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THE

Through the courtesy of Messrs. P. M. Augur & Sons, of Middlefield, Conn., we are enabled to present our readers with a colored plate 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 next year they transplanted the seedling plants obtained from this seed into 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 extreme 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 are 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 vigorous 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 ones. The shape is sometimes conical, sometimes broadly ovate, broadened at the tip. The color is a bright red, the season (time of ripening) medium, quality fair.” In the number of 11th July, 1885, the Rural New-Yorker further says: “Last year the Rural said that the Jewell strawberry has come to stay; this season’s experience 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 from Messrs. Augur in spring of 1884, which fruited this season. He says: “Its bright color, very large size and great productiveness, so far, as well as the vigor of the plant, indicate great promise as a market variety, and I imagine it will prove firm enough to handle unusually well for so large a fruit.”

At the Strawberry Show held in Boston, Massachusetts, on June 25th and 26th, 1885, the Jewell was awarded the silver medal for the best seedling strawberry.

The above is all the testimony we are able to lay before our readers in relation to this new strawberry at the present time. We have not yet seen the fruit, 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 opportunity to inform our readers how it behaves on Canadian soil, and in our Canadian climate.

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WANTED,

A few copies of the January number of the Canadian Horticulturist for 1885. We will send in return therefor Vol. I., II., III. or IV. complete, if desired.

D. W. BEADLE, Editor.

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This Black Cap raspberry has proved itself earlier in ripening this season than Souhegan or Tyler or Hopkins. The crop of fruit is not quite as great nor the berries quite as large as are those of the above named sorts, but this year it ripened its fruit fully a week earlier.

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Of the Fruit Growers’ Association of Ontario will be held in the Town Hall, Wingham, on Wednesday and Thursday, the 16th and 17th of September next.

The following subjects will be discussed:—

The first half hour of each session will be devoted to the answering of such questions as may be handed in to the Secretary.

At this meeting the President will deliver his annual address, and the officers for the ensuing year will be elected.

Members intending to attend the meeting will please apply to the Secretary for a certificate, which will entitle them to a reduction of railway fare if the certificate is presented to the ticket agent at the station where the journey is commenced.

The “Brunswick” House will accommodate members at $1 50 per day; the “Queen’s,” “Dinsley,” “Central,” “Exchange,” and “British,” at $1 00 per day.

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A correspondent of the Farmer and Fruit Grower, Illinois, says “Crescents are still the berry for a yield, and they are good enough to eat, too, when fully ripe. They yield with me about 6,000 quarts to the acre.”

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Mr. Charles Hickling, of Barrie, writes us that apples are a moderate crop, while cherries and small fruits are good.

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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.

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The Missouri State Horticultural Society reports that

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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 plant or fruit, nor has there ever been any. The berries sell readily to the grocers and dealers in fruit at a dollar per basket of twelve quarts.

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Peter Henderson, writing to the Rural New-Yorker, says that all the red or pink celeries not only keep much better than the white, but are more solid and infinitely superior in flavor to any of the white varieties, and the wonder is that these are not better appreciated. In London, England, and in other European markets, at least two-thirds of all the celeries sold, he says, are red or pink; consumers there having long ago discovered the superiority of these kinds over the white.

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The New York Agricultural Experiment Station reports that on the 18th of June there was taken from a package of 350 pounds of this fertilizer a sample which on analysis was found to contain as follows: Available phosphoric acid, 3-60/100 pounds in a ton; Potash, 0-10/100 of a pound in a ton; Lime, 143 pounds; and Moisture 564-20/100 pounds in a ton; and to be worth $1.52 per ton. The manufacturers sell it at $30 per ton.

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Our readers will remember that this Society meets at Grand Rapids, Michigan, on the 9th of September, at ten o’clock a. m. We are informed that there will be a large attendance of prominent 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, Agricultural College, Michigan, for blanks and instructions to secure railway commutation rates; and to D. W. Beadle, St. Catharines, for delegates’ certificate.

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Is the title of a very interesting little book of fifty pages, published by the Franklin News Company of Philadelphia. The author treats of the soils to be preferred, manures to be used, preparation of the soil, selection of the seed, cutting the seed, planting, cultivating, harvesting, marketing and storing. Our author prefers the nearly level system of culture, doing the hilling with the outside teeth of the cultivator. 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 commend the book to the careful attention of our intelligent cultivators.

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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 searching, 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 far 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 satisfactory.

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Animal manures are not what is wanted for fruit trees, 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 different 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 by applying a coat of leaves in the fall, worked into the soil in the spring, followed by weedings from the garden, clippings of the vines, with other vegetable refuse, as a mulch, sprinkled over with wood ashes, leached or unleached, 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.

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We received on the 14th day of July last, by mail, a small box containing 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 Brandywine, which this seedling evidently rivals in earliness. It is not possible to form an opinion of the flavor of the fruit when it is in such a condition. Its large size and early ripening are important considerations in its favor.

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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. The gentleman stated in his letter 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 crab apple stock. Many years ago your Editor made a number of experiments in working several varieties of apples on crab stocks, but the result was not at all satisfactory. We 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. Gibb, to Russia for the very purpose of studying the fruit trees of that country.

It will be seen that the view entertained 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:—

The wild crab referred to by Prof. Budd is the very astringent crab found growing wild in many parts of Ontario, known as the Pyrus coronaria of botanists.

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MORUS FAKIVA.

We clip the following by Professor Budd from the Rural New-Yorker:—“On the fine specimen grounds of A. Rosenthal, near Vienna, Austria, I was much interested in a peculiar looking and growing mulberry with the above name. It is a clean, upright grower, with medium-sized, thick, regularly shaped leaves. The fruit was said to be large, and of excellent quality. I failed to learn its native clime, and I have not been able to find the name in Kock’s Dendrogie, or to hear of it from any other source. It proves 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 Rural knows of the origin of this interesting species or aught for or against it, I hope it will be reported.”

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Reply.—The presence of moss in the lawn is probably owing to superabundance of water in the soil. If this be the case the best remedy is thorough drainage. If the soil be already well drained try a top dressing of hard wood ashes.

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Reply.—Steep some tobacco, the stems or refuse from the manufacturers of cigars will do, and dip the branches that are infested with the lice in the tobacco water as often as the lice make their appearance.

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BY P. E. BURKE, VICE-PRESIDENT F. G. 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 America was first discovered in the year 1492.

The cultivated grapes of the Northern States and Canada are chiefly derived from two wild native types—Vitis labrusca and V. riparia, or cordifolia. Sometimes these are crossed with the European V. vinifera.

V. labrusca has its home between the Atlantic and the Alleghany Mountains. From this wild vine springs most of our table grapes; its offspring are considered to be over-estimated for wine. There are two types of the Labrusca: the northern is of a foxy nature; the southern has a musky flavour. The earliest varieties cultivated derived from this class are—Early Victor, very early, black; Moore’s Early, very early, black; Worden, early, black; Cottage, very 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. riparia, or cordifolia, is called the frost grape. Its home is in the Northern States and Canada. Its most northern limit is on Lake St. John, ninety miles north of the City of Quebec. This is eminently a wine grape. Some of the cultivated varieties are—Clinton, from which is derived most of Arnold’s hybrids, which have the Clinton 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 ravages of phylloxera. Millions of vines in France are placed on this stock with the most satisfactory results. The three white grapes of this class, from which will probably come the best light-coloured wines of America, are—Faith, very early; Pearl, early; Elvira, medium. Most of the hybrids and crosses of this class, so far, are late; but the reason of this is probably because less attention 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 Riparia, which ripens, or rather turns black in August, though it 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 varieties 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 produced.

What this country really wants is early ripening sorts both for table and wine. The Jefferson, so highly spoken of in the August number of the Horticulturist, is, I fear, too late for this part of Canada, ripening after Concord.

During the past few weeks, in company with John Lowe, Esq., Secretary of the Bureau of Agriculture, the writer has been visiting some of the larger vineyards in proximity to the City of Ottawa. The first visited were 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 probably on this continent of every variety grown there, and also for their early ripening. On one occasion fifteen varieties were shown at the Exhibition at Toronto, and resulted in carrying off thirteen first prizes and two second. The soil is a black slate or shale, not over rich, with a considerable slope to the south. The dark soil and the southern slope give admirable conditions for early ripening of fruit and wood. In 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 these are attached two scantling 1½ × 3 inches, 12 feet long, the lower one a foot from the ground, the other on the top of the posts. To each panel is nailed four light 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 years fruiting, when the previous year’s cane, which has already fruited, is cut away. So that the system followed is the arm-renewal plan. The object to be attained is to have new fruiting wood for each year.

When the Fruit Growers’ Association met here in 1875 some of its officers visited this vineyard to examine the crop and mode of training. The verdict then arrived at was that the plants were being dwarfed too much, and 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 abundant as they did in former times. Mr. Graham’s vines are all of the Labrusca family. The grapes are grown for table use.

We next inspected five acres of a vineyard owned and planted by W. Mosgrove, Esq., Barrister, five miles from the city, at the foot of Lake Duchene; which lies to the north-west of the farm, and gives ample protection from late spring and early autumn frosts, but allows a free sweep of the most prevailing winds of winter, which appears to have had the effect of sweeping away the snow covering and exposed the vines to too violent changes of temperature. If not from this reason there 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 board fence between the water and the vine plot, and, if necessary, set out a wind-break of trees; something of this sort is certainly necessary. Mr. Mosgrove is endowed with one of the greatest elements of success, and that is perseverance and a determination to succeed. He is going experimentally into the wine business, and his grapes are chiefly of the Riparia class, such as Faith, Pearl, and Elvira—of which the latter is the strongest grower. Mr. Mosgrove entertained the Committee most hospitably, 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 grapes, principally Lindley (Roger’s No. 9) 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 passing 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, there was no sign of thrips, rot, or any other disease; all was health and luxuriance, and a splendid show for a crop of fruit.

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BY T. C. ROBINSON, OWEN SOUND.

Hansell.—This variety was first to ripen with me this year, and seems to be an acquisition. Those who grow raspberries only for home use, and have been accustomed to pet the large, delicious, but fastidious, varieties of foreign origin, are not likely to see much value in the Hansell; for upon first acquaintance it seems to be nothing but a wild variety; the size—from five-eighths to three-quarters of an inch in diameter; the quality, which is sweet, without the peculiar aroma found in most cultivated varieties; the leathery foliage, and persistent 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 appears so large and good for 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 Cuthberts badly injured, that it must be of decided value to persons who need early raspberries for either home 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 strawberries are at their best.

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 behaviour with me is a fair sample of its capacity. The plant is very vigorous indeed, sprouting from the root extremities at a tremendous rate; but it shows that profuseness of small spines to the very extremity of the new-growing cane, which is not found in Hansell, 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 plants; but it is hard to keep down the disgust with which one views the performance of this praise-bespattered brier!

Superb.—A good, vigorous grower—early, large to very large; but the color is rather too dark, the berries inclined to crumble, and the quality decidedly inferior. 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-shipping Hansell. Very hardy.

Of the older varieties, the

Cuthbert is just beginning to ripen as Hansell is almost done. For its combined good qualities—size, firmness, quality and productiveness—I still regard the Cuthbert as the best of its season. If the Marlboro’ with its earliness 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, winter-killed to the very ground; another plantation of same age got off with slight injury; while my old plants five feet high were partially injured, but are now fruiting freely. We never had such a winter before, and Cuthbert may never thus suffer again; but I do not think this variety can be depended upon where the thermometer touches thirty degrees below zero.

Turner.—This “stand-by” is working 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, thornless canes stand smilingly erect through the worst 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 Canadian 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 prefer the sweeter, larger, hardier and more vigorous Turner, which is only a few days later; but for market use I consider the firmer and earlier Highland Hardy more profitable. Its crop ripens up in shorter time, and hence is more satisfactory to the pickers, besides 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 difference between these varieties no one around here is clever enough to distinguish it. But we keep them in different fields for separate propagation; close together a slight difference, might be manifest. The berry is very black, of fine size, and very good to take when it first comes in, and the bush is very productive. It begins to ripen nearly with Highland Hardy, and utterly supersedes here the old Davidson Thornless, which had become very unproductive and generally unreliable.

Now, as the season of Tyler is about over, the

Gregg is just coming in. It is not nearly so black as the former (on account of the light-grey bloom in the little hollows of the berry), and it is not so hardy in winter, nor will it behave 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 productive, and when it comes into market all 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 purpose—quart for quart—as Gregg, for the latter is certainly firmer, and apparently less watery. But, I daresay, more quarts can be raised per acre of the Ohio. I find it, without question, the healthiest growing Black Cap that I have tested. It is also about the sweetest and most delicious. So, if I could plant only one 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 largest Gregg, though the average size seems 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 plants is not sufficient to pass settled judgment upon; but if it fulfils its present promise with me, I must place it as far away the best of all the early Black Caps tested here.

Chapman and Nemaha grow well, but have not fruited yet. They were planted in spring of this year.

Beebe’s 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, exceedingly firm, and is produced very abundantly. The bush appears very hardy and vigorous. The only objection seems to be that the color when over-ripe becomes rather too dark, so that purchasers 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 shipped to market, so I have good hopes of its future record. It tastes better than the following:—

Caroline.—A noble variety for home use or near market. The plant is remarkably vigorous and overwhelmingly productive, while the berries are rather large and of the attractive orange-buff tint of the old Brinkle. But the resemblance 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 over it in raptures. We must think well of a fruit that every one likes, except the connoisseur. So with its beauty, hardiness, and almost unequalled productiveness, the Caroline should stand first of its color everywhere, except in the garden of the amateur, or in the market field for shipment.

Shaffer’s Colossal.—After three seasons fruiting, this is the only sort which, I think, excels the Caroline in productiveness. The bush is the largest I have seen, and it covers itself with dark brownish-red berries, that taste very good, and are of about the largest size. The 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 Giant.—The largest raspberry I have seen. It is of the foreign family, and except with petting, on rich loamy soil, it cannot be depended 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 variety, 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.

Brinkle’s Orange does exceedingly well with some of my neighbors, but I have not got it on suitable soil at present. It has given us some splendid fruit—just the acme of raspberry flavor. It is usually hardy 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 Cuthbert, that I purpose rooting it out.

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Dear Sir,—The Ontario Apple proves excellently adapted to our seashore sections, the thick, strong leaf not being affected by our salt-laden ocean breezes. The tree makes a vigorous growth, fruits early and annually; the apples are above medium in size, of good quality for us, and with me outlast any other variety, keeping in perfect condition this season until July. It would probably prove a most valuable acquisition for this Province. How much we owe to Mr. Arnold. The American Wonder Pea I grow almost exclusively to supply 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, Arnold’s Pride, and Alpha. The first is enormously productive, the second not far behind it on this point; but both have the fault of not ripening up well, become soft while still partly green, and not red when fully ripe. Alpha colors better, and is also productive.

Very truly yours,

Charles E. Brown.

Yarmouth, N.S., 16th July, 1885.

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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, looking very thrifty and hardy. The doctor’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 torn by the weight of snow and ice, yet the rest of it showed vigorous growth.

Truly yours,

George Barry.

Montreal, Que., July 9th, 1885.

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East Simcoe Semi-Centennial Exhibition, held at Orillia, 2nd and 3rd of October, 1884.

In accordance with instructions received at Barrie, I went to Orillia on Thursday evening, the 2nd October. On Friday morning I proceeded to the Fair grounds, where I at once found the Secretary of the Association, H. S. Scadding, Esq., who kindly went with me to the Hall and gave the necessary instructions to enable me to examine the fruit to the best advantage. The building was a very large structure; well suited for the purpose. It was well filled with all that usually appertains to a large County, Central, or Union Exhibition. There was nothing crowded—every class had plenty of room; yet there was none to spare. The fruit exhibit was well placed in the centre of the hall and well protected with railings.

The fruit exhibit, consisting of apples, pears and grapes, was much larger than I expected to see. All had been judged the day before. Prizes had been offered for exhibits of apples under four heads: 1st, peck of Fall Apples; 2nd, peck of Winter Apples; 3rd, collection of Fall Apples, named; and 4th, collection of Winter Apples, named. There were eight exhibits of fall apples and ten of winter apples on the table. The judges seemed to have understood the word “best” to signify “largest,” consequently in both these sections the prizes had been all given to the largest apples, while much better varieties were on the table. This was particularly noticeable in the winter section, where a peck of English Golden Russets—a most excellent sample—had not received a prize; while first, second and third prizes had been awarded to lots inferior in quality and profitableness.

The collection of Fall Apples consisted 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 recognize St. Lawrence, Snow, Pumpkin Sweet, Beauty of Kent, and, probably, the one named “Duchess” as being the Duchess de Brabant. All the others seemed to have been named for the occasion.

The collection of Winter Apples to which had been awarded the first prize consisted of eighteen varieties, amongst which I found R. I. Greening, American Golden Russet, Northern Spy, Wealthy, Canada Red, and Snow—all remarkably good specimens. 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 inferior quality.

The second prize lot contained twenty-one varieties: Canada Red, R. I. Greening, Snow, Golden Russet, and Pomme Grise, were fair samples, and true to name. Amongst the remainder I found varieties named Pewaukee, Porter, Haas and Rox. Russet—all incorrectly. Most of the others were seedlings of no merit.

Pears—There were six exhibits, all late varieties, only two of which were named—Flemish Beauty (incorrectly) and Duchess d’Angouleme. All the samples shown were very fine specimens.

Grapes—Prizes were offered for the best three pounds and for the best collection, 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 Moore’s Early, Brighton, Massasoit, Delaware (named Salem), Concord, Champion, Clinton, Isabella(?) and Prentiss.

The second prize lot consisted of Rogers’ No. 13, Rogers’ No. 9 (not quite ripe), Salem (not Salem), Delaware, Concord, Rogers’ No. 3, Rogers’ No. 8, and Brighton (not Brighton).

This exhibit of grapes was to me the most interesting sight in the building, as all the samples shown (with one or two exceptions) were of unusual excellence. The size of both berry and bunch, and in nearly every case the maturity of the fruit, evidenced careful culture, and also gave the 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 electric lights in the evening. I was one of the first to enter and found the caretakers cleaning the dust from the exhibits wherever necessary—a practice to be highly commended.

The president of the society, P. Bertram, Esq. (who seemed to be everywhere), 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.

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To the Editor of the Canadian Horticulturist

Sir,—I am in receipt of the tenth annual report of the Montreal Horticultural 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 progress of fruit 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 liberty of pointing out. Dempsey’s 25 is placed among the black grapes; both his 25 and 60 are white; the former is altogether too late for this part of Canada, or Montreal. No. 60 is rather small, about the size of Delaware; 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 Hamburg, after which the Burnet takes many of its finer qualities.

The fruit growers of Ontario are already taking steps with regard to getting up exhibits in glass jars; the fruits are being preserved in salisylic acid, and are intended for the Prince of Wales’ Colonial Exhibition, in London, England, in 1886. It will be remembered at the Exhibitions held in 1851 and 1862 in that city, some furs, sleighs, buffalo robes, and toboggans were shown; the Carnival Number of the Montreal Star and Witness for the last two seasons have been distributed broadcast over Britain and the Empire. Photographs, as a rule, taken in Canada for exportation, generally show her sons in their winter costumes of fur coats and caps. So largely has winter taken precedence in all works of art sent from this to the mother country, that the impression in the old world still obtains, that the French King only ceded to his brother of England a few acres of snow. No pains have hitherto been taken to show our lovely spring, summer, and autumn climate to advantage. There is only one way in which this can be done in a practical manner, and that is through the fruits we ripen. Such grains as wheat, barley, oats and peas, 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 supported by the Government, are determined to make such an exhibition as will wipe away from Canada the reproach which rests upon her in this matter, and also the idea that we are only a people whose not very remote progenitors was a cross between the native Indian and the Esquimaux.

Fruit such as we cultivate is the culmination of one of nature’s choicest gifts. Centuries have been expended in bringing the apple, the pear, and the grape to their present excellence in Europe; they have advanced in a parallel line with civilization itself, with which they keep pace, but in Canada we are adapting new varieties from heretofore unknown strains to our soil and climate, and we are doing so at a rate which astonishes the workers themselves. It is well known to fruit growers that English gooseberries and strawberries, and the foreign grapes are not suited to our climate; that they have to be united by the hybridist, or accidentally by nature, to the native plants of this country, and that the offspring 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 Rhine and the Seine. We know our fruits will show our climate, and we trust they will testify to the high standard to which our people have reached in the appreciation 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 1880. We shall ever remember with pleasant feelings the time we met in the beautiful park at Philadelphia, during the American Centennial in 1876; and we look forward to a similar meeting on British soil next year. The decade has not passed without a considerable advance in the culture of fruit in both Provinces.

P. E. Bucke,

Vice-Pres. Fruit Growers’ Ass’n. of Ontario.

Ottawa, August 3rd, 1885.

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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 Strawberry King); Mr. T. C. Robinson, of Owen Sound; Mr. W. W. Hilborn, of Arkona, and others. In kinds, among the legion of them, we could hardly expect them all to agree; nor do they in the manner of culture, but like wise men they agree to differ and ask the experience of their fellow fruit growers.

Although I have tried kinds enough to entitle me to the name of an experimental grower, it would be out of place in me to enter into what has been so thoroughly done in their description. Of just three kinds I will venture a remark.

Early Canada.—Although a poor berry, and liable to be destroyed by late spring frosts, I consider it valuable. Spring of 1884 I had half a crop of them destroyed by the frost of 29th May. Discouraged by this, I this year planted of them only in the proportion of one row in 30. Director Smith is a good hand at reminding us of our mistakes, let him add the following to his spicy list in Report 1884, p. 150:—

This year my Early Canadas were in the market, a fine crop, two weeks before the Wilson, and found a ready sale at 12½ cents while I had to take 8 cents for the others. So severe a frost at that season we might not have for many years, and I would rather risk it than the chances of a glutted market, as we had this year, with the price down to 4 and 5 cents per basket.

Sharpless.—Tempted by their size and beauty I planted this year a large proportion, but soon found out to my cost that Mr. Robinson’s words are no mistake when he says, “It’s one of the best berries to lose money on I ever tried.” Besides their lack of flavor, you can’t carry them farther than the table. I rooted out a large patch of as thriving plants as I could desire, planted this spring, considering the first loss the least. That was mistake No. 2.

Glendale.—Sometimes called the lazy man’s berry, thriving with so little care. Appropriate name enough—a lazy man he would be to grow no better. A basket of these has a little tasteless fruit and any amount of husks. Good, methinks, for such as have prodigal sons.

Matted Rows v. Hills.—I think the majority of large growers have favored the former; Mr. Robinson, however, does the hills, and his remarks, evidently penned 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 system, the same author calls it “The Slip-shod System.” May be 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—it’s a fact, a stubborn thing. As shair as daith, I’ll vouch for it.

In our neighborhood lives a good honest man. With no pretensions 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 reached me of a wonderful crop of strawberries he had on a very small piece 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 × 28 yards. That Editor of ours is good at figuring, he’ll tell you it’s a trifle over a quarter 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 in the family and gifted 200; say 1,700 baskets he sold at 8 cents = $136, i. e., at the rate of 6,800 baskets = $544 per acre.

His plants were all Wilson’s, set in the spring of 1884, in rows 3 feet apart, 18 inches apart in the rows. As soon as the runners appeared they were left unmolested and soon covered the whole ground, with no further culture than an occasional cutting down with the hoe of trespassing weeds. But before 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 adopt any easier or more paying method of cultivation. Just in one point he agrees with friends Dempsey and Hilborn, skillful cultivators, i. e., in adopting the one year system, which he must.

Wonderful crop I 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 culture, isn’t there here encouragement for every poor man, and rich too, to read the Horticulturist and supply his family at least liberally with this wholesome and delicious fruit. The slothful man says, “There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets,” and will harp over an imaginary bit of trouble and expense. Everything that’s worth having costs trouble, and as to the expense, this man’s outlay, about $4, was insignificant compared with the profits.

John Croil.

Aultsville, August, 1885.

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The Prairie Farmer is published at 150 Monroe Street, Chicago, Illinois, every Saturday, and sent post paid for $2 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 nominal price of fifty cents to give the public an opportunity of becoming acquainted with this neatly printed and illustrated paper. The number for July 25th contains a complete copy of the law passed at the last session of the Illinois Legislature for the promotion of drainage, providing for coöperation in draining farm lands. A copy of this number will be supplied for five cents. Our own farmers should study this law and seek to have such of its provisions as are applicable and needed enacted by our own Legislature.

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We gather from the returns published by the Rural New-Yorker the following particulars:—

Appin.—Apple crop large, not many cherries.

Arkona.—Apples promise about an average crop. Cherries very scarce, not many plums or pears, no peaches. Raspberries, currants and gooseberries are average or perhaps a little above.

Brewster.—Apples promise well, currants and gooseberries very well, peach trees badly frozen. Grapes below the snow line all right and promise a good crop.

Duntroon.—Prospects good for all kinds of fruit, especially apples and plums.

Grimsby.—Fruit prospects good.

Harrow.—Apples an average crop, not many pears, and very 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 abundance. Apples a failure.

Sarnia.—Apples and pears very promising. Peaches, grapes and currants somewhat damaged by the late frosts and severe winter.

Tiny.—The fruit crop promises to be very large.

Westminster.—Fruit about an average.

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 crop. Currants and gooseberries an average.

Barrie.—A good crop of plums and cherries, just medium of apples and small fruits.

Bridgeport.—The apple crop is medium good.

Dawn Mills.—Prospect for fruit better than for two years.

Delaware.—Apples medium, also cherries, no peaches, very few pears.

Edgely.—Fruit of all kinds, such as apples, plums, and currants very short. Grapes an average crop.

Ingersoll.—Apples light bloom, pears heavy, grapes killed a good deal, peaches all dead.

Hillsborough.—Apple prospects good.

Listowel.—But little bloom on apples, pears and crabs. Plums nearly all killed. Small fruits look well.

Mohawk.—Early apples plentiful. Winter apples very scarce. Good show for small fruits.

Nottawa.—Apples good, but the hard winter hurt plums and pears

Port Rowan.—Fruits a light crop.

Seaforth.—Prospects of all kinds of fruit excellent.

Scotland.—Apples scarce. Pears above an average. Peaches very few. Plums covered with the mark of curculio. Small fruits good.

St. George.—Apples below an average. Small fruits promise good crops.

Stratford.—There is promise of abundant yield of fruit of all kinds.

Strathroy.—Fruit from present appearances will be a heavy crop, trees looking healthy with a splendid set.

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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 and flavor. One tablespoonful in a glass of water gives a delightful drink, like fresh Grape juice, the true substitute for wine with all temperate people, and the finest medicine for correcting a feverish, bilious state ever known. The syrup itself is valuable for restoring strength, and consumptive persons should take it by the tumbler daily, sipping it leisurely, with sugar, if too tart for the taste. It makes new, rich blood, it cleanses the system, clears brain and feeds starved nerves. It has the hypophosphites which doctors prescribe for wastes of tissue, and taken freely will arrest even critical stages of disease. People fed on pure food with abundance of fruit need never dread cancer, Bright’s disease, gout, neuralgia, dropsy, or a dozen other of the race.—Susan Power, in Vick’s Magazine.

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The following varieties are the most suitable for window garden cultivation: Twelve Teas—Safrano, Bon Silene, Isabella Sprunt, Rubens, Odorata, Perle des Jardins, Gen. Tartas, Yellow Tea, Madame Bravy, Madame de Vatry, Madame Lambard and Souvenir d’un Ami. Four Bengals—Queen’s Scarlet, Douglass, Duchess of Edinburgh and Ducher. Four Bourbons—Hermosa, 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 clusters, and although the individual flowers are not large [they] are very perfect. Of these, the most desirable are Mignonette, rose, Mlle. Cecile Brunner, salmon pink, Little White Pet, light pink, 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-colored flowers, about the size of a dime. As it is constantly in bloom it is a plant that will always attract considerable attention, and is deserving of a place in every window garden.—Chas. E. Parnell, in Vick’s Magazine.

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We have great difficulty, so far north, in getting raspberries hardy enough to withstand our severe climate. Occasionally there are seasons when snow comes early, and in such quantities as to cover the bushes, and 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 expensive and troublesome undertaking. As yet there is an abundance of wild raspberries sold on the market at such a rate as not to guarantee the expense of growing raspberries, except in an amateur way. Among the reds Cuthbert 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; but in quality it is inferior to the Cuthbert, and not prepossessing in color, being a sort of purplish black. For our northern sections it is, however, an acquisition. Among the blacks Gregg, when well pinched back and grown low, has given the best satisfaction.—[If Mr. Wright will can some of Saunders’ No. 60 he will find them by no means inferior to the Cuthbert.—Ed. Can. Hort.]

Strawberries can be grown in greater variety, as they are more easily protected. 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 highest terms. I consider it one of the best we have. As for me, it produces more fruit with less trouble than any berry on my grounds. For a very 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 limited quantities only.—A. A. Wright, in Rural New-Yorker.

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PROFESSOR 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 unite in reporting it hardier in tree, firmer in leaf, and much higher in quality of fruit than any of the Montmorency varieties (of which our Richmond is one), it seems strange that it has not been introduced and propagated by our large nurseries of the Eastern States. Possibly the small size of the tree and its bushy habit of growth may account for this general neglect; yet, without the aid of nurseries or horticultural societies, 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 Richmond has utterly failed, while in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri, it has radiated from several centers of sprout distribution.

During the summer of 1884 the foliage of the Richmond and English Morello 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 firmer leaves of the Ostheim were free from rust, and the trees now promise a heavy crop 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 number of varieties of the Griotte race have the name of Ostheim in various parts of Europe.

We have Ostheimer, Cerise d’Ostheim, Ostheim Weichsel and Griotte d’Ostheim imported from Europe. These all seem identical, as does also the variety introduced by settlers from the Old Country into Kansas and Missouri under the name of Ostheim.—Rural New-Yorker.

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The discovery that Cocaine will produce local anæsthesia, or insensibility to pain, is next in importance to the discovery of the properties of ether. Cocaine has of late been used in important operations 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 prominence.

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 five thousand feet above the sea. The shrub reaches the height of six or eight feet, and has very thick, evergreen leaves. The name of the genus is Erythroxylon, which means red-wood; several of the species, natives of tropical countries, having wood of a red color. The specific name of the Peruvian species, is that given to it by the natives, hence its scientific name is Erythroxylon 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 plantations 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 platforms, or on a portion of ground made smooth by stamping. The leaves when dry, 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 important 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 from one dollar, to one dollar and fifty cents per pound. In Peru, the use of Coca is very general, especially among the natives. The leaves, mixed with lime, are chewed and the saliva swallowed, the individual remaining 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, upon 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.

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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 recommending it for the lawn, where it is not often seen, simply because it is a native, and not because it is not beautiful. I know of several specimens that are worth walking miles to see. The largest stands in the middle of a 10 acre lot, about two miles from the village of Roslyn, L. I. It is altogether the 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 nearly 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 years ago that gave me my first impression of the great value of the Dogwood as a tree for the lawn. Another very fine 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 were Magnolia stellata, M. Soulangeana and M. conspicua; and the nearness of the latter naturally led to comparisons, very much, to my mind, in favor of the Dogwood. Liking company when enjoying a good thing, I asked Mrs. Barr and others present to look at the Magnolias and the Dogwood and tell me which they thought the more beautiful. They all agreed with me that the Dogwood was 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 large one.—Rural New-Yorker.

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For the past two weeks I have had scores of letters complaining of the ravages of the Cabbage Maggot, which is evidently more than usually destructive this year. In many places in this vicinity not a single head will mature. To counteract its ravages in our sample grounds, where we test all our varieties of cabbage and cauliflowers, we had until this season dressed the land heavily with oyster shell lime, using at the rate of 150 bushels to the acre, sown on the land after plowing, and then well harrowed in. But this year the man in charge of our trial grounds was absent at the time the ground was being prepared 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 plants, were 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 good 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 maggots. 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 hardly a plant will head up. Of course, this remedy is expensive, probably costing in guano and labour $20 to $25 for every acre of 10,000 plants.—Peter Henderson, in Rural New-Yorker.

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PROF. J. L. BUDD.

When at the great commercial fair at Nishay 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 put up in Southern France or Spain. These were put 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 Bokhara, and on the foothills of the North Himalayas. The leaves of these oriental varieties are thick and firm, like those of the Eastern apples, pears, cherries and plums. Hence we have the best reasons for believing they would prove more valuable for crossing with our native species than the varieties of Vinifera we have tried from the soft, humid climates of Southwest Europe.

In the Southern States some of these thick leaved varieties may prove desirable 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 Vinifera family, it may be urged that the phylloxera 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. Regel 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 cultivated forms of the West.

Again, it may be urged that some of the Turkish and Indian grapes have been tried in 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 present thought is to introduce the varieties of the arid interior. With his well known love for, and sympathy with the “art which does mend Nature,” we can hope and trust that Col. Colman, our new Commissioner of Agriculture, will aid in introducing, not only the grapes, but the fruits generally, and the cereals, grasses, and shrubs of the little known region of Western Asia. With needed instructions, 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.—Rural New-Yorker.

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A Philadelphia firm invested $4,000 in the stock of a single rose from an English florist two years ago, but finding this winter that there were still some plants of it held by its originator, purchased them at an expense of $2,000 more. Not a single plant has yet been sold of this stock, for which $6,000 was paid. It will be put upon the market in March. It is anticipated 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 Jacqueminot in every respect, with even a richer fragrance. Its great value with the commercial florist lies in its being a continuous bloomer, giving buds as freely as any of the monthly varieties. A rival appears, however, now that the time approaches for the Bennett rose to be given to the public.

A florist in Washington has had the good fortune to originate a variety of a handsome shade of crimson rose of large size and excellent form, and in fragrance surpassing any rose in cultivation. The scent is a blending of the tea and English moss-rose perfume; a few buds will fill a room with the most delightful odor. To complete its good qualities it is monthly, blooming as freely as the La France or other roses of that class; moreover, being part hybrid perpetual, 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.”—N. Y. Evening Post.

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Among the spring wild flowers 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 distinguish it among all low-growing plants, and being evergreen are in full form and beauty at a season when most herbaceous plants are destitute of foliage. Its small purplish flowers, borne on long stems, seemingly offer themselves 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.

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 gardens, plants of foreign origin in preference 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 Europe 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 garden 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 Portulaca, and yet in this situation the Hepatica has lived and flourished, undisturbed, for many years. True, this is not the treatment we should advise for it, but it demonstrates the vitality of the plant. In a deep, 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 Magazine.

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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 plants do not object to shade, as many others do, and will send up their snow-white bells under trees and shrubs. Those who are embellishing school grounds with plants will find the Snowdrop and Snowflake most acceptable; and they are exceedingly appropriate for cemeteries. 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.—Vick’s Magazine.

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In 1879, Prof. Sargent published a translation of the notes of Dr. Chas. Bolle, of Berlin, in regard to the rare beauty and value of this upright form of the White Poplar. He said: “The bark, 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 poplar 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 specimens in the Volga region, and learned that its range was up to the 54th parallel in Central 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 scions made an upright growth of six feet, yet 35° below zero has not browned the finest terminal points.

I wish to direct the attention of Eastern and Western propagators to this tree, as it is certain 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 must supply, as it is not easy to propagate 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 placed in a propagating pit in Autumn, with bundles inverted, as we manage the grape and mulberry.—J. L. Budd, in Rural New-Yorker.

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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 miniature lily, with a spread of flower 1½ to 2 inches wide, and to 1¼ to 1½ inches in length. It is likely to become very popular. Not quite so strong a grower as the C. coccinea 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 standard 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 alternate years. It is very productive, but not an unusually 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 Garden.

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Amaryllis Hallii.—The new Amaryllis Hallii is hardy and very beautiful: it makes its foliage early in spring, and after maturing it dies down. Late in the summer the flower stalks spring up almost like magic, so rapid is their growth, and produce a number of pink blossoms, unlike any other amaryllis 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 sprays of rosy purple pea-shaped flowers, which show to advantage when contrasted with its dark green foliage. This is an excellent shrub for small places, as it seldom exceeds five feet in height.—Philadelphia Press.

To Keep Rose-bushes Free from Insects.—J. H. Woodford said that he keeps insects from his roses by dredging the bushes with hellebore early in the morning, before the buds form, which kills the first insects that come; then again before they bloom, and again after blooming. These three applications are sufficient.—Proceedings, Massachusetts Horticultural Society.

Southern Cultivator.—The advent of June brings to our table that old and standard publication, The Southern Cultivator, for the current month. While it has seemed in the past not possible to improve it, the varied and valuable table of contents of the present number is conclusive evidence of its improvement. Its readers can but approve of its present get up and make up. They will find valuable 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 decided importance. Every department is full, 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 Experimental 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 $1 50 to Jas. P. Harrison, Business Manager Cultivator Publishing Company, Atlanta, Ga., for a year’s subscription, or if they prefer we will send our paper and The Cultivator one year for $2 25.

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.

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

[The end of The Canadian Horticulturist, Volume 8, Issue 9 edited by D. W. (Delos White) Beadle]