THE CAN'AOiAN HORTICCLTCRIST. 



61 



ally destroyed to a great extent. There 

 should in my opiiiiou be a certain care- 

 lessness in building or throv;iixg (I like 

 that word for a rockery) it together. The 

 soil used should be a-mossy or turf loam 

 inclining to peat, especially for the large 

 varieties, and here and there in nooks 

 between rocks some finer soil may be 

 mixed in for the finer sorts. 



The ferns should be transplanted from 

 the woods in spi-ing just as they show 

 >igu.s of growth, an 1 it is easy in doing 

 su to take up a considerable quantity of 

 soil with each plant. In order to re- 

 tain a surface moisture in the fernery a 

 good mulch should be spread over the 

 bed. and in hot dry weather a liberal 

 sprinkling of water should be frequently 

 applied. 



In winter the fems should be covered, 

 and nature dictates leaves as a fittting 

 mulch, although when not handy some- 

 thing else will suit. 



Let us experiment then on the differ- 

 ent kinds of ferns, and report progress 

 in the Horticulturist as to the success 

 or otherwise of our several ferneries. 

 Alex. McD. Allan. 



Goderich Feb. 7th 1884. 



THE XIAGAEAGRAPE. 

 Like others, I was astonished to ob- 

 serve the Wine and Fruit Growers ' 

 severe criticism of this new white grape, 

 but wlien I discovered the reason for 

 tliis onslaught to be the fact that the 

 propi'ietor of that journal was disap- 

 pointed in his desire to control the 

 " Niagara" for a district where I pre- 

 sume he thought he co(iild make his 

 pih out of it, his criticism falls to the 

 ground, and his journal has gone down 

 Vjelow zero in my esteem. I have a 

 Niagara vine which certainly fully sus- 

 tains the reputation claimed for it as 

 one of the strongest growers in the grape 

 family. I exjject to fruit it next season, 

 when the results shall be given to the 

 public. Alex. McD. Allax. I 



A FEW NOTES FROM MUSKOKA. 



In the spring of 1873 I received a 

 lot of young fruit trees from England, 

 they were a few from a few thousand 1 

 myself raised from seed and grafted 

 with various well-known sorts. They 

 arrived in good condition, and nearly 

 all ^^ew. Some of the vso-ieties were 

 Mank's Codlin, Keswick Codlin, 

 Wellington or Dumelons seedling,. 

 French Crab MargU, Royal Russet, 

 Coui't Pendu Plat, Rennet du Canada, 

 Alfi'iston and Cellini • of pears Marias 

 and Louise Bonne and a few quinces, and 

 of plums, Golden Drop, Victoria, 

 Prince Englebei-t, Prince of Wales, 

 Jefierson, Pond's Seedling, R. Claude de 

 Bavay, Belle de SeptemVjre and Bidlace. 

 Now the result I It is dreadful to tell 

 what effect the climate of Muskoka had 

 on them ; why it killed some right out 

 the first winter, others it sl&svly mur- 

 dered, but there were a few hardy fel- 

 lows that defied it, and you will be 

 anxious to know which they were. 

 Cellini, he is a bold fellow and does 

 well and bears well ; a large showy 

 heavy apple, splendid cooker, it Ls a 

 fall apple. The other variety is Wel- 

 lington or Dumelons Seedling, the only 

 one left, it is not hardy enough tor here. 

 Though this one gives good crops eveiy 

 other year, it keeps well, and is a sharp, 

 acid apple, good cooker. All the other 

 varieties are dead, including the pears 

 and plums, except one solitaiy Pond's 

 Seedling that never bore a plum. So 

 I have no plums only the wild native 

 of this country. In 1872 I started to 

 raise some apples from seed, Engli.S'h 

 seed. I selected a few that looked pro- 

 mising, and four of these chance seed- 

 lings fruited and some others blossomed. 

 The first fruited in 1882, it bore fifty- 

 three fine, showy, middle sized apples 

 with long slender stalks, they looked so 

 good and attractive on the tree that I 

 at once named it Harsants Admirable. 

 I was keeping them to prove their keep- 



