THE CARE OF SHADE TREES. 



it has been mixed with Mcintosh Red and 

 the varieties have been confused. 



PRINCESS LOUISE. 



An apple of great value for the home garden 

 as a choice dessert variety, but probably not suf- 

 ficiently productive to be profitable in the com- 

 mercial orchard unless it should command a 

 higher price than other apples on account of its 

 excellence. 



Tree, of slender habit, fairly vigorous, hardy, 

 moderately productive. 



Fruit roundish, averaging 2j by i\ inches in 

 lengfth and breadth respectively ; skin greenish yel- 

 low, of bright waxy lustre, \\-ith cheek of clear, 

 bright carmine : stalk stout, f of an inch long, in 

 a narrow, moderately deep ca\nty ; calyx half of>en. 

 in a broad, shallow, slightly plaited basin. 



Flesh, pure white, te.xture tender, fine, some- 

 what crLsp, juicy with rich aromatic flavor. 



Season, November to February. 



Quality, dessert, best : cooking, good. 



Value, home market. verA" good ; foreign mar- 

 ket, ver\' good. 



THE CARE OF SHADE TREES. 



:ANY inquiries were made this 

 year regarding the treatment of 

 shade trees which were showing 

 ^^ signs of lack of vitality. In some 

 caacs me cause of the unhealthy condition 

 of the trees was plainly due to insects, in 

 other cases to fungi, but most frequently the 

 cause was due to purely physiological con- 

 ditions, such as unfavorable conditions of the 

 soil, or atmosphere. 



The towns and cities of Ontario can point 

 with pride to their beautiful avenues or trees 

 which not only furnish a grateful shade 

 from the sun's rays during the hot days of 

 summer, and cause refreshing breezes to 

 blow along the pavements, but also give 

 shelter from the winds and storms of winter. 

 The larger the town or city the more attrac- 

 tive these trees become bv wav of contrast 

 with the long walls of naked brick and 

 stone. 



But the value of shade trees lies not solelv 

 in the shelter and shade they furnish, they 

 conduce to the healthiness, and their value in 

 this connection can scarcelv be estimated. 



That many of these valuable trees are 

 dying, or are in an unhealthy condition due 

 to physiological conditions, is a fact that re- 

 quires attention on the part of their owners, 

 and it is the purpose of this article to point 

 out the remedies that may be applied to re- 

 invigorate these trees, and the causes which 

 bring about ,these in«lesirable conditions. 

 I 



1. Trees, like animals, require food, and 

 if the supply gives out thev^ must inevitably 

 starve. One of the chief causes for the un- 

 healthy, dying condition of so manv trees is 

 this lack of food supplv. 



It is true that a tree makes use of the al- 

 most inexhaustible reservoir of carbonic acid 

 gas in the atmosphere, and the water in the 

 soil, but it should not be forgotten that a 

 tree requires inorganic food which is ab- 

 sorbed by the roots. A farmer does not ex- 

 pect a crop from soil which contains no 

 nourishment, but, somehow or other, many 

 persons entertain the verv erroneous idea 

 that a tree ought to grow and thrive for 

 years upon the food which happens to be in 

 the soil in the immediate neighborhood of 

 the roots. 



Very frequently when a tree is planted the 

 earth which has been thrown out in making 

 the hole is thrown back again and packetl 

 about the roots. The amount of footl in 

 such a case will not suffice for any length of 

 time. Sometimes the tree will live and 

 thrive for several years ; then it is because 

 the soil has been richer than usual. Everv 

 year the ground for a yard or more should 

 be spaded deeply, and a dressing of well- 

 rotted manure or compost applied. In doing 

 so a constant supply of food will be main- 

 tained, and the tree will grow and thrive. 



2. A second cause for the disease of vi- 

 tality in many shade trees is the lack of per- 



