2 28 The Canadian Horticulturist. 



or no mildew on the gooseberries ; and no damage by rain. Grapes badly injured, say 50 

 per cent. , by the frost of the 28th ult. Apples and pears promise well, but plums very 

 few, 



J. A. Morton, Wingham : Strawberries had a three-fourth crop prior to late frost' 

 the full effects of it are not yet visible ; cherries one-half crop ; currants three-fourth crop, 

 slightly damaged by frost ; raspberries not yet far enough advanced to form any accurate 

 estimate. No rot as yet on cherry crop. 



Middle Ontario.— T. H. Roe, Mitchell : Damage very considerable from frost last 

 night (28th) ; grapes totally ruined ; strawberry blossoms turning black. 



J. D. Stewart, Russeklale : Up to the evening of the 28th, a full crop of every kind 

 of friiit ; the following morning, owing to the intense frost, the fruit outlook could scarcely 

 be poorer, especially in strawberries, currants, gooseberries, cherries, plums, pears and 

 grapes, the latter showing not a vestige of green. Prospects anything but encouraging. 



A. D. McAllan, Goderich : (1) Strawberries 75 ; other small fruits 100 ; (2) No rot or 

 mildew. 



Thos. Beall, Lindsay : (1) We expect full crops ; (2) No mildew ; (3) 25 per cent at 

 least of grape crop will be lost by frost on the 15th ; (4) I fear very great injury from the 

 rain. 



W. S. Turner, Cornwall : (1) Strawberries 100, Currants and Raspberries 90 ; (3) 

 Grapes slightly damaged. 



A Good Ice House. — You should have about 50 tons to last six months, 

 using 500 pounds a day. There will be some waste. A house 16 feet square 

 and 10 feet high to eaves will hold about 50 tons. You can build above or 

 below ground, but in either case secure dry foundation, weather boarded on 

 outside and ceiled on inside, packed with sawdust between, with cement floor 

 slightly concave and inclined to one side or end, and a shingle roof, makes a 

 first-class ice house. The foundation must be air tight. Cover the floor with 

 six inches of sawdust, make level on top and cover with boards placed an inch 

 apart for drainage. Pack the ice a foot from the walls all around ; build up as 

 square and as solid as possible, filling up all cavities with broken ice. Pack in 

 sawdust between ice and walls as you build up the ice. When filled, cover with 

 a foot of sawdust. Put doors in each end of the gable for ventilation. The 

 doors below should be double and filled with sawdust. Give plenty of ventila- 

 tion above and none below. As ice is taken out be sure to keep the mass wel 

 packed — no cavities for air to penetrate. In such a house ice will keep with 

 little waste, if the water is carried off as it forms. — Ex. 



Pruning. — In the last report of the American Pomological Society, a 

 writing on pruning protests against this dreadful violation of nature, maintaining 

 that every branch cut off is an attack upon the vitality of the tree, and an injury 

 to it. I have not the volume on hand to refer to. In a drier climate, trees may 

 make less wood, but in this country, keeping wood-growth in check, by dis- 

 buddidg, pinching off and removing superfluous wood is imperative to fruitful- 

 ness. I have had trees twenty years old, absolutely barren and worthless, until 

 half or more than half of the wood was removed, that were thenceforward 

 annual bearers. With fruit trees, the object sought is not timber or fire-wood, 

 but fruit, and this can only be attained by limiting wood-growth. — C'harlrs E. 

 Brown, Yarmouth, N.S. 



