OPEN LETTERS. 



Crfnville Co. — H, Jones. — Apples poor, 

 pears gord, grapes good, plums fair. Apples 

 are the only fruit grown to any extent in this 

 county, and the conditions are far from en- 

 couraging. In unsprayed orchards, there will 

 not be n.ore than an average of one bushel to 

 the tree, in oichards of 15 years of age 

 and over, fruit will be undersized and spot- 

 ted. In sprayed orchards, the crops will 

 probably be one brl. per tree, or more, and 

 from 60 % to 75 % clean. On light gravelly 

 soils, the fruit is dropping badly, but on 



loams they are holding well. In my July 

 report, "Green apple worm" should read 

 " Gieen aphis." 



DuNPAS Co,--W. A. Whitney. — Apples 

 fair in quantity, very good in quality. 'I'he 

 profepect is that the crop will be three times 

 as valuable as last year. Plums very good 

 pears very good, grapes good ; very few grown 

 for market, although most kinds do well if 

 laid down in winter. We predict good prices 

 for 8noA apples, which is our main crop. 



% 0pet7 Leftepc?. % 



The Late Richard Trotter. 



Sir, — It is with sincere regret that I note 

 the announcement of the death of Mr. Rich- 

 ard Trotter, of Owen Sound, Ont. For a 

 jjeriod of six years Mr. Trotter was one of my 

 most valued correspondents, and a very relia- 

 ble source of information regarding plum 

 growing. The Experimental Farm was the 

 recipient of several packages of scions of 

 plums, representing varieties which were the 

 product of his own labor and intelligent per- 

 severance. One of these received in 1892 has 

 proved to be one of the hardiest of the l)o- 

 mestica class. Another at Ottawa described 

 in the Report of the Horticulturist for 1894 

 has fruited as a top graft on Prunus Ameri- 

 cana at the Central Farm. It appeared to 

 me to be a variety possessing many excellent 

 qualities and entirely worthy of extended 

 trial. Mr. Trotter said that this latter Mas 

 from the seed of Evelyn, a local seedling, 

 crossed with Fellemberg. The tree is a 

 strong grower with thick healthy leaves. A 

 description of the fruit is as follows, taken 

 from the Report of 1894, namely :—" John 

 A." Fruit: large, oblong, sometimes egg- 

 shaped, slightly flattened laterally. Color, a 

 dark bronzy red with a brighter flush near 

 calyx ; bloom heavy purplish blue ; suture 

 deeply marked ; cavity one sided with prom- 

 inent swollen lip on side opposite suture. 

 Stem 1;J^ inches long, stout. Flesh greenish 

 yellow, firm and juicy ; a pleasant sub-acid. 

 Pit large semi-circling. The prune charac- 

 teristics are strongly marked. Keeps well. 

 Season Sept. 10 to 20th or later. 



I speak specifically of this variety for the 

 purpose of directing attention to the life work 

 of public service rendered by Mr. Trotter, 

 and with the hope that the good he has done 

 may by being brought to the notice of his 

 Canadian fruit growing brethren, live after 

 him in the fullest meaning of the phrase. 



John Craig. 

 Ithaca, N. Y., June 30, 1S98. 



Peach Curl. 



Sir, — A gentleman here had several trees 

 afllicted last year ; his wife said her father 

 had used a mulching or dressing of wood 

 ashes with success in the disease, so he tried 

 this treatment. Result — No curl on his trees, 

 but those in next yard were very badly in- 

 fected. Only an isolated case which may be 

 due to something else, but I mention it to 

 excite criticism. 



J. M. Dickson, Hamilton. 



Notes on Fruit Crop. 



Sir, — Small fruit here is a short crop, and 

 rather poor in quality. Strawberries failed 

 to root last year, but what fruit was got was 

 good. Raspberries are drying up. Goose- 

 berries, currants and cherries are small, the 

 latter little more than skin and stone. Os- 

 theim was in first here and the finest of any 

 I have seen. 



Gooseberries got such a scoching last year 

 with mildew that they bloomed very sparing- 

 ly this spring but set well. Some varieties 

 were killed in the ground last winter. Cham- 

 pion suffered worst in this respect, and I 

 never saw a dead twig on this variety before. 



Quite half the fruit has fallen during the 

 last three weeks. When closely examined, 

 the small grub is to be found in every berry. 



Bushes have made a fine growth this sea- 

 son. What few plum trees we have in this 

 section are well loaded. Winter apples are a 

 light crop. The Duchess is loaded every- 

 where. 



S. Spili.ett, Nantyr. 



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