69 



REPORT OF THE HORTICULTURIST. 



(John Craig.) 



Wm. Saunders, F.R.S.C, F.L.S., F.C.S., 



Director Dominion Experimental Farms, 



Sir,— I have the honour to bubmit hei ewith a report on the work carried on in 

 the Department of Horticulture since my appointment, 15th Januaiy, 1890. The 

 characteristics of the past season were an unu^.uaIly late spring — delaying somewhat 

 outdoor operations — and a remarkably favourable summer for plant grovvth ; this 

 closed with an equally favourable autumn for the thorough and essential ripening of 

 wood made during the season, leaving trees and shrubs in good condition to with- 

 stand the severity of winter. 



I have endeavoured to bring together, as briefly and clearly as possible, in the 

 following pages, information drawn from the experience of the j^ear in most 

 instances, and often corroborated by the experience of previous years. For the sake 

 of clearness, the work has been divided and placed under the following heads : — 



I. Large Fruits. — Bearing upon the number and condition of varieties in 

 orchard; touching specially upon the Eussian and hardier classes best adapted to 

 the needs of northern planters, with cultural notes. 



II. Small Fruits. — Touching especially upon grapes and strawberries, making 

 the early varieties a feature of the former, the most reliable and productive of the 

 latter ; also summing up the records on other small fruits for three j'^ears, with hints 

 on varieties. 



III. Vegetables. — Outlining proposed work and that in hand ; giving the 

 names of the most successful varieties of those tested. 



IV. Forestry — Tree Distribution — Fruit Distrcbution. — Touching on the 

 importance of the question in Manitoba and the Territories. Criving an outline of 

 the work of distributing forest-tree seedlings and possible i-esults ; also bearing upon 

 the distribution of large and small fruits. 



V. Fungicides. — Giving formulae for their preparation and results of experi- 

 ments on the apple scab. 



VI. Eeport on Seedling Small Fruits. — Giving opinions of a visiting com- 

 mittee of experts on seedling raspberries, fruiting at the Experimental Farm — with 

 descriptions of varieties. 



I beg gratefully to acknowledge the following donations : — 



Peter Henderson & Co., New York ; a large collection of vegetable seeds. 



Mr. S. H. Mitchell, St. Mary's, Ont.; corn and tomato seed. 



Mr. M. Crawford, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio ; strawberi-y plants. 



Mr. Julius Schnadelbach, Grand Bay, Ala.; strawberry plants. 



Mr. David Greig, Cainesville, Ont.; strawberry plants. 



Mr. P. E. Bucke, Ottawa ; Northern Light grape. 



Mr. N. C. Fisk, Abbotsford, Que.; grape cuttings. 



Wm. Craig & Son, Abbotsford, Que.; scions of crabs and Russian apples. 



Mr. Geo. Mitchell, Abbotsford, Que. , scions of seedling applea 



Mr. Abel Bresso, Abbotsford, Que.; scions of seedling apples. 



Mr. C. R. H. Starr, Wolfville ; apple scions. 



Di-. T. H. Hoskins, Newport, Vt.; apple scions. 



Mr. P. C. Dempsey, Trenton, Ont.; apple trees and scio g 



Mr. E. W. Shepherd, jr., Como, Que.; apple scions. 



Mr. J. J. Gibb, Como, Que. ; apple scions. 



