172 



THE CANADIAN HOETICULTURIST. 



4th. What effect do differences of soil 

 and cultivation have on the " rust V Are 

 mulched or unmulched fields most liable 

 to injury ? 



5th. Which varieties are most and 

 which least affected ? 



()th. Is this disease increasing ? 



7th. What remedies have you tried, if 

 any, and with what result ? 



Yours very truly, 



F. S. Earle. 



Anna, Ills., April, 1884. 



If any of our readers are so unfor- 

 tunate as to have sufficient experience 

 of this trouble to be able to answer any 

 of these inquiries, we shall take a yjlea- 

 sure in publishinr;; them in the Cana- 

 dian Horticulturist. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



FRUIT GROWING IN MANITOBA. 



Sir, — I see that grave doubts are 

 entertained as to oni- Great North- West 

 ever becoming a fruit producing coun- 

 try, and that in consequence many are 

 very reluctant to leave the fine fruit 

 growing regions of Ontario foi' a land 

 on which they may never have the 

 pleasure of raising the very hardiest of 

 apples. I must confess the picture has 

 a sorrowful appearance. I beg to state 

 that I have had some experience in that 

 very interesting country and submit a 

 few facts for your consideration : Two 

 or three years ago, eti rorite for Battle- 

 ford, by the way of Winnipeg, Lake 

 Winnipeg, and the great Saskatchewan 

 River, I had to stay a few days in 

 Winnipeg waiting for the steamer, and 

 while there I wandered about the city 

 in diflVirent directions ; one of my 

 rambles was up East Ballandine street, 

 in which is the residence of Mr. Ballan- 

 dine, and in his garden are a few apple 

 trees, perhaps aboixt six feet in height, 

 and say two inches and a half through 

 the stem, with just enough live wood in 



them to let you see that they are alive, 

 their appearance would indicate that 

 most of the wood tliat was made in the 

 summer was killed in the winter, as the 

 trees were full of dry limbs and j)re- 

 sented a wretched condition, but m hen 

 you take into consideration the low 

 black soil in which they were planted, 

 you would almost wonder if they would 

 thrive even in Ontario. 



Having been some time employed as 

 Farm Instraictor on two different Indian 

 reserves, in the vicinity of Battleford, 

 and lastly as Farm Instructor to the 

 Industrial School of that place, I have 

 had the opportunity of seeing young 

 seedling apple trees growing in a very 

 thriving condition, two years old, and 

 I think in one case three years old, I 

 did not see a dead branch on any of 

 them, and they appeared as vigorous as 

 any I have seen in Ontai'io. The lands 

 in that part of the country are high and 

 rolling, and although farther north and 

 west than Winnipeg, the winters are 

 not as cold, and then not having much 

 fall rains the wood gets thoroughly ripe 

 before the winter sets in, so that taking 

 all things into consideration I should 

 say that country is about on a par 

 with the early days of Ontario, when 

 the early settlers brought their apple 

 seeds from the States and had fine fruit, 

 as it was many a long year before a 

 grafted tree was ever seen in the 

 countiy. 



Last year we had a slight frost on 

 the 21st of August, which was very 

 uncommon, but unprecedented frost 

 prevailed all over Ontario at the same 

 time. The year before we had no frost 

 until the morning of the 8th of Septem- 

 ber, and very slight at that, and then 

 again on the 29th a little heavier, but 

 not the slightest simimer frost in June, 

 July and August. 



Small fruits, such as the wild black 

 currant and the wild red currant, and 

 raspberries and strawberries are of large 



