EDITORIAL. 



'59 



editorial attention to them in this issue. This 

 would have been done in the March number but 

 for lack of space and the late date on which the 

 article was received. 



It is well known that seedless apples have 

 frequently ibeen produced. Proof of this is fur- 

 nished in the article in this issue by Mr. W. T. 

 Macoun. Mr. Sampson Morg-an is a well known 

 English writer on horticultural subjects, articles 

 by him appearing frequently in som^e of the 

 most conservative English horticultural publi- 

 cations. A contribution on this subject by Mr. 

 Morgan, which appeared recently in The Nine- 

 teenth Century and vVfter attracted a great deal 

 of attention. When Mr. Morgan stated defi- 

 nitely that " over 2,500 trees of the Spencer 

 apple are in hand " The Horticulturist con- 

 cluded he must have proof for this statement, 

 and, therefore, felt free to publish it although 

 holding Mr. Morgan responsible for its truth. 

 Mr. Morgan has been written to and will have 

 to make his own defense. Should it be true 

 that 2,500 of these trees exist there is no reason 

 to doubt that chere will soon be a large increase 

 in the production of these apples. The excite- 

 ment these apples created in Great Britain and 

 the large sums they realized when sold by auc- 

 tion were items of interest The Horticulturist 

 felt perfectly justified in presenting to its 

 readers. 



The Horticulturist has no intention of mis- 

 leading its readei"s on this or any other sub- 

 ject. For this reason we do not hesitate to 

 publish Prof. Craig's letter in full. It is pub- 

 lished with pleasure becaiape we undjerstand 

 from other sources that Prof. Craig has excel- 

 lent reason for speaking as he has. The state- 

 ment has been made to The Horticulturist that 

 a company is (being formed in the United States 

 with the intention of selling nursery stock of so 

 called coreless apple trees to the public at ex- 

 orbitant prices. If this is the case the sooner 

 the warning to the public is sounded the better. 

 While The Horticulturist intends to keep its 

 readers informed on matters relating to seed- 

 less or coreless apples it will alsio use its best 

 efforts to prevent their being misled by sharp- 

 ers. It is now up to Mr. Sampson Morgan to 

 explain his position. 



THE FRUIT DIVISION. 



Until he has produced stronger reasons thaN 

 those given in the House of Commons. Hon. 

 Sydney Fisher will find it impossible to con- 

 vince fruit growers of the necessity which led 

 him to place the chief of the fruit division under 

 the direction of the Dairy Commissioner. In 

 taking such action the Minister of Agriculture 

 ha.<? given fruit growers reason to believe that 

 he does not consider it necessary to consul/ 

 their views in affairs connected with his depart- 

 ment, no matter how interested in them they 

 may be. More than that : he has shown fruit 

 growers that he does not intend to pay any heed 

 to their wishes as expressed through their pro- 

 vincial fruit growers' associations, through 

 papers representing their interests and by means 



of private letters, many of which he has re- 

 ceived. 



Hon. Mr. Fisher has not claimed that the 

 Dairy Commissioner (who is a recognized au- 

 thority on dairy matters) is better informed in 

 regard to the fruit interests than is the chief 

 of the fruit division. Such a claim would be 

 ridiculous. Why then should the latter be 

 placed under the direction of the former ? Thia 

 however, is not a question of the fitness of these 

 two men for the work. There is a principle at 

 stake which demands recognition, and that is 

 that the fruit industry is of sufHcient import- 

 ance to require a head who shall not occupy a 

 minor position to the head of any other branch 

 of the department of agriculture. As the Hon. 

 Mr. Fisher does not recognize \\v>^ fact it means 

 that the fruit growers of Canada must produce 

 the proof and that is what they intend to do 



OUR TEN DOLLAR BONUS. 



The successful winner for March of the $10 

 offered by The Horticulturist each month to the 

 reader who buys goods to the greatest value 

 from the advertisers in each issue was Mr, 

 Lewis Miles, who purchased trees and vines to 

 the value of $126.25 from The Belleville Nur- 

 series, of Belleville. Among those who applied 

 for the bonus was Mr. G. H. Mills, of Toronto, 

 who secured goods to the value of $87.50 from 

 the Steele, Briggs Seed Co., Limited, of To- 

 ronto. As a reward The Horticulturist is 

 sending Mr. Mills a handsome premium. 



Owing to the large numiber of applications 

 that are received for this monthly bonus it has 

 been decided to make a change in the method of 

 Its distribution starting with this month's issue. 

 In future, instead of giving one prize of $10, this 

 sum will be divided into six prizes, one of $5 

 and five of one dollar each. The largest sum 

 will be given to the reader whose purchases 

 aggregate the most, and the remaining five 

 prizes to the applicants in the order of the value 

 of their purchases. Should there be more than 

 six applicants those who do not receive money 

 prizes will be sent handsome premiums. A 

 notice concerning this offer appears in our ad^ 

 vertising columns. 



It is understood that City Park Commissioner 

 Chambers, of Toronto, purposes making a 

 change in the management of the Allan Gar- 

 dens. Such action will meet with the approval 

 of many w^ho have felt for a long time the in- 

 justice of one man being paid for work another 

 m,an was doing. The Allan Gardens, while 

 under the control of the city of Toronto, might 

 dlmost be called a provincial or Canadian insti- 

 iion, as they are \-isited by lovers of flowers 

 from all parts of Canada. It is only justice 

 that the man responsible for the splendid ap- 

 pearance of the gardens and grounds should 

 receive full credit for his work. It is time, also, 

 that Toronto had new conservatories. They 

 are needed and should be built. 



