THE CANADIAN HORTICDLI UR18T. 



203 



PJiime is not very destructive. Some- 

 times the third cluster of grapes is in- 

 cluded in the fold of leaves and silken 

 threads, and if this is to be preserved, 

 cur J must be taken in removing the 

 unsightly twisted tips of the infested 

 br, njhes. — Arnerican Agriculturist for 

 August. 



This insect will be found in Presi- 

 dent Saundeis' work at page 2GJS, by 

 the name of Gartered Plume Moth. 



REFRIGERATOR CARS. 



At the annual convention of the 

 Master Oar Builders' Association, held 

 in Chicago in June last, a committee 

 reported on refrigerator cars after an 

 examination of the productions of thir- 

 teen different buildei*s, the cars costing 

 from $600 to $1,200 each. The com- 

 mittee said : 



* ' There are now before the public three 

 kinds of refrigerator cars. The first is a 

 car built on the supposition that all that 

 is needed is a cool temperature. Tliese 

 cars are built on the principle of an ice 

 lined box, with the ends, sides, and roof 

 fitted with ice boxes, no arrangement hav- 

 ing been made for the circulation of air or 

 absorption of moisture. The second kind 

 of car is that which provides a cool tem- 

 perature, and also a circulation of air. 

 The third kind is that which provides a 

 cold temperature and a constant circula- 

 tion of air that is pure and dry. Your 

 committee are of the opinion that the last 

 named car meets the want of carrying 

 perishable lading. To make a refrigera- 

 tor car what it ought to be, it is our opin- 

 ion that there should be a circulation of 

 dry, pure air ; the ice boxes should be 

 exposed on all sides to the car, thus getting 

 the cold radiation from them and allowing 

 the air to circulate freely aroimd them ; 

 the drainage should be perfect, so that the 

 water would not slop over and spc^il the 

 freiglit ; the cooling properties of the 

 water should be utilized before escaping 

 from the car. We think that the car 

 should be built longer than the ordinary 

 box car, so that after taking up space for 

 the ice chambers, etc. , there would still be 



room for a full car load of freight. We 

 would also say that the insulation should 

 be as nearly perfect as possible." — Scien- 

 tijic American. 



EXPERIMENTS WITH TOMATOES. 



Many growers suppose that to have 

 the Tomato bear early it must be 

 planted on poor soil, and only fertilized 

 in the hill. My experience has been 

 just the reverse, and convinces me that 

 the richer the soil if warm and light — 

 the earlier the fruit. Pich soil un- 

 doubtedly increases the growth of stalk 

 and leaf at the expense of the crop, 

 but this otherwise wasted vitality is, 

 by proper pruning, readily transformed 

 into a tendency for earlier maturity. 



To fully test this point, on the 2()th 

 of March, 1882, four varieties were 

 sown. For the earliest Acme and Per- 

 fection were chosen ; for the latest, 

 Trophy and Paragon. The ground was 

 of medium quality, thoroughly broken 

 to a depth of ten inches, and worked 

 until it became fine and mellow. It 

 was then marked ofif in rows four feet 

 apart ; every three feet in the row a 

 shovelful of composted manure was 

 placed, well worked into the soil, and 

 the plants set out in the center of these 

 hills. In this way five rows were 

 planted, two of them containing all 

 four varieties, in such a way as to give 

 a fair test. 



The five rows were cultivated every 

 three days, weather permitting, and the 

 two containing all the varieties, after 

 being set two weeks, were heavily top- 

 dressed with well-kept hen manure, 

 thoroughly mixed with the soil. All 

 laterals or suckers were trimmed otl*, 

 and at the third pruning one row was 

 left to itself and not pruned any more 

 during the rest of the season. Two of 

 the five rows were only topped above 

 the third cluster of bloonis. With the 

 exception of the row which had been 



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