THE CANADIAN IIORTICULTURISJ. 



101 



himself understands that), or they may 

 not be blessed with the pen of the ready 

 writer; but let me assure them our 

 Editor is, even if he does not under- 

 stand the Scotch dialect. Let us have 

 the results of your experiments, your 

 failures and successes ; he'll bring them 

 all out in shape becoming his sheet. 



John Croil. 

 Aultsville. 



KIND WORDS. 



It is gratifying to observe how very 

 much the Horticulturist has improved. 

 The Association is deserving of high 

 credit. No florist or horticulturist 

 should be without it, for it contains a 

 very large amount of valuable informa- 

 tion. 



Thomas Briggs. 



Kingston. 



I received the Annual Report for 

 1881, and am very much pleased with 

 it, and think its outside appearance is 

 much improved. 



FRUIT IN THE ALGOMA DISTRICT. 



My home is here, on St. Joseph's 

 Island, in the District of Algoma. We 

 expect to have a fine country here for 

 fruit growing. I planted some small 

 fruits last fall, such as grapes, berries, 

 ike. ; my neighbors have also planted 

 more or less. We settlers have only 

 been here three or four years, so not 

 much fruit has come into bearing yet ; 

 but we have as good land for fruit- 

 raising as there is in Canada — rolling 

 land, mellow soil, slightly mixed with 

 limestone gravel, easily cultivated when 

 rid of stumps. Of course we have a 

 great variety of soil, some good and 

 some inferior. It is my humble opinion 

 that time will bring us to the front as 

 a fruit-i*aising sectio i. 



Yours truly, 



Stephen OADHAy. 



GLADIOLUS BULBLETS. 



Dear Sir, — In your January num- 

 ber, in treating upon Gladiolus culture, 

 you state that the small bulbs which 

 are found adhering to the large bulb 

 should be kept out of the ground one 

 whole season. Please give the reason 

 for this in your next. W. 



An old Latin maxim, learned in 

 boyhood, seems to be the best answer 

 to our friend's inquiry : Experantia 

 docet — Experience teaches. It has been 

 found by trial to be a fact, that these 

 bulblets do grow much better when 

 kept out of the ground and allowed to 

 dry for one whole season ; but why 

 this should be, what reason is to be 

 assigned for this fact, is probably not 

 known. It is very natural to ask the 

 reason why, and the inquisitiveness 

 that prompts the question, and will not 

 be satisfied until it is answered, has led 

 to the discovery of most important 

 natural laws, which have been as keys 

 to unlock vast treasures of knowledge. 

 Will *' W." please undertake the solu- 

 tion of his own question ; it may open 

 up the way to results of great prac- 

 tical value. 



EVAPORATION OF FRUIT. 



BY J. M. M'aINSH, KI8S0URI, ONT. 



The question of evaporating fruit, 

 especially a[)ples, is now pressing itself 

 very forcibly upon the attention of 

 fruit growers. I n by-gone years, while 

 good fruit was scarce, even summer and 

 fall apples could be readily sold at 

 remunerative prices. But now, while 

 good winter apples find a ready sale to 

 ship to distant markets, summer and 

 fall apples are a drug. In this locality 

 it is not uncommon for ])artip^ to sell 

 good sunnner and fall a]>ples at twenty 

 cents a bag, and i)eddle them from 

 house to house at that. The old pro- 

 cess of drying them on stnngs is a 

 very slow an<l imperfect one, but bj; 



