THE FARMERS FRUIT GARDEN. 



could grow with great success the im- 

 proved forms of our native Canadian 

 red plum, but of recent years the preva- 

 lence of the fungous disease, known as 

 the blight, has made it practically im- 

 possible to get a crop of clean fruit, and 

 large numbers of trees are being cut 

 down every year. To a certain extent 

 this disease can be controlled by spray- 

 ing with copper sulphate and Bordeaux 

 mixture, but the spraying must be very 

 carefully done to be of any value. For- 

 tunately, there has been introduced in 

 recent years a form of native red plum 

 from the North Western States that has 

 so far been free from this disease. The 

 best known varieties of this fruit are De 

 Soto and Weaver, but the Wyant and 

 Hawkeye are superior to either of them 

 in size and quality. AH of these are 

 perfectly hardy, and bear every year 

 enormous crops of yellowish-red plums 

 of good fiavor, not equal to the best 

 varieties grown in the west for table use, 

 but still very good and extra fine for 

 canning. The trees do not grow very 

 large, they bear such heavy crops that 

 they have little energy left for wood 

 growth ; the only pruning necessary is 

 to remove any branches that run on one 

 another. 



Plums should always be planted in 

 the spring as early as possible. Make 

 the hole larger than the roots extend, 

 and about eighteen inches deep, throw- 

 ing the subsoil to one side ; trim off all 

 broken ends of the roots with a sharp 

 knife, work the surface soil well in 

 among the roots, and when all covered 

 tramp the soil firmly. Do not have the 

 tree any deeper in the ground than it 

 was in the nursery. Twenty feet apart 

 will give them ample room. 



The great variety of ways in which it 

 can be used, its wholesome nutritious 

 properties, and long keeping qualities 

 make the apple the king of fruits. A 



man who can grow the Fameuse, Mcin- 

 tosh Red or Wealthy, does not need to 

 envy the inhabitant of warmer climes 

 his finest fruits. No other fruit of tem- 

 perate climates is at the same lime so 

 appetizing, so wholesome and so nutri- 

 tious as our apple, and in no other part 

 of America can these varieties be grown 

 in such perfection as in the Province of 

 Quebec. There are not many kinds of 

 winter apples that will stand our severe 

 seasons, but for summer and autumn 

 fruit our climate is unsurpassed. Among 

 early apples Tetofsky and Yellow Trans- 

 parent take the lead. Tetofsky is a 

 first-rate cooking apple, and when ripe, 

 good for table use as well. It has an 

 unfortunate habit of dropping a large 

 part of its crop before it is ripe ; it grows 

 in such large clusters that as they grow 

 some of them are shoved off the branch, 

 but this is no great loss as most of them 

 are large enough to cook when they 

 drop. The Yellow Transparent is a 

 rather larger apple and better for table 

 use. Instead of dropping prematurely 

 it holds on to the tree till it rots, if not 

 picked when ripe. 



Closely following these come the 

 Duchess and Peach. The former, the 

 type of hardiness and vigor, will thrive 

 wherever an apple can grow : it is a little 

 course for a table fruit but unrivalled for 

 cooking and an enormous bearer of 

 large beautiful apples, the skin being 

 streaked and splashed with red. The 

 Peach is a much better table fruit, finer 

 grained and better flavor, not so vigor- 

 ous nor so prolific as the Duchess, green 

 in color with a red fiush on the sunny 

 side. For late autumns and early winter 

 the Fameuse, Mcintosh Red and 

 Wealthy are ahead of all other rivals. 

 The Fameuse, most extensively grown, 

 is too well known to need description. 

 Mcintosh Red is quite equal to it in 

 quality ; it is darker in color and de- 



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