QUESTION DRAWER. 



The Alexander Apple. 



9S6. Sir, — Can you give nic the date 

 and place of origin of the Alexandc-r apple ? 



D. J. S., A. F., P.E.I. 



The Alexander apple originated at 

 Moscow, Russia, toward the end of the 

 1 8th century. It was called Aporta, 

 until in 1817 Mr. Lee, a nurseryman 

 near London, introduced it into Eng- 

 land under the title of Alexander the 

 First, in honor of the Emperor of Rus- 

 sia. 



The Cabbage Maggot. 



9.57. 81K, — 1 have he«n a siibscrihcr for 

 some years of the Hokticclturist and take a 

 great pleasure and pride in its improvement, 

 but I have not seen the Cabbage Maggot spo- 

 ken of. Is there any way of getting at them ? 

 'i'hey appear to work at the root, are very 

 ilestructive on cauliflowers, and last season 

 they destroyed nearly my whole lot, up to 

 the time they were the size of a man's fist. 

 Any information you could give me will be 

 appreciated. 



(Jko. \V. Hascom, Gah, On'. 



Reply by Dr. Fletcher., Central E.xperi- 

 mental Farm, Ottaiva. 



I must apologize for not having an- 

 swered your favor with regard to the 

 Cabbage-root Maggot sooner, but I 

 took it with me in my pocket when I 

 was going to meet you at Mr. Thonger's 

 orchards, and then forgot to speak to 

 you about it. 



The Cabbage Maggot is an extremely 

 difficult insect to control, but I have 

 always had sufficient success to pay for 

 the application of the remedy, by treat- 

 ing the plants with White Hellebore. 

 My method is to draw away the earth 

 from around the roots and then syringe 

 in, with some little force, a decoction of 

 White Hellebore, made by steeping four 

 ounces of White Hellebore in an ordi- 

 nary pail-full of water. This not only 

 throws out many of the maggots which 

 lie in the earth close around the stems, 

 but the hellebore also has the effect of 

 killing the insects. The potash salt 

 known as kainit is very highly spoken of 

 by some of the large New Jersey onion 

 growers for this same insect, and is wor- 

 thy of a trial here. This salt both kills 

 the maggot and acts as a strong fertilizer 

 for the cabbages. 



DAI'HXK CXEORUM- CARLAND FLOWER. 



THI.S charming little shrub, native of 

 ICastcrn Europe, began blooming 

 on the 13th of May, and was still 

 in full flower at the end of the month. 

 A cluster of the sweet scented, bright 

 pink blossoms terminate nearly every 

 branch of this slirul), and when these are 



all opened it appears almost one mass of 

 flowers. Although a low, slow growing 

 shrub it is very desirable for the flower 

 border and (]uite hardy at Ottawa. 



W. T. M.^couN. 

 Central E.xperimental Farm, 

 Ottawa. 



283 



