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THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



A LEAF FROM THE CALENDAR. 



BY WILLIAM M. BRIGGS. 



Where Wood- Violets love to grow 

 Thickly lies the winter's snow ; 

 Where the streamlet sung and danced, 

 And the summer sunbeam glanced 

 Thro' the meadow, down the dale. 

 All is hushed, and chill, and pale ! 



Where the Crow-foot's tender green 

 Earliest in the spring is seen ; 

 Where the Checkerberries hide 

 By the pale Arbutus' side. 

 And the Cowslips, tipped with gold, 

 Over hill and dale unfold ; 



Where the ferret, soft and brown. 

 Stores his nest with pilfered down ; 

 And the field-mouse in the heather 

 Sleeps for weeks and months together ; 

 And the squirrel, wise and dumb. 

 Waits for better days to come ; 



Lies the winter— bitter, strong— 

 Heaped thro' freezing nights and long ; 

 While the tempest comes and goes. 

 Sliding swift o'er drifted snows ; 

 Clouds above and gloom below ; 

 Tell me— when will winter go ? 



When the buds begin to swell ; 

 When the streams leap thro' the dell 

 When the swallows dip and fly. 

 Wheeling, circling, thro' the sky; 

 When he Violet bids the Rose 

 Waken from its long repose ; 



When the gnats in sunshine dance ; 

 When the long, bright hours advance J 

 When the robin by the door 

 Sings as ne'er he sang before ; 

 Then, when heart, and flower, and wing 

 Leap and laugh— then comes the spring ! 

 Scribner's. 



Best Time por Cutting Sorghum 

 Cane. — Peter Collier, chemist to the De- 

 partment of Agriculture, writes a letter to 

 the Husbandman, to show that the advice to 

 farmers to cut sorghum cane when the seed 

 is in the dough and several days ahead of 

 grinding, is very bad advice indeed. 



Waterloo Peach. — This is the largest 

 very early peach we have grown or seen. The 

 first specimen ripened July 14th, and mea- 

 sured 10 inches in circumference. All the 

 fruit was gathered, and mostly over-ripe, on 

 the 19th of the same month. It ripened 

 about three days in advance of the Alexander. 

 It is a remarkable keeper, ripe specimens 

 having been kept in perfect condition nearly 

 a week after being picked. It will therefore 

 be valuable for shipping. — Fruit Recorder. 



Protecting Belts in Orchards. — The 

 Rural Home in describing a visit to the or- 

 chards of T. G Yeomans, of Walworth N.Y. 

 (widely known as a very successful fruit 

 raiser), states that he has protecting belts of 



Norway spruce running north and south 

 every thirty or forty rods. These belts break 

 the force of the winds, and save the ripening 

 fruit. A furious wind storm once swept over 

 one of his orchards (of forty acres) and he 

 sent a number of men to pick up the wind- 

 falls for evaporating. They soon returned 

 with very little fruit, the evergreen screens 

 having afforded ample protection. 



The Bark Louse. — Herbert Osborn, of 

 the Iowa Agricultural College, recommends 

 as remedies for the scurvy bark louse and 

 the oyster shell louse, kerosene and soap. 

 The kerosene may be used pure where it can 

 be done with safety, but ordinarily it must 

 be diluted with water. This may be accom- 

 plished by forming an emulsion of kerosene 

 and milk (skimmed milk answers well) and 

 then diluting with about an equal quantity 

 of water, or by shaking up a mixture of milk 

 kerosene and water in equal parts, and then 

 adding more water, taking care not to add 

 so much as to cause the mixture to separate. 

 Sprinkle or spray it upon the infested twigs 

 and branches. Soap is an excellent remedy. 

 Make a solution of whale oil soap, one-fourth 

 of a pound of soap to a gallon of water, and 

 apply to the infected parts of the tree, re- 

 peating the appUcation after a few days. 

 Lye is said to have been used with good 

 success, but is considered unequal to soap. — 

 Michigan Farmer, 



The Dunlap and Genesee— Two new 

 Seedling Peaches. — Through the courtesy 

 of our horticultural friend, Mr. Charles A. 

 Green, we had the pleasure of testing two 

 new seedling peaches. The Dunlap is one 

 of those yellow peaches, like the yellow Al- 

 berge. Hill's Chili, Wager and others which 

 reproduce themselves, or very nearly do, from 

 pits. It is a very handsome, round, bright 

 yellow peach, of medium size, deep yellow 

 flesh, and of a sweet, juicy, delicious flavor. 

 The pit is very small, and perfectly free. 

 We cannot recall another peach ripening so 

 late as this of such good qu.ality. The Gen- 

 esee came from the grounds of Mr. H. E. 

 Hooker, nurseryman, of this city. It orig- 

 inated on a city lot belonging to th^ late 

 brother of Mr. Green, and the tree from 

 which the specimen was obtained was heavi- 

 ly loaded with fruit. It is a large, oblong 

 peach, in form and color resembling the Early 

 Crawford ; a shade lighter color ; and re- 

 sembling it very much, we thought, in 

 quality. Judging from a single specimen of 

 each, they seem to be promising varieties, 

 worthy of farther trial. — American Rural 

 Home. 



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