March, 1910 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



67 



readers that keep the copies of this maga- 

 zine on file. Copies of it will be sent only to 

 those persons that apply for them. 



Communications fro^n two or three sonrcrs 

 have asked us what has become of our ques- 

 tion and answer department. In the past 

 four or five issues this department has not 

 appeared chiefly because we considered that 

 the space usually given to it could be used 

 to better advantage by contributed matter. 

 All questions that have been received have 

 been answered by mail. It is not our in- 

 tention, however, to eliminate this depart- 

 ment. It will appear again probably in next 

 issue. Questions on horticultural work and 

 problems receive our Lest attention. Place 

 them on separate sheets of paper and write 

 plainly and briefly. Be sure and sign your 

 name. 



The Duty on Plants 



At a meeting of the directors of the On- 

 tario Horticultural Association held in To- 

 ronto early in February, the question of 

 moving to have the Dominion government 

 remove the duty on palms, ferns, rubber 

 plants, gladioli, cannas, dahlias and peonies, 

 was discus.sed. Messrs. T. W. Duggan, of 

 the Dale E.state, and T. Manton of Eglin- 

 ton, members of the Canadian Horticultur- 

 al Association, had been invited to attend 

 the meeting and were present. They were 

 asked if the Canadian Horticultural Asso- 

 ciation would be willing to assist the On- 

 tario Horticultural Association in pefcition- 

 ing for the removal of this duty. 



Both Messrs. Duggan and Manton stated 

 that they were personally i-n favor of hav- 

 ing the duty removed, but claimed that they 

 could not commit the Canadian Horticul- 

 tural Association. They explained that the 

 matter had been discussed frequently at the 

 convention of their association, that the 

 tariff had been framed as it now is largely 

 through the action of the Canadian Associa- 

 tion, although there was a strong feeling 

 with many of the members that the duty 

 should be removed. It was ultimately de- 

 cided to allow the matter to stand over un- 

 til the convention of the Canadian Horti- 

 cultural Association in St. Catharines next 

 surnmer, when representatives from the On- 

 tario Horticultural Association will attend 

 the convention and confer with the members 

 of the Canadian Horticultural Association 

 on these points. 



Experience Necessary 



W. J. L. Hamilton, Soath Salt Spring, B.C. 



In the November issue of The C.\n.adian 

 HoRTicuLTuiiisT I noticed a letter from 

 Mr Aitken of Peaoliland, B.C., together 

 with a photograph of his peach orchard. I 

 have many pleasant recollections of a visit 

 paid to that locality, but even in that favor- 

 ed spot I did not find fruit growers en- 

 tirely free from the diflicultiers which trouble 

 us at times. In fact, I was called in as 

 an ex])ert to visit several orchards there, 

 and diagnose their troubles, which I am 

 glad to say I was able to successfully ac- 

 complish. 



An amateur, if clever, can succeed well 

 in fruit growing, but just as sickness is 

 sure to come in a large family, so surely 

 will trouble arise, sooner or later, in his 

 orchard, when expert knowledge is neces- 

 sary, first to diagnose the trouble, and next 

 to treat it successfully. 



I claim that farming, horticulture and 

 above all the orchardist's work should be 

 raised to the level of a i)rofcssion ; for, 

 in no profession of the present day is higher 

 education called foi in many branches of 

 natural science, besides genoral l?nowledge. 



Protecting Trees 100 Years Ago 



From Mr. C. C, James, Deputy Minister 

 of Agriculture for Ontario, we received re- 

 cently an interesting article entitled : "A 

 Method of Preserving Fruit Trees in Blos- 

 som from the Effects of Frost." The article 

 appeared in the Upper Canada Gazette of 

 June 1, 1805. As a curiosity it was brought 

 to the attention of Mr. James by Col. ,1. M. 

 Delamere. The method is a novel one, but 

 the principle is similar to that which under- 

 lies the modern practice, in some countries, 

 of adding moisture to the atmosphere by 

 means of sprinkling, spraying, irrigating 

 or flooding ditches in order to raise the dew- 

 point and thereby protect plants against 

 frost. The article is as follows : 



"The Chevalier de Berenberg of Prague, 

 we are told, has discovered a method of 

 effectually preserving trees in blossom from 

 the fatal effects of those frosts which some- 

 times in the spring destroy the most promis- 

 ing hopes of a plentiful crop of fruit. This 

 method is extremely simple. He surrounds 

 the trunk of the tree in blossom with a 

 wisp of straw or hemp. The end of this he 

 sinks, by means .of a stone tied to it, in a 

 vessel of spring water, at a little distance 

 from the tree ; or the cord may be length- 

 ened, so as to surround several, before its 

 end is plunged into the water. 



"It is necessary that the vessel is placed 

 in an open situation and by no means shad- 

 ed by the branches of neighboring trees, 

 that the fro.?t may produce all its effects on 

 the water by means of the cord communicat- 

 ing with it. This precaution is particularly 

 necessary for those trees the flowers of which 

 appear nearly at the same time as the leaves 

 which trees are particularly exposed to the 

 ravages of the frost. 



"The proofs of its efficacy, which he had 

 an opportunity of observing in the spring of 

 1787, were remarkably striking. Seven apri- 

 cot espaliers in his garden began to blossom 

 in the month of March. Fearing that they 

 would suffer from the late frosts, he sur- 

 rounded them with cords as above directed. 

 In effect, pretty sliarp frost? took place six 

 or eight _ nights. The apricot trees in the 

 neighboring gardens were all frozen and 

 none of them produced any fruit, whilst each 

 of the Chevalier's produced fruit in abun- 

 dance, which came to the greatest perfec- 

 tion." 



Strawberry Culture 



One of the most complete bulletins that 

 we have received for some time on any 

 subject is bulletin No. 62, recently issued 

 from the Central Experimental Farm, Ot- 

 tawa, on "Strawberry Culture." In this 

 bulletin, Mr. W. T. Macoun, its author, 

 chronicles the results of experiments con- 

 ducted at the Central Experimental Farm 

 for the past twenty-one years with straw- 

 berries. The records tell the behavior of 

 the best 100 or more varieties of the 596 

 that have been tested there since 1887 and 

 some descriptive notes are given about each 

 of them. Experiments were made to deter- 

 mine the most productive varieties, the best 

 early and the best late, those that have the 

 firmest and largest and most attractive 

 fruit and many similar points. 



The bulletin covers the whole subject of 

 strawberry culture from propagation and 

 planting to harvesting. Selection of plants 

 for planting, soil, cultivation, fertilizers, 

 systems of growing, winter protection, re- 

 newing old plantations, irrigaton, "over- 

 bearing" strawberries, and strawberries in 

 cold storage, are many of the subjects 

 treated. The bulletin also contains notes 

 on habits and characteristics of strawberry 

 insects and diseases and gives methods of 

 control. Extracts from this bulletin will 



appear in later issues of The Canadian 



HoRTICtJLTlIRIST. 



The arrangement of sub-divisions and 

 the general treatment of the whole subject 

 IS a relief from common works of this na- 

 ture. It interests one from cover to cover 

 and imparts information both new and old. 

 Some excellent illustrations brighten the 

 pages. This bulletin should be in the hands 

 of all persons who are interested in straw- 

 berries. Copies may be secured on appli- 

 cation to the Central Experimental Farm, 

 Ottawa. 



Shipping Peaches to England 



Editor, The Canadian Horticumttrist : 

 As it might be of interest to many of your 

 readers who are interested in fruit to learn 

 of our experience in the exporting of some 

 90 boxes of Elberta peaches to nearly as 

 many different addresses in Great Britain, 

 we shall proceed to relate our methods and 

 results. 



In the first place, this was an experiment- 

 al shipment for commercial purposes brought 

 about by suggestions from some of our cus- 

 tomers for whom we had already delivered 

 apples in this manner in the old land and 

 from our Mr. Edward Biggs of Maiden- 

 head, England, the latter advising us to use 

 a one-layer box. After obtaining our limit- 

 ed number of orders, and giving our usual 

 guarantee to lay them down in good condi- 

 tion or return the money, we proceeded to 

 choose a box with two compartments each 

 sufficiently large to hold eighteen large 

 peaches, and, after placing a nice pad of 

 excelsior in the bottom and a layer of cotton 

 batting next, we had our packers double 

 wrap the peaches and pack them snugly to- 

 gether followed by the batting and the ex- 

 celsior to finish. The wood cover was pretty 

 stiff but did not allow of much pressure on 

 the fruit. 



As this was an experimental shipment, we 

 did not go to the expense of dies for the 

 box printing, using dressed lumber and sten- 

 cils for printing so that the jiackage would 

 hardly have so neat an appearance ; how- 

 ever, it answered the purpose intended. 



Owing to disappointment in obtaining 

 the peaches where they were promised us, 

 we were forced to secure and pack these 

 peaches under adverse circuinstance.5 so mat 

 they did not leave our packing house from 

 48, and some of them 72 hours after they 

 were picked (much too long for tender fruits 

 without cold storage). We then shipped 

 them bv the Fruit Express to Montreal 

 where they were placed in cold storage on 

 one of the Allan boats for Liverpool where 

 upon their arrival, our agents quickly dis- 

 patched them to all parts of the United 

 K'ngdei\. 



We had previously issued a circular letter 

 to all receivers of these jjeaches notifying 

 them of their coming with the name of the 

 friend that sent them as a present, also ask- 

 ing them particularly to let us know as to 

 their condition upon arrival. We were 

 amply repaid by this method. Especially 

 are we indebted to our Trade Commissioner, 

 Mr. W. A. MacKinnon of Birmingham to 

 whom we sent a box for his criticism. It 

 is a pity we do not avail ourselves more 

 often of the advice and experience that these 

 gentlemen who are on the spot 'are so 

 willing to give regarding our methods of 

 packing, packages and fruit. 



It would take more space in .your journal 

 than you would care to allow to give ver- 

 batim the good things that some of the 

 consumers said about these peaches, 

 and, while we wore pleased to hear them, we 

 were more deeply concerned, about the bad 

 things some said. This interested us more 

 than the other, because it affected our repu- 



