26 The Canadian Horticulturist. 



the living room as the bloom begins to appear. Give plants as much light as 

 possible during the day, and darkness with a lower temperature at night. A 

 uniform temperature of 60 to 70 degrees in the day time and 40 1045 degrees at 

 night, will give the best results. Turning the plants towards the light 

 should not be done, unless done regularly. 



Besides light, house plants require a good supply of fresh air. Ventilation 

 is absolutely necessary. 



Woodstock. S. S. SCARFF. 



THE IDEAL STRAWBERRY. 



The " ideal strawberry " is often mentioned when horticulturists get 

 together, and there is a tolerably unanimous e.xpression of the conclusion 

 that this much-desired fruit has not yet made its advent. What qualities 

 must a strawberry (plant and fruit) have to entitle it to this distinction ? 

 The plant must be a vigorous grower, with a thick, stocky leaf, and it must 

 be a free producer of runners. It must be perfect flowered — we must not 

 be compelled to plant others with it to insure its fruitfulness. It must be 

 productive, fully as much so as the most productive varieties now under 

 cultivation — more so if possible. The berry should be large — not monstrous 

 in size — and it must be symmetrical in shape — not like Sharpless, Bubach 

 and other lobe-shaped fruits. Color is not so important — it should be of 

 solid color, either scarlet or crimson, and colored throughout the berry. It 

 must be solid and firm enough to bear shipment a reasonable distance, 

 and last, but not least, it must be of high quality, say, somewhat better than 

 the Gandy, which is a very good berry. We have no such berry yet, but 

 it is not unreasonable to believe that we will achieve it. Whether we are 

 to get it as a chance seedling or whether it will come as a result of careful 

 and scientific crossing, none can say. — American Agriculturist. 



Yield of Blackcaps. — How much will an acre of raspberries produce, 

 taking the average of three crops ? Opinions differ widely. We could begin 

 with zero on the one hand, and rise to 6,000 quarts. In an enquiry made here 

 in 1893, says a recent Cornell Station Bulletin, the average of 58 replies of berry 

 growers was 2,493 quarts. One gave his yield (which must have been on a small 

 patch and amply multiplied) as 9,600 quarts, whilst another confessed to but 

 576 quarts. A good yield for the second crop is 3,000 quarts, or 90 to 100 

 bushels per acre. Willis P. Rogers tells me that his largest field crop of Ohio, 

 the third year after planting, was 16,000 quarts on four acres, and a half acre of 

 this land was not up to the standard. From extensive inquiries of evaporator 

 men, however, I find it to be a general opinion that the average crops of the 

 country, one year with another, will not exceed 1,200 quarts per acre, or 300 

 pounds of dried product. 



