NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



orchards receive any such treatment. 

 In nine cases out of ten, they receive 

 no fertih'zers at all, and yet they are 

 expected to yield abundant crops of fine 

 fruit. 



Each bearing cherry tree, too, ought 

 to have, say 25 lbs. of stable manure 

 (one lb. nitrate of soda), 5 lbs. of bone 

 meal, (or dissolved rock), and about 1 2 

 lbs. of wood ashes. Does it receive 

 any such treatment ? Instead of thisi 

 it gets no fertilizer at all, and heaps of 

 abuse for not yielding finer fruit and 

 more of it. 



We have much to learn yet, if we 

 would be successful fruit growers. 



Notes of Failure. — In the Decem- 

 ber No. you ask why members do not 

 write about their success or failures. I 

 will write a few lines about my failures 

 since I have been in Canada. Some 

 four years ago I planted ten acres of 

 grapes and, owing to the dry season, 

 many of them have died and have been 



ploughed out. The rest did well until 

 last year's frost, since which many of 

 them have never leafed out. I will have 

 to dig the rest and plant them near 

 together. Last year I worked a ten 

 acre vineyard on shares and had nothing 

 for my labor. This year my share was 

 300 gallons of wine, and I will have to 

 wait until next year before I can sell it. 

 At present I have not enough money to 

 pay my subscription to your journal, 

 which is too bad. What little money I 

 have had was made out of 1500 gallons 

 of cider, or what we Germans call 

 " apple wine." I put pure cane sugar in 

 it, which will make a good drink. I have 

 had lots of experience, but very little 

 result. I would be glad if any of your 

 gentlemen could find me a market for 

 my wine which will be ready in about a 

 month. I believe, if I could find a 

 place with a large fruit grower, I would 

 do better than keeping on with the old 

 vineyard. 



J. Gruenbeck, Cayuga, Out. 



FORCED LILY OF IHE VALLEY. 



LILY of the Valley is now to be seen 

 in the flower stores during fully 11 

 months of the year. It is very 

 readily forced into bloom, the " pips." 

 as florists term the little bulbs, being 

 merely planted in pure sand, freely 

 watered, shaded, and kept in a high 

 temperature. Twenty to twenty-five 

 days of this treatment bring them into 

 bloom. Sand is used because they are 

 not expected to produce roots, merely 

 to force out the flower through the 

 nutriment stored in the bulb. Under 

 ordinary conditions, while the flowers 

 could be produced at any time during 

 winter previous to the normal period of 

 blooming, they could not be produced 



after that, but the florists have obviated 

 this difficulty by putting the bulbs into 

 cold storage until needed, these cold 

 storage roots providing the summer 

 flowers. The lily of the valley bulbs 

 forced in this country are all imported, 

 being grown in France, Belgium, Hol- 

 land, Germany and Russia. It is easy 

 enough to force this plant by digging 

 up some clumps from the garden bed. 

 .\ square clump might be dug before the 

 snow covers the bed, and stored in a 

 cold place until wanted. Freezing will 

 not do any damage. In this case, the 

 bulbs should not be disturbed, the 

 whole clump being put in a pan, and 

 brought along gently. — Ex. 



79 



