THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURISI . 



®f%^ L©K(irs. 



A New and Valuable Forage Plant. 



Sir, — There is another most marvellous forage, 

 dry feed and fertilizing plant which is grown 

 largely in the south, of which I have never seen 

 mention in your valuable paper, and which I be- 

 lieve is well adapted to the central and northern 

 parts as well as to the south. After the Florida vel- 

 vet bean and the cow pea in the south, this is next in 

 general value as an all-round green or dry feed 

 and fertilizer. I refer to what is known as the 

 "Beggar Weed," the botanical name of which is 

 " Desmodium." 



From its name you must not infer that it is a 

 noxious weed, but on the contrary there is nothing 

 grown in the nature of grass or forage of any kind 

 that is eaten in its green or dry state by all stock 

 on the tarm with more relish and greediness than 

 this. 



The seed in appearance resembles that of clover, 

 and is about the same in size, and it will require 

 for seeding purposes ten to twelve pounds to the 

 acre. To grow a crop successfully, first fit your 

 ground nicely early in spring, harrowing down 

 well before sowing, so that seed may be scattered 

 evenly, thus getting a good even stand on the 

 ground, after which sow your seed broadcast, then 

 harrow again, covering well. If your seed takes 

 nicely, your field will soon take on a beautiful 

 green, as it is an exceedingly rapid grower. Or, 

 another way, you can sow seed in with your oat 

 crop and harrow, or may sow broadcast in corn 

 and cover at last plowing. The latter plan will 

 do as well if wanted for pasture, but if to be cut 

 lip for dry feed the other plan is better. 



If you want to use your growing crop for pas- 

 ture, I would not turn on until growth is nearly 

 waist high and after heading process sets in, as at 

 that stage the lateral stems are well developed 

 with leaves and seed formation. If you wish to 

 cut the crop to cure as a dry feed, I wou^d cut it 

 a little before it reaches the stage above described, 

 as b}' so doing you can, in five or six weeks time, 

 cut another crop from the same ground from new 

 growth offshoots from the original plants, as usu- 

 ally after the second crop is cut a sufficient growth 

 is made to afford you an excellent fall pasture. 



To cut this crop you can use a scythe or mower 

 as you like, as in its new and tender state it cuts 

 as easily as timothy or other grass. To cure it, 

 treat it the same as other hay. Should you wish 

 to use the crop to enrich the land, you can turn 

 the second growth under for fertilizer, which may 

 be done in fall or spring as you like. If you want 

 to secure a .seed crop, cut growth first time when 

 about thirty inches high, at which stage it makes 

 an excellent dry feed, after which do not disturb 

 it again until it has attained its full growth of 

 from five to eight feet, and matured its seed. If 

 your crop is a good one, it will stand so thick on 

 the ground that you can scarcely walk through it 

 and will reach away above your head. 



After the ripened seed is secured in the fall, the 

 dry leaves by this time having fallen off may be 



turned under, together with dry stalks, all of 

 which will make you a most valuable fertilizer. 



In the south a fair crop may be secured the 

 second and often the third year with re-seeding, 

 but this plan I would not advise in the colder sec- 

 tions, for fear of winter kill. 



While this plant is a grand success in Florida 

 and the other Southern states, I do not regard it at 

 all as tropical, and believe it will thrive aud do 

 well where other forage crops will grow. It be- 

 ing such a wonderful success in the South, and so 

 valuable for all purposes, I think that farmers 

 everywhere will make no mistake by giving it a 

 trial. 



If further information is wanted by your readers 

 if they will enclose stamp I will cheerfully reply. 

 Capt, E. a. Wilson. 



Fraudulent Packing. 



In my letter, which you published last month, 

 there is one expression the printer made which 

 sounds quite unconnected, " of course a brand is 

 a brand by law" was written " of course a barrel 

 is a barrel by law." The letter was not intended 

 for the press, but as you have used it perhaps you 

 will give me not only space to correct the error 

 but also to give the cause of its being written, 

 viz : 



I bought a barrel of apples ; the barrel was 

 labeled "Snows." When opened they showed 

 poor sample of Ribston Pippins. After about two 

 gallons were removed they turned into Holland 

 Pippins, and a very bad sample at that. There 

 was not a really sound apple in the barrel, and to 

 add to the trouble they were r^-packed apples sold 

 by the Fruit Auction Company of this city. We 

 have no trouble about coal oil, why should we 

 have about fruit ? G. H. Fawcett. 



Fraudulent Packing. 



Sir, — I enclose you some newspaper cuttings 

 about apple packing. In addition to old boots and 

 kindling wood we have found turnips and pump- 

 kins. Now, how to put a stop to this is the thing 

 to get at. We are of opinion that it can only be 

 done by having every barrel so marked that it 

 can be traced to the place and to the man who 

 packed it, and make him liable for the damage. 

 This could be done by securely tacking a card on 

 the end of the barrel giving the full address of 

 the grower, number of lot, township and county, 

 also the name of the packer if packed by any other 

 than the grower. This same rule could be applied 

 to packages in baskets, such as plants, berries, 

 etc. , by tying the label to the package. We think 

 fruit growers and dealers in fruit should urge on 

 the government the desirability of passing a law 

 to in some way meet these cases. 



We should be pleased to see the rules of the 

 Ontario Fruit Growers Association for grading 

 fruit. 



Dr. a. Bowlbv, Waterford. 



