CENTRAL EXPERIMENTAL FARM NOTES. 



267 



year, and quite a number of varieties are 

 fruiting^, though most of them are of Russian 

 origin and inferior in quality. A tree of the 

 Flemish Beauty, however, which has been 

 in the orchard for ten years, is bearing- this 

 year. It bore, also, two years ago. The 

 pear orchard has been almost free of blight 

 for several seasons. 



Plums set well, on the whole, and a good 

 crop of the American varieties is expected. 

 A few European sorts are also bearing this 

 year. 



A plentiful crop of strawberries is also an- 

 ticipated, the rains which we have had 

 recently being especially favorable to that 

 fruit. The Warfield is apparently one of the 

 hardiest varieties of strawberries grown, 

 and, taking everything into consideration, 

 few varieties excel it for a shipping berry. 

 It, however, becomes rather small if more 

 than one crop is taken from a plantation, and 

 being a pistillate variety requires to be ferti- 

 lized by some other sort. The Glen Mary 

 which has succeeded well in many parts of 

 Canada, promises to produce a good crop of 

 berries this year. The Wm. Belt, which is 

 an excellent strawberry in many respects, 

 does not appear to be quite hardy enough in 

 all locations here. Both last winter and the 

 winter before, it suffered considerably at the 

 Experimental Farm ; its irregular shape also 

 is against it. On the comparatively light 

 soil here, Clyde did not make many runners 

 last year, and the crop from it will not be as 

 large as if it were on heavier soil. 



Under the system of treating the orchard 

 at the Central Experimental Farm, the cover 

 crop of common red clover is now ready for 

 cutting the first time. The crop is very 

 heavy, the clover being from 22 to 24 inches 

 in height and just showing flower buds. As 

 mentioned in a previous number of the Horti- 

 culturist, the apple, pear and plum orchards 

 have not been cultivated during the past two 

 seasons, nor this year. Most of the soil in 

 the orchards is a light moist sandy loam. 



surface of which is easily moved by the wind. 

 Cultivation in these orchards gives the wind 

 an opportunity of blowing the soil, the result 

 being that the roots of the trees are liable to 

 be bared, or nearly so, and the trees are thus 

 more likely to suffer both in winter and sum- 

 mer. Since an almost continuous cover crop 

 has been maintained, the trees are becoming 

 more vigorous. The following plan is 

 adopted : Two-year-old clover is ploughed 

 under in the spring, the land harrowed and 

 clover re-sown without a nurse crop at the 

 rate of 12 lbs. to the acre, after which 'the 

 land is rolled. During the summer it is cut 

 a couple of times with a field mower to pre- 

 vent weeds from going to seed, and a cover 

 crop of clover from 10 to 12 inches high is 

 left in the autumn to hold the snow and pro- 

 tect the roots of the trees. The following 

 summer, this same clover is cut from four to 

 five times with a field mower and the crop 

 left to rot on the ground. By cutting the 

 clover each time before it blooms, the vigor 

 is maintained and the fourth crop is usually 

 still a heavy one. In 1898 when the amount 

 of green clover cut was approximated, it was 

 found that more than 25 tons per acre were 

 left to rot on the ground in one season. In 

 1899 the crops were as good, or better than 

 than in 1898, and this year the first crop is 

 better than either in 1898 or 1899. As red 

 clover is a biennial, a large proportion of the 

 plants kill out the second winter, and on this 

 account, partially, it is ploughed under the 

 following spring and re-sown as previously 

 stated. While this system is not recom- 

 mended to orchardists who may have condi- 

 tions which would render it unsatisfactory ; 

 for instance, where droughts are of common 

 occurrence, or where the soil is dry, it is 

 giving good results under the conditions at 

 the Central Experimental Farm, and will be 

 continued until bad effects are noticed ; ferti- 

 lizers to balance the food supplied by the 

 clover being applied from time to time as 

 deemed necessary. 



