Cost of Living" in Paris, France. 



I do wish something could be done to bring Canadian fruit and other products more 

 before the British public than is the case now. Here in I'aris we find things very high. 

 The following will give you some idea of what the cost of living is : Meat 26c. ; butter 35c. ; 

 milk 8c. a quart ; coal oil 56c. a gallon ; coflFee, best, 70c. a lb. ; tea $1.2U a lb. ; sugar 12c. 

 a lb. ; bread S^c. a lb. ; pork 24c. to 26c. a lb. ; this is given you in our currency. 1 notice 

 you are having cold weather in Canada ; here we have not had it very cold, but we feel the 

 cold, damp air more than your severe dry cold. 



John Penman, Paris, France. 



Last Season's Experience with Fruit. 



Our land here lies immediately on the northern margin of lake Ontario, the influence 

 of which appears to make vegetation at least ten days more backward than on land even 

 only half a mile further back. This told largely in our favor when the sharp frosts be- 

 tween May 1.3th and 22nd (on four nights of which the thermometer, 5 feet from the 

 ground dropped to 25°, 29°, 27° and 29°) come upon us ; as our apple, pear and plum trees 

 and grape vines suffered less than those even a short distance inland, where the crops were 

 almost entiiely destroyed owing to their more advanced state. On our pear and plum trees 

 the blossom afterwards opened apparently all right, but close inspection of the more ex- 

 posed showed many of the fertilizing organs blackened, thus thinning the crop considerably. 

 Though a sheltered block of Lombard plum trees, afterwards fruited so heavily thatnotwith- 

 standing attempts at supporting the branches many of them gave way under the weight of 

 fruit ; and many pear trees, especially Flemish Beauty, offered a good crop in the neigh- 

 bourhood. A few of the shoots on the lower branches of the grape vines were damaged, 

 but still we harvested at least three quarters of a crop of unusually tine grapes. Strawber- 

 ries, usually a leading crop here, suflered largely. From a plot which the previous year 

 gave us close on 7,000 quarts, we picked this year an additional 2,000 quarts. Raspberries 

 and blackcaps produced a fair crop of fine fruit. The few bearing peach trees, which the 

 last year had given us a fair crop, had not a fruit. As for apples the orchards in this neigh- 

 borhood for a mile or so from the lake shore, have seldom yielded so good a crop of perfect 

 fruit, while in orchards a few miles further north there was practically none. The result of 

 spraying plum trees and grape vines was very satisfactory. I cannot agree with Mr. E. 

 B. Stevenson, in your January issue, as to Parker Earle strawberry. Here, of Parker 

 Earle, Bubach, Jessie, Warefild, Haverland, Michel's Early, Williams, Woolverton, 

 Burt, Enhance, Gandy and Lovett, the first two named gave the best result. Sturdy 

 old Crescent made a good showing with Michel's Early substitute for Wilson as a fertilizing 

 companion in several neighboring patches, and appears to be an old reliable variety under 

 adverse circumstances. 



Arthur G. Heaven, OakvUle. 



Himalayan Apricot. 



In the Canadian Horticulturist for 1892, page 106, is an account of the Uruick 

 Apricot. This must be the same little apricot 1 found so common at the villages among 

 the Himalayan Mountains in Cashmere, and up the Upper Ganges Valley, between Musso- 

 orie and Gangootrie. It is about an inch or so in diameter and of pleasant flavor and ripens 

 early. I had ripe fruit in June. I remember when coming out of Cashmere, I found both 

 mulberries and apricots ripe. This was about the 3rd week in June. As the winters are 

 severe in these mountainous regions (it was at a 10,000 ft. elevation I saw them at one 

 place), I think they would be suitable for Canada. I think the natives only propagate 

 them by sowing the seed, and if you could get the stones of the fruit it would be worth 

 while trying them here. Through the Canadian Governmt..t and the Indian Government, 

 this might be done, and they would be readily sent through such application. The dealers 

 from Afghanistan bring down lots of dried apricots, whether the same or some other species, 



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