82 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



April, 1910 



Growing Strawberries in the Orchard 



Spraying atraw^Tries has been practised by Mr. Hamillon with 

 much success. The illustration shows strawberries after spraying. 



that is, not cutting them off — but in my 

 judgement one gets a smaller sample and 

 some of the berries are immature that 

 grow at the tips of the canes. 



The after culture of this fruit is prin- 

 cipally to keep the ground well cultivat- 

 ed and the soil rich in plant food and 

 the old canes cut out each season. It is 

 well to cut the old canes off as low as 

 po.ssible. In the spring do not allow as 

 large a number of suckers to grow. Keep 

 only about seven or eight canes to each 

 plant, later on leaving only six or less 

 if these canes are not strong. If a 

 further plantation is required a certain 

 number must be left to transplant. 



foliage can be given a 

 new lease of life by 

 stubbing, in other 

 words, de-horning. 



We have some ten- 

 year - old Crawfords 

 that have run so high 

 that the trees are dif- 

 ficult to prune, pick 

 and spray. We plan 

 to remove several of 

 the limbs on the east 

 and west sides this sea- 

 son, and look for the 

 remaining branches to 

 give us a crop. Anoth- 

 er season by removing 

 the branches on the 

 north and south sides, 

 we shall entirely work 

 over our trees, and lose 

 but one season's crop. The life of the 

 peach can be considerably prolonged by 

 this method. 



Most orchards cut down are not dead 

 when condemned but have run up so high 

 their owners find them unprofitable. If 

 by de-horning five or six more crops can 

 be harvested, it is surely worth while. 



Each year trim out one-third and 

 head back one-third to one-half. Re- 

 member to trim the heaviest on the 

 north and east sides. Do not allow the 

 trees to get a slant to the north and 

 east, as it will allow the sun to beam 

 on the trunk and in a short time it will 

 ruin the trees. 



Do not allow your trees to get over 

 twelve feet high. By keeping them low 

 you will prevent them being split by the 

 ice storms or being broken down by 

 overloading. 



Top-working Peach Trees 



W. 0. Bnrg;es>, Queenston, Ont. 



Three winters ago the tops of some 

 of our peach trees, more especially those 

 of the Persian type, were badly winter- 

 killed. In that year, there was quite se- 

 rious damage done, in some localities 

 even grape wood being effected. 



The trees I refer to were six years old. 

 They had made a very strong growth, 

 and had borne exceptional crops. When 

 our orchards broke into foliage, and we 

 noticed the condition of these trees, we 

 immediately had the entire head re- 

 moved, leaving mere stubs from two to 

 three feet long ; in other words, the trees 

 were completely "dehorned." In this 

 instance the roots, being well protected 

 by a winter mat of hairy vetch, es- 

 caped injury. During that season the 

 stubs feathered out nicely, making a 

 growth of two or more feet, and the 

 following season a growth of five to 

 six feet. Last year (1909) was the 

 third since stubbing, and the trees 

 bore a full crop of choice stock ; in fact, 

 the crop was so heavy, it was necessary 

 for us to remove the greater part by 

 thinning. 



From this and other experiences we 

 have had, we believe that many of the 

 older orchards in the Niagara district 

 that are high and lanky, with little lower 



Planting Peach Trees 



W. E.Co'man, Stonej Cre*k, Ont. 



When planting peach trees, see that 

 the point where the bud has been insert- 

 ed is below ground. In this locality, 

 slant the trees well to the southwest. 

 Cut off from eighteen to twenty inches 

 above the ground. Trim to one bud on 

 the north and east sides and on the 

 south and west sides leave two or three 

 buds ; in that way, you will have a 

 chance to see which are the healthiest 

 buds to form branches as the trees grow. 



Orchard Cultivation 



Cooper Brothers, Grand Forks, B. C. 

 As soon as the soil can be worked in the 

 spring we double disc, overlapping half 

 the disc and about ten days after harrow 

 twice with the common straight-tooth 

 harrow. We harrow at intervals of 

 about ten days or directly after a rain 

 until the latter end of June, when we 

 again double disc, traveling at right 

 angles to the way we previously disced 

 in the spring. We continue to harrow 

 at intervals of about ten days until the 

 end of August and harrow once in Sep- 

 tember and once in October, then just 

 before the ground freezes in the fall we 

 double disc. 



During the months of July and .■\u- 

 gust we watch the ground closely to see 

 if any crust forms under the soil mulch. 

 Should we find any crust we at once 

 double disc the place or places where the 

 crust is. When using the disc always 

 .set the discs at the greatest possible 

 angle. 



Close to the tree there is usually a 

 small space that the disc and harrow do 

 not touch. In the early part of the sea- 

 son this is hoed and is generally the only 

 hoeing done in the orchard. 



Fi\e-yeaf tiiii 



Orchard of Cooper 



Bros.. Grand Forks. 



