422 



THE CAAaDIA.\ H0RTICL\/rUi<I6l 



does seem, therefore, somew 

 to expend so large a sum on 

 then allow it to deteriorate 

 the rain and sunshine. 



Even supposing, however, 

 rain the exposure to the heat 

 a few days in the orchard w 

 ripen the fruit than many w 

 perly constructed storehouse, 

 in box cars warm, are almost 



hat of a folly before they are placed on board ship, and 



a package and then no accommodation, no matter how 



so seriously in good, can save them. This has been the 



history of far too much fruit this fall. The 



there was no weather has been warmer than usual, and 



of the sun for tiie fruit inspectors report a much larger 



ill do more to percentage of heated barrels than usual. In 



eeks in a pro- no case has there been a report of serious 



Apples put loss in cargoes that were reported as being 



certain to heat of low temperature when they were shipped. 



Plums in Quebec 



AUGUSTK DEPUIS, VILLAGE DISS AULNAIS, QUE). 

 ^^HE plum crop at the Experiment Sta- 

 J. tion at Village des Aulnais, County 

 LTslet, has been very abundant. Fifty- 

 two varieties have given fruit this year, be- 

 ginning with the " Jaune tres hative " and 

 " Favorite hative," which were ripe August 

 lo to 15. These were followed, by the 

 Alirabelle Precoce and Reine Claude d'Oul- 

 lins, very valuable varieties for localities 

 where the summer is short. Then Brad- 

 shaw, Washington, Damson, R. Claude, 

 Montmorency and others came in Septem- 

 ber, closing this month with Pond's Seedling, 

 Grand Duke, and Coe's Golden Drop. We 

 expect to complete the picking of these three 

 varieties by October 18. 



We pack the plums in half-gallon card 

 boxes, put up in eight gallon crates, and 

 they sell well at 40 cents a gallon. In Oc- 

 tober, 1902, I exported crates of these 

 varieties to Great Britain through the firm 

 of R. Barden, Quebec. The plums reached 

 Liverpool in excellent condition and the re- 

 turns were very satisfactory. I have ship- 

 ped a great part of the crop to consumers. 

 It causes more trouble and is more expen- 

 sive, and we learn the taste of the fami- 

 lies who consume them and of the hotel- 

 keepers and retailers. We learn how the 

 fruit reaches the people at a distance and 

 the time that varieties will keep in good 



ccjndition on the stands of fruit dealers. I 

 have analysed the reports received and have 

 come to the conclusion that 12 varieties out 

 of 52 will be generally popular and profit- 

 able for this far northern section. 



Gall Lice on Spruce Hedges 



T. D. JARVIS, B. S. A., O. A. C, GUELPH. 



My spruce hedge is being killed in patches 

 by some insect which works inside a gall. I 

 have used Paris green and have cut off the in- 

 fected parts but nothing seems to be effective. 

 — (J. C. M., Picton. 



The insect which is troubling your spruce 

 is what is known as the Spruce Gall Louse 

 (Chermes abietis). As these insects in the 

 feeding stage are within the gall, and the 

 gall is perfectly water-tight so that no fluid 

 can penetrate, poisoning is out of the ques- 

 tion, and as in the migrating larval stage 

 they do not eat, poison is equally useless. 

 In the larval stage soap emulsion might be 

 of some use if applied abundantly at the 

 proper time. 



The cheapest and best plan yet tried in 

 Ontario is to clip off the galls as soon as 

 they are noticed, say in June and always 

 before the first of August, while the pro- 

 ducers are in the galls, and immediately 

 burn them. There is no use in doing this 

 after the producers are out of the galls. 

 When a tree is too much infested to be 

 dealt with in this way it should be cut down 

 and burned at once. 



