THE CANAT)I\X HORTICULTURIST. 



22^ 



set 10 feet apart inside the hedge with 

 the same view, but these have since 

 been budded with the Wealthy apple. 

 These buds were set in 1883, and at the 

 time of my visit had made a growth of 

 from four to six inches. The fruit trees 

 were all in excellent health, with the 

 exception of a few Wealthies and 

 Duchess on the lower part of the or- 

 chard towards the river where the 

 gravel runs into stiff clay and the 

 ground is lower, but the percentage of 

 failure was so small that it is scarcely 

 worth mentioning, except to point out 

 that to be certain of success it is neces- 

 sary to plant on high dry gravelly soil. 

 I do not think any system of artificial 

 drainage, however elaborate, would 

 take the place of a deep gravel bed upon 

 which to cultivate apples in the colder 

 parts of Ontario with success. The 

 land on which this orchard is situated 

 slopes to the north and west. The 

 trees cultivated and bearing on this 1 2 

 acres of orchard are : — 



Summer. — Red Astracan, Tetofsky. 



Autumn. — Alexander, DucLess of 

 Oldenburgh, St. Lawrence, Sweet 

 Bough, Fameuse, Peach. 



Early Winter. — Wealthy, Haas, 

 Mackintosh Red. 



Late Winter. — American Golden 

 Russet, Pewaukee, Pom me Grise, Wal- 

 bridge, Talman Sweet, and an apple 

 called the Gideon, making a total of 

 17 varieties. To these are added two 

 seedlings, said to be of good quaity, and 

 named Conns No. 2 and No. 3. There 

 are also a large number of crabs, but 

 these, except the Whitney, which can 

 hardly be put in that class of fniit, are 

 being i-apidly worked over with the dif- 

 ferent varieties mentioned, chiefly with 

 the Wealthy and Gideon. I may men- 

 tion that this latter apple was first in- 

 ti'oduced to notice as an ironclad by 

 Peter M. Gideon, of the Excelsior Nur- 

 series, Minnesota, who is also the ori- 



ginator of the Wealthy. Mr. Gideon 

 pronounces the apple called after him, 

 " tVie best apple he ever saw, and the- 

 tree as haixly as an oak." Mr. Conn is 

 making the propagation of this tree- 

 and the Wealthy a specialty, but is un- 

 able to grow them sufficiently fast tO' 

 keep pace with the demand for them. 

 The apple called the Moscow, Mr. 

 Tuttle specially imported from Russia, 

 obtaining it through one of the United 

 States Consuls. I am in doubt if this 

 apple is coi-rectly named, as Mr. Gibb- 

 in his admirable reports on Russian 

 fruits, does not mention one under that 

 name. The tree is very hardy on Mr, 

 Conn's grounds, and it is a fine grower. 

 Mr.. C. went into the orchard business 

 without much previous knowledge of 

 hoi'ticulture, having spent the earlier 

 part of his life as a teacher of youth, 

 and has consequently had some decided 

 failures, among these was the Grimes. 

 Golden, of which variety he procured 

 100 trees, but has none left, all having^ 

 died on his hands. 



His oldest trees were set ten years 

 ago, and are healthy in every particu- 

 lar. The borer is quite unknown to 

 him ; he has no twig blight, the only 

 insect observed was the bark-louse 

 (^Mytilaspis pomorum), but these were 

 in quite insignificant numbers. 



JNIr. Conn also carries on a small 

 nurseiy business. He is propagating 

 only such varieties as he finds hardy 

 with himself; he multiplies the trees 

 by root-grafting, which operation is 

 performed during the winter months^ 

 the scions and roots being secured in 

 the autumn and packed away in the 

 cellar. They are whip-grafted, as op- 

 portunity occurs, re-packed and piit 

 away for spring planting. For the last 

 few years he has set out between 8,000 

 and 10,000 grafts annually. He sells 

 the trees from two to four years old, 

 the purchaser calling at the orchard and 

 taking them away. This spring he sold 



