CENTRAL EXPERIMENTAL FARM NOTES. 



455 



every year since. The fruit keeps in a good 

 cellar until the ist of March. 



The cherry crop was a failure, the flowers 

 being killed by winter. There has not been 

 a full crop of cherries here since 1898. 



There were practically no European plums, 

 but many of the American varieties yielded 

 well. The demand for these plums at 

 Ottawa is at present greater than the supply, 

 and good prices are obtained for them. 

 The number of varieties of American plums 

 under test at the Experimental Farm is now 

 very large and every year additions are 

 made. After this year's experience the 

 varieties considered the most satisfactory 

 are the following, in their order of ripening : — 

 Bixby, Cheney, New Ulm, Wolf, Silas 

 Wilson, Stoddard, and Hawkeye. These 

 .varieties cover a period of nearly five weeks. 

 Several seedling American plums have been 

 originated here which are very promising, 

 being of large size and of better quality than 

 most of the named varieties which have 

 fruited here. 



Last winter raspberries suffered very much 

 in this locality, as a result of which the crop 

 this year was small. A seedling known as 

 Herbert, which was originated several years 

 ago by Mr. R. B. White, of Ottawa, proved 

 much hardier than most of the other var- 

 ieties tested and there was a good crop of 

 it. It is hoped that this fine variety will 

 soon be offered for sale as it should prove 

 a most desirable acquisition to the kinds 

 now on the market. It is of the largest size, 

 bright red, moderately firm, of good quality 

 and very productive, and its hardiness will 

 make it especially valuable in the colder 

 parts of the country. 



The strawberry crop was fairly good here, 

 though the season was much shorter than 

 last year owing to dry weather. A season 



like the past brought the bad points of 

 Clyde into prominence. This variety pro- 

 mised a very heavy crop, but owing to the 

 small amount of foliage and the hot weather 

 the fruit was literally "cooked" and little 

 of it was fit for market, while a large pro- 

 portion of the crop never ripened. The 

 Glen Mary, Buster, Bubach and Williams 

 all did well and are among the best of the 

 varieties tested. It is unfortunate that the 

 Wm. Belt does not succeed better when 

 grown in the ordinary way, as it is of the 

 best quality, but it is not as good a berw^ 

 as many of the older varieties. The St. 

 Joseph, an over-bearing kind, much adver- 

 tised in Europe, has not proved a profitable 

 kind to grow here and while an odd berry 

 may be found as late as October there were 

 so few that it is not worth growing for the 

 sake of getting them. Judging from this 

 year, Rough Rider is not as good a berry 

 as many of the older varieties, and the 

 Senator Dunlap did not yield as well as 

 many other kinds. 



The potato crop was good here this year, 

 though a light crop is reported in this vicin- 

 ity. The long continued hot, dry weather 

 checked the growth of the vines very much 

 where proper cultivation was not given, but 

 on the Farm they grew well. 



The results of spraying with Bordeaux 

 mixture to prevent blight were more notice- 

 able than usual this year and the crop was 

 much greater where the vines were sprayed 

 than where they were not. The following 

 four varieties produced the largest crop of 

 marketable potatoes : — Burnaby Mammoth, 

 Uncle Sam, Dreers's Standard, and Early 

 White Prize. 



W. T. Macoun, Horticulturist 

 Central Experimental Farm, 

 Ottawa. 





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