April, 191 1 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



85 



left hand side had been carefully painted 

 vvith pure linseed oil and white lead, on 

 fhe same plan as the clap-boards of a 

 house are painted, it could have been 

 preserved so that rot would not have af- 

 fected the wood. Of course, mechanical 

 means would have to be resorted to, to 

 prevent the pickers and pruners from 

 stepping- upon this part of the tree until 

 it had been thor'oug:hly healed over. It is 

 by no means a good practice to allow 

 pickers to wear anything but rubber boots 

 when they are permitted to climb upon 

 the trees. Of course, in recently set or- 

 chards the trees are headed low, so that 

 little or no climbing is necesary either 

 for pruning or picking. 



The injury on the right hand side 

 might easily have beenf prevented, by sim- 

 ply painting the wood thoroughly and 

 keeping it painted until it had grown 

 over. This might take from five to ten 

 years in the case of such a large limb ; 

 but no harm will come if the wound is 

 always kept well covered with paint. 



Notes on Small Fruits 



Raspberries thrive best on sandy 

 loams, with a damp but not wet sub- 

 soil. The rows should be from four 

 and a half to five and a half feet apart, 

 according to the habit of growth of the 

 variety. They may be planted either in 

 hedge-row form or in hills. Many suc- 

 cessful growers are using the latter, 

 making the hills three to three and a 

 half feet apart. 



In setting out a new plantation in a 

 solid row, the young canes should be 

 placed fifteen to eighteen inches apart ; 

 if in hills, plant two or three canes to 

 ensure setting. The hill system saves 

 a great deal of hand labor, as then you 

 may cultivate both ways. 



VARIETIES 



At the start a great deal of work 

 is saved by ploughing out a deep 

 furrow for the plants. The three 

 best varieties of red berries are 

 the Marlboro, Herbert, and Cuth- 

 bert. The former being a light grower, 

 the second a medium one, and the lat- 

 ter heavy. They also ripen in the order 

 given. 



At the annual pruning remove the 

 dead and weak canes, leaving eight or 

 ten to the yard of the best ones in a 

 narrow row. Cut back the tips accord- 

 ing to the variety and growth. Cut- 

 ting off the tops is an advantage when 

 the young suckers reach a height of 

 three and a half or four feet in the sum- 

 mer. It makes a stouter tree-like cane, 

 which throws out lateral branches for 

 fruiting. We should plough towards 

 1 he rows in the fall for drainage and 

 cultivate away in the spring ; then keep 

 the cultivator going until the crop is 



■"'P^' BLACK CAPS 



Smith's Giant, Kansas, Older and 



Hilborn are among the best black caps. 

 They are propagated by tips rather 

 than suckers, are handled in a similar 

 way to red ones, should be grown in 

 hills, and require cutting back more 

 severely. oueeants 



Currants do well on light clay or 

 heavy gravel loams. They should be 

 planted about six feet apart each way, 

 and trained in bush form from several 

 shoots, not like a tree. Leading varie- 

 ties are: Red — Cherry, Fay, Victoria, 

 Wilder, North Star, and Prince Albert. 

 North Star ripens late and Prince Al- 

 bert very late ; the others from early to 

 medium. Black — Lee, Naples, Saun- 

 ders, Champion. White — Grape and 

 Imperial. 



At the annual pri;ning thin out the 

 bushes to eight or nine of the best of 

 the older shoots, cutting away the very 

 oldest wood year after year. Currants 

 should also be finely cultivated until 

 the fruit is ripe. 



Both raspberries and currants should 

 be fertilized with rich stable manure at 

 least every other year. They will give 

 a liberal response to good feeding. In 

 the above fruits, when properly man- 

 aged, there is a very fair margin of 

 profit.— P. 



The Strawberry Bed 



E. B. StcTeiiop, Gnelpk 



The strawberry, when we have a good 

 market for it is a very profitable crop to 

 raise. In growing the strawberry the 

 varieties and methods pursued are large- 

 ly a local matter, and so it would be dif- 

 ficult to lay down hard and fast rules of 

 methods that we could take as being cor- 

 rect, or the variety that would be' the 

 best to groiv. The soil, the man and the 



market are largely responsible for the 

 method and for a profitable crop of straw- 

 berries. Each grower should have a trial 

 plot and grow a few of each kind on his 

 own ground, discarding the kinds that 

 prove unprofitable for his location. 

 SOIL preparation 



I have never had my ground too rich 

 for strawberries. I plant roots and man- 

 ure well for the two years preceding the 

 strawberry year, then give an extra coat 

 of well rotted stable manure, well work- 

 ed in before planting. 



I plant rows three feet apart and two 

 feet in the row. When planting is over 

 I go over the ground with a fine toothed 

 cultivator and keep this up about once a 

 week through the growing season. After 

 the plants have stopped growing and the 

 ground is frozen in the fall, I cover the 

 whole bed with strawy manure to a depth 

 of two or three inches ; in the spring I 

 rake this into the paths for a mulch to 

 keep the berries clean. I then spray with 

 lime and sulphur, to kill the rust that 

 may appear before the blossoms open, 

 and again just after the fruit has set. I 

 grow the plants for fruit in the narrow 

 rows as I find I get finer fruit than in the 

 wide matted row. 



NEW varieties 



There are some very promising new 

 varieties being placed before the public; 

 others on trial and not yet offered for 

 sale. I have one sent me by Mr. How- 

 ard of Massachusetts, without name as 

 yet; came to me as "No. 17." I have 

 fruited it two years, and was delighted 

 with it. The plant is vigorous and 

 healthy, has a good root system, and pro- 

 duces large heart-shaped berries of good 

 color and excellent quality. The blossom 

 is staminate and the fruit firm, and will 

 make a good commercial variety. 



Nine Year Old Irrigated Orchard 



The Property of Mr. Martin Burrill. M.P.. Grand Forks, B. C. 



