QUESTION DRAWER. 



Fertilizers for Strawberries. 



910. Sir,— lu June number of HoRTl- 

 CULTUKIST I noticed you reeommeud nitrate 

 of soda and pliospliate of lime as a fertilizer. 

 I have a few acres of strawberries, and wish 

 to apply it. Please tell in next No. what 

 proportion, and how to apply it without in- 

 juring foliage ; or would wood ashes do in 

 place of lime ; also, when to apply it. 



Reply by H. L. Hutt, B. S. A. of O. A. 

 C, Guelph. 



Articles recommending this or that 

 fertilizer for this or that ciop, without 

 any reference whatever to the kind of 

 soil upon which it is to be used, are very 

 often misleading. Probably the most 

 unsatisfactory kind of questions we are 

 called upon to answer are those relating 

 to the use of conmiercial or special fer- 

 tilizers, because they can be answered 

 only on general principles. 



Barnyard manure is a general fertilizer, 

 and we seldom go astray in applying it 

 to any soil for most any crop. Com- 

 mercial or special fertilizers are intended 

 to supply some special element of fer- 

 tility, and their value upon a particular 

 soil depends very largely upon the rich- 

 ness or deficiency of the soil in that 

 particular element. The question then 

 is not only what is the best fertilizer for 

 some particular crop, but what is the 

 best fertilizer for my particular soil ? 

 I believe this cannot be njore satisfac- 

 torily answered than by each one experi- 

 menting for himself on a small scale. 

 The information so obtained would be of 

 infinitely more value to such an experi- 

 menter than all the theories laid down 

 by writers. 



Camellias and Heliotropes. 



9<tl. Sir, — I wisli to know if (Camellias 

 can be successfully propagated from cuttings, 

 and the best time and manner of doing so. 

 Also, the best time for taking cuttings of 

 Heliotrope. 



Mrs. a. .J Kvi.i:, Wiarlov, Out. 



Reply by Prof. II. L. Huit, O. A. C, 

 Guelph. 



Camellias may be grown from cut- 

 tings or layers. The cuttings should be 

 taken in August from the ripened shoots 

 of the preceding summer's growth. 

 These should be firmly planted in the 

 soil, and kept in a frame where the tem- 

 perature and moisture can be controlled. 

 By the following spring such as have 

 rooted will show signs of growth, and 

 may be potted off. Seedlings of the 

 single varieties are generally grown as 

 stocks, upon which the double and va- 

 riegated varieties are grafted by inarch- 

 ing in the early spring. 



Heliotrope cuttings may be taken at 

 almost any season when good growing 

 shoots are to be had. 



How to Kill Poplar Suckers. 



94*1. Sib,— In the March issue of The 

 HoRTicrLTiiRiST, in my communication, re, 

 " Poplar .Suckers," I am made to say " every 

 sucker even two feet from stumps, were 

 killed. It should read twb>ty (20) feet. 

 Kindly make correction. 



L. b"'AiRBANKS, Whitb;/, Ont. 



Falling Gooseberries. 



943. Sir, — What is best to prevent the 

 dropping off of gooseberries when about half, 

 or two-thirds grown ; there is a worm in every 

 fallen berry ? 



R. Burns, Parkhill. 



Reply by /as. Fletcher, Central Experi- 

 mental Farm, Ottawa. 



The dropping of Mr. Burns' goose- 

 berries is undoubtedly due to the inju- 

 ries of the gooseberry fruit worm {Da- 

 kruma convolutdla.) The egg from 

 which the caterpillar emerges is laid by 

 a small dull gray moth on the green 

 fruit. As soon as it hatches, the young 

 caterpillar bores into a berry and feeds 

 upon the pulp. After it has eaten out 

 one berry it fastens another to it by 

 silken threads and devours its contents. 

 In this way it sometimes destroys 4 or 5 

 berries before it is full-grown, which is 

 about the time the gooseberries attain 



