QUESTION DRAWER. 



167 



Sometimes Nursery trees of 4 or 5 feet in 

 height are whip or splice g-rafted three or 

 four feet from the g-round. This is especial- 

 ly desirable in case the scion is of a slender 

 or drooping character. 



Tar Paper Bandages. 



1142. SiR.^Would common tar paper, such as 

 is used for building pui poses, wrapped around 

 the trunks of fruit trees as a protection from sun 

 scald, be injurious to the trees ? 



Chas. Young, Richard's Landing, Algoma. 



No. 



Vladimir Cherry. 



1143. Sir, — Is it the habit of the Vladimir 

 cherry to ripen its fruit unevenly, that is for ripe 

 and green fruit to be on the tree at the same time? 

 C. Y., Richard's Landing. 



We have not noticed this to any g"reat 

 extent in the Vladimir or Russian Morello 

 cherries. This uneven ripening-, however, 

 is quite characteristic of the May Duke, a 

 cherry of totally different type and habit. 



A Ten Acre Fruit Farm. 



1 144. Sir, — I have a ten acre fruit garden, 

 and I am at a loss to know how to care tor it in 

 the best possible manner. I shall be greatly 

 obliged to you for some information regarding 

 spraying and other matters. 



M. A. Hamilton, Toronto. 



Our correspondent has not g^iven us 

 enoug-h information reg-arding the varieties 

 planted to enable us to reply very definitely. 

 A ten acre fruit garden, properly planted 

 and cared for, might easily yield as good an 

 income as a hundred acre farm managed in 

 the ordinary slip-shod manner ; but to get 

 the best results the best methods must be 

 followed. Spraying is done for three ob- 

 jects : (1) to kill injurious insects; (2) to 

 destroy fungous growth, such as apple scab 

 or grape mildew ; (3) indirectly to improve 

 the vigor of the tree. For the insects Paris 

 green is the specific for the leaf eaters, and 

 whale oil soap, potash or crude petroleum 

 for sucking insects. F'or fungi, Bordeaux 

 mixture is the specific. The times of appli- 

 cation are not so important as the method 



and thoroughness. The idea is to keep the 

 whole tree or plant completely covered with 

 the mixture during the whole season, so 

 that no fungus or mildew germs falling upon 

 the surface can possibly germinate. To ac- 

 complish this it is usual to give the first ap- 

 plication before the blossoms open, and to 

 give fresh applications at intervals of two or 

 three weeks during the season. 



We shall be pleased to answer any speci- 

 fic inquiries make by our correspondents. 



To Kill Dandelions on Lawn. 



Cut off top and put on one drop of sul- 

 phuric acid on root ; coal oil is said to do, 

 but enough must be put on to sink down 

 around root. 



R. T. Frazer, Vernon, B.C. 



Hardiness of Apples. 



1 145. Are Sutton Beauty, York Imperial, 

 Grime's Golden and Jonathan apples as hardy as 

 Northern Spy? 



So far as we know these varieties are all 

 about equal in hardiness. None of them 

 have been very widely grown in Ontario, ex- 

 cept Grime's Golden, which was once dis- 

 tributed bv our association. 



Grafting the Qrape Vine. 



Sir, — In the question drawer of January 

 number of the Canadian Horticulturist is an 

 answer to Geo. Thomson, Wolfville, N.S., 

 about how best to graft a grape vine. I 

 would like to give my experience in doing 

 the work of grafting the grape vine. The 

 better way to graft the vine would be, as 

 soon as the weather would permit in the 

 spring or the frost is partly out of the 

 ground, dig the ground away from the vine 

 down to the root and cut the vine two inches 

 above the root square off ; then take a mitre 

 saw and cut a slot two inches deep instead 

 oi splitting the same with knife or chisel ; 

 open the slot with a wedge and set the scion 

 in place and withdraw the wedge ; remem- 



