The Canadian Horticulturist. 



RURAL MELANGE. 



^^^^^^S we are getting a. little thawed out up here in the " cold north,'' 

 we begin to think about the coming seasons' work, though we 

 expect to have old winter shut his grip on us once more before 

 he goes back to his icy realm within the Arctic Circle ; yet we 



"xSwSw^ ^ can talk and anticipate, if we cannot do much. Fruit growing in 



the Ottawa valley is a specialty, not a matter of course work as in more south- 

 ern climes, hence we have to work with brains before we do much with hands 

 as to the best modes of counteracting the power of the cold weather ; though 

 we have one advantage and that is more freedom from injurious insects than our 

 neighbors further south. Then again the snow mantle often lays on late as a 

 protection, but when you find the most of your novelties have succumbed to 

 Jack Frost, novelties for which you have paid out hard earned cash, it makes 

 you scratch your head under a "second sober thought," that it is best not to lis- 

 ten to a// the fine talk with which your ears are entertained by travelling drum- 

 mers for " reliable " nurseries. " Experience teaches a dear school but fools will 

 learn in no other," is one of the wise saws which our juvenile comprehension 

 first gleaned from Noah Webster's old " Elementary Spelling Book," half a cen- 

 tury ago, and it has lost none of its vitality of fact by age, judging from recent 

 results in the experience of ardent devotees in the work of fruit culture in the 

 vicinity of Ottawa. 



But m7 desperandum should he every fruit growers motto who has "come 

 to stay " in the work ; and when one thing fails, try another, until ultimate success, 

 financial and otherwise, crowns his efforts. 



Small fruits not only pay best, but succeed best in this climate, as the snow 

 affords them most protection, and in the market they are less affected by south- 

 ern importations ; and as to quality of fruit, what we do grow is quite on a par, if 

 not above that which has had the benefit of stronger sunshine than we enjoy. 



As to the management of raspberries, I find that a good profitable result is 

 obtained by setting them in rows 7 ft. apart, 4 ft. in the row, letting them spread 

 to 2 or 3 ft. wide, and keepmg out the old wood yearly, and the leaders cut 

 back not too low. Cultivate the remaining space between the rows, with a dress- 

 ing of manure once in two or three years, and do not lay down for winter pro- 

 tection. Some of my neighbors take pains to turn up to four or five canes in a 

 hill, tie to stakes through the warm season, bury down through the winter, etc., 

 and complain that their raspberries dont pay ! The reason is obvious enough, 

 when there is not canes enough on a given space for them to pay on. In pro- 

 portion to the ground occupied, my raspberries paid better than my strawberries, 

 last season the latter being above the average crop. 



My experience with strawberries is to cultivate on the matted row system. 

 On flat rich soil I ridge up, after filling a furrow half full of well rotted manure 



