REPORT OF THE HORTICULTURIST. 



(John Craig.) 



To Wm. Saunders, Esq., 



Director Dominion Experimental Farms, 

 Ottawa. 



Sib, — I have the honour to submit a report of some of the work carried on in 

 the Horticultural Department of the Experimental Farm for the year 1893. 



The fruit year as a whole was characterized by a very light crop in the fruit- 

 growing sections of the provinces of Quebec and Ontario. The excessive drought 

 and unusual amount of summer heat prevailing in Ontario between June first and 

 September first, hastened the period of maturity of autumn and winter fruits, and 

 this, together with the presence of apple insects in unusual numbers, caused the 

 fruit to drop from the trees at an earlier period than usual. 



The price of autumn and early winter apples in Britain did not rise in propor- 

 tion to the shortage of the American crop, owing to the excessively large yield of 

 apples in Great Britain which, coming on the London market in competition with 

 the earlier shipments of Canadian apples, had the effect of keeping the price quite 

 low. 



At this date the English product, according to reports received, is exhausted, 

 and it would appear that an excellent market for Canadian apples will be available 

 during the remainder of the season. 



In Nova Scotia a moderate crop of G-ravensteins and Kings, and other standard 

 apples, was harvested and excellent prices obtained. 



Increased interest is noticed in the work of spraying for the prevention of fun- 

 gous diseases and noxious insects. While in every instance spraying for the pre- 

 vention of fungous diseases, has not rewarded the efforts of the experimenters with 

 complete success, yet there has generally been some particular cause why better 

 results were not obtained, and indeed it is not always wise to quote individual 

 experiments which may have been influenced by local circumstances that do not 

 generally prevail, and so are not applicable to ordinary conditions. 



A great variety of spraying pumps are now manufactured and offered for sale 

 in the Dominion. The principal drawback in connection with these implements is 

 that many of them are manufactured with the idea of giving a cheap article to the 

 public. The parts are not sufficiently well constructed to bear the strain of continued 

 use during the spraying season, and consequently break down. This frequent 

 stopping for repairs is one of the most annoying incidents connected with the 

 operation of spraying, and often has the affect of discouraging the fruit-grower to 

 such an extent as to prevent his carrying on the work effectually. 



In the report of Mr. Tweddle, which is referred to in the text, special mention 

 is made of this defect in connection with the machine he used. 



Large Fruits on the Farm. 



The standard orchard has, on the whole, made satisfactory progress during the 

 year. Very few varieties which went into winter in good condition were found to 

 be injured in the spring, although the season was very severe. 



None of the Eussian apples suffered injury from the winter, but, as noted in the 

 article on "Blight," large numbers have been severely attacked by this disease. 



