472 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIS2 



only takes place in an upward direction. As 

 the frost penetrates deeper and deeper, the 

 soil rises, carrying- in its grasp whatever it is 

 able to lift, whether it is a strawberry plant, 

 a clover root, a garden stake or a fence post. 

 The first thaw allows the earth to settle back 

 in its place, but the plant does not. It may 

 be only one-eighth of an inch, but if repeated 

 often enough the plant will be lifted out of 

 the ground. We have all seen this. Now, 

 if we cover the ground between the plants 

 with an inch or two of manure or a litter o^ 

 any kind, in October, before the freezing 

 weather comes, the frost will be unable to 

 penetrate the soil so readily. And if it does 

 somewhat, the covering of litter will prevent 

 the thawing of the soil for a time, and the 

 water will settle, leaving the surface so dry 

 that there will be no expansion even if the 

 frost enters the soil. We know that plants 

 are not lifted out of sandy or gravelly soil if 



the drainage is good. This freezing of the 

 soil does the plants no good, although they 

 may live in spite of it, and if we can prevent 

 it we should do so. It is generally recom- 

 mended to strawberries when the ground is 

 frozen hard enough to hold up a team and 

 loaded wagon. This is a mistake. In most 

 cases great damage is done before severe 

 freezing weather comes. My advice is to 

 cover the ground between plants soon after 

 the first frost, then when winter comes, 

 cover the foliage until it is entirely hidden. 

 There is no danger of putting on too much 

 covering if it be taken off" before growth com- 

 mences in the spring. The damage comes 

 from leaving the covering on until the plant 

 starts, and then removing it. The white, 

 tender growth that is made under a mulch is 

 easily destroyed by either heat or cold. 



M. Crawford. 

 Cuyahoga Falls, O. 



THE BOSC PEAR. 



The Bosc pear will never be a glut in 

 the market, for the reason that the tree 

 g^rows so crooked and slowly that the 

 nurserymen will not grow it, says Edwin 

 Hoyt in Rural New Yorker. Those who 

 buy trees do not understand that there 

 is as much difference in the habit of growth 

 of trees as there is in animals, and are not 

 willing to pay any more for one tree than 

 another of the same species. If a nursery- 

 man were to bud i,ooo stocks to Bartlett, 

 he would, no doubt, get 900 gqod trees, 

 while if 1,000 stocks were budded to Bosc, 

 he might not get more than 100 good salable 

 trees, and many of these might have to be 

 staked while growing to get the body up 

 straight so as to make a tree a customer 

 would receive if sent to him. Many nursery- 

 men grow a few Bosc by top working them, 

 that is, by budding the Bosc in the top of 

 some- strong growing variety like Clapp, 



Buffum or Anjou. To raise the trees in this 

 way, the nurseryman has to charge more 

 for them to pay him for his extra trouble. 



If one wishes to obtain a Bosc pear orchard 

 the best way to get it is to set Clapp or some 

 strong gfrowing variety. Let it grow two 

 years, then top-graft it. This, of course, is 

 some trouble and expense to do, yet the one 

 who does it will get a good paying- pear or- 

 chard, for this variety will never be over- 

 produced. It is a fine pear, a heavy bearer 

 and usually grows smooth and fair with 

 good feeding and cultivation, such as any 

 orchard should have for profit. The Winter 

 Nelis is one of the best of winter pears, but 

 the tree is like the Bosc, so poor and crook- 

 ed a grower that few trees are raised by the 

 nurserymen. To succeed with this variety, 

 it must be top-grafted as above directed for 

 the Bosc. 



