NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Mr. Macoun, who is a son of Profes- 

 sor John Macoun, Dominion Botanist 

 and NaturaHst, was born in 1869, at the 

 city of Belleville. He attended the 

 Central school there until 1882, when 

 he removed to Ottawa with his father, 

 where his education was further continu- 

 ed at the Ottawa Collegiate Institute. 



During the summer of 1883, 1884, 

 1885 and 1887, he acted as his father's 

 assistant in his botanical and biological 

 researches and travelled through parts 

 of Nova Scotia, Northern Ontario, the 

 North-West Territories, and British Col- 

 umbia. Having concluded his prepara- 

 tory studies, he obtained employment in 

 1888, at the Central Experimental Farm, 

 where he has been ever since. 



After the resignation of the former 

 Horticulturist, Mr. W. W. Hilborn, in 

 the winter of 1888 and 1889 Mr. Macoun 

 assisted the Director in carrying on the 

 work of the Hoiticulturist during the 

 following spring and summer. He was 

 continued in this work until the appoint- 

 ment of Mr. John Craig in 1890, and 

 at that time paid special attention to the 

 study of varieties of fruit. Since 1889 

 Mr. Macoun has had charge of a large 

 proportion of the agricultural experimen- 

 tal work on the farm. During the au- 

 tumn of 1892 he went to Europe and 

 visited some of the more important 

 institutions there, where experimental 

 work is being done, particularly Rotham- 

 stead, established by Sir John I^wes ; 

 the Royal Agricultural Society's Experi- 

 ment Grounds, Woburn Sands, and the 

 trial grounds of Henry Vilmorin, Esq., 

 of Paris. In 1893 he was appointed as 

 Assistant to the Director, and Foreman 

 of Forestry, and since that time has car- 

 ried on the work of the forestry belts 

 and on the ornamental grounds. In 

 1896, at the request of Dr. Fletcher, 

 who has hitherto managed this part of 

 the work, Mr. Macoun was placed in 



charge of the Arboretum and Botanic 

 Garden. 



The reports prepared by Mr. Macoun, 

 concerning the branches of the work 

 carried on under his charge — which 

 were included in the report of the Direc- 

 tor during the years 1893, 1894, 1895 

 and 1896 — give evidence of much care- 

 ful work and are very creditable to the 

 author. 



Mr. Macoun has been of great assist- 

 ance to the Director in carrying on the 

 work of the cross-fertilization of cereals 

 and fruits, and many of the more prom- 

 ising varieties now under trial are the 

 result of his careful work. 



An Inspection bill is now before the 

 House of Commons of Canada, provid- 

 ing for the addition of a paragraph pro- 

 viding for the inspection of fruit. This 

 paragraph requires all fruit packages to 

 be marked with the name of the kind of 

 fruit, the grade, the name of the packer, 

 whether grower or shipping. The qual- 

 ities are to be graded r, 2, 3, 4 and 

 culls. The inspector is to inspect five 

 packages, or more, and if according to 

 brand, he will consider the lots so re- 

 presented as duly inspected ; but if the 

 fruit in any of the packages does not 

 correspond with the marks, then he shall 

 confiscate it. 



This bill is no doubt on the right 

 track ; for it is quite time that some 

 steps were taken to prevent fraudulent 

 packing. We do not believe the blame 

 of this all rests with the growers ; it rests 

 more probably with those shippers who 

 buy No. 2 or No. 3 fruit in bulk, face it 

 up with good, and then sell it for No. i. 

 We understand that these men are op- 

 posed to the bill, and no wonder. We 

 do not hear of any growers objecting. 



The only criticism we have is the use- 

 less number of grades. Surely No. i, 

 No. 2 and culls should be grades enough 

 for anybody. 



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