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Title: The Canadian Horticulturist, Volume 7, Issue 4

Date of first publication: 1884

Author: D. W. (Delos White) Beadle (editor)

Date first posted: Sep. 29, 2018

Date last updated: Sep. 29, 2018

Faded Page eBook #20180951

This ebook was produced by: David Edwards, David T. Jones, Cindy Beyer & the online Distributed Proofreaders Canada team at http://www.pgdpcanada.net



Vol. VII, No. 4
Table of Contents
STRAWBERRY, DANIEL BOONE.
ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY.
THE SUMMER MEETING.
FRUIT LIST FOR EACH COUNTY IN ONTARIO.
BRANCH SOCIETIES.
COUNTY AGRICULTURAL EXHIBITIONS.
THE PREMIUM SEEDS.
EXPERIMENTING COMMITTEE.
THE COCHIN CHINA GRAPE.
QUESTION DRAWER.
FLORIDA IN WINTER.
FRUIT GROWING IN THE NORTH.
FRUIT IN NORTH SIMCOE.
APPLE TREES IN IOWA.
CANADA BALDWIN.
COUNTY OF RENFREW FRUIT GROWERS’ ASSOCIATION.
WHAT OUR READERS SAY.
ENGLISH SPARROW.
REPORT ON PLANTS RECEIVED.
HARDY SMALL FRUITS.
THE STRAWBERRY.
STRAWBERRY PROSPECTS FOR THE SUMMER OF 1884.
THE GROSBEAKS.
JESSICA GRAPE.
EXPERIMENTS WITH POTATOES.
PERSIAN CYCLAMENS.
THE RED SPIDER.
BOOK NOTICES.
WHO SETS THE FASHIONS?

Daniel Boone.



THE

VOL. VII.]APRIL, 1884.[No. 4.

STRAWBERRY, DANIEL BOONE.

Our colored illustration this month is intended to give to our readers a likeness of this new berry, which seems to have made a good many friends. It has not yet been fruited on the grounds of your editor, hence he is able to give you only the opinions of others with regard to its merits. It is described as being a large, elongated, conical berry, with a slight neck; having a clear red color; firm in texture, and of good quality. The plant is said to be a strong, vigorous grower, and a prolific cropper.

Mr. T. T. Lyon, a prominent pomologist of the State of Michigan, judging from one season’s experience, says that the plants give indications of great productiveness, while the berries are of more than medium size, dark crimson in color, glossy, firm, juicy, subacid, and excellent.

Mr. John Little, of Fish Creek, Ont., an esteemed member of our Ontario Fruit Growers’ Association, is reported as saying of this berry:—“I have fruited it for three years, and every year like it better. I have tested all the new comers so far, and for productiveness, large size, beauty of berry, and continuing long in bearing, there is none to compare with the Daniel Boone for medium crop.” In a letter just received from Mr. Little he says, the Daniel Boone is all I have said about it heretofore, the plant is strong and stocky, leaf large and tough, color dark green, fruit stalks the largest of any in my garden, fruit large; I have nothing here to equal it in size, and beauty of berry; quality good, color bright red, yellow seeds. I have no plant here will hold out in size of berry to the end as good as it does.

I did not cover it until this year, never covering before, and it always came out right in the spring. I had plenty of berries of the Boone so large that thirty of them would more than fill a Disbrow quart basket and that with ordinary culture.

From the reports I have of it from others sections I am of the opinion it will agree with our loamy soil and peculiar climate.

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SPECIAL NOTICE.

Any person sending ten dollars, with the names of ten new subscribers, to the editor of the Canadian Horticulturist will receive a vine of the new white grape Jessica.

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ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY.

There is in the City of Rochester in the State of New York an astronomical observatory which is free on Tuesday and Friday evenings in each week to the public. This is a new feature in the way of astronomical observatories, and we suggest to our readers who have any desire to look at the stars through a telescope, to avail themselves of the opportunity whenever they may have occasion to visit Rochester. We understand that this observatory was founded and most liberally endowed by Mr. H. H. Warner, of Rochester, N. Y. for the purpose of popularizing as well as promoting astronomical science, and that by applying at his Office Nos. 36-46 North St. Paul Street, Rochester, free admission tickets will be cheerfully granted. The observatory is situated on East Avenue, and is a conspicuous feature among the many beautiful buildings that adorn that thoroughfare. The accompanying illustration will enable any of our readers to recognize it at a glance.

Doctor Lewis Swift is the Director of the observatory, known as the discoverer of numerous comets, and the winner of the Lelande prize from the French Academy of Science. Visitors will find him most courteous and obliging and will be made most cordially welcome. The telescope is the third in size of any in America, being twenty-two feet in length and having an object glass of sixteen inches diameter; its weight is over four tons. The tower is arranged with all the latest appliances so that this ponderous telescope can readily sweep the heavens in any direction.

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THE SUMMER MEETING,

of the Fruit Growers’ Association of Ontario will be held in the Town Hall, Berlin, County of Waterloo, on Wednesday and Thursday, the 25th and 26th of June next.

This meeting is to be held there upon the joint invitation of the Town Council and Horticultural Society of Berlin. It is expected that there will be a large attendance of members, and that the meeting will prove to be one of the most interesting ever held. A programme of subjects for discussion will be prepared and mailed to each subscriber, with full notice of all arrangements connected with the meeting, in good time to enable members to be present.

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FRUIT LIST FOR EACH COUNTY IN ONTARIO.

By instructions of the Board of Directors of the Fruit Growers’ Association of Ontario, the Secretary has prepared a list of all the apples, pears, plums and grapes known to be grown in Ontario, with columns opposite in which to indicate time of ripening, quality, color, size and hardiness, and value for cooking, dessert, local and foreign markets, &c. Twenty copies of this list are to be sent to each officer, who upon receiving them is to send copies to the leading fruit cultivators in each county in his agricultural division, with a request that they be filled up and returned to him by the persons to whom they are sent. After the director sending them has received them back with the replies thereon, he will compare those received from the same county and make up a report from each county in his division, and send these several county reports to the secretary in time to be presented to the next Annual meeting. We hope that gentlemen receiving these blanks will have the kindness to assist the officers of the Fruit Growers’ Association in their efforts to prepare a list of fruits that will be a reliable guide to the residents in each county in the Province.

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BRANCH SOCIETIES.

At the last meeting of the Directors of the Fruit Growers’ Association of Ontario it was decided that branch Societies, consisting of not less than ten members can affiliate with this Association on payment of eighty cents per member, which shall entitle to all the privileges of membership in this Association.

The proceedings of such affiliated Societies will be published in the Annual report of the provincial Association.

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COUNTY AGRICULTURAL EXHIBITIONS.

The Board of Directors of the Fruit Growers’ Association of Ontario have ordered that each Director shall make such arrangements as he may deem best to secure the attendance of two or three competent members of the Association at the County Exhibition of each county in the Agricultural division which he represents, whose special duty it shall be to render all the aid in their power to secure the correct naming of the fruits exhibited, and to give such information and assistance to exhibitors of fruit as it may be in their power to afford.

We believe that this action of the Directors will be most gratefully appreciated by all Exhibitors of fruit at our several county exhibitions, and we trust that it will be possible to secure the attendance of the best men for this work. No doubt but the officers of the several county shows would be glad to secure the services of such men as judges of fruit exhibited.

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THE PREMIUM SEEDS.

Our readers will be able to appreciate the efforts which have been made by the Association to secure seeds of the very best quality for distribution to those who desire them, when they learn that the Pansy seed which has been sent to them cost in Scotland ten dollars per ounce. The other seeds are also of the very finest quality, although not costing quite so much. It was therefore not possible to give a large quantity of such seed to our members, yet enough has been sent to each to enable them to raise several hundred very choice plants that will gladden their homes with beautiful flowers. The seeds have now been sent to all who asked for them up to the time of going to press.

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EXPERIMENTING COMMITTEE.

The following gentlemen were appointed at the winter meeting of the Fruit Growers’ Association, a committee to make experiments with various substances, and in several methods of application, for the purpose of ascertaining if any means could be found of destroying or preventing the black spot, or scab that appears upon so many of our very valuable apples, notably upon the Snow Apple, Early Harvest, McIntosh Red and Fall Pippin, often rendering the whole crop worthless. It was understood that the President would place his valuable chemical knowledge at the service of the Committee, and suggest such substances as from his scientific knowledge he thought likely to prove to be efficacious. The gentlemen are Messrs. John Croil, Aultsville; Charles Hickling, Barrie; Linus Woolverton, Grimsby; P. C. Dempsey, Trenton; B. Gott, Arkona; Richard Martin, Woodstock; A. McD. Allan, Goderich; and Samuel Cornwell, Norwich. If any of our readers can make any suggestions to further the work of this Committee they will be thankfully received.

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THE COCHIN CHINA GRAPE.

This is altogether different from the grape vines with which we are familiar. It is a tuberous rooted plant, growing up annually from the ground, and after producing its crop of fruit, dying down in autumn. It is found in Cochin, China, where in some of the forests it grows to the height of a hundred feet, clambering over lofty trees; or such support failing, it runs along the ground. It is said to be very productive, the vine often presenting the appearance of a mass of clusters of grapes from the bottom to the top. It is found growing at altitudes varying from one hundred to three thousand feet above the level of the sea. Experiments are being made in California looking to the cultivation of this tuberous rooted grape in that country. Seeds have been procured and disseminated among some eight hundred persons in different parts of the country, who will spare no pains to acclimate this new grape on the Pacific coast. It is believed by those most competent to judge, that it can be made a success in all the vine growing regions of that country. The accompanying cut will give our readers a correct impression of the form and general appearance of the clusters of this grape, while the size of the berries is shown in the small segment at the upper left hand corner.

A similar vine has been lately discovered on the coast of Guinea by Señor Arpore, who was sent to that country by the Portuguese Government in charge of a scientific expedition. This vine grows only about four feet high, and yet bears a crop of from ninety to a hundred pounds. A special report will be made upon it to the Portuguese Government. It is said that the fruit is delicious, and that the wine made from it is excellent. Perhaps some species of this vine may be found in more northern climates, which we may hope to be able to grow in our cold north country.

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QUESTION DRAWER.

Mr. Editor,—I have long been looking in the Canadian Horticulturist to see if I could get hold of the most approved method of canning fruits and vegetables as practised in the factories. I suppose the method would be much the same on a small as on a large scale. Do not you think that if you could give an article on that, if you are able to get, or if you know the most approved method, it would be acceptable to many readers?

G. J. R.

That “if” is sadly in the Editor’s way, “If you know.” Will not some of our readers who do know please reply.

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Is May or June the best time to move pines, spruces and balsams?

A. T. H.

Ans.—We have found that the very best time to transplant evergreens is just when the buds are swelling to commence the summer’s growth; and, if possible, select a cloudy day. The date when this will occur will vary with the season and cannot be designated by the almanac.

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What is the best way to train the grape vine here in Muskoka? Would they do grow something after the style of raspberries, with two or three poles to a vine, to grow a cane one year to bear fruit the next? or have permanent shoots and grow on the spurs? or shall I cut down all annually and trust to the young shoots from the cut down shoot to bear fruit?

A. T. H.

Will some of our readers who grow grape vines in our cold districts please give A. T. H. their method.

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As a knowledge of what weather we are likely to get is a matter of considerable importance to all gardeners, can you or any of your readers say if the upper clouds come from the west and lower clouds or smoke from the east; are we likely to have fine weather or rain?

We have our Vennor, it is true, to apply to, but he is such a very false prophet, almost as bad as El Medhi.

Toronto. W. W. R.

Will those who have ascertained the probability please answer.

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Where can I procure hasps and hinges suitable for berry crates; also good baskets that are made in this country?

What would you advise to be grown for fodder or strawberry mulch, on an exhausted strawberry patch, after the last picking?

It is rumoured in this section that small fruit growers will be obliged to use baskets holding the imperial measure the coming season, do you know whether such is the case or not?

Vanessa. D. E. B.

Will some of our readers who grow and market berries please to reply to these questions, and those who have baskets, &c., to sell, will please advertise.

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FLORIDA IN WINTER.

(Continued from page 27. [Vol. 7, No. 2])

In the course of our ride from Cedar Key to Jacksonville, we noticed that the houses which are scattered here and there in these pine barrens are very like the log cabins of our own pioneer settlers. For some reason, satisfactory to the builders no doubt, these log cabins, and indeed all the dwelling houses, are set up on posts about three feet above the surface of the ground. It cannot be because of frequent inundations, for surely this pure sand soil would never hold water.

The towns along the line of the railway have a very neat and attractive appearance in their white houses, half hid among the evergreen oaks, or embowered among orange trees, whose dark green leaves form a rich setting to the golden fruits. Halting at one of these towns we noticed some men on horseback, but the horses were each attached to a cart. This to us is a novel style of riding out. The riders wore broad brimmed, slouched hats; were of a somewhat sun-browned complexion, and suggested by their general appearance that they might be the descendants of some of the old time Spanish settlers, who once held this land. Why they rode on their horses and not in their carts, we leave you to conjecture; evidently it was their way.

We saw but few living creatures during this day’s ride. Even birds were scarce. The most noticeable was the buzzard, a species of vulture, somewhat larger than our hawk. These were lazily wheeling high up in the air, or perched upon the dry branch of some tall pine. Neither their personal appearance, nor their habits of life make them an object of attraction, and yet they alone of all the birds are protected by law.

Jacksonville was reached late in the afternoon. This is the headquarters of Florida visitors; whether here seeking health or amusement, or to escape the cold of our Northern winters.

It is largely made up of winter hotels and boarding houses, which at this season are full to overflowing with Northern people, giving an air of bustle and stir to the place. The trains come and go well filled with passengers, the steamboat decks and wharves are crowded, and the sidewalks echo with the tramp of many feet. In a few more weeks these visitors, like so many birds of passage, will have flown northward; and when the season is over, and things settle down to their normal condition the contrast must be very marked. So far as we were able to see, there is little done here in the way of commerce beyond the trade in oranges and commercial fertilizers. We saw but few natural products in this vicinity that the country raises in sufficient quantity to export. The hotels depend upon the north for a very great part of their supplies; for their fresh meats even, and vegetables. The bills of fare look very tempting surely, telling you of green peas, string beans, asparagus, etc.; but alas for our expectations, they were grown last summer, perhaps in your own vicinage; at least your Canadian grocer can furnish them just as fresh and sweet as those you get in sunny Florida.

The Sabbath day broke bright and beautiful, and quiet reigned; contrasting pleasantly with the previous Sabbath in New Orleans. There a very large part of the stores were open and driving as vigorous a trade as on any day of the week; here for the most part they are closed. The railway trains and steamboats did not cease to run, but the mass of the people observed the day of rest. As we fell into the current of passers-by wending their way to church, we found the air balmy as June and sweet with the odor of orange blossoms and yellow jessamine. Wisterias were hanging their purple clusters from many balconies, while spireas and climbing roses wore bridal wreaths of white. The oleanders were just opening their flower buds, and the China trees were almost in bloom. Yet after all, how shall I convey to you the impression which the view down these streets makes upon one accustomed to Canadian village scenery? There is here no bright green lawn neatly shaven, to set off and enhance the beauty of the flowers. The sand, the sand is everywhere. Through it some scattered blades of coarse grass are struggling for life. There is also a general lack of tidiness about the yards and dwellings; an absence of that appearance of comfort and taste which makes our Canadian village residences look so home-like and cheery. But for all there is something very fascinating, on this fourth day of March, in walking beneath these wide spreading trees, and breathing the balmy fragrance laden air, to one, who, at this season has ever been compelled to wrap his mantle close about him, and then scarce able to keep out the chilling March wind that makes one’s very bones to shiver.

On Monday morning we embarked on one of the steamboats bound up the river, our destination being the ancient City of St. Augustine. In this part the St. John’s river is broad, but by no means proportionately deep; the current is very sluggish, and the water is of the color of strong tea. We were told that when the tide comes in, the salt water from the ocean runs up at the river’s bottom in a strong current of sea water running up the stream, while the fresh water of the river runs over it in the opposite direction without ever mingling. None of us went down to test the accuracy of the statement. The scenery as we pass up the river is pleasing, with a calm, placid beauty. The trees on the river bank are mirrored in the smooth waters. There are no hills to break the outline of the horizon, nor mountain peaks to give an element of grandeur to the prospect. Numerous small villages on either side of the river give life to the picture; the white cottages gleaming brightly through the foliage of the evergreen oaks that skirt the broad road that runs by the river side. At one of these villages called Mandarin, about fifteen miles above, and yet south, of Jacksonville, Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, whose name has become familiar to us all as the authoress of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, has her home. As we steamed past, our attention was directed to a neat residence with a verandah running across the front, and with dormer windows in the roof, which stood prominently conspicuous from our steamer’s deck, as the one in which she lived.

About eleven o’clock we reach Tocoi, forty-three miles south of Jacksonville, where we leave the steamboat and take the cars for St. Augustine. We looked to find a village here, but saw only a small railway station on piles, with a cabin or two near by to mark the site. The ride by rail to St. Augustine, distance fourteen miles, is through as desolate and forlorn a country as one need ever wish to see. Flat and monotonous indeed, and nearly sterile; the soil seemingly too poor almost, perhaps quite, to grow white beans. But we try to endure it patiently, for the ancient city that we are going to see lies beyond. How often is this repeated in life. The present ill for the future good. The patient endurance now, the expected joy by and by. The pathway of life, with its rugged places, its clouds and storms, but it leads to the eternal city. The cross now, the crown yonder.

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FRUIT GROWING IN THE NORTH.

THE “WEALTHY” APPLE.

Mr. Editor,—As you appear to wish that as many of your readers as possible should give their experiences in fruit culture, I will endeavour as well as I can to gratify that desire; although I feel that from the short time I have been in this part of the country these experiences will have but little value.

Although fully of opinion that anyone who plants apple trees for marketing purposes would act wisely in confining himself to very few varieties, I felt that before I could place my dependance on any one kind I must first know whether that kind would suit the soil and the climate in which they were to grow; and as I found it impossible without experience to satisfy myself on that point, it was wiser I thought to have three or four leading kinds, so that if one failed the rest might succeed; I therefore selected four leading varieties and in doing so I made four mistakes, these were: Northern Spy, Baldwin, Greening and Rox Russets, four kinds that will be found in every list as recommended by our own fruit growers as well as those in most of the United States; and what could I do knowing but little practically myself, but follow the advice of others. These men, no doubt embodied in their recommendations such fruits as would be the best in their own localities, but none of them lived as far north as the County of Simcoe; and I did not pay as much regard as I should do now to the nature of the climate, from which such recommendations came. I have called the N. Spy a mistake, the fault is that it is too long in coming into bearing; but the other three are too tender for this latitude. I think my soil is all right, it is part sandy, and part gravelly loam, with sand and gravel for subsoil; so that the trees cannot complain of having wet feet; but still the Rox Russets and Greenings are dying off at the rate of three or four every year; out of an original fifty of each, fully half of them being gone, and replaced by others inside of five years; the Baldwin does a little better, but is far from satisfactory; several of them look scrubby; wounds appear in the bark and dead wood in places; and these affected in any way never get better. They are just beginning to bear, and I expect the effort of ripening fruit will be too much for a great many of them, and yet, strange to say some of them are fine healthy looking trees; and a few of the Greenings and Rox Russets are looking fairly well. I have seen very fine Greening apples grown in this neighbourhood when top-grafted on seedlings, but would not recommend anyone to grow them on their own roots, or perhaps I ought to say on their own trunks. I have a few Ribston Pippins, but they are not doing so well as to encourage me to plant any more, they grow sprawling and do not look healthy, they blossom profusely but bear little fruit. The Wealthy, Red Astrachan, Hastings and St. Lawrence are growing finely and look healthy, as also the Duchess and Gravenstein; the Ontario received from the F. G. A. is a fine tree and has borne fruit the two last years, the fruit is of good size and hangs well on the tree, and I am inclined to think it may prove valuable in the north as well as elsewhere.

In later plantings I have endeavoured to avoid the mistake I first fell into by growing nothing but Ironclads, such as Wagners, Ben Davis, St. Lawrence and Duchess; I planted thirty Wagners last spring, and having occasion to remove some of them in the fall, I was surprised at the large bunches of small fibrous roots they had formed; I could compare them to nothing but the roots of a black currant. I look upon this as an indication that the soil suits them.

Advertising new varieties of fruit beyond their desserts has really become so much the custom, as all fruit growers are aware, that no one expects them to answer their descriptions, and if they do, and if by any chance they should turn out actually better, not only better than expected, but better than promised, there is, what shall I call it? Disappointment, but that is not a good word; it is true you may have expected in the light of previous experience, some sort of shortcoming or failure, and not getting what you expected, it would naturally be said you are disappointed; such Mr. Editor is the nature of my disappointment with the Wealthy apple. I had been led to expect something similar to the Snow, something better had been promised, but you know I did not expect that; imagine therefore my delight on finding the tree as hardy and healthy as a Crab, and seeing the perfectly shaped specimens of fruit without spot or blemish that were growing on my trees, daily increasing in size and colouring as they grew a beautiful red, not so dark as the Snow, but more attractive, till they approached as near perfection in appearance as could be wished; perfect in shape and averaging larger in size than that once famous variety, and producing as much fruit on sixteen trees last season as the rest of the orchard, although comprising no less than two or three hundred trees that were planted at the same time.

But what about its flavor for eating and its qualities for cooking?

Well, Mr. Editor, you see there are a great many boys round these parts who have an idea that they have as good a right to eat apples when they can get them as if they grew them themselves, or if they have no such idea, they carry out the principle, or want of principle into practice, whenever they have an opportunity, all the same, so it becomes dangerous to have choice fruit on the trees until it becomes ripe, or until some one arrests the process of ripening in an illegitimate way, and what a state of things does this necessitate, hundreds and thousands of bushels of immature fruit plucked from the trees every year because the owners prefer immature fruit to no fruit at all. I have heard temperance lecturers argue that we have a right to prohibit, put down, and abolish everything that becomes a public nuisance, and that interferes with the rights and liberties of others; now what a blessing it would be if one could get them to abolish the boys; for if there is a greater nuisance from a fruit grower’s point of view than these lawless vagabonds, let some one rise and explain. But all this has nothing to do with the flavour of the Wealthy apple, of which, at present, I must acknowledge myself not fully qualified to give an opinion; all the apples I could find on my trees were picked before being ripe, they were tried in my own family and amongst my friends, and pronounced very good, and I was not aware at the time but that they were in as good condition for eating as I could ever expect to have them; but passing through my orchard quite late in the fall—I am not sure but some snow had fallen previously—I found under one of my trees two Wealthy apples, and they proved to be much superior to those previously tried; they had acquired a certain aromatic flavour not unlike that of a pear, which placed them in my opinion in the front rank as a dessert apple; those tried for cooking were in an unripe state, and as such not equal to the Red Astrachan or Gravenstein in the same condition; I should suppose that although they can be used for cooking, their proper place is as dessert, and as such they will supply a want that has been much felt.

I have jotted down a few notes about grapes, but as this article is already long enough I will keep them for another letter.    Yours, etc.,

A. Hood,

Barrie, Ont.

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FRUIT IN NORTH SIMCOE.

Mr. Editor,—As your columns are open to contributors a few remarks on fruit growing in this northern county may not be uninteresting to some of your readers. Fruit growing in this county has not received the attention it deserves for several reasons. First, it has been a source of disappointment to a great many who have spent hundreds of dollars on fruit trees and have scarcely anything to show for it. Now, this comes from planting fruit which is not congenial to the climate, and from improper care. There are varieties of apples that flourish seventy miles to the south of us on the borders of Lake Ontario that will not thrive with us, for example, the King of Tompkins, the R. I. Greening, and the Northern Spy, and a host of others that are of no use planting here. Years ago, when the agents of Yankee nurseries came round they sold vast quantities of those varieties that looked best on paper, that is in their plate books. I know that hundreds of dollars worth of King of Tompkins were sold, and now I only know of two trees that are alive and bearing within a radius of several miles. The same may be said of the R. I. Greening. But some will be ready to say “Oh, but the Northern Spy does well with me.” I grant there is a number of the trees in bearing in this district, but my experience of the Spy is this, it is a long time before it begins to bear, and when it begins to bear it begins to die. I can point out instances of it in every orchard that I know. First, one side turns yellow, then dies, and a large limb falls out and shows the heart to be rotten, and then the rest of it soon follows. There are several other varieties that I could name that do not suit our climate. The varieties that seem to do the best with us are the following: Among the harvest apples, first and foremost among these comes the Duchess of Oldenburg, a thrifty tree and an early and abundant bearer of apples which do not spot. Red Astrachan does fairly well but spots badly. Early Strawberry, early Harvest, and Brockville Beauty all do well. As to fall apples the St. Lawrence, Alexander, Fameuse, and Tolman Sweet are among the hardiest varieties here, although the Fameuse has spotted so badly of late years as to spoil its market value to a great extent. Among winter varieties the American Golden Russet unquestionably stands at the head of the list. Tree, a smooth hardy grower, a long liver, and a regular bearer. Then we have the Roxbury Russet, Spitzenburg, Ben Davis, and Red Pound, all hardy and thrive well here. The varieties that I have named are the leading varieties, and the ones that pay the best to plant, because with proper care, all those named are sure to succeed. And now

A FEW WORDS AS TO CARE.

Many people plant a tree as they do a post, and expect it to grow and take care of itself. Many young orchards are sown with grain and then seeded down to grass, which eventually becomes a twitch grass sod. There is no surer way of killing the trees, and this accounts in a great measure for the sorry, scraggy looking specimens one often sees as the result of careless culture, coupled with injudicious choice as to varieties. But with the proper varieties and careful culture we can grow as fine fruit as can be grown in the Dominion. I think the same remarks apply to pears as to apples. It is only the hardiest varieties that succeed here, but those that do succeed here, produce very fine specimens of fruit. We can grow a great many varieties of plums, although the black knot and curculio attack them here as well as elsewhere. But I believe that the most successful way of raising the finer kinds is to top-graft them into the native seedlings. As to cherries the Early Richmond takes the lead. It seems to be the standard variety for this country. I have tried year after year to raise the black and yellow kinds but have always failed. It seems to be too far north for them. I believe the Fruit Growers’ Association of Ontario is doing a grand work in the dissemination of knowledge on matters pertaining to growing fruit, and in introducing new varieties. And here let me say that the country owes a debt of gratitude to those men who have spent time and money in propagating, testing, and introducing new varieties of fruit suitable to the varied climate of this country. Those men have done their fellow-countrymen a service that should not be soon forgotten. They have left very legible footprints on the sands of time. I am one of those who believe there is a great future for Ontario as a fruit growing Province. It is making rapid strides at present, thanks to the Fruit Growers’ Association, and to those veteran fruit growers who have associated themselves together in this society, and given to their fellow-countrymen the benefit of their vast experience. Some people said years ago, “Oh, what’s the use of planting fruit, it will be a drug in the market in a few years.” But instead of that, as years roll on, the demand keeps increasing. Fruit never brought so good a price as it is doing the present winter. And now, Mr. Editor, excuse me for occupying so much of your valuable space. At some future time I hope to afflict you again with a letter on the growing of small fruits in this district. Wishing you and the Association every success.

I am, yours respectfully,

G. C. Caston.

[Note.—Such letters as this are the kind of affliction that is changed to pleasure. We hope our kind correspondent will soon favour our readers with his experience in cultivating small fruits. Such lessons from personal experience are of great value.—Ed.]

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APPLE TREES IN IOWA.

Your note on page 71 is too sweeping. On our black prairie soils all varieties of grade of hardiness of Ben Davis were killed. But the Duchess, Wealthy, Wolf River, Plumb’s Cider, and others of this grade stood. On light-colored bluff soils the Ben Davis, Grimes’ Golden, Willow, etc., were not much injured. Yet the losses in the prairie States were truly immense, as the greater part of the whole area has the black soil. The Russians are all hardy, that is the true Russians from the interior. Yours,

J. L. Budd.

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CANADA BALDWIN.

The Arnprior Nurseries say of this variety, “We find it as hardy as any of the following:—Wealthy, Duchess, Tetofsky, Montreal Peach and Plumb’s Cider.” And any of the above will stand our hardest winter. It is also a very free grower, but not so free as the Wealthy. It came out all right when the Fameuse was badly winter killed. It does not do well on light soils, it prefers a heavy loam touching on clay, on light soils it grows very slowly while on heavy soils it is a fine grower.

G. H. J.

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COUNTY OF RENFREW FRUIT GROWERS’ ASSOCIATION.

To the Editor of the Canadian Horticulturist.

There have, no doubt, been great difficulties encountered heretofore in the cultivation of fruit itself in this district, and there are probably many difficulties yet to be overcome; but there was not the slightest trouble in organizing what promises to be a very successful County Fruit Growers’ Association. From the first, the idea of a meeting to “rub noses” on horticultural and kindred topics was received with favour by the farmers and amateurs of the immediate vicinity of Renfrew Village and even by enthusiasts from extreme ends of the County; and the Association started into life with nearly fifty members, everyone of whom, through it, became a member of the Ontario Association.

The inaugural meeting was held in the Town Hall, Renfrew, on the afternoon of Tuesday, Jan. 22nd, and about half of these members were present, besides a sprinkling of interested visitors. The officers were selected from the town and various townships represented, as follows:—President, A. A. Wright, Renfrew; Vice-President, David Halliday, Horton; Sec.-Treas., W. E. Smallfield, Renfrew; Committee, Andrew Forrest, John Johnston, Allan J. Lindsay; Robt. McLaren, Horton; James Fraser, Bagot; John Stewart, McNab; R. Humphries, Ross; and Donald Campbell, Admaston.

After a short address by the President, the work laid out for the first meeting—the preparation of a reliable list of the apples that have been successfully grown in the district—was proceeded with. Every member present, in turn, was called upon by name to relate his experiences of success and failure in full. This informal and conversational style of conducting the meeting was received with favour, and secured good results. An extended report of the information thus gathered will appear as an appendix to the Ontario Association’s Annual Report, but as that will probably not be published for some time, a summary of the “experiences” may prove of use to those living in similar districts who wish to purchase stock this season.

There was a unanimous decision in favour of the Wealthy and Duchess of Oldenburg apples. Everybody grows them, and they succeed with everybody. Tetofsky is also almost universally successful; and the Walbridge, McIntosh Red and Red Astrachan, though not so generally fruited, are all giving very fair satisfaction. The Fameuse is not so generally grown as might be supposed, but there are some very old trees in the vicinity, bearing splendid crops. The Alexander and Pewaukee were variously reported on, but with a majority in their favour. This completes the list of really reliable trees, although there were a large number of others spoken of succeeding and failing with individuals—not sufficient evidence, however, to make or condemn their reputations for general hardiness and fruitfulness.

Mr. Wright read the paper on “Apple culture in the cold north,” which he also presented before the Ontario Association at the Woodstock meeting.

The members were requested to make a large display of grapes at the local Agricultural Society’s next Exhibition; and to note the dates when they commenced to colour and when they ripened.

It was decided to hold another meeting in June or July for the discussion of the subject of “Small Fruits.”

The success of the meeting was so evident that the farmers present were encouraged to proceed with the organization of a previously-talked-of Farmers’ Club, which has since held some interesting and well-attended meetings.

Some conversation and discussion on Mr. Phipp’s work in the way of Forest preservation, concluded the proceedings.

In the January number, referring to the attempt then yet to be made to start this County of Renfrew Association, the editor of the Horticulturist urged the fruit growers of other counties to take steps to organize similar branch societies. I have no doubt that the advice of all those who were present at the Renfrew meeting, to their fellow labourers all over the Province, would be—“Act on the editor’s suggestion at once.”

Renfrew would probably be considered one of the last districts in the Province where it would be thought possible to form a successful association of the sort; but it only needed that the ball should be set rolling, and then it moved along smoothly and well.

Besides the enthusiasm kindled, and the information which must necessarily be gained from the interchange of ideas by a number of persons heartily interested in the same work, the association may fairly claim to have been of benefit in other ways. The publication of its first fruit list has probably saved many dollars to those in the neighbourhood who are just beginning to take an interest in this important industry, and who would otherwise have been very much in the hands of tree peddlers—scrupulous or unscrupulous, just as it happened. And the addition of fifty names to the membership list of the Ontario Association, means fifty more readers of the Horticulturist, and consequently fifty more intelligent enthusiasts.

W. E. Smallfield,

Renfrew, Feb. 22, 1884.

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WHAT OUR READERS SAY.

I must congratulate you on the improvement in the appearance and so much intelligent matter contained in the monthly visits of the Horticulturist, in its bright pages, wishing you every happiness and a very, very pleasant Christmas.

John Little,

Fish Creek, Ont.

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Dear Sir,—I need hardly say that your publication is almost invaluable to the amateur gardener or horticulturist, and is worthy of extensive patronage and circulation.

J. K. Falconbridge.

Richmond Hill.

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I like the Horticulturist very much and wait with impatience the coming of each monthly issue. I find its articles clear and most practical and well fitted to assist the great majority of Canadian farmers, who are beginning to take more interest in their orchards and gardens, and I look forward with great pleasure to the time when our landscapes will wear more of the grace and beauty of the “Old Country.” This can only be accomplished by each landowner taking a pride in his home, and endeavouring to beautify it with those simple treasures of flowers and fruits and trees which a bountiful Providence has placed within the reach of all.

Yours truly,

Fred. Foyston,

Minising.

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THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST AND REPORT.

Dear Sir,—I want the Horticulturist. Could not well do without it with its improvements every year, and if your annual report improves as it has done the last two years it will soon be worth three times the money.

Wm. Gillett,

Marchmont.

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ENGLISH SPARROW.

To the Editor of The Canadian Horticulturist:

Dear Sir,—If what I read in the Toronto daily newspapers is correct your association has fallen foul of the English sparrow once more, and as I was born and spent all my early days in a fruit growing section of England, and where the sparrow was far more numerous than in any part of Ontario—so numerous that one half-penny was paid for every one brought to a certain official appointed by the Council, and notwithstanding the above facts I beg to express my astonishment at a fruit grower being an enemy to the sparrow, for certain I am that the sparrow is the best friend he has amongst the feathered tribes. He does the fruit grower all the good he can. He eats the tent caterpillar’s eggs; he eats the spider’s eggs, and even the spider dirts up our fruit with its webs; and for three consecutive years the sparrow cleaned off all the caterpillars from my cabbages. Unfortunately the latter service they do not perform until they have done nesting (the last of August), and the caterpillars do considerable damage before that date, but I find dusting buckwheat flour on the cabbage to be a sure cure; any other flour is just as good but more costly; any other fine powder will do just as well as flour. But this is running away from the poor sparrow, and I do not wish to do so until I have asked those of your readers who accuse him of eating, yes! the bud of the gooseberry bushes and I know not how many more bushes, to reconsider the matter, to withdraw their verdict until they see a hundred or so of them light on one of their bushes, and have hopped and picked all over the bush. After this and the sparrows have gone, if Mr. Fruitgrower will kindly step out and examine the bush I will guarantee he will find all the buds on the bush. If all will do this they all will ask themselves the question “What were the little creatures picking at if not the buds?” The answer to this question I will leave in the hands of our worthy president. Some will be wondering why a half-penny was paid for his head if he did so much good, and as I believe in both sides being seen I will, with your permission, show the other side of Mr. Sparrow, not that the fruit growers of my native country ever saw but one side, and did not contribute one cent willingly to have the number reduced. No it was the farmers who complained against the poor wretch, and got the Council to offer a reward of a half-penny for his poor head, as I suppose they thought this better than to have to hire boys to guard their wheat fields. Had they (the farmers) grown sunflowers the sparrows would have had their share of them, too. And I would recommend market gardeners and others to sow a few sunflowers near their cabbages to attract the sparrows; if they do this the sparrows will take some of the seed, and will clean out all the caterpillars. Some in Canada say the sparrow drives other birds away; some have even said they kill the native birds. They will certainly take possession of the holes in buildings, &c., that swallows had nested in the year previous, so that when the swallows come why of course there is a little fuss for a day or so, but the swallow finds itself another place to nest in, as also does the blue bird. This I am certain is all the trouble between the sparrow and other birds, and I am also certain that the wheat and sunflower are the only two grain crops that they do any harm to, and this only when in a soft or milk state. I have read about his eating oats. I have even read that he was wholly destroying the French-Canadians’ barley crop, and many other things they were accused of doing, and I thought, “Well, poor sparrow, what a shame it was to bring you to this country, and to so reduce you with hunger that you had to eat either oats or barley, neither of which you ever touched in your native home.” But suppose he has all the faults some say he has in eating oats, barley, &c., why can’t fruit growers leave him alone until he has exterminated the tent caterpillars and a many other enemies the fruit grower has to contend with. They do not eat fruit, at least they never ate any in my grounds, and I have grown cherries, grapes, gooseberries, red, white, and black currants; raspberries, both black, red, and white, several kinds of strawberries and plums,—quite an assortment—so that if they had any taste for fruit they would have tried their beaks on some of them, but not one variety did they ever try on my place, and I have seen hundreds of them at a time. In conclusion, Mr. Editor, let me urge it upon the fruit growers of Ontario to leave the poor sparrow alone, and if he is to be exterminated let it be for some harm he does, but never accuse him of eating fruit, for he eats none of the varieties I have enumerated, and I might add apples and pears to the list, and even peaches, unless he has acquired a taste for them since he has been brought to Canada, and I am willing to admit that he may even eat barley in this country, but I never saw him so doing.

Geo. Mitchell.

Perth, Feb. 2, 1884.

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Good Lettuce.—A writer in the Rural New Yorker says:—The Salamander Lettuce forms a large, compact head, withstands heat and drought, is crisp and tender, and remains in edible condition longer than any variety I have ever raised. It is an acquisition.

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REPORT ON PLANTS RECEIVED.

As I understand you want reports of premium plants and trees sent out by the association, I may say my Burnet grape was bearing quite a few bunches this year, but was killed by frost before the fruit began to colour. Moore’s Early does not grow very strong. The Wealthy apple is doing well. Saunders raspberry bears well. Niagara has made a fair start. The Ontario apple is a failure with me. The crab apple trees here were attacked by a blight in the spring of last year, about the fall of the blossom. I have six trees which were covered with blossoms at the time, but it all fell off and the fruit with it, and many of the leaves also fell, those remaining looking withered. Towards fall the trees seemed to freshen up a little; they did not blossom at all this year, but appear to be all right other ways. My trees were not the only ones affected. Some think it was a fly and some think it was frost which caused the young fruit to fall. I think it was the blight.

Yours respectfully,

Robert Scott,

Hopeville.

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HARDY SMALL FRUITS.

Now that the importance of the subject of importing scions, seeds and plants of hardy fruits of all varieties from colder climates than ours, for the purpose of finding some varieties better suited to our climatic conditions, or varieties more suitable than any we now have to contribute their hardiness or other desirable peculiarities through hybridizing, or, as more hardy stocks for grafting or budding purposes, is becoming better understood, and is being acted upon by the Fruit Growers’ Association, it may be well to give some attention to the fruits of cold countries other than Russia. Judging from the following extracts from a paper read before the Royal Society, England, by W. M. Williams on “Home Gardens for Smoky Towns,” Denmark seems to offer great inducements for an investigation of its wealth of small fruits.

Mr. Williams says:—“The most luxuriant growth of cherries, currants, gooseberries and raspberries I have ever seen in any part of the world that I have visited, is where they might be least expected, viz: Norway; not the South of Norway merely, but more particularly in the valleys that slope from the 500 square miles of the perpetual ice desert of the Justedal down to the Sognifjord, latitude 61° to 61½°, considerably to the north of the northermost of the Shetland Islands. The cherry and currant trees are marvellous there.”

“In the garden of one of the former stations (Sande) I counted seventy fine bunches of red currants growing on six inches of one of the overladen down-hanging stems of a currant bush. Cherries are served for dessert by simply breaking off a small branch of the tree and bringing it to the table; the fruit almost as many as the leaves.”

I give another quotation from the same article respecting the English sparrow, which speaks for itself.

“Those who believe the newspaper myths which represent such thick-billed birds eating caterpillars, should make observations and experiments for themselves as I have done.”

T. B.

Lindsay, April 1884.

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THE STRAWBERRY.

To the Editor of the Canadian Horticulturist.

The strawberry and I are old friends. I first became acquainted with it on the hills and dales of old Ireland, there I had in my boyhood’s days with my young companions eaten till satisfied, and then stringing them on what we call the wind-straw or straws of timothy grass.

The strawberry is one of nature’s masterpieces of beauty and richness, and an accumulation of these attractions is sufficient to recommend it to the notice of all lovers of fruit.

Until the advent of the Wilson, in ’57, it was a luxury to be enjoyed only by the few, now it is indispensable in nearly every family.

Where well grown it is not only cheerfully bought and paid for, but eagerly sought. Every thing connected with its culture is pleasant, and there is no hard work attending it. It occupies the ground but a short time, removes almost nothing from it and leaves it in a good condition for the following crop; while other fruits have their favourite localities outside of which they cannot be grown at a profit, this flourishes on almost any soil and any climate where one cares to live. It requires but little capital and its cultivation is easily learned. It has but few enemies and is one of the surest crops grown. I have cultivated it many years without a failure. It brings a large amount from a small piece of ground, and may be grown in connection with other crops at very little cost.

But yet, although its culture offers so many inducements, only those who have had some experience and who live within a reasonable distance of a good market or a railroad station, should engage in it extensively.

Any land properly prepared and managed may be made just right, and the idea that certain varieties will only flourish on sand and others only on clay, is erroneous and productive of no good except to furnish a crawling-out place for those who introduce varieties that are unworthy of general cultivation.

The bearing out of this statement will be the subject of the next paper.

J. L.

Fish Creek, Feb. 21st, 1884.

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STRAWBERRY PROSPECTS FOR THE SUMMER OF 1884.

Dear Sir,—Being a subscriber to the Horticulturist, and a grower of small fruits for marketing purposes, and desiring to open up correspondence with other fruit growers throughout Ontario on the prospects of the strawberry and other small fruits this year, through the Horticulturist, so that we growers may form some idea of the probable yield of strawberries and other small fruits, and thereby regulate the price according to the supply and demand, and not be left to the mercy of fruit dealers, I have taken the liberty to report the prospects of the strawberry crop as gathered at the annual meeting of the Small Fruit Growers’ Association of the Counties of Oxford and Brant, held at Burford, Jan. 24th, 1884. The general opinion of the meeting was that the prospects of the strawberry crop this year are not as good as last year, for the following reasons:—The old plantations, on account of the early frosts and cold wet weather last fall, made little aftergrowth, and looked weak and sickly when winter set in. New plots, as a rule, are not promising a very good yield on account of being badly thinned out by the white grub. The Wilson strawberry, from some cause, appears to be failing with us for the last year or two. The plants are less hardy and not as productive as they were a few years ago. The Crescent Seedling is the most reliable of the old varieties for marketing purposes with us. It is more productive than the Wilson and is growing in favour with consumers. Of the new varieties the Manchester and James Vick were highly recommended, by those who have fruited those varieties, for hardiness and productiveness.

The raspberry bushes, when winter set in, looked strong and healthy.

The grape crop was a failure last year on account of the early frost destroying them before ripening. The principal varieties grown are the Concord, Delaware, and Clinton.

Those of the members who grow currants and gooseberries for market seem to be satisfied with the investment.

Yours truly,

S. Cornwell.

Norwich, March 8, 1884.

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THE GROSBEAKS.

Mr. Editor,—In the March number of your Magazine, which has just come to hand, Mr. Bissell, of Thedford, expresses a wish to know “if the grosbeak (Coccothraustes ludoviciana) has made its appearance in any part of Ontario this winter.”

It is very desirable that our fruit growers should interest themselves in the birds and their “economic relations,” as these are of far greater importance than most people imagine. About ten years ago a specialist was appointed to report on this subject to the State of Wisconsin, and the report has only recently been published. It shews that the writer, Dr. King, has given great attention to the matter in all its bearings, including the microscopic examination of the contents of the stomachs of 1,800 birds. This was done with a view to ascertain from the nature of their food whether they hurt or help us, and to what extent. “A good deal has been said on both sides,” and the English sparrow comes in for a share of odium, yet after all the Dr. has done, he admits that our knowledge of the subject is far too incomplete to warrant us in advocating the total extermination of any one of the numerous species we have among us.

Regarding the grosbeaks there are eight different species peculiar to North America, four of which have been found in Ontario. There is the Cardinal, (Cardinalis virginianus) a jaunty, showy fellow, handsome in form, and brilliant in plumage, with a high top knot. His home is in the Middle States, but once or twice he has been captured on the north shore of Lake Erie toward the west end. Another very showy member of this family is the Evening Grosbeak (Hesperiphona vespertina); he is entirely different in color from the preceding, being clothed in the richest black and yellow, which in the spring time shines like ebony inlaid with gold. This species is peculiar to the northwest, but has been once got near Hamilton, and also at London and Woodstock.

The species best known in this part of the Dominion is the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, (Coccothraustes ludoviciana) which arrives from the south about the middle of May, spends the summer and rears its young in the bush, where its rich rolling song is frequently heard, and retires to the south again about the end of September. It is the name of this species Mr. Bissell uses in describing the birds he saw near his place, but it is evidently a case of mistaken identity as regards the name, and I hope it may also be so as regards the habits of the birds he saw, though I could not be so positive on this point, as no one can tell how far birds will change their habits under certain forced conditions. The species which has appeared in such numbers during the past and present winters is the Pine Grosbeak, (Pinicola enucleator); it is a denizen of the north, and in Ontario is classed as an irregular winter visitor. They were here in considerable numbers last winter, remaining from January to the first of April, feeding almost exclusively on the berries of the mountain ash, and red cedar. I have also seen them taking the buds off the pine and tamarack. Toward the time of their departure, they often fed on such apples as remained on the trees, but I have not heard them accused of taking fruit buds. Those we see here are mostly young birds of the first year, and females, plainly dressed in smoky grey, touched here and there with orange. Occasionally we see in a flock an adult male, blushed all over with the richest crimson, which shows with great effect against a sombre background of Norway spruce, among which they frequently seek for shelter. They are of a most gentle and amiable disposition, quite unsuspicious; being reared perhaps in the remote solitudes of the “great lone land,” they are little used to the wicked ways of man. This seems a long letter on an outside subject, but after all birds and flowers are closely allied, and I hope your readers will not complain.

Truly yours,

T. McIlwraith.

March 10th, 1884.

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JESSICA GRAPE.

To the Editor of the Canadian Horticulturist.

Dear Sir,—I have just received the January and February numbers of the Horticulturist. I had not sent in my dollar for 1884, the consequence was no Horticulturist. I feel like saying “God bless the papers that dare stop when the subscriptions are run out, and also the groceryman that cuts just a pound of cheese when asked to do so; they are the best kind.” The Horticulturist is picking right up. The February number is just full of cream. I am pleased with the lithograph of the Jessica grape. I have fruited this grape and can say the plate is a fair representation, except, perhaps, a little higher colour than the Jessica grown on my soil, but must say my soil is not at all favourable for colouring grapes. It is quite refreshing in these times to see an introducer of a new grape in getting up a lithograph to come down to about the right size and not try to make a grape the size of a Delaware appear the size of Rogers’ 15. The Jessica is very sweet, very early, very hardy, and quite productive. I would not do without a vine or so of Jessica for my own use. This last season, when most of the other varieties were spoiled with the early frost, we were very thankful for the few Jessicas we had. There have been wonderful improvements made in grapes suitable for Canada, and we have not got to the end yet. Who would not grow grapes now.

Yours respectfully,

Allen Moyer.

Jordan Station, Feb. 5, 1884.

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EXPERIMENTS WITH POTATOES.

Mr. Editor,—A neighbor has been making some experiments in the cultivation of potatoes which seems so likely to be of interest to your readers that I send you the following account.

Last season he planted equal areas of ground in close proximity, so that there was no apparent difference in the quality of the soil, with the Beauty of Hebron potato, cut to sets of one to two eyes. In one piece of ground he planted the potatoes in hills, the rows three and a half feet apart, and the hills the same distance apart in the row, putting two pieces in each hill; in another he put three pieces in each hill, and in another four; observing in them all the same distance between the rows and between the hills. When the potatoes were ripe he had them dug and carefully weighed, with the following result, viz.:

The hills in the area planted with two sets produced117lbs.
The hills in the area planted with three sets produced132lbs.
The hills in the area planted with four sets produced141¾lbs.

As the hills planted with four sets produced considerably more small potatoes than those planted with three, he considers that three sets is the preferable number when planted in hills.

Other like areas he planted in drills, running the drills three and a half feet apart, and placing the potato sets nine to ten inches apart in the drill. One of these areas he did not cultivate at all, but as soon as planted covered it to a depth of from four to six inches with clippings from the lawn. Had straw been at hand, he thinks mulching with it would have answered as well, if not better. The other area he cultivated in the usual manner. When harvested and weighed, he found that the portion planted in drills and cultivated, produced 160 lbs.; the portion in drills uncultivated, but mulched, produced 156 lbs.

This shows a much larger product from drills than from hills upon an equal area of ground, and but little less from the drills that had been mulched than from those that had been cultivated. The area that was mulched required no labor in cultivating, and less labor in digging, for when the mulch was forked off, most of the potatoes were found on the surface of the soil. My neighbor is of the opinion that for those who have straw available for mulching, this method will be found the most advantageous, especially in a dry season, while in such case the drills might be placed two feet apart instead of three and a half feet, there being no cultivating to be done.

This experiment seems to shew that we get a much larger yield per acre by growing our potatoes in drills than by planting them in hills, and that by covering them after planting with a mulch of straw to the depth of six inches, the labor of cultivation will be saved and that of digging largely diminished, while the yield is not sufficiently less to counterbalance these advantages, where one has the material for mulching conveniently at hand.

B.

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PERSIAN CYCLAMENS.

Persian Cyclamens.

Persian Cyclamens are beautiful little plants and exceedingly profuse bloomers between January and March.

I sow my Cyclamens in a pot or pan of light soil as soon as I can get the seeds, say in February or March, and soon after they germinate prick them off into small pots, then pot them singly into 2¼ inch pots and afterward into 3 inch ones. I endeavor to keep these young plants growing all summer, and in fall several of them may need to be re-potted into 4 inch pots. In winter keep them near the glass, faintly shaded from strong sunshine and moderately moist, most of them will blossom. After they have done blooming say in April, I give them rather less water than before, but do not dry them off thoroughly, and in May, plant them out in an open frame; any piece of garden ground would do as well. I take no further heed of them during the summer months, except keep away weeds.

About the end of July or in August, they will begin to grow; then I lift and pot them, using well-drained pots and rich earth, and place them close together in a cold frame. For some time I water sparingly; but as they advance in growth, more copiously. They are taken indoors before there is danger from frost. These should blossom full in January, February and March.

By raising a few seedlings every year (and every seed should come up without any trouble) you can always have a young, vigorous set of plants. I do not care about keeping Cyclamens over three years old. In potting Cyclamens I like to have the corm rest upon the top of the soil, or, at most, be buried but to half its depth. But when I plant them out in the frames, I place the “roots” about an inch or half an inch beneath the surface. Some growers prefer growing their Cyclamens altogether in pots.—W. Falconer, in American Garden.

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THE RED SPIDER.

The red spider is not correctly speaking an insect, though it is commonly spoken of as such, neither is it a spider, as its name would imply, but an acarus or mite. It is a most destructive and troublesome pest wherever it makes its presence felt; it by no means confines itself to a few kinds of plants, but it is very indiscriminate in its choice of food, and it attacks both plants grown under glass and those in the open air. When these pests are present in large numbers the leaves on which they feed soon present a sickly yellow or scorched appearance; for the supply of sap is drawn off by myriads of these little mites, which congregate on the undersides of the leaves, where they live in a very delicate web, which they spin, and multiply very rapidly; this web and the excrement of the red spider soon choke up the pores of the leaves, which, deprived of their proper amount of sap, and unable to procure the carbon from the atmosphere which they so much need, are soon in a sorry plight. However promiscuous these mites may be in their choice of food plants—they are by no means insensible to the difference between dryness and moisture. To the latter they have a most decided objection, and it is only in warm and dry situations that they give much trouble, and it is nearly always in dry seasons that plants, &c., out-of-door suffer from these pests.

Sulphur is one of the most efficient agents known for killing them; but it will not, however, mix properly with water in its ordinary form, but should be treated according to the following recipe: Boil together in four gallons of water, 1 lb. of flowers of sulphur and 2 lbs. of fresh lime, and add 1½ lbs. of soft soap, and, before using, 3 gallons more of water; or mix 4 oz. of sulphate of lime with half that weight of soft soap, and when well mixed add 1 gallon of hot water. Use when cool enough to bear your hand in.

In vineries one of the best ways of destroying these creatures is to paint the hot-water pipes with one part of fresh lime and two parts of flowers of sulphur mixed into a paint. If a flue is painted in this way great care should be taken that the sulphur does not burn, or much damage may be done, as the flues may become much hotter than hot-water pipes. During the earlier stages of growth keep the atmosphere moist and impregnated with ammonia by a layer of fresh stable litter, or by painting the hot-water pipes with guano made into a paint; as long as the air in the house is kept moist there is not much danger of a bad attack.

The red spider lays its eggs among the threads of the web which it weaves over the undersides of the leaves; the eggs are round and white; the young spiders are hatched in about a week, and they very much resemble their parents in general appearance, but they have only three pairs of legs instead of four at first, and they do not acquire the fourth pair until they have changed their skins several times; they are, of course, much smaller in size, but are, however, in proportion just as destructive as the older ones. They obtain the juice of the leaves by eating through the skin with their mandibles, and then thrusting in their probosces or suckers, through which they draw out the juices. The females are very fertile, and breed with great rapidity under favourable circumstances all the year round.

The red spiders, as I have already stated, are not real spiders, but belong to the family Acarina or mites, a family included in the same class (the Arachnida) as the true spiders.

The red spider (Tetranychus telarius) is very minute, not measuring more than the sixtieth of an inch in length when full grown; their colour is very variable, some individuals being nearly white, others greenish, or various shades of orange, and red. This variation in colour probably depends somewhat on their age or food—the red ones are generally supposed to be the most mature. The head is furnished with a pair of pointed mandibles, between which is a pointed beak or sucker. The legs are eight in number; the two front pairs project forwards and the other two backwards; they are covered with long stiff hairs; the extremities of the feet are provided with long bent hairs, which are each terminated by a knob. The legs and feet appear to be only used in drawing out the threads and weaving the web. The thread is secreted by a nipple or spinneret situated near the apex of the body on the underside. The upper surface of the body is sparingly covered with long stiff hairs.—The Garden.

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BOOK NOTICES.

Descriptive Catalogue of American grape vines, small fruit plants, etc. Geo. S. Josselyn, Fredonia, N. Y.

Illustrated Catalogue of Green’s Nursery Company, Rochester, N. Y. for 1884, with hints on fruit culture.

Descriptive Catalogue Spring, 1884, of the Moorton Fruit Garden, Moorton, Delaware. Caleb Boggs, Proprietor.

Industrial News, published by the Inventor’s Institute, Cooper Union, New York, in the interest of inventors and the producing classes.

Hints on Landscape Architecture as applied to the Home, Parks, Public Institutions, etc., by A. N. Carpenter; L. A. Gallesburg, Illinois.

Descriptive Catalogue for 1884 of seeds, plants and trees, with coloured plates of Crimson Beauty Raspberry, and Jumbo Strawberry. A. M. Purdy, Palmyra, N. Y.

Descriptive Catalogue of Dunreith Nursery; new pears, quinces, grapes, small fruits, new strawberry, catalpas, etc., etc. E. Y. Teas, Dunreith, Henry Co., Indiana.

Catalogue of live seeds. Fred N. Lang, Baraboo, Wisconsin. Mr. Lang says: “I guarantee the seeds I sell, insomuch that in any case of their failure to germinate under fair conditions, I will return the money paid for them.”

Retail Catalogue of Warranted seeds, vegetable and flower, for 1884, grown and sold by James J. H. Gregory, Marblehead, Massachusetts, copiously illustrated. Sent free on application.

Seed Annual 1884, D. M. Ferry & Co., Windsor, Ont. A very neat and handsomely illustrated catalogue of vegetable, tree, farm and flower seeds, with description of their seed farms, trial grounds and packing rooms.

Catalogue, Illustrative and Descriptive of choice Farm, Garden and Flower seeds, selected from my own stocks and those of the most celebrated European growers. Wm. Evans, 89-93 McGill Street, Montreal.

Wilford’s Microcosm for March is to hand. It is published monthly by Hall & Co., 23 Park Row, New York, at one dollar a year. The Editor seemingly has no confidence in the wave theory of sound. Wonder what his views are on the motion theory of heat.

Schedule of Prizes offered by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society for the year 1884. Among the prizes offered we notice one of $50 for the best essay on the use and economy of chemical fertilizers on fruits, plants and vegetables, as influencing the growth and quality. The essay to give a detailed account of actual experiments and results during three years. As competition is open to all, perhaps some Canadian can step in and take the prize. Sixty dollars is offered for the best seedling pear originated since 1876, and a like amount for the best seedling apple and for the best seedling hardy grape. Thirty dollars is offered for the best seedling early potato, also for the best late potato, and for the best other seedling vegetable. Any one wishing to compete can obtain a copy of the prize list giving full particulars by applying to the Secretary, Mr. Robert Manning, Boston, Mass.

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WHO SETS THE FASHIONS?

 

Who sets the fashions, I’d like to know,

For the little people beneath the snow?

And are they working a weary while,

To dress themselves in the latest style?

 

There’s Mrs. Primrose, who used to be

The very picture of Modesty;

Plain were her dresses, but now she goes

With cramps and fringes and furbelows.

 

And even Miss Buttercup puts on airs.

Because the color in vogue she wears;

And as for Dandelion, dear me?

A vainer creature you ne’er will see.

 

When Mrs. Poppy—that dreadful flirt—

Was younger, she wore but one plain skirt;

But now I notice, with great surprise,

She’s several patterns of largest size.

 

The Fuchsia sisters—those lovely belles!—

Improve their styles as the mode compels;

And though everybody is loud in their praise,

They ne’er depart from their modest ways.

 

And the Pansy family must have found

Queen Elizabeth’s wardrobe under ground;

For in velvets and satins of every shade,

Throughout the season they’re all arrayed.

 

Pinks and Daisies and all the flowers

Change their fashions, as we change ours;

And those who knew them in olden days

Are mystified by their modern ways.

 

Who sets the fashions, I’d like to know,

For the little people beneath the snow?

And are they busy a weary while,

Dressing themselves in the latest style?

 

New-York Independent.

—————

Green Peas.—The most productive very early pea on my grounds was Burpee’s Extra Early, although it was three days later than Tom Thumb. For the main crop I prefer American Wonder.—Rural New Yorker.

 

Early “Paragon” Rhubarb.—This is a new variety, originated in England, and now introduced here. We grew it last year alongside of the older kinds, and were favourably impressed with its superiority. The stalks are bright red, very heavy, and produced in quick succession and wonderful abundance. It is earlier, of more delicate flavor, and decidedly less acid than any other variety we are acquainted with. But its most remarkable and most valuable qualification is that it does not produce flower stalks, to which fact its great productiveness is mainly attributable, all the strength of the plant being used for the development of its leaves. The habit of the plant is remarkably compact, so that plantations do not require to be renewed every few years, while the clumps nevertheless retain their original position. To judge from the high praise this variety has received in England, as well as from our own experience in growing it, we do not doubt that, when generally known, it will be largely planted in preference to the older kinds.—American Garden.

 

Kerosene to Kill Insects.—Since the illuminating oil obtained from petroleum, known in this country as kerosene, and in England as paraffine oil, came into general use, it has been employed with variable success as an insecticide. That it would destroy insect life was long ago established; that it would also destroy plant life was sometimes demonstrated in a manner more convincing than pleasant. The oil in its concentrated form, can be tolerated by but few plants. The first improvement in its use was to add a very small quantity to a bucket of water, enough to make but a mere film upon the surface; then diffuse it through the water by violent stirring, and apply before the oil and water had time to separate. This answered fairly well, but was troublesome. The next step was to divide the kerosene, not by dissolving it, but by diffusing it in the form of an emulsion. It is well known that oils may be suspended in water by means of gum, sugar, etc., and may be kept thus for some hours or even days. It has been discovered that milk, either fresh or soured, is a convenient medium to unite kerosene and water. Mix together kerosene and half as much milk, stirring them thoroughly to form a cream-like mixture. When the two are so completely united that no oil is visible, dilute the mixture with twelve times its bulk of water, adding the water gradually, and stirring thoroughly. This emulsion has been found especially useful in the treatment of the various scale insects, so difficult to destroy by ordinary insecticides, and is used for various other insect pests. For trees use a syringe or force pump, and for house-plants, often injured by scale insects, apply with a sponge or swab.—American Agriculturist.

Printed at the Steam Press Establishment of Copp, Clark & Co., Colborne Street, Toronto.


TRANSCRIBER NOTES

Misspelled words and printer errors have been corrected. Where multiple spellings occur, majority use has been employed.

Punctuation has been maintained except where obvious printer errors occur.

Some illustrations were moved to facilitate page layout.

A Table of Contents was created with links to the articles for easier use.

 

[The end of The Canadian Horticulturist, Volume 7, Issue 4 edited by D. W. (Delos White) Beadle]