FRUIT IN OXFORD COUNTY. 



107 



Woodstock last fall were quite up to the 

 average in size and quality, and some of 

 them, besides what I have named above, a 

 little better than the average. The display 

 of Alexanders, for example, was only beaten 

 by the display at Coldwater, north of Orillia, 

 a district supposed to be peculiarly suited 

 for the Alexander. 



Nor is Oxford behind for its quality of 

 pears, plums and peaches, though consid- 

 erably behind the Goderich district in quan- 

 tity. I was surprised to find at Woodstock 

 a few exhibits of seedling and other peaches 

 of fine appearance and fair quality, really bet- 

 ter than I have met with on the shore of 

 Lake Huron, though not grown in so large 

 a quantity. 



What pleased me next to the quality and 

 quantity of fruit exhibited at Woodstock was 

 the interest that the people of that progres- 

 sive town and vicinity manifested in it. That 

 interest in fact might justly be termed an 

 enthusiasm. From our director there, Mr. 

 J. S. Scarflf, and the active president of the 

 Agricultural Society, Mr. G. R. Pattullo, to 

 the average citizen and district farmer, — all 

 in fact seemed to take a lively interest in the 

 fruit exhibit, and all seemed to feel special 

 pride in being told that it possessed special 

 merit. 



And Woodstock holds the proud distinc- 

 tion of producing the finest under-glass 

 grapes in western Ontario. Mr. T. H. 

 Parker has been a successful exhibitor of in- 

 door grapes at the Western Fair, London, 

 for many years, and also at Brantford, where 



he meets a keener competion than at the 

 former place. Mr. Parker grows twelve va- 

 rieties of indoor grapes, among them being 

 all the finer sorts, and every year he ships a 

 considerable quantity to Montreal at a high 

 price. The wisdom of growing twelve va- 

 rieties of indoor grapes in this country may 

 well be questioned, as there are not that 

 many sorts really worth the trouble. But 

 Mr. Parker has to have that many owing to 

 a foolish regulation of the Western Fair As- 

 sociation requiring twelve varieties for a col- 

 lection. No industrial association should 

 adopt rules requiring the production of an 

 article that is not profitable to grow. 



As to the town of Woodstock itself I con- 

 sider it a thing of beauty and a joy as long 

 as you remain in it. Many of its residential 

 streets and avenues for their leafy shade, 

 landscape architecture and rich floral display 

 are quite equal to the finest seen in our 

 largest cities. In 1898 I saw cannas and 

 caladiums in Woodstock large and more 

 luxuriant than in Port Huron or Detroit, and 

 such a pleasing display was not an uncom- 

 mon or isolated thing. 1 have visited a 

 number of Woodstocks on this continent, 

 including the one in New England, made 

 famous by Mr. Bo wen, of the New York 

 Independent, but among them all, for the 

 evidences of thrift, progressive refinement, 

 and the love of a beautiful home, there is 

 none to compare with the Woodstock of our 

 own beloved Ontario. 



T. H. Race. 



Mitchell. 



The Wicksox Plum was first sent out by 

 Luther Burbank as of pure Japanese parent- 

 age ; now, however, he has concluded it 

 must be crossed with Prunus Simoni, and 

 should be classed with the hybrids. 



New Sour Cherries. — Mr. F. k. Waugh, 

 horticulturist, Burlington, Vt. , gives a report 

 on these cherries in the Twelfth Annual Re- 

 port of Vermont Experimental Station. He 

 also treats on Hybrid Plums. 



