NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Seedling Peach. — Mr. Frank Met- 

 calf, Blyth, sent us samples of a yellow- 

 flesh, freestone peach on the 17 th of 

 October, 1898. He writes "These are 

 seedlings grown by a farmer here, who 

 obtained first prize at the fair for them- 

 Very few peaches can be successfully 

 grown here. The tree is five or six 

 years old, and is supposed to have come 

 up from a Crawford pit. It seems to be 

 perfectly hardy. 



The Annual Flokal Exhibit of 

 the Hamilton Horticultural Society was 

 held in the Tucket Factory, King St. 

 W., on Tuesday and Wednesday, 15th 

 and 1 6th November. The large plate 

 glass front gave a fine display to the 

 passers by and attracted a constant 

 stream of visitors. The admission was 



free, and the flowers and a fine orchestra 

 made the whole thing very attractive. 

 Among the exhibits we noticed a fine 

 orange tree with a half dozen oranges, 

 shown by Geo. Brown ; a magnificent 

 palm Phoenix rechinata, grown in his 

 house in leaf mold by Mr. McCulloch, 

 who also showed a choice collection of 

 palms ferns and other house plants, all 

 grown under ordinary conditions in his 

 dwelling house. Mr. Alexander, the 

 president, showed a fine collection of 

 begonias, sedums, etc. Mr. Stipe, a 

 well known Hamilton exhibitor, showed 

 a large collection of fruit and vegetables; 

 and large displays of plants, roses, Chry- 

 santhemums, etc., were shown by some 

 of the professional florists, as for exam- 

 ple. Dale, of Brampton ; W. Hull, of 

 Hamilton, and Webster Bros, of Hamil- 

 ton. 



POT ROSES FOR EASTER, 



Two-year-old Hybrid Perpetuals may 

 be forced nicely for Easter if potted not 

 much later than December 15th ; the 

 very strong growers, Margaret Dickson, 

 Baroness Rothschild, Her Majesty, and 

 such varieties are difficult to get into 

 flower. The same may be said of the 

 weak-wooded kinds, as L. Van Houtte 

 and Earl of Dufferin. A. Colomb, John 

 Hopper, La France, Aug. Guinnoiseau, 

 General Jacqueminot, Mrs. John Laing, 

 Ulrich Brunner, and Mme. C. Wood 

 are kinds easily forced. Use 6, 7 or 8 

 inch pots according to size of roots, the 

 soil if stiff", had better be loosened with 

 some sharp sand, a good proportion of 

 well rotted cow manure is needed to 

 secure a good growth. Prune the canes 



back to three or four good eyes and let 

 them start in a temperature of 40' to 

 45°. When the buds have become well 

 swelled and the roots active, a tempera- 

 ture of 60° to 65° may be maintained. 

 Give them the advantage of all the avail- 

 able sunlight and keep the foliage quite 

 free from insects and mildew. Blighted 

 foliage is never in harmony with even 

 the finest blooms. The Hybrid Per- 

 petual Roses will be a welcome addition 

 to the conservatory decorations at the 

 Easter season. If budded plants are 

 used, see that "low budded" stock is 

 procured, or you will have trouble to 

 get the roots down into the pots. 



Webster Bros. 

 Hamilton, Ont. 



483 



