THE CA.NADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



Ip3 



in, and I know of no tree or plant 

 which does so much to strengthen the 

 stock early as this Locust tree. Have 

 your stock strong early ; this is the 

 secret of bee-keeping. Almost any 

 stock will become strong in the White 

 Clover season ; but then the clover 

 honey is used up in breeding, and you 

 don't get it as surplus. If you have no 

 Locust trees in your neighborhood, you 

 should feed your bees, or abrade combs 

 filled with honey already in the hive, 

 changing combs to the centre of the 

 brood nest, thus spreading the brood 

 nest and giving the queen an oppor- 

 tunity of laying, which she will be sure 

 to do if you give her a fair chance. 



Mr. W. C. Wells, of Phillipston, the 

 largest bee-keeper in this part of the 

 country, attributes the good success of 

 city bee-keepers to tlie Locust trees, as, 

 by the good start from them, we get 

 early brood, and are thus ready with 

 strong stocks for the Clover and Bass- 

 A^ood bloom. Besides the timber of 

 the Locust tree is very valuable ; it is 

 exceedingly heavy, a cubic foot of it 

 weighs about 100 pounds. It is valu- 

 able for waggon hubs, cogs for mill 

 wheels, and other things requiring great 

 strength ; if used for gate posts it is 

 exceedingly durable. Messrs. George 

 Leslie <fe Son, of Leslie ville. Out., 

 furnish, amongst other valuable trees, 

 the Locust tree, of different varieties. 

 They are all valuable, both for honey 

 and timber, [t certainly is the wiser 

 to plant a tree which, on attaining 

 maturity, is valuable as timber, than 

 to plant one which, in the end, is not 

 even valuable as a fence post, and only 

 valuable as firewood. 



I am indebted to the Cana/Jian 

 HorticuHuritt for valuable sugges- 

 tions on tree planting. The article ap- 

 pears in the February number, and is 

 by Mr. N. Robertson, Government 

 It is too long to 



Grounds, Ottawa. 



copy into this communication, but a 

 few points may not be amiss. " Take 

 the trees up so as to destroy as few of 

 of the roots as possible ; cut the tops 

 into what is called poles, eight or ten 

 feet long, have a good root, a stem with- 

 out blemish, and thus a rapid growing 

 tree. Do not take a scraggy, stunted 

 tree ; and do not mind having the tree 

 to stand as it did before removed, but 

 place the side having most roots on the 

 side where the wind will be strongest. 

 Let the hole in which you plant be 

 much larger than the roots, and draw 

 the roots out to their full length. Be- 

 fore you put in the soil, do not let the 

 roots get dry, but give them a heavy 

 mulch of sawdust, manure or straw. 

 This can be kept in place by a few 

 spadesfull of earth, and pass the mulch 

 a foot on the hole where the roots ai*e. 



THE BKST TIME TO PRUNE FRUIT 

 TRKES. 



BT J. M. m'aINSH, NISSOURI, ONT. 



The correct principles which under- 

 lie the pruning of fruit trees are pro- 

 bably as imperfectly understood as any 

 other point in fruit-growing. Most 

 peo[)le prune in the spring, some through 

 the wintei*, others in the summer. 

 Now, after carefully observing the 

 effects of pruning done at different sea- 

 sons, I have come to the conclusion that 

 the best time to prune is in early sum- 

 mer, after the fii*st rush of sap is past, 

 and l)efore the trees have made much 

 growth of new wood. 



When trees are pruned in winter, a 

 consiilerable time must elapse before 

 the wounds made begin to heal over. 

 During this time the combined action 

 of the frost and sun are itijuriousto the 

 newly-cut and exposed wood and bark, 

 and it will take a longer time to heal 

 over than if the wound was made at 

 the time when the tree was beginning 

 to m:ike new growth. 



