THE CANADIAN HOBTICULTUR18T. 



dley a strong good grape but a little 

 late Jeffei-son has not grown well 

 with me, Worden a slow grower, on the 

 whole I should say Wilder would be the 

 most profitable grape here for any one 

 who grew for the market. The bunches 

 are large, it is a great bearer and the 

 grapes are very handsome with a beau- 

 tiful bloom when fully ripe. I do not 

 care for the flavour, but when mixed 

 with Delaware and Salem they make a 

 very good wine, which is wholesome, 

 unintoxicating, and, as far as human 

 agency is concerned, an infinitely better 

 remedy for whiskey drinking than that 

 most pernicious of all Acts — the Scott 

 Act, the producer of peijury and of 

 secret drinking. Yours truly, 



CoUingwood. W. A. Parlane. 



FAILURE OF GRAPE VINES— WHY? 



My garden soil, is a sandy loam, with 

 a considerable depth of sand beneath, 

 rather more of sand than of loam, by 

 the way. It is also new, having been 

 brought into cultivation only recently ; 

 has been for some time a waste com- 

 mon and in Oct, 1883 I had it enclosed, 

 gave it then a heavy top-dressing of 

 good stable manure, and ploughed that 

 and the sod under and have since, with 

 a liberal hand, applied both stable 

 manure and decomposed leaves. I have 

 been very successful with my vegetables, 

 my radishes, cabbages, beets, carrots, 

 parsnips, etc., having attained unusual 

 size, but of my vines I regret to have 

 to give a very different report, I have 

 tried many of the hardiest kinds, the 

 majority of them died and the sur- 

 vivors have made very unsatisfactory 

 progress and this aj)pears the more sin- 

 gular as the apples, plums, and all the 

 small fruits grow luxuriantly, and if 

 you could suggest a course of cultiva- 

 tion by which this deficiency of growth 

 may be overcome I would be much 

 obliged. I may say that a near neigh- 



hour, and old horticulturist, reports a 

 similar experience with his grape vines 

 and for which he cannot account unless 

 it is the presence of some constituent of 

 the soil injurious to the vines. I am 

 of opinion that the soil is too light and 

 have lately been applying old stable 

 manure and phosphates liberally and if 

 these be suitable manures I may hope 

 for better growth in the future, mean- 

 while I will be glad if you can assist 

 me to this desired end. 



Believe me dear Sir to remain 

 Yours very truly, 



Toronto. J. L. THOMPSON. 



F^UIT TREES AND GRAPE VINES 

 IN EASTERN ONTARIO. 



Mr. Beadle, — As I for many years 

 have been growing fruit trees and given 

 it a study, I here drop you a few words 

 of information on this subject, which I 

 trust you will lay before your many 

 readers. It is stated by some that what 

 is called the 



BLACK KNOT 



on fruit trees, is caused by a fungus, or a 

 worm. It is not true. I admit that flies 

 of a certain kind do deposit their eggs 

 or young after the knot is formed, and 

 the worm is sustained by the jelly or soft 

 wood of the knot. N ow for the cause. 

 A hard, changeable winter, with a cold, 

 wet spring, the sap well nigh froze out of 

 the tree. In the spring, the ground and 

 air being cold, the roots being covered 

 or submerged with water, the tree being 

 nearly lifeless (frozen), has not i)Ower 

 of attraction sufticient to draw from the 

 earth nutriment for a healthy growth. 

 The water sap that goes up the tree 

 meets the frozen, lifeless sap, both com- 

 bined is not sufficient for a healthy 

 growth, it remains stagnant. June 

 heat sours the sap, and it breaks out 

 into what is called Black Knot. It 

 should be called Scrofula. The same 

 is the cause of bad blood in people. It 



