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The Canadian Horticulturist.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

THE ANNUAL DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS.

At a recent meeting of the Executive Committee, the subject of the distribution of trees and plants to the members of the Association, was fully discussed, and the various difficulties and complaints fully and carefully considered. One of the serious causes of complaint was the fact that the persons to whom the trees were consigned did not understand how to take care of them, hence before they came into the hands of the persons for whom they were intended, they often became dry and worthless. Another was the inconvenience of going to the person to whom they were consigned in order to obtain them. Besides, it was found to entail a very heavy expense upon the Fruit Growers’ Association in the packing and freight. In order therefore to obviate these difficulties, the committee decided, for the present at least, to send out nothing that could not be sent direct to each member by mail.

To meet as far as possible a desire that had frequently been expressed on the part of members to have the privilege of choosing the article to be received, the Executive Committee decided to place four varieties before the members, giving to them the privilege of designating which of them they wish to have sent, by informing the Secretary on or before the first day of March, 1881. If no notice is received by the Secretary on or before that day, the grape vine named in the list of articles from which selections may be made will be sent. Attention is particularly called to the date mentioned, because it is of the greatest importance that the Secretary be informed by that day what is to be sent to each member, so that he may have time to perfect the necessary arrangements before the season for distribution arrives. Those who send in their annual fee after the first day of March will receive the grape vine.

The Senasqua Grape; to be sent whenever a different choice is not communicated to the Secretary so as to reach him on or before the first day of March next.

The Dempsey Potato. Two pounds of this valuable new potato, a full description of which will be given in a future number.

The Hydrangea Paniculata, a new, hardy and handsome flowering shrub, worthy of a place in every lawn.

The Wealthy Apple. A one year old tree of this excellent winter apple. The regulations of the Post Office Department do not admit of a larger tree being sent, but members who are anxious to fruit it early can cut back the top and graft it into a bearing tree, thereby obtaining fruit in a very short time.

The object which the Association has in making an annual distribution of this kind is to secure from the members an expression of their opinion as to the value of the plant or tree for cultivation in their several localities, after having carefully tried it. Not only is the quality of the fruit to be considered, in the case of fruit trees or vines, but also the qualities of the tree, its productiveness, hardiness and healthfulness. If a vegetable, its value for food, its productiveness, adaptation to soil and climate, and profitable culture. Of a flowering shrub or other ornamental plant or tree, whether it will endure the winter without injury, and really make an attractive and pleasing feature on the lawn or in the flower garden. The Executive Committee earnestly request that the members will please to bear this in mind, and not forget to give this much needed information every year.

This distributed article is not intended as a return for the dollar, (annual fee,) but as being intrusted to your care, that you may give to others the benefit of your opinion in regard thereto.

The Directors would further be much gratified if members, and especially the ladies who are members of the Association, would, on sending in their fee for 1881, mention to the Secretary what article they would like to have sent them for trial in the spring of 1882. This might enable them to send those things which you desire particularly to try in your locality, and in the trial of which you would take a special interest, and concerning which it would be a pleasure to report results.

TO MEMBERS OF THE FRUIT GROWER’S ASSOCIATION.

The present number concludes another year of the Canadian Horticulturist. It is hoped that you have found it to be of some benefit to you, that it has kept you informed of the progress of horticulture, has brought to your notice the important recent introductions in fruits and flowers, and helped to extend your acquaintance with such trees and plants as promise to be valuable in our climate.

The Directors desire to issue a sufficient edition of this monthly to meet the requirements of members, and to enable them to do so, they most earnestly request that you would renew your subscription by the first of January, 1881. If the members would only be punctual to do this, the Directors could form a very accurate estimate of the edition required, and be able to bring the cost of publication to the smallest possible limit. Will you not help them to do so by sending in your annual fee promptly on receipt of this number?

Members are also requested to write more freely for their journal, and through it give to each other the benefit of their experience and opinions. We hope to have from our botanical members some papers on botany, and particularly upon Canadian flora; from our farmers their experience with their orchards; from our gardeners the results of their trials of new potatoes, peas, and other vegetables; from our amateurs some information concerning their specialties or hobbies, and from the ladies some inquiries at least concerning flowers and flowering plants. Please to bear this in mind, and help to make our Horticulturist an exponent of Canadian thought and experience on all horticultural matters.

CULTIVATION OF SORGUM AT OTTAWA.

BY P. E. BUCKE, OTTAWA.

It will be remembered that attention was called to the cultivation of Sorgum in the January and February numbers of the Horticulturist of the present year, as the future sugar plant of the Dominion, as well as the Western States. The Hon. G. W. LeDuc, Commissioner at Washington, D. C., kindly sent me two packages of seed known as the Early Amber sugar cane, some of which I planted myself, and the rest distributed among those who cared to have it. I planted the seed on the 18th May, and by the 30th September the plant had fully matured, and its seed was fully ripe,—showing conclusively that our season was ample for the maturity of the plant. My land was light sandy soil, and consequently would bring the crop to perfection earlier than if grown on clay. The ground on which it was raised was by no means rich, but the plant attained a height of eleven feet, and the tassels at the top were well filled with seed. For the first six weeks its growth was very slow, but when the hot weather fairly set in it went ahead in a very rapid manner. I much regret I had no means of expressing the juice; but my first consideration was to ascertain that the Early Amber cane would reach perfection in this vicinity, and I believe this fact has now been fully established.

From reports in the press in various parts of the Province it is noticed that the growing of Sorgum is becoming quite a Canadian industry. Many farmers are abandoning the maple syrup and sugar manufacture and adopting the less tedious mode of obtaining saccharine matter from the Early Amber cane. Already prizes are being given at the agricultural shows for Sorgum products, and it would be well if the Hon. Mr. Wood could see his way to change the offer of a grant of $25,000 and an annual amount for ten years of $7,000 per annum made by an Act passed in 1873, for producing sugar from beets, to the same grant, and the same bonus per annum for Sorgum sugar. It is found from practical experience in the neighboring States that Sorgum is much easier cultivated, is a surer crop, more easily harvested, and the methods of making syrup and sugar are much simpler than from beets, the chemical manipulation of which forms an almost insuperable barrier to the production of sugar at sufficiently cheap rates to make it pay. The cost of the necessary machinery is also very heavy. From a study of the subject, I cannot but think that any attempt made in the manufacture of sugar from beets, which I see agitated in the neighboring Province of Quebec, must, like those made in various parts of the States, lead eventually to disaster. A cheap stationary or a portable steam crusher, which like the thrashing machine can be conveyed from farm to farm, will be the next thing in order. The sugaring apparatus is more expensive, and will probably require a company with a considerable capital to erect and work it.

HORTICULTURAL GOSSIP. XII.

BY L. WOOLVERTON, GRIMSBY.

Shortening in Peach Trees.—“What are you doing to your peach trees?” said Ignorans, watching me with my pruning shears lopping off the ends of the branches. I am shortening them in. I find it a very useful mode of pruning peach trees. “I can’t see much use in it.” Well, I will tell you what use I find in it. (1) It increases the vigor of the tree, and makes it less liable to the yellows. (2) It thins the fruit of the coming season, and thus insures a yearly crop, providing the winters are favorable. (3) It prevents the breaking down of the trees either with fruit or with ice. You see yonder block of trees carefully shortened in last March. Now the result has been very marked, for while many orchards about here this year have been dreadfully mutilated with the tremendous weight of fruit, and will need a year or two to regain their vigor, that orchard is uninjured. It has borne large, handsome fruit, and is fit for similar service next season.

Ignavus said, “Well, it may be very useful, but, pshaw! it is too much trouble. It will take half one man’s time to cut them that way. I had rather let them grow as they choose.”

“When is the best time to prune peach trees?” said Prudens, “I want to try the system.” I think in September, immediately after the fruit is picked. The wounds will heal nicely before winter, and the remaining buds will mature better for the thinning. Failing in September, I would do it in early spring, just before the new growth begins.

“Would you shorten in the old wood?” No, not as a rule. I would only cut off from one half to two thirds of the last growth in cases of vigorous trees. But I would cut back the old wood in cases of old trees where the limbs are straggling or stunted.

Picking and Packing Peaches.—As Ignavus and Ignorans walked away quite satisfied with their old way of letting things take care of themselves, Prudens further enquired, “How do you gather your fruit in such a large orchard?” My plan is to supply the pickers with plenty of handle baskets. These they fill and set down by the carriage roads which intersect the orchard at convenient distances. A boy with a horse and wagon keeps busy bringing these to the packing house and taking out empty baskets.

“How do you pack?” Well, we have packing benches about as high as a table, and so inclined that peaches will easily roll down. The packers empty the baskets upon these benches, and after picking out all soft and decayed peaches into one basket and all small ones into another, the rest are then allowed to run off into a third basket. As fast as filled they are passed over to the sewing tables, where they are covered with gauze and ticketed. The small size are marked with a figure 2, any very choice are marked “Select.” They are then ready for drawing away to the express depot.

“And how do you sell the fruit?” My plan is to consign it to some first-class commission house. I know many large growers distribute their own fruit, and perhaps it pays best, but it is a great deal of trouble. I am sure I find more than enough to do in overseeing the picking, packing and shipping without also adding the great toil and anxiety of making sales and collecting accounts.

Prudens said little, but I could see he did not fall in with my way. Commission men in his opinion too often take advantage of you, or neglect your goods until they have sold their own. He prefers to sell them himself and know what he is getting for each lot. But I think that he will change his mind somewhat if he ever becomes a very extensive grower.

Manure for Orchards.—There is one thing which Ignorans does that surprises me. Whenever an old horse dies he pitches it into the lake or buries it in the earth. It puts me in mind of the way the Lower Canadian French farmers used to do. When the manure piles got so large about their stables that they could not get in or out, they would make a bee to pitch them into the river. Ignorans might as well bury twenty dollars in gold where it would be of no use to any one. I am sure the old carcass would be worth that much to his orchard if he would use it rightly. I have seen it stated that a dead horse will convert twenty tons of peat into valuable manure, and I believe it is true. I tried a similar plan once and was much gratified with the result. I left the heap over the carcass for a few months, and then turned it up together. When I applied it to the trees I was astonished to see the effect. The growth made was simply marvellous, and I determined that I would henceforth never bury a dead horse except in a manure pile.

The mud of our ditches, too, is very serviceable. Mixed with one-third its amount of ashes and applied to our trees it is most excellent. Every means should be brought into service to increase the quantity of manure for our orchards, and such kinds as I have mentioned are better for them than barnyard manure. One very valuable ingredient of the manure heap is entirely lost by most of our farmers. I refer to the urine of our stables. It is allowed to run away, or evaporate injuriously to the eyes of our horses, which are confined in the close stables through the winter. A few loads of sawdust in a convenient corner will last a whole winter as an absorbent. After cleaning the stable floor let a shovelful of dry sawdust be scattered over it. An immediate effect will be observed in the purification of the air, and a most valuable ingredient for the manure heap will thereby be saved from waste.

THE JANESVILLE GRAPE.

Our attention is called to this grape by Mr. Frederick Farucombe, Newcastle, Ont., who expresses surprise that we did not mention it in our article on “Early Grapes.” He states that for several years he, as well as other gentlemen in that neighborhood, have grown the Janesville Grape, and find it from a fortnight to three weeks earlier than the Concord, and that this year they were ripe the first week in September and the Concords were not ripe before the first week in October. The Janesville is considered by our correspondent to be quite equal if not superior in flavor to the Concord, and more hardy and more prolific. The berries are larger than those of the Clinton, he finds, but smaller than those of the Concord; but the bunches are more compact than the Concord bunches, and greatly resemble the Clinton in that respect. The vine, he adds, is a free grower, ripening its wood well, and requiring no protection whatever in the climate of Newcastle.

Perhaps other members of the Association have planted the Janesville Grape, who will favor us with the result of their experience with it and their opinion of its merits.

HOW CAN OUR FRUIT EXHIBITIONS BE IMPROVED?

BY A. HOOD, BARRIE, ONT.

Having paid a visit to the Provincial Exhibition and inspected the very fine show of fruit with which its tables were filled, it occurred to me that improvements might be made in the plan of giving prizes and arranging specimens for exhibition. What I object to under the present system is that specimens of any of the principal kinds are to be found in all parts of the hall, so that any one wishing to compare those grown in different localities, to ascertain in what part of the Province that particular kind flourishes best, will have a very tedious time of it before he has found all the exhibits, and travelled backwards and forwards to make comparisons. This arises from the number of sections in which any one variety may be shown, and the manner in which fruits from all sections are mixed up together. For instance, take any popular apple that may be good for cooking and also for dessert, and I find on inspecting the prize list that it may be shown in a number of sections, with three or four prizes in each, making thirty different lots of the same apple, each of which takes a prize, and each lot has five specimens, making in all one hundred and fifty prize apples. And if there are, as there may be, two or three times as many more which fail to take prizes, that would make from three hundred to six hundred apples all of one kind, and these are to be found in all parts of the hall according to the section in which they appear. This is what may take place, and what does take place with one leading variety only; supposing then there are from ten to twenty leading varieties, all multiplied in the same manner, and a still larger number of varieties of secondary merit, each appearing in several classes or sections, and some idea may be formed of the bewildering character of our fruit exhibitions.

Surely the system which causes this continual repetition of the same varieties, frequently from the same localities, and often from the same orchard, cannot be the best on which our fruits can be exhibited, either as regards the benefits to be derived by those who inspect them with a view of obtaining a knowledge of our fruit products, or in consideration of the interests of exhibitors. If ten specimens have to be examined where one would suffice, a loss of time is occasioned to both spectators and judges, and additional trouble and expense to exhibitors.

Let a first, second, third, and in some cases a fourth prize be offered for so many specimens of each desirable variety. Commence then at one end of the table with all the competing specimens of the earliest fruit, and then the same with the second earliest, and so on to the latest. And let there be no grouping of the four best cooking, and the six best cooking, and the ten best cooking, which must in any case only be a repetition of what has been seen in the one variety class, with the disadvantage that inferior specimens frequently take prizes because shown “in group” with extraordinary fine specimens of other kinds. This plan may have its faults, as indeed what plan has not? but it certainly has the merit of simplicity.

The object of our exhibitions should be, and I hope is, to encourage the growth of the best fruits, &c., which our soil and climate are capable of producing; and the manufacture of the best and most useful articles that our manufacturers can supply; but as regards the products of the soil, whether they take the shape of fruit, grain or live stock, it does not follow because the absolutely best cannot be produced that the best should not be striven for and encouraged. It does not follow that because the best quality of fruit or grain cannot be grown in any particular county or district, that no fruit or grain should be grown there at all, and yet as our exhibitions are conducted the whole of the encouragement in the shape of prizes and medals goes to the favored sections, while others a little less favored by climate or soil are left out in the cold, on the principle, I suppose, that “he that hath to him shall be given.” The plan of exhibition I have sketched out above is open to this objection in common with the one hitherto followed. This is one of its faults, and another which applies to all of these great exhibitions is, that a few skilled orchardists, farmers, stock breeders, &c., are stimulated and forced into a sort of hot-bed growth, and become a favored class—a sort of aristocracy among producers. But they do not carry the bone and sinew of the country with them; they outstrip the great mass of producers so far that there is really no competition, and the multitude fall back into their old grooves again. Now what I would like to see is to have the stimulus to improvement localized as much as possible—brought home as it were to our own counties and townships, and as near as possible to our very doors, so that every producer might be interested and benefitted. This of course is the work more particularly of county and township associations, which I hope will never be supplanted by the huge gatherings that now take place in all our large cities. Impressed, therefore, with this idea, I wish to suggest a plan of localizing them to some extent even here, and I will indicate two methods by which my views could be carried out.

First, I would offer prizes to be competed for by each of the agricultural districts, and let the fruit from each district be shown separately, according to the plan above suggested. This would make thirteen different collections of fruit—thirteen distinct exhibitions—which would show the fruit growing capacity of each district in the most satisfactory manner.

Or, secondly, I would have an exhibition held in each of those agricultural districts prior to the provincial exhibition, and let the first prize fruits only be sent from each to the provincial. The same amount in prizes might be given in either case, but in the latter these prizes would be paid out by district committees, but not placed in their hands until the first prize fruit had been placed on exhibition at the provincial.

This would give a stimulus to fruit growing in every district, instead of being confined too much to more favored localities as is now the case, and the amount in prizes offered in each might be proportioned to the number of members of the Fruit Growers’ Association, and this would furnish a stimulus to each district to increase its membership.

SOME NOTES ON FRUIT AND THE FRUIT GROWERS’ ASSOCIATION.

BY P. E. BUCKE, OTTAWA, ONT.

In the earlier days of western Canada the first settlers had so hard a battle to reclaim the land from the forest trees, that the planting of anything larger than a cabbage never entered the head of anyone. It is true the inhospitable climate of Lower Canada had given birth to some of our present most favored apples, but beside these our Dominion was destitute of fruit, and probably we should have remained so for a much longer period, had not the nurserymen on our southern border raised both trees and tree pedlers, who brought their wares to this then terra incognita, know as Upper Canada. I would here add, though some have made game in prose and verse of that ubiquitous specimen of the genus homo known in the vulgar tongue as the “tree pedler,” he has not always been an unmixed evil; and though some harm has been done by the selling of “Barm of Gilliad” poplars for pear trees, and the like, yet the introduction by them of fruit trees and vines in early years demonstrated the fact that our climate was specially adapted for horticultural persuits. The cumulative force which such knowledge begets in a new country is perfectly astonishing. Year by year nurserymen were multiplied, and the rapidity with which large and small orchards and vineyards have sprung into existence in every section is quite gratifying to the lovers of fruit. There is not a town or county from Nova Scotia to the head of Thunder bay that is not dotted with large or small cultivations, and some orchards produce large quantities of surplus fruit for shipment.

The Fruit Growers’ Association of Ontario, which was originated some fifteen years ago by the assembling together of a few enthusiasts, now numbers its members by the hundreds; and it is hoped its monthly periodical will before long be developed into a weekly one, embracing with its present articles on fruit and forestry, designs and plans of house and farm buildings, glass houses and conservatories, designs for parks, and a register of current prices of fruit in towns and cities in Canada, the States and Great Britain. This is much required, owing to the large amount of surplus fruit grown in certain districts and the scarcity that exists in others, and also with regard to the enormous export trade which is fast developing. The subject of drying fruits should also be handled. In fact the field opened is such a large one, that if any one had the time and vigor to push the journal, it would have a large circulation in England as well as on the Continent if conducted on a business footing. The Horticulturist is taken entirely by a class of people directly interested in fruit, forestry and horticulture, and it should be the medium of advertising all the articles relating thereto, such as farming and gardening implements of all kinds, rural architecture, landscape gardening, situations wanted in town and rural districts by gardeners and farm laborers, fencing materials, artificial manures, soil pumps and pipes for irrigation matters, hydraulic rams, cut flowers, plants, bulbs vines, &c. Also in season, a list of orchards, and probable number of baskets of fruit for sale in each. This item would be very desirable for the English buyers who come here for their winter stock.

As orchards are multiplied it will be necessary to institute artificial drying machines, as this is the only legitimate method for making the apple saleable in all climates; and so great a perfection has this method reached of doing up this fruit that it is difficult after it has been cooked to tell whether the fruit was not fresh gathered in the morning for the pie which graces the dinner table. In all tropical climates where the apple cannot be grown, a great want of it is felt amongst European restaurants. No southern grown fruit has yet been found able to take its place for permanent use. The canning establishments of California are monopolizing the trade of preserved fruits with India, why should not the extensive orchards of Canada undertake to provide that country, the West Indies and South America with dried fruit, to which potatoes, &c., might be added? When west last September I saw hundreds of bushels of apples rotting on the ground. Sheep, pigs and cattle were being fed with them, and yet they could not be disposed of. Most excellent fruit was being sold at twenty-five cts. per bushel, and the price was considered a good one.

It is now time for the Association to take action in giving fruit growers a standard of fruits to cultivate for the home markets and for export out of the long list of fruits in the catalogues, amounting to hundreds of varieties. Not more than from ten to twenty are enquired after in local or foreign markets, or in those parts of the Province where they cannot be cultivated. Of grapes, peaches, plums and pears the names are hardly yet known to buyers, and of strawberries only two or three kinds are shipped to a distance. It would be a good plan if shippers would label their fruits not only with their own names and residences but also the name of the fruit; this is seldom done except with regard to apples, but I am convinced as the fruit question becomes more understood all kinds will sell better if its name is attached to the label.

The society should also issue a list of fruits most suitable for the various counties of this Province; this would be invaluable to intending planters.

The cultivation of fruits has largely increased since the formation of our society, and it is rapidly extending as only those know who have watched this industry since its commencement. It is unfortunate that so many of the trees have died which have been sent out, though to some extent this must have been expected. Sometimes they were badly packed, at others they were delayed by the carrying companies in whose care they were entrusted. Some were received by people who did not know what to do with them, and they were thrown into woodsheds instead of having their tender rootlets immediately protected by soil. Again, some of the members had not sufficient experience to plant them properly, or they were set in an unfavorable position, so that the evils of all concerned have been heaped upon the head of the Association. For my own part, I can confidently say that everything obtained grew well, and would have flourished in a suitable climate. Not only so, but in many instances by various means of propagation, I have supplied other members whose trees have failed.

SMILAX.

The Boston Post gives a very interesting account of the manner in which Smilax came to float on the topmost wave of popularity for decorative purposes. A Boston florist had failed signally in his attempt to make the vine a favorite with New York florists. At the time of the great fair in aid of the French sufferers by the Franco Prussian war, Madame Doremus, who was one of the managers of the fair, obtained from the Boston florist a number of floral decorations and a supply of flowers for her flower tables, and among these was sent an abundance of Smilax. Mlle Christine Neilson tendered her services to Madame Doremus as an attendant at her flower tables, and was presented by the florist with flowers for her hair consisting of two rosebuds and a long spray of Smilax. During the evening, and while the rush for the flower tables was at its height, a well known gentleman found his way to the front, and began to examine the flowers.

“Yes, I’ll buy a boquet,” he said, in answer to the prima donna’s business like interrogation.

“Which one will you take?”

“I will take that one in your hair, if it is for sale,” said he audaciously.

“Yes, that is for sale,” said Neilson, promptly.

“What is the price?”

“One hundred and fifty dollars.”

“I’ll take it,” said he, as promptly; and he went down into his pocket and produced three crisp fifty dollar greenbacks.

In a twinkling the prima donna snatched the two buds and the spray of Smilax from her hair and handed them to the gentleman with a graceful “thank you,” to the intense delight of everybody who witnessed the transaction.

The story flew about the hall like wild fire, and in ten minutes all the demoiselles attending the tables were importuning the florist for a spray of “that Boston vine.” The next day the New York florists sent for the Boston man in haste, and all were willing and anxious for some of the Boston vine. One wanted two hundred strings a day for a month; another a thousand strings a week for the season, and everybody wanted more or less. In a very short time the Boston florist had orders for an immense quantity. He lost no time in telegraphing to his partner in Boston, and in twenty four hours the firm had control of nearly every Smilax in Boston and vicinity. Large shipments were made to New York, and since that time Smilax has been a staple article with the metropolitan florists.

SUBJECTS FOR DISCUSSION AT THE NEXT MEETING.

The Executive Committee have selected the following subjects for consideration at the next meeting, which will be held in the City Hall, Hamilton, on Tuesday and Wednesday, January 18 and 19, 1881. Members are requested to prepare papers on such of these subjects, or indeed upon any other within the scope of the objects of the Association, as they choose, to be read at the meeting. The following are the subjects indicated by the Committee, viz:—

First.—What new or little known varieties of apples have been introduced, and which of them promise to be of value?

Second.—What new or little known varieties of pears have been introduced, and do any of them give promise of being valuable in our Province?

Fifth.—What soil, and what conditions of the surface soil would best conduce to the proper development of apple trees?

Sixth.—The best twenty-four varieties of hardy roses, including climbing, summer, hybrid perpetual and moss roses?

Ninth.—Are there any Canadian wild flowers worthy of cultivation in our gardens that have not already been introduced?

Tenth.—What varieties of sweet potatoes can he successfully grown in Ontario, and what is the best method of treatment?

Thirteenth.—Can any of our native nut-bearing trees be profitably cultivated, either for the nuts or timber, and where is the northern limit of each?

SCREENS.

The common process is to go to the forest, select such young trees as seem adapted to the purpose, dig them by cutting off all the roots at a few inches distance from the trunk, thus cutting away probably nine-tenths of the entire root systems; remove them from the shade and shelter of other trees, and probably transfer them to the open ground, where they, while yet enfeebled by the process, must be subjected to the full power of the summer’s sun and wind. This is doubtless many times done as a matter of economy, although after such trees have died and been several times replaced with the loss of several years time, as is usually the case, there would seem to be abundant reason to doubt the wisdom and even the economy of the process.

Nursery-grown trees are usually thickly grown in the seed bed, and when but one or two years old are taken up, the roots cut back and the seedlings thickly planted in rows, where they are allowed to stand till they demand more space, when they are again transplanted, and as a necessity the roots are again shortened and they are given a wider space for growth. Trees grown in this manner are invariably found to have a dense mass of fibrous roots, and hence can be transplanted with greater certainty, and will, moreover, recover from the shock of removal with far greater promptness. Such trees are also mere fully hardened by exposure to the sun—a fact which adds greatly to their ability to bear the shock of removal.

In growing young evergreens it is found necessary to protect them from the full influence of the sun for a considerable period, till by degrees they acquire strength to withstand the exposure. These also undergo two or three transplantings before they acquire the proper size, so that even those most impatient of removal become prepared to undergo the process with comparative impunity—a preparation the more needful in the case of evergreens for the reason that, unlike deciduous trees, there is no time in which they are not subject to the drain upon their vitality, arising from the evaporation of moisture through their persistent foliage, and, therefore, this tax upon their vitality is so much added to the shock of removal.

There is, however, no longer occasion, as a matter of even the closest economy, to resort to the forest for a supply, since nursery-grown trees are offered at prices little if any above the value of the labor necessary to remove them from the forest.

WHERE THEY SHOULD BE PLANTED.

The object of screens is manifold. The first object of a householder should doubtless be to render the residence, its yards and outbuildings and their occupants comfortable. It is by no means uncommon to see a fine residence, with suitable outbuildings, standing exposed to the full force of westerly and northerly winds, even where the farm appointments otherwise unmistakably indicate an owner in easy circumstances, and abundantly able to supply the needed protection. On such a place they should, beyond doubt, be planted so as to shelter the house and lawns and the yards occupied by the farm stock, not merely as a matter of comfort to man and animals, but also as an economical investment to save the stock of fuel, and to economize the feed consumed by stock in the process of generating animal heat. The object subserved, we would next, if still needful, plant a low screen (but one that will grow to be ten or twelve feet high) along the exposed side or sides of the kitchen garden, and in so doing provide the needful shelter for early vegetables, as well as a nook for the location of a hot bed and cold frames. Having provided for these needs, attention may next be given to the screening of the orchards from westerly or northerly winds. We are not unaware that some intelligent orchardists doubt the advantage of such protection, but we fancy that after a man shall have lost, or nearly lost, for year after year, the one fourth or one-half of his crop of fruit from the effect of high winds, just before the picking season, a slight effort of the imagination might convince him that less wind and more fruit might have been for his advantage. We recollect that at the recent meeting of the State Pomological Society at Hillsdale, Mr. Joseph Lannin, of South Haven, took issue with our expressed views on this subject by saying he did not think a screen would be of any advantage to his orchards. In this he may be correct, since no screen on either the west or north sides, thereof could at least for many years shelter the trees to any great extent, if planted on the border of the orchard, for the reason that such borders are on lower ground; so that screens must be grown to a very considerable height before they become effective. We know that many men here are so carried away with the idea that the lake is our protection that they prefer a full exposure to lake breezes. The two severe winters of the last decade, however, gave at least some of these gentlemen the idea that it may even be possible to have too much of a good thing. Some of them lost peach trees by the hundred, clearly in consequence of full westerly and northerly exposure with long continued cold. In fact, we have in mind a peach orchard directly upon the bluff to which the orchard committee of 1873 awarded a first premium, but which during the next winter was killed outright by the severe and long continued cold, with the exception of a few of the trees standing upon the east bluff inclined from the lake. A neighboring orchard similarly situated, but sheltered from the winds by a belt of trees, came through the same winter uninjured. But there are doubtless reasons why a screen for the protection of an orchard, especially if it contains cherries, peaches or even pears, should be open enough to impede but not fully arrest the circulation of the air.

—T. T. Lyon, in Michigan Farmer.