496 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



,M. 4Mfrui. -if. . 



Fig. 



185 Approach to the Director's House, Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa. 

 All the Trees and Shrubs Have Been Planted Since i88q. 



CENTRAL EXPERIMENTAL FARM NOTES— XIX. 



'HE weather during- the past month 

 was, on the whole, fine and mild 

 and very favorable for fall work. 

 ^pJ It became considerably colder, how- 

 ever, on November loth, and on the 14th, 

 there were four inches of snow fell. On the 

 same day last last year snow fell and re- 

 mained. 



At this time of the year plants have to be 

 mulched to protect them during the winter, 

 and while in some seasons when snow comes 

 early and remains, there may not be much 

 injury if this is neglected, the best practice 

 is to mulch annually. At the Experimental 

 Farm the bulbs, herbaceous perennials, 

 grapes and strawberries are protected in 

 this way. The bulbs and perennials are 

 covered with a light dressing of lono- man- 



ure ; the strawberries, with a lig^ht coat of 

 oat straw ; and the grape vines are bent 

 down and covered with soil. When this 

 precaution is taken there is very rarely much 

 injury from winter. The mulch or straw 

 and manure prevents, to a large extent, the 

 thawing and freezing of the ground, which 

 often does so much damage to herbaceous 

 plants. 



Comparatively little is known of the 

 Arboretum and Botanic Garden at the Cen- 

 tral Experimental Farm, except by those 

 who have visited Ottawa and seen it. 

 When the farm was purchased, in 1886, 

 sixty-five acres were selected for this pur- 

 pose, and planting- was begun in the autumn 

 of 1889. Most of the land is high, and a 

 fine view is obtained of the city of Ottawa, 



