28 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



6-7 EDWARD VII., A. 1907 

 Hardiest Varieties Be commended for Districts North of Latitude JtG° 



Summer. — Yellow Transparent, Blushed Calville, Lowland Raspberry, Duchess, 

 Charlamoff. 



Autumn and Early Winter. — Anis, Anisim, Antonovka, Patten, Wealthy, Ostra- 

 koff. Hibernal. Peerless and Okabena are promising. 



Crah Apples Suitable for all Districts. 



Wliitney, Martha, Transcendent, Hyslop. Together with the new cross-bred apples 

 recently produced at the Central Farm by the Director, and which are proving hardy 

 in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. 



There are a number of new varieties growing at the Central Experimental Farm 

 whicli, though promising, have not been tested long enough to warrant their being 

 recommended. 



SEEDLIXG APPLES. 



Believing that desirable varieties of apples are more likely to be obtained from 

 trees originated in Canada or some colder climate, much attention has been paid to 

 the growing of seedlings in the hope of obtaining some better varieties than those 

 already on the market. Persons who have originated seedlings were invited to send 

 specimens of the fruit for examination and if the variety was thought promising, 

 scions were asked for. By this means a collection of 83 varieties of very promising 

 seedlings has been made. In 1890, there were 3,000 seedlings raised from apple seed 

 imported from north of Riga, Russia, planted at Ottawa. These have been gradually 

 reduced, by cutting out the poorer ones and by blight and winter killing, to 75 trees. 

 Out of this number there are a few which may prove superior to some named varieties 

 of the same season, and a large proportion of them is equal to the named Russian 

 apples which have been introduced. Twenty-five of these Russian seedlings have been 

 sent to Manitoba and the Northwest for test there, as they are very hardy. 



A new lot of seedlings is beginning to fruit, from which it is hoped that something 

 good will be obtained. A hardy, productive red winter apple of the best dessert quality 

 would be a great acquisition in Eastern Ontario, the province of Quebec and other 

 colder parts of Canada, and in planting these seedlings it was thought the chances were 

 good of obtaining a few superior varieties. Seed was saved of some of the hardiest 

 and best autumn, early winter and winter apples fruiting at the Central Experimental 

 Farm, including St. Lawrence, Wealthy, Mcintosh, Shiawassee, Fameuse, Swayzie, 

 Scott Winter, Winter St. Lawrence, Northern Spy, American Golden Russet, Gano, 

 Salome, Edgehill. The first planting of these seedlings was done in 1901 and the 

 number has gradually been increased until there are 1,969 trees now growing. The 

 growing and thorough testing of seedlings takes time and the Horticulturist has been 

 very careful not to recommend a new variety until it has been well tested and thought 

 to be superior in some particular to some other variety of the same season already on 

 the market. Hence the number of seedlings so far recommended has been very few. 



Cross-hred Varieties of Apples. 



In addition to the work done by Dr. Wm. Saunders, Director, in originating 

 apples for Manitoba and the Northwest provinces by cross-breeding, there has been 

 some work done in this direction by the Horticulturist with a view to obtaining hardier 

 winter varieties for Ontario and the province of Quebec. This work was begun by 

 Mr. John Craig, and continued by the writer, the varieties used by the former being 

 Scott Winter, Walbridge, Northern Spy, and McMahan, and by the writer, Mcintosh, 

 Lawver, Northern Spy, North Western (Greening), Milwaukee, and Newton. There 

 are at present 217 trees representing these crosses in the Horticultural Department. 

 A few of those which have fruited are promising, but have not been tested sufficiently 

 to recommend. 



