484 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



mmim^ p^/^uEK, 



1254. Sir,— Will you kindly inform from whom 

 I may obtain a small Grape Press? I have been 

 unable to see any "ads" in the Horticulturist 

 anent such an article, yours truly, 



Bridgeburg Ont. O. F. Wu.kins. 



Would dealers please respond. 



Any soil but a heavy one, will do, even poor 

 ligfht sand, if judiciously manured. 



The Three in One Apple. 



1255. Sir,— In reply to your letter I would say 

 that I have been in the fruit business for fifty 

 years, and in this case, instead of grafting to pro- 

 cure the apple (Thompson's Seedling) I took two 

 buds with some bark and a little wood. I split 

 each bud in two and took half of each bud, and 

 united them to make one complete bud. I then 

 raised the bark of a third tree and placed the bud 

 in. I was careful to see that the bud grew as one. 

 Hence this new apple, which I claim is a perfect 

 three in one (Duches.s, Kentish Fillbasket and 

 Mcintosh Red). 



Uxbribge. Alexander Thompson. 



We have never heard of varieties mixing- 

 in such a way. One or other bud would 

 produce the apple, or else one half the apple 

 would he one variety and one the other ; 

 thev would not hybridise in such a manner. 



The apple is Kentish Fillbasket. 



Growing Sweet Potatoes. 



1256. Sir. — My next door neighbor has laid in 

 a stock of sweet potatoes with a view to plant and 

 grow a crop next year, in place of the other kinds. 

 And he being a member of the Kincardine Horti- 

 cultural Society urges me to request you to get 

 some one to tell him in the Canadian Horticulturist, 

 how to proceed from beginning to the end. Will 

 you oblige him ? 



Joseph Barker. 



The sweet potatoes are usually started in 



a hot bed, covered with a few inches of soil, 



when the buds will soon start and root, 



throwing up shoots. These are removed 



when they are about 8 inches long and 



planted out. The larger potatoes will need 



to be split lengthwise, and laid flatwise down 



in the bed. In Ontario it would be early 



enough to start the beds about the middle 



of April, and the plants would be ready for 



setting from the first to the middle of June. 



The Kelffer. ' 



1257. Sir. — Knowing that you have had con- 

 iderable experience in the line of pears have con- 

 cluded to write you in regard to the idea of plant- 

 ing 1500 Keiffer trees upon ground that I have 

 tested with this pear. Would you be kind enough 

 to let me know if yoti think the transaction would 

 prove profitable. 



Leamington. W. L. Clark. 



The Keiffer pear tree is a prodigious 

 bearer, unequaled in this respect by any 

 variety in existence ; on favorable soil, with 

 proper treatment no pear equals it in beauty 

 during the month of October ; and for dis- 

 tant shipments it will stand up a long time 

 without cold storage. If the quality were 

 even fair, its other points of excellence 

 would make it the most profitable of all 

 commercial varieties, but the quality is 

 "poor," and often even "very poor," so 

 that no one will purchase it a second time 

 for his table. Those, who first planted this 

 pear, have already made some money out ot 

 it, but every year its value declines. Last 

 year we purchased 500 baskets at from 15 

 to 25 cents, and in many places they were 

 sold at 10 cents a basket. 



They are really of little use except for the 

 canning factory, and we would advise no 

 man to plant 1500 trees of them. 



Boxes or Barrels. 



1258. Sir.— In the annual report of the Frui* 

 Growers' Association of Ontario, I notice an article 

 written bv you re shipping choice fruit in bushel 

 boxes to England. 



1 have since been trying to find out how the fruit 

 so packed carried as regards bruising, etc., and 

 from what I can gather on the subject the com- 

 plaint is that the apples bruise worse. Could you 

 inform me how these boxes are made of what ma- 

 terial and whether they have a partition or not. 

 Do you use excelsior and paper ? I have some very 

 choice Blenheims which I propose sending in 

 boxes. Would you advise sending Xo. i and No. 

 1 extras, or only extras? Our next boat sails on 



