IN THE ORCHARD. 



519 



More Fruit Being Grown 



THE advantages offered by the counties 

 bordering the north shore of Lake 

 Ontario for fruit growing, more particu- 

 larly apples and pears, are rapidly becoming 

 better recognized. This is shown by the 

 large increase that has taken place of late 

 years in the acreage under fruit. An edi- 

 torial representative of The Horticulturist 

 who, recently, visited some of the lead- 

 ing fruit farms in Durham county, located 

 between Newcastle and Bowmanville, was 

 impressed with this fact. 



" This is a splendid apple growing 

 section," was the view expressed by 

 W. H. Gibson, of Newcastle. "Apples 

 in our locality grow to a very large 

 size, and have splendid keeping quali- 

 ties. A good crop can be grown here 

 nine years out of then. Our local deal- 

 ers, who store quantities of apples from all 

 parts of the province, including many from 

 the Georgian Bay and Lake Huron districts, 

 say our apples have considerably the best 

 keeping qualities. 



" Within a mile of my place there are 200 

 acres in young orchards, most of which are 

 just coming into bearing. Among the well 

 known farmers who have young orchards 

 are Messrs. Jonas Samis, of Newcastle, 30 

 acres; Richard Foster, of Bowmanville, 15 

 acres; Henry Bowen, of Orono, 20 acres; 

 David Gibson, of Newcastle, 20 acres ; 

 Richard Osborne, of Bowmanville, 15 acres, 

 and a number of others. Many Stark, 

 Baldwin and Greening apples are being 

 raised, as well as some Russet and Ben 

 Davis. 



WELL ADAPTED FOR PEAR GROWING. 



" This district also seems well adapted 

 for pear growing, where the soil is suitable. 

 One hundred bearing pear trees in my or- 

 chard yield me fully as good returns per 

 tree as the trees in my apple orchard. My 

 pears are shipped to Montreal by boat, 

 which I find is the cheapest way, the cost of 



shipment being about 30 cents per barrel, 

 including wharfage. 



" My apples are sold to a dealer in New- 

 castle. They are mostly late keeping varie- 

 ties and should be stored, but as I have 

 no storehouse I am compelled to dispose 

 of them to the dealers early in the season. 

 Last year the Ben Davis variety paid me the 

 best, largely because it bore heavily. The 

 dealer who handled the apples informed me 

 that the Ben Davis also paid him the best. 



" This spring I made an experiment with 

 the Ben Davis trees in one of the rows in 

 my orchard. A graft from a Spy tree was 

 grafted on each tree. If the market for Ben 

 Davis apples fails I will remove the Ben 

 Davis limbs and encourage the grafts. 

 Next spring I will probably graft 100 more 

 trees in the same way." 



Black Smut on Apple Trees 



PROP. H. L. HUTT_, ONT. AGRI. COLLEGE, 



GUELPH. 



I have some young apple trees, planted last year, 

 that during the summer were covered with a black 

 smut. Is this a disease, and if so, what is the 

 remedy?— (H. S. P., Courtice, Out. 



The smutty appearance of your apple 

 trees was no doubt due to a fungus which is 

 in itself harmless to the trees, but which 

 shows the presence of aphides or plant lice. 

 These little green insects live on the leaves 

 and young shoots, sucking the juice of the 

 plant. While engaged in this they secrete 

 a sweet liquid, sometimes known as honey- 

 dew, and it is in this honey-dew that the 

 fungus you describe as black smut finds a 

 medium for its growth. 



Another indication of the presence of 

 these little insects during the season they are 

 active, is the presence of numerous ants run- 

 ning up and down the trunks of the trees. 

 The ants are not injurious to the tree, nor 

 even to the plant lice, for they use the latter 

 as cows and live upon the honey liquid 

 which they excrete. 



