The Canadian Horticulturist. 403 



of which needs frequent change. Timber so treated, hke raft-timber, will season 

 more quickly and is known to be more durable. 



If practicable the application of boiling water or steam is an advantage in 

 leaching out the sap. 



Never apply paint or any other coating to green or unseasoned timber. 



If the wood was not well dried or seasoned, the coat will only hasten decay. 



Good coatings consist of oily or resinous substances which make a smooth 

 coat, capable of being uniformly applied ; they must cover every part, must not 

 crack, and possess a certain amount of plasticity after dryii)g. 



Coal tar, with or without sand or plaster or pitch, especially if mixed with 

 oil of turpentine and applied hot (thus penetrating more deeply), answers best. 

 A mixture of three parts coal-tar and one part clean, unsalted grease, to prevent 

 the tar from drying until it has had time to fill the minute pores, is recommended. 

 One barrel of coal tar will cover 300 posts. Wood tar is not serviceable. because 

 it does not dry. 



Oil paints are next in value. Boiled linseed oil or any other drying vegeta- 

 ble — not animal — oils, are used with lead or any other body (like pulverized 

 charcoal) to give substance. Immersion in crude petroleum is also recommended. 



Charring of those parts which come into contact with the ground can be 

 considered only as an imperfect preservative, unless a considerable layer of char- 

 coal is formed, and if it is not carefully done, the effect is often detrimental, as 

 the process both weakens the timber and produces cracks, thus exposing the 

 interior to ferments. — Farm, Field and Stockman. 



HORTICULTURAL INSTITUTES. 



The writer has frequently pressed the importance of Horticultural Institutes, 

 conducted much in the same manner as the usual Farmers' Institutes are, but 

 wholly devoted to the discussion of topics connected with the garden and the 

 orchard. The directors of our Association have each expressed their willingness 

 to help forward such meetings, to attend and speak on the growing of fruits or 

 vegetables, and thus distribute more widely the information received by their 

 years of attendance at the meetings of our Association. 



Little, however, has as yet been accomplished in this direction for want of 

 organized effort. There is needed a local society to arrange for the meetings, 

 and this is the very thing we are just now trying to encourage. Such societies 

 may draw, from the Electoral District Grant, a liberal sum, which may be spent 

 in the purchase of books and journals for distribution, and for providing for 

 lectures on garden and orchard topics, etc. Each of the members of this 

 society mav also be members of the Ontario Fruit Growers' Association for the 

 one fee which makes them members of their own society. Full details will be 

 given anyone who writes to this office, asking for them. Or in places where 

 such a society does not exist, possibly our Director of Farmers' Institutes would 

 arrange for the holding of Horticultural Institutes in place of the usual meeting 

 devoted to a variety of agricultural subjects. 



