146 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



THE QUEBEC FRUIT GROWERS. 



Sir, — Permit me, as the deleg"ate from the 

 Ontario Fruit Growers' Association to the 

 Pomological and Fruit Growing- Society of 

 the Province of Quebec, to give your readers 

 a brief report of my visit. 



The meeting was held this year in the 

 beautiful and prosperous town of Granby. 

 The attendance from a distance was very 

 good, but for some reason there was not 

 much interest shown by the townspeople. 

 I have learned that in former meetings the 

 attendance has been large. 



The Society, unlike our own, holds a sum- 

 mer meeting, which allows the members to 

 become acquainted with the fruit growing 

 and fruit growers of various parts of the 

 Province. The number of members is small 

 compared with ours — about 100. They have 

 no periodical such as the Horticulturist, 

 owing to the fact that such a work would 

 need to be printed in two languages, which 

 would make it too expensive. Thus they 

 have no common medium of exchange ot 

 ideas except their two annual meetings. 

 They have not yet our splendid local horti- 

 cultural societies to increase their member- 

 ship. 



Though thus handicapped, still the Society 

 is doing a splendid work, and is full of en- 

 thusiasm. The papers read, and the dis- 

 cussions carried on showed that they were 

 not a whit behind the Ontario Society. 



Your representative was most cordially 

 received, and your fraternal greeting warmly 

 reciprocated. 



They appointed a committee to consider 

 the resolutions passed at our Whitby meet- 

 ing re the packing, grading of fruit, and the 

 marking of packages. 



They reported favorably, but suggested 

 some variations in the marking" of packages. 



The sessions were made interesting and 

 profitable by the presence of Prof. Waugh, 



of the Vermont Agricultural Colleg^e, Prof. 

 Macoun and Prof. Fletcher of Ottawa, and 

 Prof. Penhallow of McGill. 



Some of the good points made by the 

 speakers are following : 2% of Bordeaux 

 mixture will destroy mustard without in- 

 juring the grain. J. C. Chapais has the 

 most northerly orchard in Canada, at St. 

 Denis. He can grow Fameuse, St. Law- 

 rence, and many others ; also better cher- 

 ries than Montreal. The Trabische is his 

 hardiest plum. The white Alpine straw- 

 berry bears fruit from June 15th to October 

 15th. His Alexander apples were the larg-est 

 sent from Canada to the Paris Exposition. 

 W. Craig, jun., spoke on roadside trees. 

 He would plant our own native trees, and 

 not closely together. He would advise trial 

 planting of walnut trees. Roadside trees 

 raise the price of the land, and provide shel- 

 ter from winds. 



Prof. Penhallow gave a valuable paper on 

 the History of Horticultural Societies in the 

 Province. 1854 saw the formation of the 

 first society at Montreal, and 1875 its revi- 

 val. Chas. Gibb was the first promoter of 

 fruit culture in the Province. 



Mr. Thomas Slack, in his paper on " In- 

 tensive Cultivation," advised good seed, 

 good soil and good cultivation. Weeds are 

 the lazy man's friend, because they compel 

 him to cultivate his crop. He finds it pro- 

 fitable to raise lettuce in winter under glass 

 for the Montreal market. 



Mr. Brodie, in his paper on " The Culture 

 of Celery," said that he raises the White 

 Plume, and does not plant in trenches. He 

 does not cover the crowns. The pink and red 

 varieties are best in quality. For wintering- 

 the dwarf is the best. 



Mr. Grindley and Mr. Shepherd, who have 

 had extensive experience in shipping fruit to 

 the British market, gave some valuable in- 



