10 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



January, 191 2 



Such people soon get hobbies, which 

 they are apt to ride at a furious rate 

 until all out of breath. They want and 

 will have every variety of the plant with 

 which they are smitten. Such garden- 

 ers we find exceedingly useful ; you can 

 learn from them what not to buy — infor- 

 mation of far greater value than to know 

 what to buy. 



The secret of success in gardening is 

 selection, a thorough knowledge of plants 

 and their various requirements before 



purchasing. Many flowers will succeed 

 well in a given locality where others will 

 not ; therefore it is of the greatest im- 

 portance to know plants and the place 

 you have for them. You may rest assur- 

 ed that where grass and weeds will grow 

 flowering plants will, provided weeds 

 are kept down. Start cheaply but with 

 a determination to succeed, until you 

 know what you are able to do ; then be 

 governed by your taste and the means 

 you have to gratify it. 



New Ontario For Seed Potatoes' 



T. G. Raynor, Departme 



EXPERIMENT stations in Canada 

 ■ and the United States have given a 

 good deal of attention to the po- 

 tato, in an attempt to work out the best 

 plans for growing, storing and market- 

 ing this important crop. 



After testing the seed grown in New 

 Ontario for a couple of years or so in 

 the older parts of the province and find- 

 ing it satisfactory, as I believe it will 

 be found, it might pay the association 

 to buy some land in a good locality in 

 New Ontario and secure a northern man 

 who would develop into a potato expert, 

 or perhaps educate and send a local man 

 up there to grow seed tubers. Incident- 

 ally it might be made a commercial ven- 

 ture, not only in growing seed tubers, 

 but in producing tlhem for the local and 

 Toronto markets. 



THE EXPERIMENTAL PLOTS 



It was my privilege last August to 

 visit and report on the six plots of pota- 

 toes in New Ontario to which reference 

 has already been made. At the time of 

 my visit they were in full bloom. The 

 tubers were setting ; in the case of the 

 Early Olive many were as large or lar- 

 ger than hen's eggs. There was quite a 

 variation in the stand of the crops. In 

 some of the plots there were a number 

 of blanks ; two were so bad that replant- 

 ing Ihad to be done with other varieties, 

 so that those plots would be useless so 

 far as this association was concerned. 

 The blanks were supposed to be due to 

 the use of cut seed, which rotted as a 

 result of a heavy rain just after plant- 

 ing. The vines of those which survived 

 or which were planted after the rains 

 looked vigorous and were generally 

 healthy. Tlhe beetle is not a serious 

 pest there, one application of Paris 

 green seems to be sufficient. Blight 

 seems unknown, but scab has made its 

 appearance. Some of the growers had 

 good crops, while others did not do 

 so well. 



METHODS IN NEW ONTARIO 



Most of you are aware that the soil 

 of New Ontario is a friable clay with 

 more or less humus in it. The amount 



•A paper read at the annual convention of the 

 Ontario Vegetable Orowera' Association hold in 

 Toronto In NoTsmber. 



:i\t of Agriculture, Ottawa. 



of humus usually depends on how close- 

 ly it has been burned to the clay. As it 

 is either virgin soil or has been cropped 

 only a few years at the most, no onu 

 uses fertilizers for potatoes unless it be 

 a small amount of stable manure. The 

 texture of the soil shows both potash 

 and phosphoric acid present in large 

 quantities and in a readily available 

 form. By common consent, fall plowed 

 land is preferred to spring plowed for 

 potatoes. Some replow in the spring 

 before planting. The seed is usually se- 

 lected from the bin in the ordinary way 

 and taken out of the cellar just before 

 planting. For economy many cut their 

 seed, but a large number advocate the 

 use of the whole tubers as they are less 

 liable to rot and produce stronger plants. 

 The ground is fitted for planting from 

 May twentieth to June tenth by thor- 

 ough cultivation and opening the fur- 

 rows about three feet apart. The seed 

 is planted in drills and cultivated one 

 way. 



The after cultural methods are much 

 the same as are followed in old Ontario. 

 The harrow is used before the plants ap- 

 pear at the surface, and again when the 

 vines are two or three inches high. The 

 horse hoe follows this, deeply at first 

 then shallow, at intervals of a week or 

 ten days until they come in bloom. In 

 some cases the hilling, which is quite the 

 universal practice there, is done gradu- 

 ally; in other cases it is done with the 

 last cultivation. Potatoes are ready for 

 digging the last week or ten days in 

 September. They are usually put up in 

 the cellars direct. 



Improvement can be made on their 

 general methods whereby larger crops 

 may be grown. They, however, grow 

 satisfactory crops. Taken in all, I be- 

 lieve that potato growing may be suc- 

 cessfully exploited in New Ontario. 



It may interest this association to 

 learn that in a recent competition in New 

 York city a Mr. A. Smith, of British 

 Columbia, landed a one thousand dollar 

 trophy for the best potato exhibit. Mr. 

 Smith is a member of the Canadian Seed 

 Growers' Association, and has been 

 working along the lines of selection 



adopted by the association for some 



time. 



Black Rot o{ Celery 



A. Mclsiif, Load**, 0*1, 



While in the storehouse celery is 

 sometimes attacked by a black rot which 

 if not checked will sometimes destroy 

 the entire crop. The disease is induced 

 by too heavy watering and by wetting 

 the tops of the celery after it has 

 been stored, also by keeping the store- 

 house too warm without sufficient venti- 

 lation. 



Some varieties have a greater power 

 of resisting the attacks of disease than 

 others. It is wise to test the newer sorts 

 and secure if possible one that will com- 

 bine resistance to disease with suitable 

 market value. 



The Question of Help 



A shortage of help is proving a seri- 

 ous problem for many market gardeners 

 and vegetable growers. This question 

 was discussed at the recent convention "f 

 the Ontario Vegetable Growers' Asso- 

 ciation. 



Mr. W. J. Kerr of Ottawa, criticized 

 severely the class of immigrants that have 

 been coming out from the old country, 

 stating that some were not good, and 

 never wojjld be. He maintained that not 

 one man in nine was of any use for the 

 market gardener. Mr. J. W. Rush, 

 Humber Bay, Ont. . stated that he had 

 considerable sympathy for the immigrant 

 for once upon a time he had been one 

 himself. 



It was stated by Mr. W. J. Robb of 



A Profitable House of Cucumber*. 



The illuBtration ehows a portion of a great 

 crop of early cucumbers grown a year ago by 

 Mr. E. H. Ellis of Leamington, Ont. As wiU be 

 noted, the cucumbors were grown to single stem 

 and run up to the root of the hou-iie. Some of 

 the vines were sixteen feet long. The rows were 

 three feet apart and the plants three feet apart 

 in the row. The variety grown was Perfection 

 WTiite Spine, i'rom ground occupying 60 by 100 

 fe^t floor space in his greenhousee Mr. Ellis 

 netted a little over «1.200. 



