THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



8.? 



I have jotted down a few notes about 

 grapes, but as this article is already long 

 enough. I will keep them for another 



letter. Yours, etc., 



A. Hood, 

 Barrie, Ont. 



FRUIT IN NORTH SIMCOE. 



Mr. Editor, — As your columns are 

 open to contributore a few remarks 

 on fruit ffrowinof in this northern 

 county may not be uninteresting to 

 some of your readers. Fruit gi'owing 

 in this county has not received the at- 

 tention it deserves for several reasons. 

 First, it has been a source of disap- 

 pointment to a gi-eat many who have 

 spent hundreds of dollars on fruit 

 treas and have seai-cely anything to 

 show for it. Xow, this comes from 

 planting fruit which is not congenial to 

 the climate, and from improper care. 

 There are varieties of apples that 

 flourish seventy mile-s to the south of 

 us on the borders of T.ake Ontario 

 that will not thi'ive with us, for ex- 

 ample, the King of Tompkins, the K. 

 I. Greening, and the Northern Spy, 

 and a host of othei-s that is of no use 

 planting here. Yeai-s ago, when the 

 agents of Yankee nurseries came 

 round they sold vast quantities of 

 those varieties that looked best on 

 paper, that is in their plate books. I j 

 know that hundreds of dollars worth 

 of King of Tompkins were sold, and 

 now I only know of two trees that are 

 alive and bearing within a radius of 

 several miles. The same may be said 

 of the R. I. Gieening. But some will 

 be ready to say " Oh, >)ut the Northern 

 Spy does well with me." I grant 

 there is a number of the trees in bear- 

 ing in this district, but my experience 

 of the Spy is this, it is a long time be- 

 fore it begins to bear, and when it be- 

 gins to bear it begins to die. I can 

 point out instances of it in every 

 orchard that I know. First, one side 



turns yellow, then dies, and a large 

 limb falls out and .shows the heart to- 

 be rotten, and then the rest of it soon 

 follows. There are several othej- vaii-^ 

 eties that I could name that do not 

 suit our climate. The varieties that 

 seem to do the best with us are the fol- 

 lowing : Among the harvest apples, 

 first and foremost among these comes- 

 the Duchess of Oldenburg, a thrifty 

 tree and an early and abundant bearer 

 of apples which do not spot. Eed 

 Astrachan does fairly well but spots 

 . badly. Early Strawbeny, early Har- 

 vest, and Brockville Beauty all do 

 well. As to fall apples the St. Law- 

 rence, Alexander, Fameuse, and Tol- 

 man Sweet are among the hardiest 

 varieties here, although the Fameuse 

 has spotted so badly of late years as to 

 spoil its market value to a gi-eat ex- 

 tent. Among winter varieties the 

 American Golden Russet unquestion- 

 ably stands at the head of the list. 

 Tree, a smooth hardy grower, a long 

 liver, and a regular bearer. Then we 

 have the Roxbury Russet^ Spitzen- 

 burg. Ben Davis, and Red Pound, all 

 hardy and thrive well here. The vari- 

 eties that I have named are the leading^ 

 varieties, and the ones that pay the 

 best to plant, Ijecause with proper care, 

 all these named are sure to siicceed. 

 And now 



A FEW WORDS AS TO CARE. 



Many j)eople plant a tree as they do a 

 post, and expect it to grow and take care 

 of itself. Many young orchards are 

 sown with gi-ain and then seeded down 

 to grass, which eventually becomes a 

 twitch grass sod. There is no surer 

 way of killing the trees, and this ac- 

 counts in a great measure .for the 

 sorry, scraggj' looking specimens one 

 often sees as the result of careless cul- 

 ture, coupled with injudicious choice 

 as to varieties. But with the proper 

 varieties and careful culture we can 

 gi'ow as fine fruit as can be grown in 



