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The Canadian Horticulturist.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

1

APPLES IN THE LIVERPOOL MARKET.

When a cargo of apples arrives in Liverpool, the consignee does not hold them and look about for purchasers, but proceeds at once to put them up at auction on the next market day, and sell them off to the highest bidder. This being the understood custom of the trade, those who wish to purchase apples attend the sales and bid on the particular varieties and brands they wish to purchase. Some of our Canadian fruit growers have already won for themselves an enviable reputation in the home markets for the quality of their fruit and the honesty of the entire package, so that their brands have become known, and when they are put up the competition to secure them is animated, and in consequence they bring the best prices. We know this to be true in particular of the “beaver” brand, by which the apples of R. N. Ball, one of our members, is designated in the Glasgow market; a fact which emphasizes the advice given to fruit packers by L. Woolverton, in the number for December of last year.

We have just been favored with quotations from a Liverpool circular, of November last, sent to us by our esteemed Vice-President, W. Roy, of Owen Sound, giving the quotations at which different varieties of apples were sold at that time in the Liverpool market. From this it seems that apples from Canada have a standing there quite distinct from those sent from the United States, our Canadian apples sometimes taking the lead in price. It is very noticeable that the Newtown Pippin apple takes a very high stand in the home market, bringing as high as forty-four shillings and sixpence sterling, or about eleven dollars per barrel. Unfortunately this apple will not come to perfection in all soils. There is only here and there a soil that suits it perfectly, and no one may hope to reap any profit from it unless planted on a soil abounding in lime. There was, and perhaps yet is, near Poughkeepsie, on the Hudson River, an orchard of this 2 variety that has attained a world-wide celebrity. The fruit is handled with the greatest care, only perfect specimens are put up for the English market, each apple is most carefully wrapped in tissue paper, and these packed in the very neatest of barrels got up in attractive style. It is said that these samples have brought as high as twenty dollars per barrel. If any of our readers have the soil that suits this variety, one that is warm, well drained, and abounding in lime, and will take the requisite pains in handling the fruit after it is ready for gathering, they will find it a profitable variety. In the writer’s experience with it on a moist, cool soil, naturally deficient in lime, the fruit is often very poor in quality, and covered with black spots.

The Lady Apple sold for thirty to forty shillings per barrel, say from seven to ten dollars. This is strictly a fancy apple. It is in demand about the holidays for table decoration as much as for the dessert. The apples are very small, but most beautifully colored, with a bright red cheek on a straw-colored ground. We have known them bring as much and more in the New York market; but every specimen must be perfect, without a spot or blemish of any kind. It is very probable that this kind also is more certain to produce perfect fruit in soils abounding in lime, for in other soils it is sometimes badly spotted.

Baldwins from the United States brought from six and three pence to thirteen and nine pence, while those from Canada are quoted at from twelve to thirteen shillings. If anything were needed to enforce the lesson of care in the selection and handling of fruit for market we certainly have it in the quotations before us. The difference between a dollar and a half and three dollars per barrel is well worth attention. The cost of the barrel, of the packing, shipping, and insuring, is as great in the one case as the other, but the chances of a profit are very decidedly in favor of the man who gets three dollars instead of a dollar and a half per barrel.

American Rhode Island Greenings brought from seven and six pence to eleven and six pence; those from Canada, from nine and three pence to eleven shillings. Esopus Spitzenbergs, from eight to thirteen shillings; Canadian samples, twelve and six pence. Talman Sweet, from Canada, sold for ten and nine pence; from United States, for twelve shillings. Rambo, from Canada, brought eleven and three pence; Yellow Bellfleurs, eleven shillings; Pomme Grise, twenty 3 shillings; and Ribston Pippin, seventeen shillings. Russets, from the United States, brought from eleven and three pence to fifteen and nine pence; Maiden’s Blush, from twelve and six pence to sixteen and six pence; Northern Spy, ten shillings; King of Tompkins, ten and six pence; and Wagner, from seven shillings to twelve and nine pence.

These are some of the leading varieties that are grown in quantity for market. It is very interesting to note the estimation in which they are held in Liverpool, taking the prices at which they were sold as an exponent of their popularity. The outward appearance has much to do with the sale of fruit everywhere, especially of kinds not sufficiently known to have established a reputation for superior quality. The exceedingly beautiful appearance of the Maiden’s Blush has doubtless much to do with the price obtained for it in Liverpool, for certainly no one acquainted with the apples would ever give it the preference for quality over the Spy or King of Tompkins, and yet it brought a higher price than either. On the other hand, the Pomme Grise has established a reputation for quality as a dessert apple, and though lacking in beauty of coloring, readily brings five dollars per barrel. Besides this, in England the large apples are not considered as suitable for dessert, but as finding their appropriate place in the kitchen, hence the smaller apples of superior quality will bring a higher price than large apples.

We cannot close this article without directing the attention of our fruit growers to the Nova Scotia markets. The consumers of apples in that Province have been learning by trial and comparison that the apples of Ontario are of superior excellence. The writer received a letter from a life member of our Association, residing in Yarmouth, C. E. Brown, Esq., bearing date the 22nd of October, in which he says: “Although our fruit crop is large this year, and prices unprecedentedly low, markets all full of apples, and selling at fifty cents to a dollar and fifty cents per barrel, I have ventured to order for myself and friends one hundred barrels from Gage J. Miller,” (of Virgil, near Niagara,) “expecting to pay the average price of three dollars per barrel where shipped; expenses will be from one dollar to one dollar and twenty-five cents per barrel. If Mr. Miller sends me a lot equal to those I have had from him in 1876 and 1877, I shall have no difficulty in distributing my hundred barrels at cost and charges, even at the considerable difference now ruling between Canadian and Nova Scotia or American 4 fruit.” Mr. Brown has taken great interest in fruit and fruit culture, and has been at considerable expense to procure fruit from Ontario, of different varieties, in order to test their quality, as compared with other fruit to be had in the Nova Scotia markets. Having become satisfied that the apples grown in Ontario were better in quality than those of Nova Scotia, he has spared no pains in bringing them to the notice of consumers, and has earned the thanks of Ontario fruit growers for opening up a market for our apples. Should any of the readers of the Canadian Horticulturist feel disposed to take advantage of this opening, they will do well to remember that only choice fruit, of the very first quality in every respect, and put up with care, so as not to be bruised in transit, will command attention either in the Nova Scotia or English markets.

ON RAISING FINE FRUITS FROM SEED.

BY JAS. DOUGALL, WINDSOR NURSERIES, ONT.
(From New York Weekly Witness.)

Few people know how easy and pleasant it is to raise new and fine varieties of fruits and flowers from seeds, or more would try to do it. Many are no doubt deterred from trying, owing to the importance that horticulturists of late have placed on artificial impregnation and hybridization of the flowers, which take more trouble and time than most people can spare, some hybridizers going so far as to say that no good fruits can be raised worthy of notice unless by this plan. This is a mistaken idea, for I venture to say that better varieties can be raised from planting the seeds taken from the best varieties in gardens where no inferior varieties are grown, than by artificial impregnation, the bee and other insects being natural agents for carrying the pollen from flower to flower, and intermixing it so as to create new varieties in a more successful manner than man can do.

I do not wish to deter any who have the skill and leasure from raising fruits by hybridization; some acquisitions have been made in that way and further experiments may, and no doubt will, be useful and beneficial. My present aim is to induce those who have not this leasure and skill to plant the seeds of their best fruits, and in due time in a few years they will reap their reward in many new and excellent 5 varieties, the fruiting of which will greatly interest them, besides being of great and permanent benefit to the country.

As nearly all our best varieties of fruits have been chance seedlings, without any artificial care from man, and as my own experience in raising fine varieties has been so very simple and easy, and one which any person with a small garden may follow, being more especially suitable for ladies who delight generally in horticulture, and have more leisure than men, I have been induced to give the results of my practice and experience, though I fear your readers will think me somewhat egotistical before they finish this article.

I have devoted very little time or trouble to raising new varieties, and have never hybridized, but the results from what I have raised have been very great, and had I been able to devote more time and attention to it, they would, I think, have been truly wonderful. For the encouragement of others who have fine fruit gardens and orchards, I will recount these results.

Seedling Peaches.—The first seedling fruits I raised were peaches. Having all the finest varieties then known, I sowed the stones, and planted the seedlings out in an orchard, budding them with the best old varieties, but leaving one shoot from below the bud, to test the quality of the seedling. Several of these were very fine, one more especially, the “Rosebank,” was and is one of the finest flavored peaches. Another, a seedling from the old French peach, the Monstrous Pompone, was the largest peach I ever saw—the third year that it bore it had a couple of bushels of fruit on it, none of which were less than thirteen inches in circumference, many eighteen inches. It was a clingstone, as large as the Alexander apple, and when preserved whole had a magnificent appearance. I have seen Heath’s Late Cling, grown at the south, nearly as large, but as grown in Canada, it was not one-quarter the size of my seedling. What would the latter have been if grown farther south, in a more genial clime for the peach! Unfortunately I was not then in the nursery business, and the few trees I propagated from it were killed, as was also the original tree, one severe winter, that killed all the peach orchards.

If the stones were taken from the best varieties of peaches, where none of inferior quality grew near, so that the pollen of the poor varieties did not intermix, and these were cracked and planted where they were permanently to grow, at the proper distance apart—or they 6 might be planted much closer as an experiment—probably every tree would have fine fruit, some extra, while the tree, owing to not being transplanted, would be much healthier and longer lived, as its large tap root running straight down (which is cut off in transplanting) would give the natural support to the tree that it so much requires when loaded with fruit; and at one year old they would be as large as those got from the nurseries, and would not, like them, receive a check from transplanting as the latter have.

Seedling Gooseberries.—My next attempt in raising seedlings was with gooseberries; I planted a short row of the best English gooseberries close together, touching these on one side I planted a row of Houghton’s seedling, and on the other side a row of chance seedling, evidently a cross between the English and the wild prickly fruited gooseberry, that had sprung up among some seedlings from English gooseberries raised a few years previous. In this case the pollen from the wild variety which grew abundantly in a ravine near by had no doubt been carried by the bees. The seeds from each variety were saved and sowed separately, the result was that some seedlings from the Houghton were nearly as large as the European, while some of the latter resembled the Houghton, and were of all sizes and colors, while those from the wild hybrid were of every color and size, smooth, hairy, nearly prickly, with a good deal of the wild flavor, and strong, straight, upright shoots, nearly six feet high, covered with strong spines like the original wild species. Another cross which I intend making next season, between these and the best English, will doubtless be a still greater improvement; but had there been no English to cross with you might have gone on sowing the seeds of the wild long enough without getting any variation from the original.

Seedling Cherries.—One spring quite a number of seedling plums, cherries, apples, and pears sprung up in my flower garden, near a verandah, where the fruit had been eaten. Having abundance of fine fruit growing in my garden we used none but the very best, and the seedlings were from as choice fruit as could be selected. I transplanted them in the end of a tulip bed, planting thick, in two rows a foot apart and four feet long, intending to plant them out and prove them the following year, but they were allowed to grow in a thick cluster till one of them fruited—a cherry—which was so excellent that all the rest were taken up and planted elsewhere. From this cluster more 7 good and really excellent fruits have been raised than could be readily credited.

The one that first fruited is a very large, late, and prolific Bigarreau cherry, of a dark reddish purple color, and excellent quality, which F. R. Elliot, Esq., of Cleveland, then secretary of the American Pomological Society, to whom I sent samples, pronounced “one of the best late market cherries.” Another is in my opinion the earliest and best cherry yet raised, evidently a seedling from the “Early Purple Guigne,” but a much stronger grower, with larger leaves, and fruit larger and finer flavored, a week earlier than the Early Purple, which it otherwise resembles. I sent sample trees of the best of my seedlings to leading pomologists in the United States. The Hon. Marshall P. Wilder, of Boston, writes me, “The Dougall’s Early Cherry is a good acquisition, and has already made a fine tree.” Ellwanger and Barry also wrote, “Please send us descriptions of your seedling cherries; No. 2 (Dougall’s Early) fruited with us this season and promises well.” Mr. Elliott also commended it highly, but as I have mislaid his letter I cannot quote from it. The fruit the first year a tree bears is never so fine as after it has borne for some years, the accounts from these cherries will therefore no doubt be still more favorable in a year or two.

Another seedling is a large black Bigarreau cherry, good quality and very prolific, but of a decidedly weeping habit, so much so that it has to be budded on mazzard stocks, six to eight feet high, to form a good tree. If budded low it never mounts up or forms a tall tree.

Another small batch of seedling cherries have fruited this year for the first time, several of which are finer than the old varieties; one in particular, a large, dark-red Bigarreau, is as early as “Dougall’s Early,” described above.

Seedling Plums.—Of the plum seedlings several proved very fine, but the greater part were planted where the Curculio destroyed the fruit, so that I have only been lately proving them from young trees planted in my fowl yards. One of these bore last year for the first time, and proved to be the most beautiful plum I ever saw. It is nearly as large as the White Magnum Bonum growing alongside of it, ripening a little later, and of a different form, with a bright, clear, transparent, yellow skin—getting, just as it begins to ripen, a beautiful carmine cheek—more like a wax fruit than a true one. It is an early, great, and regular bearer, being overloaded with fruit this year again. 8 I sent samples of it to the convention of the American Pomological Society, at Baltimore, last year, but the box and fruit got smashed on the way. Samples sent to the Fruit Growers’ Association of Ontario took the first prize for the best seedling, and was called by the President “a truly magnificent plum.”

Seedling Pears.—The greater part of the pears in the first lot were struck with blight before they commenced bearing; and the apples were not planted out.

A friend and neighbor, the late Judge Elliot, raised from the seed of the Madeline Pear a very fine early pear, which I introduced to notice as “Elliot’s Early.” It is of excellent quality, about double the size of and ripening a week earlier than the Doyenne d’Ete, the earliest pear we had previously. The tree is the strongest grower we have, and very hardy.

Seedling Lilacs.—In ornamental trees and shrubs I have not done much, except in roses and lilacs. Having imported all the best varieties of lilacs from Europe, which were planted in a nursery row, where they stood some years, several seedlings grew up beside them. One, when it flowered, was by far the best dark-purple that I had seen. The petals of each flower were reflexed, and the spike so long that it had some resemblance to an ostrich feather. I called it the “Prince of Wales,” owing to its resemblance to his crest. Its beauty induced me to sow the seeds from the best varieties, from which several thousand have flowered, all good, and of every shade of color. From these I selected several very superior, which I named after the royal family of England. The second fine one that flowered was a superb white, the flower and truss more than double the size of the old white. This I called “Princess Alexandra.” “Queen Victoria” is a very dark blueish purple, tipped with almost white. “Albert the Good” is by far the finest very dark red purple yet raised. “Azure,” now called “Marchioness of Lorne,” is a beautiful pale clear blue; another, a very dark double purple, while others nearly equally good have not been as yet named or propagated.

Seedling Roses.—In roses my success has been good, more especially in moss roses, some of which are the most brilliant I have yet seen—bright velvety scarlet, shaded with dark velvet; some growing very tall, double, and perfect rose color. But it looks egotistical to write so much about the little I have done. My only excuse, and the 9 sole object I have in view, is to induce others who have more time to go on and improve upon my experience. To those having a true love of horticulture nothing can be pleasanter than watching the tree fruiting for the first time, and testing the fruit in comparison with other fine varieties, or seeing the rose-bud expanding, and wondering if it will be equal or superior to the older sorts.

The apple and pear take a number of years to test, though this can be greatly accelerated by grafting shoots from the promising seedlings on bearing trees; but the plum, cherry, peach, grapes, gooseberries, and other small fruits, as also roses, and other ornamental shrubs and flowers, can be proved in the course of a few years from the seed. I feel now that my time has been wasted in the cares of business, which might have been more profitably and pleasantly employed in raising seedlings; but still, though verging on man’s allotted span, I have many seedlings coming on which will fruit in a year or two, and I will plant many more seeds this year for myself or others to test.

Finally, all that is required for wonderful success is to secure the very best varieties of fruits and flowers to propagate from, plant them near together, without any of inferior quality to mix with them; save and plant the seeds from these, and the bees will do all the rest far better and more scientifically than man can do it, and with far better results.

HORTICULTURAL GOSSIP. VI.

BY L. WOOLVERTON, M. A., GRIMBSY.

Our Winter Meetings.—We notice that the Horticultural Society of Ohio have published in the papers a schedule of their approaching annual meeting at Dayton. It is to occupy three days, the time being occupied somewhat as is customary at most conventions or conferences. Essays are to be read by prominent members on stated subjects, and each is to be followed by a free discussion; besides this, reports will be received concerning the fruit crops in various places, and the meeting will close with the election of officers.

The question has already been brought up among us, whether a winter meeting of more than one day would not be advisable, and the answer depends upon the wishes of members. Perhaps our discussions 10 might be more attractive and profitable if competent persons were previously appointed to introduce the several topics by either a paper or an address, to be followed by a free discussion; and if a schedule of the essays, topics, and business of such intended meeting were given the members through the pages of the Horticulturist, even the local press might be used to draw public attention to the interesting characters of such a meeting, which might result in an increased number of members.

The Fruit Room.—It seems to me that one of the most attractive features of our meetings is very much undervalued by members, and that is the display of fruit. If fine samples and uncommon varieties were more freely exhibited, what a source of attraction to visitors, what a means of information to members might result; and possibly there would be more encouragement to this if the display could stand on exhibition for a longer time. Among other beneficial results of an extended interest in this feature of our meetings, may be mentioned the following points:

(1) Members may extend their knowledge of the distinguishing points in varieties.

(2) Variations of the same kind of fruit as grown in different localities will be evident.

(3) Successful method of preserving fruits will be elicited.

Much interest is already taken in the show of seedling fruits, and this is one of the most important uses of the fruit room; but if a man cannot show a new seedling, let him show the best and most perfect specimens of what he has, whether old or new, that we may get our ideal of what a perfect model should be, and aim to produce it, each for himself.

Books for Fruit Growers.—The fruit growers of Grimsby having applied to the directors of the Mechanic’s Institute, have succeeded in getting a great number of books added to the library which are directly useful to them; and the same course might be profitably followed in many other places. Who will dispute the superior value of a library containing such useful books, over one containing only novels and other light literature? The books which have been written on horticulture and agriculture are now so numerous that few can afford them all, and those who most need them are often least able to procure them. We beg to call attention to the following list as a few among the many 11 that are very desirable: Downing’s Fruits and Fruit Trees of America; Warder’s American Pomology; Barry’s Fruit Garden; Beadle’s Fruit, Flower, and Kitchen Garden; Fulton’s Peach Culture; Quinn’s Pear Culture; Fuller’s Grape Culturist; and Fuller’s Small Fruit Culturist.

The Best Tomato.—For two seasons past the profit of tomato culture has been exceedingly small; but in my experience the Hathaway’s Excelsior is the most profitable kind we have. On one occasion our commission merchant in Guelph wrote us, “I can sell your tomatoes at ninety cents per bushel, when other kinds are being sold in the market for fifty cents, because of the great superiority of the Hathaway for table use.” For canning, too, it has no superior. The manager of the canning works here said he could afford to pay more for Hathaways than for any other variety, because there was less waste about it, and its round, smooth skin peels so much easier and so much more quickly than does that of the wrinkled kinds.

We tried the Acme last season, and found that it possessed a fine shape and a good flavor, and exhibited a peculiar bright pink color; but it does not seem to be any earlier than the Hathaway, and it is not so firm.

TO THE MEMBERS OF THE FRUIT GROWERS’ ASSOCIATION OF ONTARIO.

BY J. C., AULTSVILLE.

I am pleased to be one of them. Referring you to our Editor’s address as we have it on the fly-sheet of his last issue, we set him down as a remarkably modest man. Most managers of periodicals, at the year’s end, tell us what they have done, and what they mean to do—of course a bigger thing. Our modest Editor just tells us the December No. closes the volume, and politely asks us to renew our subscriptions. That’s business like. I take it for granted that we have all read the pages of our little monthly, and think you’ll all agree with me that we have had in them value far more than our dollar subscription. It’s our part, however, to help the work. If every one of us will try and enlist another subscriber, (that’s not hard to do, I got three last year with little trouble), it will strengthen the hands 12 and very much encourage the heart of our Editor. Many of you too can help him and benefit the rest of us with your pen. Try it, friends.

PROTECTION TO STRAWBERRIES IN WINTER.

BY A. M. SMITH, DRUMMONDVILLE.

Does it pay to cover strawberries in winter? When should it be done? What material is it best to use? are questions which are frequently asked me, particularly by persons just beginning their cultivation.

To the first question I would say yes; cover by all means. To the “when,”—as soon as convenient after the ground freezes up. Freezing and thawing and the heaving out of the plants is more to be dreaded than a continued heavy freezing. “The best covering” depends upon circumstances. Good barn-yard manure, if your ground is not already rich enough, is the best covering to use. Do not put it on thick enough to smother the plants, but just thick enough to protect them, and in the spring rake it off the crown of the plants around the roots, and let it serve as a mulch, and you will derive a thribble benefit from it, first, as a protection from frost; second, as a protection from drouth, and third, as a fertilizer. But if your ground is already in good condition, and manure is scarce, get any rough material that is convenient which will protect them, or retain the snow so that will form a protection, such as pine or any kind of evergreen brush, cornstalks, buckwheat or pea straw, marsh or swamp hay, wheat or oat straw (if free from grass and other seeds), or leaves from the woods, with a few brush thrown on them to prevent the winds blowing them away. Remove the covering in the spring as soon as the frost is permanently out. My practice with straw is to rake it off in piles till after I cultivate and hoe my plants, then run it through a cutting-box, so as to make it fine enough to work it in amongst and under the plants, and then put it around them to protect the fruit from the dirt. Leaves will be partially decayed in the spring and can be used for the same purpose.

Use any of these means, even as late as midwinter if you can not do it before, and if it does not pay you, your experience will be different from mine. 13

THE FUCHSIA AS A WINDOW PLANT.

It is no wonder that the Ladies’ Ear-drop caused a sensation when it was first introduced to the public. It is said that the fortunate possessor in England realized a handsome sum from the sale of the first lot. He was a shrewd man, if the story be true. It is said that he never permitted the public to know that he had more than a plant or two. When he advertised it for sale he set a couple of them in full bloom in his show room. Two ladies came to see them; charmed with their beauty each bought one, paid the man his price, and drove home under the impression that they were the sole possessors of the lovely Fuchsia, for seeing no more they concluded he had no more. When they had been sent to the purchasers, another pair took the vacant places, and when these had been sold their places were supplied with others, thus keeping up the impression that they were very scarce, hence very costly, besides permitting each purchaser to feel very fortunate in having been able to secure a plant even at that costly price. And yet could our readers see the flower that created such an enthusiasm at that time, they would scarcely believe the story—scarcely believe that the Fuchsia of to-day was ever the poor little Ear-drop of the days that are past. The skill and care of the florist have wrought great changes in it since that time, and now it is one of the most attractive and beautiful plants with which our ladies can ornament their windows.

We are enabled through the politeness of Mr. Vick—who has done so much to encourage and cultivate a love for flowers—to give a little engraving, which will show the present appearance of the single and double varieties, and give some idea of their elegance and grace. As will be seen in the engraving, the corolla is reflexed, turned back, itself very beautifully colored, sometimes rose color, or pink, or violet, or scarlet, or white, while the sepals are some other color, contrasting beautifully with the corolla. The single flower in the engraving represents one whose sepals are white, in bold contrast with the scarlet corolla. Not only do these 14 plants present a great variety of coloring in their flowers, but they flower so abundantly, and each flower hangs so gracefully from its tiny bough, that the whole plant is an expression of grace, and elegance, and beauty.

Another quality which these plants possess commends them strongly to the majority of our friends, they are of the easiest culture, and grow rapidly. They need attention, to be supplied with water, and kept free from insects, and as they increase in size to be transferred to larger pots. They enjoy being taken frequently to the kitchen and showered with tepid water from a fine rose with the garden syringe. Unless this is frequently done they are in danger of becoming infested with red spider. While requiring plenty of light, they should not be exposed to the direct rays of a burning sun, and should have fresh air as abundantly as possible. A little study of their wants while caring for them, will soon enable any one to grow the Fuchsia to perfection. It is always most attractive when grown in pyramidal form, a single upright stalk with the branches thrown out regularly on all sides. When first purchased of the florist the plants will usually be in three inch pots. As soon as the roots are found to have reached the sides of the pot, the plant should be carefully removed from the pot by turning it upside down and gently rapping the rim upon the edge of the bench, and preserving the ball of earth and roots entire; set the plant in the centre of a pot one size larger, fill in with rich, porous soil, pressing it in firmly around the ball as you put it in, give it a good watering, tie the centre shoot to a stake, and set it in the window to grow. In order to keep them symmetrical it will be necessary to turn them every day, else the branches stretching towards the light will soon give the plant a mis-shapen form. As soon as the roots have filled the new pot, making their appearance against the sides, it will be time to shift the plant into another pot a size larger, and so continue to shift them until the pot is as large as you care to have it. The plants require to be watered freely, but water should not be allowed to stand about the roots, and in order to prevent this the pots should be first well supplied with bits of charcoal or of broken crocks in the bottom before the plants are put in. Having the plant now in as large a pot as is desired, it will soon become a mass of bloom, and continue to bloom for a long time. After it has done blooming it is more satisfactory to throw it away than to winter it over and try to make it break nicely in the spring. Young plants 15 can be had so cheap of the florists now, and they give so much better satisfaction than the average results with old plants, that it seems a great waste of labor and care to try to do anything with them.

In purchasing young plants it is very desirable to buy those which have naturally a symmetrical style of growth. There is a great difference among them in this respect, some that have very handsome flowers have a very straggling habit of growth, and are very difficult subjects in the hands of any but the most experienced to train in handsome shape. Your florist of whom you purchase will cheerfully advise you on this point.

With but few exceptions the Fuchsia is not a winter flowering plant. Its great value as a window plant is in supplying those who have no garden, the dwellers in large towns, or those who from any cause are confined to the window culture of plants. To these its beauty, ease of culture, and abundance of bloom make it a favorite plant. We have found the variety known as Mrs. Marshall to bloom in winter very well, but best of all is Speciosa, which with proper culture may be had in bloom from Christmas onward until spring. Of the other varieties it is hardly of any use to speak. New claimants for favor are being constantly introduced, and our readers will be better able to select those that please them than we can possibly do it for them.

DR. REEDER’S PEAR.

BY P. E. BUCKE, OTTAWA, ONT.

A great deal has been said and done to try and ascertain some cure or prevention of the pear blight, which in many instances has devastated our pear orchards, and has made this luscious fruit one of the most difficult of cultivation. No specific, so far as I am aware, has yet been found to guard against the hidden foe; and I fear it may be traced to a want of hardiness in the constitution of the trees themselves. I was very much struck on a recent visit to the asylum for the insane, at London, Ontario, at seeing a row of one dozen pear trees standing erect, in full foliage, in a part of the orchard set aside for this fruit, and a number of other trees of the same description with branches cut off, some being perfect stumps, whilst here and there were large gaps of blighted trees and blanks. On enquiry of the 16 gardener I was informed that these trees had no special attention conferred upon them, but that they simply withstood the assaults made upon them because they were Doctor Reeder’s. On further enquiry I find this variety is a seedling of the Winter Nelis, that it is described by Downing as a hardy, healthy, and vigorous tree, of a spreading open form, an excellent bearer, the fruit being from small to medium, the flesh is juicy, melting and buttery, sugary and vinous. He bestows on it the terms of “very good to best,” which stamps it from so high an authority as worthy of special attention amongst pear growers. It ripens in November.

I would be very glad if any of the readers of the Horticulturist who have any knowledge of this tree, would inform others if this is an exceptional case, or if it is generally hardy in various parts of the Province. Can the Editor, or Mr. Saunders, or the President, add anything of their own knowledge to the above? The trees are large, and to all appearances have borne for several years.

THE TREE PEDDLER.

FROM P. E. BUCKE, OTTAWA. (Not original.)

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES

A table of contents has been added for convenience.

Obvious printer errors including punctuation have been silently corrected.

Inconsistencies in spelling have been preserved.

[The end of The Canadian Horticulturist Volume 02, No. 01 by D. W. Beadle]