NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Some of the Memhers of the British 

 Science Association are visiting the fruit 

 section. Of these we were favored with 

 a call from the Hon. Mr. Scott, Master 

 of Polwarth, and a nephew of His Ex- 

 cellency Lord Aberdeen, whose home is 

 near Glasgow, Scotland He expressed 

 himself as greatly delighted with the fruit 

 sections of Ontario. We had also an 

 interview with Mr. Wm. Senior, of the 

 London Daily News and Field, to whom 

 we gave full information concerning our 

 intention to place upon Covent Garden 

 market the very choicest of Canadian 

 pears, peaches, grapes and tomatoes. 

 \\t gave him full description of our 

 Bartlett pears (known in England as 

 Williams) our Crawford peaches, and 

 our Concord grapes, and he promised 

 to give a column in the London Daily 

 News to Canada's fruit and fruit lands. 



The S.'^n Jose Sc.m.e was discovered 

 on some ornamental trees at Cornell, 

 and those most affected were at once 

 destroyed ; but some valuable ones, not 

 very badly affected were treated experi- 

 mentally by Prof. Slingerland. In May 

 before the young scales which had hiber- 

 nated, had begun their spring growth, he 

 washed all parts thoroughly with whale 

 oil soap, two pounds to one of water 

 On June 2Sth, when these scales had 

 made some growth, every plant was 

 drenched with pure kerosene and water, 

 one part to five ; and on July 2nd another 

 thorough application. On July 23rd 

 Mr. Slingerland made a very careful ex- 

 amination and failed to find a single live 

 scale among many dead ones. 



The English Fruit Crop is very 

 fully reported in the Gardener's Chroni- 

 cle. Apples are reported much under 

 the average over the whole of the United 

 Kingdom ; Plums, are ever a less crop 

 in proportion, for out of 319 reports, 280 



give the crop as below the mean ; so that 

 it is clear that for both apples and plums 

 England must depend largely upon out- 

 side supplies 



Children's G.\rdening is encouraged 

 in Great Britain. The Egham Horticul- 

 tural Society pursue a unique method. 

 Last July they held an exhibition on the 

 grounds of Holloway College, and se- 

 cured the presence of the eminent novel- 

 ist Sir \\'alter Besant, who gave them an 

 address. 



The Committee issue in the spring to 

 all the school children of the district 

 willing to grow them, six rooted plants 

 for pot culture, and six packets of annuals 

 to be grown and flowered in pots. Then 

 in the summer, when the annual exhibi- 

 tion is held, numerous classes are ar- 

 ranged to suit the little competitors, and 

 a truly wonderful display is the result. 

 The plants are distributed through the 

 agency of a local flori.st, to the satisfac- 

 tion of the Committee. 



The Prunus Si.moni does not appear 

 to be an entire failure. Mr. A. M. Smith 

 brought us on the 1 2th of August a fine 

 specimen grown by him at St. Catha- 

 rines, which measured i^ iYiches long 

 and 2 y^ inches broad ; a size that would 

 astonish our friend Mr. Van Deman, 

 formerly U. S. pomologist. Mr. Smith's 

 trees are about six years of age and their 

 yield is about two baskets to a tree. He 

 finds they sell well in the market, bring- 

 ing from 75c. to a $1 per basket — or 

 about double the price of the early 

 peaches. The faults is the tendency to 

 rot, like the Alexander peach and the 

 poor quality as a dessert fruit. The 

 tree also seems to be short lived. Mr. 

 Smith says he has noticed that Simon's 

 plums bears better when propagated by 

 grafting on the peach, than when grafted 

 on the plum. 



352 



