228 



THE CANADIAN HORriOOLTLEIST, 



nothing but the taxes on tlie soil, as it 

 is quite possible that the crop will pay 

 all demands on this line with some- 

 thing to boot. 



ANOTHER POINT. 



Mr. Bissel mentioned a point in con- 

 versation that is of special interest to 

 them living as they are just south of 

 the shores of the great and majestic 

 Lake Huron. They were formerly 

 very much protected from cold winds 

 coming over the lake from the north 

 and sweeping with great force over this 

 whole region during the winter and 

 even spring months by a dense belt of 

 Norway pine that was found growing 

 on the sand hills in a continuous line 

 parallel with the shore and reaching for 

 many miles. This mass of pine raised 

 a most effectual barrier to the height of 

 about 150 feet above the water to those 

 cold and destructive winds. This had 

 the effect of greatly protecting much of 

 the country that lay many miles to the 

 south of it, including a fine agricultural 

 belt of many tliousands of acres in the 

 ■counties of Lambton and Middlesex. 

 This whole country and belts of timber 

 "were in the possession of "The Canada 

 Company," being a company of English 

 land owners, and they through their 

 agents saw tit in their wisdom to give 

 permission to have the whole of this 

 timber sold and removed in very reck- 

 lessness. Now, at this present time 

 these hills are seen in the distance to be 

 bare mountainsof sand no longer covered 

 with their usual dark and dense mass of 

 green, and the wind barrier is in conse- 

 quence lowered fully 50 feet. The 

 effects of this removal are now being 

 felt by the people of this entire region 

 of country in the increasing cold of 

 winter, in the greater severity of their 

 ■wind .storms visiting them, and in the 

 frequency and severity of the destruc- 

 tive and much dreaded spring frosts 

 late in the season. Surely there is not 



always wisdom in great corporations, 

 much less if those corpoi'ations are for- 

 eigners and unacquainted with the con- 

 ditions and reason of things. This in- 

 stance most forcibly opens to us the 

 absolute need existing in the most of 

 our locations, even thus early in our 

 histoi-y, for self-protection against the 

 increasing force of cold and wind storms 

 by judiciously planting trees around 

 our homes, our orchards and our fields. 

 The wisdom of depending upon others 

 is not always a safe wisdom. 



Yours, &c., B. GoTT. 



Arkona Nurseries, Aug. 30, 1884. 



REPORT ON FRUIT-GROWING AT 



KEMPTVILLE, COUNTY OF 



GRENVILLE. 



By P. E. BucKE, Vioe-Presulent Fruit-Growers' Asso- 

 ciation of Ontario. 



Hearing of quite an extensive or- 

 chard for this part of Ontario near the 

 town of Kemptville, 30 miles south of 

 Ottawa, I proceeded on the 13th June 

 on a tour of inspection. Kemptville is 

 situate on the St. Lawrence & Ottawa 

 Railway, and is half-way to Prescott, 

 the latter town being on the main line 

 of the Grand Trunk. Leaving Ottawa 

 by the 1.30 p.m. train I reached Kempt- 

 ville at 3 p.m., and was met at the sta- 

 tion by the proprietor of the orchard, 

 John Conn, Esq., who kindly drove me 

 to his place, which is one mile south of 

 the town and two miles from the sta- 

 tion. A branch of the Rideau river 

 runs through his farm, cutting off 12 

 acres of the south end ; it is on this 

 portion of the estate the apple trees are 

 situated. A close inspection of the 

 soil showed that it was principally com- 

 posed of a sandy loam running into 

 clay, with a gravelly subsoil, giving 

 good natural drainage. A buckthorn 

 hedge is planted along tlie west side of 

 the plot to give protection, but is not 

 yet sufficiently grown to produce that 

 effect. Transcendant crabs have been 



