336 ' The Canadian Horticulturist. 



dozen towns, and helped still farther the interests of fruit growing. Now comes 

 this fruit market, so well situated at the terminus of the H. G. «Sr B. electric road, 

 receiving hourly consignments of freshly picked fruits from the Grimsby and 

 Winona districts. We say success to every such enterprise which aids in the 

 development of our chosen industry. 



Experimental Cold Storage. — To make fruit growing yield the best 

 returns, two conditions of handling the crop are needed, viz. : ist, better dis- 

 tribution of it throughout all parts of our country, and, 2nd, some method of 

 cold storage, in order to prolong the season of handling it. In the Report of 

 the Horticulturist, Central Experimental Farm, 1894, Mr. Craig gives the results 

 of some experimental work in this direction, as follows : — 



1. Fruit for storage should be picked when fully grown, but before it has 

 thoroughly matured. 



2. Early pears, peaches and the larger varieties of plums should be wrapped 

 separately in tissue paper. 



3. Tight wooden boxes are the most satisfactory packages for storing and 

 handling. When baskets are used, they should be provided with strong " veneer " 

 covers. 



4. Stone fruits, such as peaches and plums, under ordinary circumstances 

 should not be held for a longer period than two or three weeks. 



5. The marketing season for early pears and apples may be extended 

 from thirty to sixty days, and under favorable circumstances, for a longer 

 period. 



6. The outcome of experiments with fall and early winter varieties of 

 apples and pears, including samples of grapes, yet remains to be developed. 



Phvllocactus Latifrons. — (See p. 178.) — On Sunday evening, the i8th 

 inst., Mrs. Adolphus Pettit, one of the directors of the Local Society, called us 

 in to see one of these plants with three magnificent blossoms just out. They 

 were from seven to nine inches in diameter, and as feathery as flakes of snow. 

 We tried to get a good photograph, but failed for want of flash light. A writer 

 in the Cactus Journal writes of^this variety as follows : — This finest of all Phyl- 

 los., commonly known as " Queen Cactus," is one that even the person who 

 professes to despise cacti, will at once fall in love with. It is the largest flower- 

 ing of its species. One which my mother owns (and it is the only one, except 

 M. minima, that she will have anything to do with), is grand. In spite of the 

 fact that she has been pulling it to pieces in order to give " plant beggars " only 

 one cutting, this plant in five years has attained the height of four feet, and is 

 about forty inches broad. It wants a rich, porous soil, as it is a great feeder. 

 In winter give as even a temperature as possible, and very little water. In 

 spring before growing begins, give a top-dressing of fresh soil, put it in a light 

 place, and water regularly when fresh growth begins. Cuttings of one year will 



