148 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



overbears, and much of it is small and fails 

 to properly mature. 



Burbank usually bears immense crops of 

 good sized fruit which it perfects. The 

 tree at the same time makes rampant 

 growths. It is a mid-season v.ariety. The 

 drooping, sprawling growth of the tree is 

 very inconvenient. The quality oi the fruit 

 is equal to that of the average European 

 plum. 



Wickson is a larger late variety, which 

 may be an acquisition. The fruit often 

 drops before ripening, but some of it is held 

 till quite late. 



I have another variety that ripens and 

 holds its beautiful delicious fruit quite late. 

 Fruit varies much in size, and is covered 



with bright carmine dots and a white bloom. 

 Quality very good, but there is a flavor in 

 the skin of Japan plums that is rather ob- 

 jectionable. Curculios also fail to flourish 

 in these plums. 



Satsuma is a mid-season Japan plum 

 which, externally and internally, resembles 

 a blood beet ; fruit is sour, but may in time 

 be in demand for cooking purposes. Japan 

 plums seem to be about as hardy as the 

 European varieties. 



The winter of 'qS-'qq killed some of both 

 varieties where the ground was kept clean. 

 A cover crop or some kind of mulch would 

 in this climate save both kinds. 



E. MORDEN. 



Niagara Falls, South, March, 1901. 



SEASONABLE ORCHARD WORK. 



THINK it the duty of every fruitgrower 

 to attend to the needs of his orchard 

 at once ; for if neglected now, ten 

 ^:^ chances to one if the work will be done 

 so eff"ectually after spring work begins. In 

 our own orchard I have no evil results from 

 pruning trees the latter part of March, but 

 if I had only a few trees I would prefer to 

 prune a month later. Then there is the 

 manuring and top-dressing of the orchard 

 that can be accomplished better now than 

 at any future time. There is also a better 

 opportunity of securing the nests of the 

 caterpillars, which are on the twigs or small 

 branches, for they are readily seen before 

 the buds swell ; also the cutting out of dead 

 or decayed branches, scraping old and rough 

 bark, thereby destroying hundreds of moths 

 that have made the rough bark their winter 

 quarters. 



The fruit grower who is up to the times 

 must attend to these matters promptly if 

 he intends to have a paying crop of fruit. 

 He will also see to it that his spraying 

 apparatus is in perfect working order, and 

 if not in possession of a good spray pump 



he will secure one without waiting till half 

 of his crop is injured with insects, and then 

 conclude that spraying is no use. My ex- 

 periences tell me that two sprayings before 

 the blossoms open is better than four after, 

 except for fungi alone, and even then it is 

 most beneficial. 



Owing to the low price of fruit last fall, 

 some growers will be discouraged, and 

 thereby neglect to care for their trees ; but 

 let such remember that for strictly first-class 

 apples there was no time, after the fruit was 

 gathered, when a good paying price could 

 not be obtained, and 1 am sure no reasona- 

 ble grower would complain at the prices at 

 the present time. I am shipping some ap- 

 ples this week at $3.00 per bbl., and a full 

 car load left our station last week for Win- 

 nipeg at $2.80 per barrel. 



My advice to fruit growers is, keep up 

 the fertility of your orchards ; keep them 

 well pruned ; keep them well sprayed and 

 free from insects, and your orchards will 

 well reward your efforts. 



Whitby. R. L, Huggard. 



