The Canadian Horticnltiirist. 



137 



the Illinois 1 loitic iiltural Societ}', has 

 a tree five years old, and fourteen 

 feet hif^h, which has only borne two 

 pears; he thinks it grows so fast it 

 has not time to bear. In speaking of 



Si'KAViNG TkkI'S, the same gentle- 

 man said he had found that a much 

 weaker solution must be used for 

 plums and peaches than for apples ; 

 indeed, the leaves of the peach are 

 almost too tencier to endure the ap- 

 plication. It was tried in southern 

 Illinois, and the leaves all dropped. 



Thk Early Victor Grape, which 

 was distributed by our Association 

 in 1886, mildewed badly last year at 

 Cottam, County of Essex. So re- 

 ports Mr. W. E. Wagstafif, of that 

 place. 



Stachvs. — One of our Erench ex- 

 changes, the Bulletin d' Arboricul- 

 ture, says that Monsieur Witte, hor- 

 ticidturist, distributed last spring 

 quite a number of these tubers for 

 testing. Out of twenty-one reports, 

 seventeen are wholly favorable to its 

 culti\ation as a vegetable for table 

 use. 



The Yellows. — Mr. J. fl. Hale, 

 of Connecticut, is a firm believer in 

 potash as a cure for this terror of the 

 peach grower. He says, in a paper 

 read before the Massachusetts Hor- 

 ticultural Societ}', that if a tree was 

 but slightly diseased he would head 

 it back closely, apply from five to ten 

 pounds of muriate of potash, and 

 cultivate well and often. If badly 

 diseased, he w^otild cut away two- 

 thirds of the top — in fact, all the 

 small branches — and shorten in the 

 main ones to within two feet of the 

 trunk, and apply still more potash 

 and from four to six pounds of nitrate 

 of soda to stimulate new growth at 

 once. In most cases, he says, a new 

 and at least apparently healthy 

 growth will take place, and the tree 

 to all appearances be as well as ever ; 

 and while it ma\' not be cured, who 

 cares, so long as it lives and produces 

 fine healthy fruit abimdantlv, and 



none of the trees near it seem to be 

 any the worse for retaining it. If 

 Mr. Hale is correct in this, it is 

 very important for us peach growers 

 to know it, for we are every year 

 sacrificing scores of beautiful peach 

 trees just because one or two limbs 

 are beginning to show some slight 

 indications of disease. 



The Sharkow. — The following re- 

 cipe for destroying the English spar- 

 row is quoted in the Garden and 

 Forest : " Dissolve arseniate of soda 

 in warm water at the rate of an 

 ounce to a pint ; pour this upon as 

 much wheat as it will cover (in a 

 vessel which can be closed so as to 

 prevent evaporation), and allow it to 

 soak for at least twenty-four hours. 

 Dry the wheat so prepared, and it is 

 ready for use." It should be distri- 

 buted in winter in places where the 

 sparrows congregate, but where 

 domestic fowls will not be endan- 

 gered, and a quick decrease in their 

 numbers is sure to follow. It is fur- 

 ther stated that they spread with 

 such rapidity as to cover the surface 

 of the United States and Canada, 

 further and further westward, at the 

 rate of 500,000 stjuare miles jearly, 

 and so numerous have they become 

 in Providence, Rhode Island, that 

 the sexton of St John's church took 

 970 eggs and two cart loads of nests 

 at one time from the ivy upon the 

 church. These warnings should stir 

 up Canadian farmers and fruit grow- 

 ers to be on guard against a bird 

 whose record is so ill. 



EouR Hardy Apples. — Mr. J. L. 

 lUidd says that onlv four varieties of 

 apples are recommended for general 

 cultivation in the northern part of 

 the State of Iowa, viz. : Duchess, 

 Whitney, Tetofskyand Wealthy, and 

 the latter only for the most favored 

 portions. He speaks very favorably 

 of the prospective usefulness of many 

 of the Russian varieties, but as yet 

 he considers it too soon to attempt a 

 selection. 



