he could compensate him
for such kindness, upon which the doc-
tor replied that there was one thing he
could do for him if he were making a
voyage to the East, and would pass
through the Straits of Macassar by
Borneo, he should be glad if he would
])ring him back two barrels full of the
earth of Borneo, which the captain
promised to do. However, when he
reached the spot on his voyage out, he
thought of the ridicule he must expe-
rience from his crew in sa strange an
undertaking, and his heai"t failed him,
and he sailed through tlie Straits with-
out fulfilling his intention. On his re-
turn by the same route the same thing
hap|)ened again through his fear of the
scoffs of his crew. However, aftei- he
had left the Straits two hundred or
possibly three hundred miles behind
him, his conscience smote him witli his
ingratitude and the non-fulfilment of
his promise, and he put the ship's head

about, returned to the spot, and filled
the barrels with the eai'th. On his re-
turn he sent it to Dr. Fothergill, who
had the surface of a piece of ground
thoroughly burned, and he then
sprinkled the Borneo earth on it, when
it is a known fact that there came iip
•all kinds of new and curious plants,
said to be one hundred different sorts,
some geraniums, and new flowers which
have subsequently spread throughout
the gardens of England.

AN EVERBEARING BLACK-CAP RASP-
BERRY—THE EAUHART
EVERBEARER.

This is a new black-cap raspberry.
It differs from all other raspberries by
its fruiting qualities. It continues to
bear till frost. The old canes com-
mence ripening their berries by the
1 5th of June ; by the 4th of July they
are all ripe ; then the young canes com-
mence ripening their berries. They
bear in clusters from G to 1 8 inches
long, Avhich all ripen at one time. It
bears as many berries on the old canea
as any other berry, and ripens as many
berries in July as any other in twelve
months. It ripens more berries in
August than any other in twelve
months, and as many in September as
July, August being the best month.
They will bear the same season they
are set. Hard winters have no effect
on the July, August and September
crop, because the canes are not there.
Dry weather has no effect on them,
because they are on the young, sappy
cane. New canes continue to come
from the ground for a new supply of
berries. We have picked as high as
200 ripe berries off one cluster at one
time, which made about a pint. This
wonderful berry was discovered by Mrs.
J. Earhart, in Mason County, Illinois.

[We received the above description
from Mr. J. Earhart.— Ed.]

288

THE CAN Am AN HORTICULTURIST.

ORIGINAL.

The East may boast of orange blooni,

Of cypress and of laurel,
AnrI we will boast of yellow broom,

And of orchards rich and floral.
Eastern blooms and foliage fair.

Are of the rainbow s dapple.
In England blossom everywhere

The pear, the plum, the apple.
Then boast who will

Of trees in spring array
We still

Have blossoms fair as they.

The East may boast of citron tree,

That yields so fair a flower,
Of lilac's sweet scent on the lea,

When freshened by a shower.
They boast of lemons and of pine.

We of our mellow cherry.
They of their spice and juicy wine,

And we our delicious berry.
Then boa.st who will

Of trees and fruit so gay,
We still

Have fruits as sweet as they.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS.

The American Florist is published
semi-monthly at Chicago, terms $1 a
yeai", 16 pages. Devoted to the inter-
ests of florists of North America.

The Orchard and Garden, an illus-
trated monthly journal of horticulture,
16 pages, 50 cents a year, devoted ex-
clusivly to the interests of the American
orchardist, grape-grower, and gardener.
Little Silver, Monmouth Co. New Jer-
sey.

A Treatise on the Evaporation of do-
mestic and foreign fruits, vegetables,
&c., by the American Manufacturing
Company, Waynesboro, Franklin Co.,
Pennsylvania.

Fopidar Gardening for Town and
Country. Published monthly, by Ran-
som, Long k Co., 202 ]\Iain Street,
Buffalo, N. Y., at 60 cents a year, 16
pages, conducted by Elias A Long,
author of Oranamental Gardening for
Americans.

Loveti's Guide to Fruit Cidture, a
descriptive catalogue of small fruit
plants and fruit trees, handsomely il-
lustrated. J. S. Lovett, Little Silver,
New Jersey.

The Kindergarten, a monthly devoted

to elementary education, published by
Selby & Co., Toronto, Ont., at 50 cents
a year.

H. S. Andersons semi-annual cata-
logue and price list of small fruit
plants, fruit trees, &c., for the fall of
1885, Union Springs, Cayuga Co., N.Y.

Transactions of the Massachitsetts
Horticultural Society for the year 1885,
Part I. Robert Manning, Secretary,
Boston, Mass.

Address by the Hon. M. P. Wilder,
President of the American Pomological
Society, at its twentieth session, held
at Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Dreers autumn catalogue of bulbs,
plants, (fee, for sale by Henry A. Dreei',
714 Chestnut street, Philadelphia,
Penn.

Michigan Horticulturist, published
monthly by W. H. Burr Publishing
Company, Detroit, Michigan, at $1 a
year. Edited by Charles W. Gai-field.
It is quite enough to mention the name
of the editor, every one will know that
whatever he does will be done as near
perfection as man can do. We congra-
tulate the State of Michigan.

Tenth Annual Report of the Montreal
Horticultural Society, 1884. We have
been favored with several copies for
distribution in Ontario to any who
may desire a copy.

Proceedings of the Western New
York Horticultural Society, 1885.

Transactions of the Fruit Growers'
Association of Nova Scotia, 1885, C. R.
H. Starr, Port Williams, Secretaiy.

The following subscriptions have been received dur-
ing the month of October :— Paul G. Wickson, Peter
Fo.x, Meusing & Stecher, Herbert W. Buell, Wm.
Greig, Xorman McLeod, J. H. Stanton, Alex. Gibb,
Michael Brown, Thos. Treleaven, J. M. Remington,
Robt. Orr, Mrs. Baxter, Geo. Mason, Ur. Macdonald,
Dr. Tamlvn, Dr. Towler, Wm. Robertson, E. R. Talbot,
G. L. Whitney, Thos. Jenkins, Hy. Deacon, Robert
Molndoo, James McGuire, John Carr, Geo. S. Wason,
John C. Gilman, Geo. E. Eby, Jas. Barnum, Ed.
Macklin, E. W. Nix, A. Dawson, Revd. Towell, J. A.
Watson.

INDEX.

Page

Advice to Fruit Growers 168

Agricultural Colleges 285

Amateur's Experience 277

Amaryllis 72, 118, 216

Amaryllis Hallii 216

American Horticultural Society 78

American Pomological Society. .. . 170, 196

Ammonia Fertilizer 42

Anemone Hepatica 214

Annual Report 174

Annual Meeting of F. G. A 194, 219

Apple, Can it be Grown with Profit . . 251

Apple Crop of 1884 21

Apples for Market 32

Apples in London 41, 53, 102, 271

Apples in Simcoe 195

Apples in Stormont 195

Apples in England and America 233

Apples for N orthern Ontario 258

Apple Orchards . 239, 245

Apple Trees in Grey 249

Apple Trees for the North-West 260

Apple Tree Borer 112

Apricot, Russian 240

Asparagus Tenuissimus 240

Autumn Transplanting 165

Bangor Blackberry 24

Beech Trees 96

Begonia Rubra 263

Begonia Sceptruni 95

Benefits of Fruit 257

Berberry, Rust on 83

Bignonia Radicans 1, 134, 230

Black Knot 34, 90, 142

Black Currant 134, 246

Blackbenies 158

Black Raspberries 227

Black Walnut 258

Blossoming of Fruit Trees 85

Blueberry, The 173

Bogdanoff Apple 263

Books, &c. . . 22, 46, 70, 144, 148, 196, 288

Bottled Grape Juice 22

Brussels, Fruit at 10

Budding 245

Cabbage Maggot 172, 212

Cabbage Worm, New Remedy 167

Calla Lily 264

California, Notes from 140

Page-

California Fruits 171

Canadian Plants in Japan 51

Canadian Apples 3

Canada Baldwin Apple 244

Catalpa 121

Catalpa Speciosa 80, 246, 273

Catalpa, The Hardy 246, 273

Celery 37, 96, 195

Celery House 254

Centennial Grape 72

Centennial Cherry 221

Champion Grape 33, 175

Charles Downing 53

Cherry Trees vs. Cherry Bushes ...... 237

Chestnuts 43

Chinese Primrose 21, 61

Chionanthus, The 145'

Clematis, The 247

Clematis Crispa 215

Coal Ashes 18

Coca 211

Cockscomb, Varieties of 233

CodlinMoth 168, 188

Colonial Exhibition 269

Cornus Florida 212

Crab Apple for Stocks 197

Cranberries 175-

(Jrescent Strawberry ; 195

Crows Eating Apples 267

Cultivation of House Plants 230

Cultivating Newly Planted Trees .... 264

Curculio 36

Currants 250

Currants, Black 246

Currant, Pruning of 257

C\ithbert Raspberry 85

Cut-leaved Maple 217

Dahlia, The 25, 168

Davison's Thornless Raspberry 194

Deciduous Shrubs and Vines 285

Dewberry, Lucretia 282

Downing Gooseberry 195

Earhart Raspberry 287

Early Tomatoes 137

Early Richmond Cherry 46-

Easy Lessons in Botany. . 98, 123, 146, 219

Edible Mushrooms 132

Empire State Grape 97

End of the Year 266-

290

INDEX.

Page

English SpanoM- 35, 89

Ki)iphilluins ■ • '-56

Eulalias, The 19

Enmelan (Jrape 264

European Apple Orchards 245

Everbearing Blackcap Raspberry 287

Experience from the Cold North 224

Fall Planting 58

Fameuse Sucre 38

Farm Gardening 44

Fay's Currant 72

Fern Fronds 273

Floriculture in Schools 174

Flowers in the School Grounds 271

Forest Products 16

Forest Influence 24

Forestry in Quebec 148

p'oundling Apple 221

Fruit, Beuelits of 257

Fruit at Aultsville 247

Fruit in County Grey 37, 246, 249

Fruit Near Mount Forest 227

Fruit in Nebraska 101

Fruit in Algoma 67

Fruit in Brussels 10

Fruit-gi-owang Statistics 55

Fruit Prospects in Grey 182

Fruit Crop in Missouri 195

Fruit Growing in Canada 205

Fruit Prospects in Ontario 208

Fruit Syrups 209

Fruit Growers' Association 225"

Garden Crops 43

< harden Violets 163

Gardening, Will it Pay 67

(ieraniuni, Mad. Salleroi 96

(ierauinm, The 153

(iooseberrj% Industry 265

Grafts and Grafting 156

(Jrape, The 12

Grapes, .... 31, 45. 110, 198, 234, 264, 274,

275, 279

(4 rape. Grafting and Priming 64

drapes. Where to be Grown SO

(4rapes, New in Quebec 114

Grapes, Cultivation 110, 198

Grape Mildew 151

(jrapes of Central Asia 213

(irape Growing in Central Ontario. . . , 226

Grape Leaves, Eemoving of 244

( irape Notes 275

( irapes, Keeping of 284

(4rape Tr-ellis, Slanting 284

Grape Vine Flea Beetle 37

Grass Around Trees 8

(ireat Strawberry Yield . 276

Gregg Raspberry 46, 85

Grimsby Fruit Growers 86

Page

Hansell Raspberry 196

Hardy Lilies 242

Hardy Perennials 65

Hardy Catalpa 246, 273

Heating (ireenhouses 237

Heating a Vinery 274

Hedges 31

Heliotrope, The 263

Historical Item 287

Home Made Wines 153

Horticul. Notes of a Southern Trip, 125, 151

Horticultural Conclusions 160

Hydrangea Paniculata 168

Improved Strawberries 236

Industry Gooseberry 265

Isham Sweet Apple 11

James Vick Strawberry . . '. 240

Japan Lilies '. 24

Jefferson Grape 169

Jessica Grape 30, 264

Jewell Strawberry 193, 250

Jucunda Strawberry 134

Judging Fruit 62

Kieffer Pear 148

Labels 137

Larch. The 163

Leaf, The 183

Le Conte Pear 40

""Lespedeza Bicolor 216

Lilies 242, 264

Lily Culture 261

Locust Tree, The 180

Longtield Apple 53

Lucretia Dewberry 2S2

Lutooka Cherrj^ 238

Maine's Apple Shipments . . 189

Manure for Fruit Trees 196

Market Gardening 190

Marechal Niel Rose 187

Marlboro' Raspberry 2, 239

Massachusetts Horticultural Society . 37

Masson's Fertilizer 196

Maxims and Proverbs 182

Melons, How to Grow 141

Midsummer Meeting 102

Minnewaski Blackberry 76

Miscellaneous Topics 135

Mistakes of Fruit Growers 112

Montli of May 120

Mulberry, New Hardy 198

Mushrooms 260

Miishrooms, Edible 132

Mcintosh Red Apple 52, 66, 102

McLaughlin Plum 79

INDEX.

291

Paob

Narcissus, The 49

New Disasters 272

New Grapes 234, 274

New Eoses 213

New Raspberry 197

New Hardy Mulberry 198

Newly Planted Trees, Cultivating of . . 264

Niagara R,aspberry 11, 230

Niagara Grape 11, 30

Nitrates Needed 165

North Windows, Plants for 189

Nut Planting 246

Onion Maggot 172, 186

Ontario Apple 102, 203

Ontario's Choice Fruit 39

Ontario Strawberry 221

Ontario Fruits for Colonial Exhibition.. 269

Orchard Fertilizer ." 167

Orchids, Some Native 120

Ostheim Weichsel Cherry 210

Paris Green for Curculio 175

Pea, Veitch's Perfection 37

Peaches in New Jersey 171

Peaches in Niagara District 175

Pears 32

Pear Blight 252

Pear Orchards 254

Pei-manganate of Potash 40, 172

Pegging Down Rose Bushes 159

Peter Pruning Knife Pruned 155

Phylloxera, Remedy for 144

Plants for North Windows 189

Plants for Living Rooms 286

Plums at Portsmouth 181

Plums for Cold Climate 45

Poetry 48, 72, 96, 120, 144, 168, 192

216, 240, 264, 288

Populus Alba BoUeana 215

Potatoes, Seed 284

Potato Beetle 192

Potatoes, Corliss Matchless 24

Premium Plants for '85 3

Prices of Apples in England, 41, 53, 102, 271

Profit in Fruit Raising 189

Promising Native Plum 172

Pruning the Currant 257

Pruning Roses 281

Prunus Pissardi . , 119, 241

Purple-leaved Plum 241

Question Drawer 5, 28, 79, 102, 149,

175, 198, 222, 244, 272

Raspberries 210, 226, 239, 262

Raspberry, Everbearing Blackcap 287

Raspberries, Black 227

Raspberry, a New 197

Raspberry Notes 200

Page

Raspberry Saw-fly 67, 87

Red Bietigheimer Apple 215

Renfrew Fruit Growers 24

Report on Plants Received 34, 107

Report on Fruit Exhibition 158, 204

Reynard Apple 270

Rhubarb Wine . 61

Pdtson Pear 268

Roses, 91

Rose, The. . '.".'.■.■.' i'l5", 153

Roses, Two New 213

Roses For The House 209

Roses for Winter Bloom 72

Rose, Bon Silene 78

Rose, Bennett 73

Rose Gossip 138

Rose Bushes, Pegging Down 159

Rose Bushes, to Keep from Insects 216

Ptoses, Pruning of 281

Russian Apricot 240

Russian Mulberry 33^ 182

Rust on The Berberry ' 83

Salome Apple 264

Sapieganka Pear 39

—Saunders' Raspberries 66

Saunders' Plum 244

Scab on the Apple 83, 127

School of Gardening 188

Scotch Dictionary 4

Seedling Apple 52

Seedling Apples from Elora 267

Seed Potatoes 67, 284

Setting out Currants 234

Shaffer's Colossal Raspberry . . 17, 48, 262

Shiawassee Beauty 24

Shrubs Autumn Flowering 44

Shrubs, Deciduous 285

Small Fruit Growers of Oxford & Brant, 4, 271

Small Fruits 36

Small Greenhouse 88

Snow Apple , . 5

Snowballs 73

Snowdrop and Snowflake 214

Soil for Roses 255

Special Notice 79

Spireas, Best Hardy 20

Spirea Astilboides 93

Spraying with Paris Green 125, 143

Squashes, Keeping 48

St. Hilaire Apple 24

Stocks for Fruit Trees 106

Stone Fruit Scions 42

Strawberries, New 6

Strawberries, 31, 176, 181, 206, 210, 223, 226

236, 240, 250, 202, 276

Strawberry Notes 19, 111, 228

Strawberries, Market 129

Strawberry, Fungoid Diseases 76

Strawberries for Profit 103, 168

292

INDEX.

Page

Strawberry Culture 108

Subscribers' Premiums 266

Sulphur for Curculio 6

Summer Weather 8

Summer Pruning of Grape Vines 251

Thrip. The 239

Tigridias 274

Tomatoes 103, 137

Toronto Industrial Fair 170

Transactions Mass. Hort. Society .... 190

Tree Agent, A Dishonest 270

Triumph Gooseberry 251

Trumpet Flower 1

Tuberoses 274

Tulipa Greigi 45

Tulip Tree, The 166

Page

Verbatim Horticultural Ecports 270

Vines, Deciduous 285

Watering Small Gardens 17

Watermelons, Keeping 48

White Fringe, The 203, 145, 230

White Pine, The 161

Whitney's No. 20 Apple 259

Willow, The 117

Winona Grape Growers' Club .... 50, 105

Winter Meeting 2, 10, 79

Winter Protection 248

Woodruff Pied Grape 76

Yellows, The 41

Yellow Transparent 38, 162, 192

PRINTED AT THE STEAM PRESS ESTABLISHMENT OF COPP, CLABK k CO. tOLBORNE STREET, TORONTO.

¥v- fl

l^^m

'k,^

'■Z-*^-: .

s* .^;-

?ak¥J

>j«iHf

^'^'^'

^■/r

H>-5«'. ^