THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



29 



vigorous and healthy, and the fruit of 

 superior quality; and the days will 

 come when the grapes of this part of 

 Ontario will be in as great repute as 

 the apples and pears are now. And 

 these are growing in estimation every 

 year, for experience is teaching the 

 world that the apples of this region will 

 keep better, bear transpoi-tation better, 

 and are of better flavor than those of 

 any other part of America. A bearing 

 apple orchard of five acres now yields a 

 better return than all the rest of a 

 hundred acre farm ; and with the in- 

 creasing supply comes a yet larger 

 demand. So will it be with the vine- 

 yards and their fruits. Grapes in France 

 cfommand to-day a higher price than 

 they do in Canada. And when the 

 vineyards of this region shall have be- 

 come perfected, the excellence of tlie 

 grapes and wines understood, and the 

 production sufficiently considerable to 

 command attention, the prices received 

 will be in correspondence with the ex- 

 cellence of the products. There need 

 be no fear that fruit raising in Ontario 

 will ever, or can ever, be over-done. 

 There is a bushel of strawberries raised 

 now for every quart that was grown 

 ten or twelve years ago, and the price 

 of a quart of strawberries is certainly 

 not any less now than it was then. 

 There are probably a hundred barrels 

 of apples sent to market now for every 

 barrel sold twenty years ago ; yet the 

 price has not diminislied, but of the 

 two has increased with the increased 

 production. How many bu.shels of 

 tomatoes were raised and sold a few 

 years ago, and what was the price paid 

 then 'I If the lamj) of experience sheds 

 any light upon the path of the fruit 

 grower, that light reveals a consump- 

 tion and demand more than keeping 

 pace witli tli«' pirluction, 



CULTURE IN GARDENS. 



There are some inconveniences attend- 

 ing the cultivation of the grape in town 



and village gardens, owing to the gi-eat 

 amount of shade from adjacent build- 

 ings, and the want of free circulation of 

 air. But these are in a great degree 

 counterbalanced by the increased pro- 

 tection and heat from reflection, so that 

 the fruit usually ripens earlier than in 

 the open vineyard. 



It is a very common mistake to plant 

 the vine directly against the bottom of 

 a wall or high fence, and to train it 

 close to the wall. The proper method 

 is to plant two or three feet from the 

 wall, and "train the vine rip at that dis- 

 tance from it, thus giving space for the 

 circulation of air between the vine and 

 the wall or fence. The training and 

 pruning should be conducted with refer- 

 ence to giving as much air and light as 

 can be done. The wood should be vv'ell 

 thinned out in spring, and the foliage 

 exposed as fully as possible to tlie sun, 

 while the fruit is kept wholly in the 

 shade. 



MANURING THE VINE. 



Manures should be supplied with 

 care, avoiding the use of coarse and 

 unfermented materials, which usually 

 tend to produce a rank growth of wood, 

 and give a watery character to the fruit. 

 Old and thoroughly-rotted barn -yard 

 manure, ashes, ground bones, and a 

 little salt, may be used as required. 

 The practice of drenching the vines 

 with soap-suds is very often injurious, 

 always injurious unless the soil be very 

 porous or otherwise most thoroughly 

 drained. Those grapes which are forced 

 into an unnatural size by excessive 

 manuring and drenching are often \imv 

 showy and pleasing to the eye, but very 

 watery and flavorless to the palate. 



GATHERING AND PUTTING UP FOR 

 MARKET. 



It is surprising that there should be 

 60 much carelessness manifested in the 

 simple matter of getting fruit to mar- 

 ket after it has been grown and ri]>f'no<I. 

 There is no part of the busines- 1 it 



