CENTRAL EXPERIMENTAL FARM NOTES. 



/5 



merits conducted a year ago that it would 

 do this. As the lime appears to loosen the 

 scales and the rain wash them off, the effect 

 of the former will not be fully apparent un- 

 til later in the season. 



The work of top grafting- the less hardy 

 apples on hardy stocks which was begun last 

 vear will be continued next week. The 

 stocks used are Haas, McMahon White, 

 Gideon and Hibernal, as these are verj' 

 hardy trees, having trunks which do not 

 sunscald, as a rule. It is expected that 

 good will come of this work, as, if the ter- 

 minal growth does not kill back, those var- 

 ieties which are subject to sunscald should 

 succeed when grown in this way, provided 

 the stocks are suitable. Northern Spy, 

 which does not succeed when grown "in the 

 ordinary way, has been fruiting for several 

 years now, top grafted on Wealthy and 

 Duchess, but as these stocks are two -slow 

 growing for the Spy, the trees are becoming 

 top heavy. We are also top grafting the 

 best pears on the Russian varieties to see 

 what the effect will be. 



By the time this number of the Horticul- 

 culturist appears some of the best early, per- 

 ennials will be in bloom or just coming into 

 bloom. One of the earliest and finest of 

 these is the Spreading Pasque Flower 

 (Anemone patens), with its large, purple 

 bell-shaped flowers. It begins to bloom at 

 Ottawa in the fourth week of April, when its 

 lovely flowers are very desirable for cutting, 

 there being few other perennials in bloom at 

 that time. Following this, during the first 

 week of May, is the Ox-eye {Adotiis ver- 

 nalis), a little plant from six to nine inches 

 inches in height, with large, lemon-yellow 

 flowers and finely cut foliage. It is a very 

 pretty and dainty plant, and while not very 

 good for cutting, it is desirable on account 

 oi its earliness. 



The Doronicums, which begin to bloom 

 during the second and third weeks of May, 

 are also fine. The flowers are large and 

 yellow, and the plants from one to two feet 

 in height. Doronicuni Cmicasiciim and Dor- 

 onicum. plantaginetini excelsium are two of 

 the best ; the former is earlier than the lat- 

 ler, but not quite so striking. The Epi- 

 mediums or Barrenworts are little Japanese 

 plants which begin to bloom during the 

 second week of May, and which, for graceful- 

 ness and delicacy of color, are difficult to 

 excel among early flowering plants. They 

 are excellent for cutting, the flowers having 

 long stems and the foliage, which is of a 

 shade of green tinged with bronze, going 

 well with them. 



Among early flowering perennials, the old 

 fashioned bleeding heart should not be omit- 

 ted, as the plant is covered with showy 

 flowers for a long time. Other good flower- 

 ing perennials which bloom in May are the 

 columbines, of which the best are Aqiiilegia 

 oxysepala, Aquilegia glandtilosa, Aqiiilegia 

 Sfuarti, Agiiilegia coerulea, and Aquilegia 

 Canadensis. These are all very beautiful, 

 Then there are the white alyssum, Arabis 

 alpina ; prophet flower, Arnebia echioides ; 

 lily of the valley, Convallaria majalis ; ever- 

 green candytuft, Iberis sempervirens ; ice- 

 land poppy. Papavernudicaule ; lovely phlox. 

 Phlox amoena ; creeping phlox. Phlox rept- 

 ans ; moss pink, Phlox subulata ; creeping 

 Jacob's ladder, Polemonium reptans ; and 

 the globe flowers, which are among the best 

 of the early perennials. Of these Trollius 

 Europaeus, Trollius Ledebourii, and Trollius 

 giganteus are some of the best. 



W. T. Macolx, 



Horticulturist. 



Central Experimental Farm, 

 Ottawa. 



