88 



The Canadia)i Hortimlturist. 



other affections of the raucous rnem- 

 brane. This difficulty may be obviated, 

 however, for the tree is dioecious, that 

 is, the pistils are borne on one tree and 

 the stamens upon another. Now, by 

 planting pistillate trees only, this evil 

 cannot result ; and these may be got 



by making root cuttings from pistillate 

 trees only. 



Errata. — On page 26, Apples for Alberta, 

 the Longfield should be classed among the 

 fall apples instead of among the winter 

 apples. 



:T5ESR; 



Surplus Fruits, 



Sir, The flood ot fruit that inundated 



Montreal last season from Ontario, would 

 lead an observer to the belief that the Upper 

 Province either does not consume much 

 fruit itself, or that the land is chiefly devoted 

 to producing all the fruits that succeed in a 

 northern latitude. Over-supply causes 

 waste, and there should be some means de- 

 vised for canning or evaporating the surplus. 

 It is a mystery to me how growers can 

 afford to harvest and ship fruit for the poor 

 returns they receive, and often it seems that 

 real and serious loss must be the only return 

 for the labor. 



When people begin to realize the value of 

 fruit as diet, instead of as a luxury, it will be 

 more encouraging to grow it, for during the 

 summer heated term, it should largely take 

 the place of meat and all food of heating 

 quality. 



At present it is a problem not easy to 

 solve, how best to dispose of the surplus, and 

 there' is great need of a better and steadier 

 knowledge of the markets in our principal 

 cities to save losses when overstocked. — A. 

 L. J., Chateauguay Basin, P. Q. 



Healing Girdled Trees. 



SiR,_If any of the readers of The Hor- 

 ticulturist happen to find some of their 

 apple trees girdled by mice or rabbits in the 

 spring when the snow goes away, they may, 

 perhaps, like well enough to know how I 

 once saved one of mine that was badly 

 girdled by mice. Many years ago when the 

 snow melted in the spring, I found one of my 

 apple trees badly girdled by the mice. The 

 wound was six or seven inches in length, and 

 completely round the tree, and not a particle 

 of bark or rind left in all that space. As 

 soon as I noticed it I piled up a cone of earth 

 around the tree, high enough to cover up all 

 the injured part and more, and let it remain 

 till sometime in the summer. The result 

 was that the tree flourished as well as if it 

 had never been injured at all, and when the 



earth was removed, I found the girdled part 

 of the tree covered over with a nice, smooth, 

 new bark. 



Lest you should think that I lay claim to 

 superior knowledge of botany or fruit grow- 

 ing, I may tell you how I thought of trying 

 that experiment with the girdled tree, as I 

 never heard of the same plan being tried be- 

 fore by anyone. 



I had sometimes noticed that when earth 

 was piled up around a tree, new roots would 

 shoot out from the tree into the pile of earth 

 considerably higher than the surface of the 

 ground, so I imagined that if I piled up earth 

 around the girdled apple-tree, sorte roots 

 might possibly strike out from above the 

 wounded part into the pile of earth and save 

 the tree. But instead of new roots, I found 

 a new bark covering all the injured part, 

 and now I cannot tell which tree is the one 

 that was girdled. 



I never had a chance to try the same plan 

 again, as I never had a tree girdled since. — 

 Gordon Burgess, Durham, Co. of Gray. 



We have also had similar experience with 

 Mr. Burgess, in case of trees freshly girdled, 

 especially where the inner bark was not 

 closely eaten off. In such cases, if the wound 

 is at once protected from the drying effects 

 of the atmosphere, either by a mound of 

 earth, or by painting over with linseed oil, 

 a complete restoration of the bark may be 

 expected ; bui if the inner bark is closely 

 eaten off, or the wound is neglected until the 

 part is dry, the plan will prove futile. — 

 Editor. 



Results of Advertising. 



Sir, — We take pleasure in giving the 

 Horticulturist credit for bringing the first 

 application for our catalogue and prices. 

 We are already in receipt of quite a number 

 from all quarters. One this day from 

 Fredericton, New Brunswick, making special 

 mention of our " ad." in the Horticultur- 

 ist. — W. E. Chisholm, Oakville. 



