86 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



April, 191 1 



Orchard Pruning and Cultivation 



W. H. Gibton, Newcutle 



(Conti nufd frovi last issue) 



IKKFvP six feet on each side 

 of the trees either cultivated or 

 planted to a cultivated crop such 

 as roots or corn. The land between 

 is worked in a general farm rotation of 

 corn, oats, wheat and clover. 



.As soon as the trees require the whole 

 space, which will be at about ten years 

 from the time of planting, I seed down 

 the cultivated strip of about twelve fee! 

 and cultivate the centre strip. I plow :-^ 

 early as possible in the spring, h irrovv 

 every week or ten days until the latter 

 part of May, and then sow the cover crop, 

 instead of doing, as many advise, contin- 

 uing the cultivation until July or 

 August. By stopping cultivation at 

 this time, I get a better color on the 

 apples, the wood is ripened earlier, and 

 by sowing the cover crop at that time 

 a much better catch of clover is assured 

 at that time of year than later in the sea- 

 son. The greatest advantage of this 

 system is that it is an almost entire pre- 

 ventative of winter killing. I have no- 

 ticed that in the majority of cases where 

 there has been loss from this cause the 

 trees have been cultivated late in the 

 season. 



The grass strip is mowed each year 

 and allowed to lie on the ground. The 

 leaving of this strip in grass makes the 

 cultivation very much easier and does 

 away with the necessity of using exten- 

 sion harrows. I bought one several 

 years ago and have never attached the 

 extension wings as yet. Almost every 

 plant is used as a cover crop in this dis- 

 trict. The most common are buck- 

 wheat, oats, rape, barley, hairy vetch 

 and clover, or a combination of all five. 

 I prefer clover. The best manure for an 

 apple orchard is a clover sod turned un- 

 der. By sowing in May before the dry 

 weather comes, there is very little danger 

 of missing a catch. 



THE TARIFF 



The apple growers in this district are 

 well satisfied with the proposed tariff 

 changes, as they think that they stand 

 to make more than they will lose, for 

 the United States buyers will come over 

 and buy free on board cars here. We 

 may lose some of the western trade, 

 which has grown from one thousand 

 five hundred barrels in 1900, to two hun- 

 dred and fifty thousand barrels in 1910, 

 but I think our gain by obtaining an en- 

 trance into the United States markets 

 will much more than offset the possible 

 loss in the western markets, but rather 

 than see the peach and vegetable grow- 

 ers lo.se, I would say, let the duty re- 

 main as it is. 



A Flower Garden at New Lowell, Ont. 



The above illustrates an experiment conducted by Mr. A T. Stone, of Pentanguishene, in 

 the culture of asters stocks, verbenas, and other flowers. The plot was prepared a« follows: 

 In the fall a liberal quantity of leaves and fresh horse manure was applied and spaded un- 

 der, and the earth left in a roush state until spring. As soon as the soil was read;- to work 

 a compost, made as follows, wa^ applied— One bushel of hen manure one bushel of hardwood 

 ashes, quarter bushel air slack lime, quarter lb, bone meal. Where the soil is poor the above 

 amount of compost is usually sufficient for every twenty-flve feet SQuare of land. The soil 

 should be prepared ae above advised. A clay loam soil will jive best results where thc«e cul- 

 tural directions are complied with. Do not transplant plants until two weeks after the appli- 

 cation of the compost, but keep the sround well worked. Transplant the asters in rows run- 

 ning north and south in a sunny position about fifteen inches apart in the rows and two feet 

 between the rows. Keep well cultivated to keep out the weeds and to retain the moisture. Wa- 

 ter only in rare cases. Follow thse directions, planting first auality aster plajits of the choic- 

 est varieties, and a bountiful display of rare beauty will be yours. 



Build suitable bird houses to entice in- 

 sectivorous birds to the orchard. 



Culture of the Sweet Pea 



H. J. Edwards, Winniprg, Man, 



The reason that we so seldom see the 

 sweet pea at its be.st in this province 

 can be attributed chiefly to late sowing 

 and over seeding. This paper is writ- 

 ten for the purpose of advocating exact- 

 ly the opposite, i.e., "'Early sowing and 

 sparse seeding." 



PLANT FAR APART 



In planting, north to south is the best 

 direction, and an open space away from 

 trees and buildings is most desirable. 

 There should be at least four feet be- 

 tween the rows, five feet would be bet- 

 ter, for the purpose of attending to the 

 plants. 



PLANT EARLY 



.As soon as the frost is out of the 

 ground to a depth of 3 or 4 inches, the 

 seed should be sown, making a double 

 row, six inches between the rows, the 

 seed being planted four inches apart, 

 and one and a half inches deep. On 

 ■ light, sandy soil the seed should be 

 planted another inch deeper. 



Sticks should be provided early for 

 the plants to climb.. When these are 

 not obtainable, wire netting nailed on 

 to good stout posts will do nearly as 

 well. During the growing .season, the 

 surface of the soil should be kept loose, 

 and all weeds destroyed, care being 

 taken not to disturb the roots of the 

 sweet peas. In late spring and early 

 summer, keep a sharp lookout for that 

 abominable pest, the cut worm. He 

 can ' usually be found by digging four 

 inches around the plant he has destroy- 

 ed. 



The seed catalogues sent out by the 



various seedsmen contain a fairly com- 

 prehensive list of sweet peas, with a full 

 description as regards type and color. 

 It is generally a matter of personal 

 choice as to which are the best color.s. 

 The latest list available mentions over 

 seven hundred different named varieties, 

 but as a great many are included in .n 

 list of "too much alike" varieties (some- 

 have nearly twenty names) it would be 

 unwise to particularize in a paper of 

 this nature. However, there is one 

 variety which might be mentioned, and 

 that is Coccinea. The seed of this var- 

 iety is as a rule fine and plump, and 

 would compare favorably with the fin- 

 est samples of seed grown. Some years 

 not one seed from a packet will ger- 

 minate. This is not the fault of the 

 seedsman or grower, but is due to a 

 peculiar trait in the variety it.self. 



DONTS FOR AMATEURS 



The following "Don'ts for .Amateur 

 Gardeners" are taken from the special 

 sweet pea number of The Gardener of 

 Jan. 30th, 1909, and anyone who wishes 

 for the best results should bear them in 

 mind : 



Don't forget the deeper (in reason) 

 the soil is cultivated the more vigorous 

 will be the plants. 



Don't imagine that you can grow 

 .sw-eet peas v*ell on the same plot < "^ 

 ground indefinitely. 



Don't forget that early sowing is half 

 the battle in the successful cultivation 

 of the sweet pea. 



Don't ignore the fact that it is pos- 

 sible to grow sweet peas with flower 

 stems eighteen or twenty inches long. 



