July, 191 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



169 



asks: "Can twigs stuck in sand and left to 

 strangle, be expected to turn the economy 

 of nature upside down and make fortunes 

 for men without effort on their part?" 



We are informed by one of our corre- 

 spondents in this section that some people 

 seem to have gone wild over the situation, 

 and are buying almost anything that looks 

 like soil. Excellent returns may be obtain- 

 ed from good fruit land i^ronerly managed. 

 Those people, however, who forget that even 

 in the best fruit districts there is much land 

 entirely unsuited for fruit culture and that 

 orchards when planted require constant, 

 careful attention, will pay dear for the les- 

 sons their experiences will teach them. In- 

 tending inexperienced investors in fruit 

 land, no matter where it may be located, 

 will invariably do well to first consult tx- 

 oerienced and responsible parties in the sec- 

 tions where they purpose investing. By 

 taking this precaution many an investor 

 has been saved from heavy loss in both 

 time and money. 



Canadian fruit growers should be protect- 

 ed this year from the competition of berries 

 and fruit from the United States that are 

 annually sold throughout Canada in baskets 

 and packages that do not conform with the 

 regulations of the Fruit Marks Act. These 

 consignments of fruit are not marked, as 

 they should be, with the name of the im- 

 porter, the name of the variety, and a 

 designation of the grade, nor are the con- 

 signments protected as they should be by 

 the package.4 being marked "short" to show 

 that they do not comply with the require- 

 ments of the law. The staff of fruit in- 

 spectors has been increased and this matter 

 should be given immediate and thorough 

 attention. 



How pitiful is the extent of the efforts 

 that have been put forth so far in Eastern 

 Canada to give in.struction in the proper 

 packing of fruit is shown by a mere state- 

 ment of what has been accomplished in this 

 direction by the provincial government of 

 British Columbia. In a letter to The Can- 

 adian HoRTic L'LTi'^RisT, Mr, R. M. win- 

 slow, the provincial horticulturist, states 

 that last year his branch conducted thirty 

 packing schools over the province from which 

 were graduated nearly four hundred pupils. 

 Diplomas are to be given to thase who be- 

 come successful packers. Mr. Winslow will 

 deal quite fully with this subject in the 

 September i.ssue of The Canadian Horti- 

 CTiLTiTRiST, which will be our special pack- 

 ing number. 



Last fall the fruit growers of British Co- 

 lumbia invited — we might say dared — the 

 fruit growers in Eastern Canada, particu- 

 larly Ontario, to hold a National Apple 

 Show and promised to made exhibits at such 

 a show. The directors of the Ontario Fruit 

 Growers A.s,sociation decided not to attempt 

 to hold such a show next fall but to consider 

 the advisibility of holding one during 1912 

 Could it be that that was only a nice way of 

 shelving the matter? That decision was 

 reached several months ago. Since then 

 the whole question appears to have dropped 

 (lut of sight. This is not the way to make 

 a success of a National Apple Show in 1912. 



It has been announced that the second 

 Dominion ^ ruit Conference will be held in 

 Ottawa next fall. What subjects are to bo 

 (liscus.sedi' What arrangements are being 

 made for the programme P How is it that 

 we are not hearing more about it? 



Thk Canadian Horticulttrist is always 

 deeply interesting and most valuable as a 

 timely reminder of the many things to be 

 attended to at the proper season. — W. H. 

 Leacock, Toronto, Ont. 



Our front cover illustration this month 

 shows some striking, carpet-bedding work 

 in Mount Royal Park. Montreal, Que. It 

 can readily be seen from the illustration 

 that the gardener in charge has done his 

 work well. The photograph was furnished 

 us by Prof. W. S. Blair, Macdonald College, 



Que. 



* * * 



Our proposal to make the September is- 

 sue of the Canadian Horticulturist a special 

 Packing and Exhibition Number is meeting 

 with a most gratifying response. Promin- 

 ent authorities in horticultural matters 

 have written congratulating us upon our 

 decision and expressing the view that spec- 

 ial numbers in which certain important sub- 

 jects are treated fully, are of great value to 

 the readers of a paper as the information 

 they contain is generally complete and it is 

 furnished at a time when it is of the most 

 benefit to the reader. Fruit and Cold Stor- 

 age Commissioner J. A. Ruddick, Ottawa, 

 has furnished us already with an, important 

 well illustrated article de;iling with the pre- 

 C(X)ling of fruit for shipment. This is a sub- 

 ject which already is assuming great im- 

 portance in certain of our leading fruit dis- 

 tricts. Thisi article will be timely and in- 

 structive. Mr. Alex. McNeill, Chief of the 

 Fruit Division, will contribute a special ar- 

 ticle. Dominion Fruit Inspector, P. J. 

 Carey will describe the best methods of har- 

 vesting and handling the apole crop. An 

 Jirticle on packing pears for the home mar- 

 kets will be furnished by Mr. W. E. Bea- 

 man. of Newcastle. Ont. Mr. R. M. Wins- 

 low, Provincial Horticulturist for British 

 Columbia, will describe the great work that 

 is being done to improve the fruit pack of 

 that province while a somewhat similar ar- 

 ticle, but dealing with Nova Scotia's meth- 

 ods will be contributed by Mr. G. H. 

 Vroom, Dominion Fruit Inspector, Middle- 

 ton. N. S. Within the next few weeks we 

 expect to go to press on the cover of the 

 September issue which is to be printed in 

 several colors and which will be unusually 

 pleasing and attractive in its effect. In 

 fact, it will be much the /finest cpver that has 

 ever been published on The Canadian Hor- 

 ticulturist, Other special features of this 

 number will be announced in our August 

 issue. Tho.se advertisers who desire to se- 

 cure special positions and extra space in 

 the September i.ssue will do well to speak 

 early as alreadv many of the best positions 

 have been taken. 



* « « 



"The Canadian Apple Growers' Guide," 

 explains the best methods of planting, cul- 

 ture, harvesting and marketing apples. It 

 also gives careful descriptions of varieties 

 suitable for Canada written from a Cana- 

 dian .standpoint and from fifty years qi per- 

 sonal experience. It is altogether the best 

 authority for Canadian apple growers. The 

 net price is $2.00. but by special clubbing 

 arrangements wo are offering this valuable 

 book postpaid and The Canadian Horticul- 

 turist for one year, both for $2.00. 

 Those of our readers who do not tkisspss a 

 copy of this book will do well to take advan- 

 tage of this offer. 



ft • « 



A considerable number of our readers 

 have taken advantage of the offer we made 

 through this department la.st month to give 

 an exceptionally fine fountain pen to every 

 person who would send us five new sTib- 

 scriptions at sixty cents each. We have 



given fountain pens for less than five sub- 

 scriptions — good ones too — Lut this pen is 

 of extra q:'ality It is p::."i'l mounted, has 

 two handsome gold bands, filled w-ith a solid 

 14kt. gold pen. Every pen is guaranteed by 

 the manufacturers to give absolute satis- 

 faction. This offer is still open for accep- 

 tance by our readers. 



SOCIETY NOTES 



We invite the officers of Horti- 

 cultural Societies to send in short, 

 pithy reports of work that would in- 

 terest members of other Horticultu- 

 ral Societies. 



PHOTOGRAPHS WANTED 



A considerable number of the horticul- 

 tural societies in Ontario, including Wind- 

 sor, Guelph, Smiths Falls, Peterboro and 

 .several others, are doing excellent work im- 

 proving public grounds and buildings by 

 the planting of flower beds and vines and 

 the placing of window boxes. As we desire 

 to make this department of The Canadian 

 Horticulturist of the utmost value to the 

 various horticultural societies we will ap- 

 preciate it if these societies will furnish us 

 with illustrations of the improvements they 

 have effected. 



We purpose publishing in an early issue 

 an illustration of one of the Public Parks 

 in Peterboro that has been under the care of 

 the Peterboro Horticultural Society for ser- 

 eral years. An illustration gives a far better 

 idea of what a society is doing than can be 

 conveyed in any other way. We trust, 

 therefore, that the societies will aid us in 

 encouraging more of this work by forward- 

 ing as many photographs of this nature as 

 possible. 



ST. CATHARINES 



Early in June, bags, each containing four 

 gladiolus bulbs, were distributed among the 

 school children of St. Catharines together 

 with a circular giving the names of the 

 bulbs and cultural and other directions. 

 The bulbs that were given included one 

 each of the following varieties : Attraction, 

 a dark, rich crimson with a large white cen- 

 tre ; Ceres, white, spotted rose ; Isaac Bu- 

 chanan, an extra fine yellow and Pactole, a 

 creamy-yellow, blotched carmine. 



The children were advised to plant the 

 bulbs during the second week in June, in 

 order that blooms might be ready for the 

 exhibition which it is proposed to hold dur- 

 ing the second week in September. The 

 society will give, for every bloom exhibited 

 by each scholar, four mixed single tulip 

 bulbs which will be supplied in the fall in 

 time for planting to bloom next spring. 



OTTAWA 



A magnificent display of roses and 

 paeonies was made by the members of the 

 Ottawa Horticultural Society in St. John's 

 hall at an exhibition held about the middle 

 of Juno. The paeonies carried all before 

 them, although the roses also were remark- 

 ably fine. The weather before the exhibi- 

 tion had been most favorable with the result 

 that the flowers were the finest that had 

 been shown in Ottawa for several years. 

 The principal disnlay of paeonies was made 

 by Mr. R. B. Whyte. a description of whose 

 garden is nublished elsewhere in this issue. 

 Mr. Whyte" displayed a considerable number 

 of vaneties and succeeded iii capturini.; 

 most of the first prizes. Other close com- 

 jjctitors were Messrs. W. H. Cooper and W. 

 J. Kerr. 



In roses, as for many years past Mr. 



