310 



EDITORIA L. 



Tqe (anadi^n MorticOlt^rist 



The Leading Horticultural Magazine in the 

 Dominion. 



1. The Canadian Horticulturist is published the first of 

 each month. 



8» Subscription Price Si.oo per year, strictly in advanc* 

 entitling the subscriber to membership in the Fruit Growers' 

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 report and a share in its annual di<tribution of plants and trees. 

 For all countries except Canada, United States and Great Britain 

 add 50C for postage. 



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4. Discontinuances — Responsible subscribers will continue 

 to receive The Horticulturist until the publishers are notified by letter 

 to discontinue when all arrearages must be paid. Societies should 

 send in their revised lists in January : otherwise it will be taken for 

 granted all will continue members. 



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 both the old and the new addresses must be given. 



6. Advertising Raies quoted on application. Circulation 

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7. Articles and Illustrations for publication will be thank- 

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8« All Communications should be addressed : 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST, 



TORONTO, CANADA 



FRUIT EXPERIMENTAL ORCHARDS 

 WANTED. 



Growers interested in the fruit possibilities 

 of the Niagara peninsula are urging the Domin- 

 ion department of agriculture to establLsih an 

 experimental orchard, on a pretty extensive 

 scale, somewhere in that portion of the pro- 

 vince. These efforts are to be commended, but 

 one argument that is being used by some of 

 those "Who are active in the matter, should be 

 dropped. With the object of strengthening 

 their case they have claimed that the orchard 

 at the Central Canada Experimental Fiarm at 

 Ottawa is out of the fruit belt, that it is on very 

 poor soil, and that generally it is not accom- 

 plishing the good it might were it located some- 

 where in the Niagara district. As this con- 

 tention has been attracting considerable atten- 

 tion it may be well to examine the situation 

 closely. 



While it must be admitted that the orchard 

 on the farm at Ottawa is rather exposed and 

 that the soil is (by no means ideal, most of it be- 

 ing a light sandy loam, with a compact sandy 

 subsoil, the fact remains that most of the hardy 

 varieties of fruits do well in it, and there is lit- 

 tle actual proof that the soil is unsuitable for 

 most of the fruits that will succeed in the cli- 

 mate of that district. So many varieties of 

 apples, pears, plums and cherries tested at Ot- 

 tawa have not proved hardy, and the orchard 

 presents a very broken appearance. To one 

 not acquainted with the circumstances the 



blanks in the orchard where trees have died 

 would certainly lead to the conclusion that the 

 soil was the principal cause. It has, however, 

 been found that varieties which do not succeed 

 at Ottawa do not succeed in places where the 

 climate is similar, whatever the soil. This 

 proves that the conditions are not as unfavor- 

 able as might be imagined from appearances. 

 A poor soil for experimental work is, in some 

 ways, to be desired. Most of the tests with 

 cover crops, spraying mixtures, methods of 

 grafting and other experiments connected with 

 horticultural work can be done as well at Otta- 

 wa as in a more favored section. There is, fur- 

 thermore, the fact that as the apple trade is of 

 the greatest importance to this country, the 

 Niagara district has no more right to a station 

 than the great apple, pear, plum and cherry 

 growing districts along the Georgian Bay and 

 Lake Ontario. 



The truth is there is room for experimental 

 orchards both at Ottawa and in the Niagara 

 section, and possibly, also, in the Day of Quinte 

 and Georgian Bay districts. It is to be hoped 

 the Dominion department of agriculture can be 

 induced to taKe up this line of work. Care will, 

 however, have to be taken to see the operations 

 of the Ontario fruit experiment stations are not 

 unnecessarily duplicated. 



SHOULD THE ACT BE CHANGED? 



It is now practically assured that there will 

 be a meeting of delegates from the horticultural 

 societies of the province at the time of the big 

 fruit, flour and honey show to be held in To- 

 ronto next Novemiber. A matter which may 

 well engage the attention of this gathering is_ 

 the basis on which horticultural societies re- 

 ceive their government grants. In the act 

 granting government aid to provincial horticul- 

 tural and agricultural societies both are placed 

 in practically the same class. If a horticultural 

 society is established in a town or village it 

 means that the government grant to the agri- 

 cultural societies in that division is reduced by 

 the sum the horticultural society receivers. 



There are a number of places in the province 

 where live, active horticultural societies are 

 needed, but their establishment has thus far 

 been blocked by memtbers of the local agricul- 

 tural society or societies who do not want to 

 have their government grant reduced. In some 

 sections where horticultural societies have been 

 formed it has only been at the expense of hard 

 feeling between the local societies. There are 

 other sections where the horticultural societies 

 have been induced to use all their funds to as- 

 sist the horticultural exhibits at the agricul- 

 tural society's annual fair. While this is good 

 work in its way, it is not nearly equal to what 

 can -e done by a live horticultural society 

 working along the lines of those societies whose 

 methods of procedure have lately been de- 

 scri... in The Horticulturist. 



There is a large field for work in the province 

 for both agricultural and horticultural societies, 

 and the establishment of one should not detract 



