254 The Canadian Horticulturist. 



I wish to point oat that soda cannot be substituted for potash in agriculture. Plants 

 have not any, or at the best a very slight, elective ability in respect to the nature of their 

 food, and very many careful experiments have proved that potash as an essential element 

 of their constituents, cannot be replaced by soda. This fact disproves the assertion that 

 with phosphate of lime nitrate of soda makes a "complete manure." To such an end, 

 potash must be applied in one or other of the forms procurable for agricultural purposes. 

 These are : Wood ashes, containing about 5.5 per cent, of potash ; the Muriate, containing 

 about 5.4 per cent of potash ; the Sulphate (high grade), containing about 5.4 per cent, of 

 potash ; the Sulphate (low grade), containing from 25 to 30 per cent, of potash ; Kainit, 

 containing about 15 per cent, of potash. 



Yours faithfully, 

 Frank T. Shutt, Chemist, Expl. Farms, Ottawa. 



Errata. 



Sir, — Correction on page 216 adds to the complication. New crosses from seeds (wild 

 varieties), should read " species," not " seeds." 



H. H. Groff, Simcoe, Out. 



Report of the Director of the Dominion Experimental Farms, by Wm. Saunders, 

 F.R.S.C., F.L.S., F.C.S., 1895, containing the results of numerous careful experiments. 



Flax. — A bulletin by Mr. Wm. Saunders. Director Dominion Experiment Farms. 

 This crop is of late receiving increased attention in Canada, and in Ontario there are from 

 twelve to fifteen thousand acres devoted to it. At Baden, Ontario, there is a firm which 

 operates large oil mills for the manufacture of linseed oil, and twelve scutching mills for 

 the manufacture of flax fibre. F«r oil, this firm alone uses from 450,000 to 500,000 bushels 

 of flax seed annually, and the quantity of oil is from 15,000 to 20,000 barrels annually, 

 all of which finds market in the Dominion. 



Potato Culture on the Island of Jersey, by Chas. D. Merrill, Beloit, Wis., pub- 

 lished by A. J. Root, Medina, Ohio, 1896, as a supplement to the Potato Culture, by 

 Terry. This is a very interesting and suggestive pamphlet, and every potato grower 

 ghould read it. 



Chemical Work in Canadian Agriculture, a pamphlet containing a valuable paper 

 on this subject by F. T. Shutt, Chemist, Dominion Experimental Farms, Ottawa. 



The ForeigTi Apple Crop. 



Charles Forster, of 76 and 78 Park Place, N.Y., who represents .Simons, Jacobs & Co., 

 Glasgow, Scotland ; Garcia, Jacobs &Co. , London, Eng. ; and Simons, Shuttleworth & Co., 

 Liverpool, Eng., is in receipt of the following from Michael Simons of Glasgow, under date 

 of June 3rd from London : "As regards apples I think it may be put down as almost 

 certain that the crop in Great Britain will be about one of the poorest that has been known 

 for a long time. At one time the prospect was favorable indeed, but the long continued 

 drought has produced an abundance of caterpillar and other insects, with the result that 

 the outlook has been completely changed. In B ranee they do not speak very cheerfully of 

 tlieir crop. On the other hand, prospects in Holland, Belgium and Germany are said to 

 be fairly good. I believe, however, that it will not be long before we hear that in these 

 countries too the crop has been destroyed by the same influence that has been at work in 

 Great Britain. I should say that on the whole the outlook for the American season is 

 decidedly good. The general outlook for all other fruits is favorable, especially pears, but 

 as regards these latter, it is said that on account of their abundance, particularly in France, 

 whence the main supply is derived, the fruit will tend to be of small s'ze." 



