100 



THE CANADIAN BORTICULTURIPT. 



My orchard of over six hundred fruit 

 trees, planted some every year since 

 '78, is doing first-class. I have over 

 forty dilTerent kinds of apples, about 

 seventy-five plum trees, some of them 

 bearing well, also Early Richmond 

 cherry. I believe I can grow any 

 apple tree here that can be grown in 

 Canada. If you could see them in 

 bloom in summer you would be sur- 

 prised. I have the best trees money 

 can get, and I care for them ; that is 

 the only secret of success. Straw- 

 berries and all small fruits do well ; 

 they cannot be beaten anywhere. I 

 do not believe I have lost a bud or an 

 inch of young wood this winter on any 

 of my trees. I have the Russian 

 Apricot, Quinces, Russian Mulberry, 

 Black Walnut, and Butternut; also 

 ten or twelve kinds of Grapes. 



Thomas Collinson. 



Please to tell us what kinds of 

 Grapes, and when they ripen. — Ed. 

 Can. Hort. 



HEATING GREENHOUSES. 



Please give your views on heating 

 greenhouses by steam. Which is best, 

 cheapest, and safest — hot water or 

 steam. Grainger & Duke, 



Deer Park, Ont. 



Reply. — Your Editor has not had 

 sufficient experience in the use of steam 

 for heating greenhouses to be able to 

 express a decided opinion. There 

 seems to be a conflict of opinion on 

 this subject among those best com- 

 petent to decide. The first cost of 

 boiler and piping for steam heating, 

 should be less than for heating by hot 

 water. The cost of fuel for maintain- 

 ing heat would be about the same in 

 either case. In large establishments 



steam has the advantage of water in 

 the matter of the speed with which the 

 temperature can be increased upon a 

 sudden falling of the thermometer ou^ 

 of doors. In a small greenhouse, where 

 the distance the water has to travel 

 is not great, this question of speed 

 becomes of less importance. In steam 

 heating the pipes will cool quickly the 

 moment steam ceases to be generated. 

 In hot water the circulation will con- 

 tinue as long as the water in the boiler 

 is warmer than that in the return 

 pipes. Steam heating will require 

 some watchfulness and judgment on 

 the part of the manager to see that all 

 is in perfect working order continually. 

 The conclusion on the whole is this, we 

 would heat a small private greenhouse 

 with hot water, as at present advised, 

 but a large commercial establishment, 

 if we were now starting one, with steam. 



THE WINDSOR BEAN. 



I shall be glad if you could, through 

 the magazine, give any hints as to 

 growing the broad or Windsor Bean. 

 I and others in my household are very 

 fond of it, but have not had much 

 success with it out here. New Zealand 

 Spinach too, which in England 

 found very profitable and nice, I am 

 unable as yet to get to grow. Perhaps 

 the seed of ihe latter may have been 

 at fault. A. 



Jtamilton, Ont. 



Reply. — Our soil being a sandy 

 loam we have always found some diffi- 

 culty with these beans, especially if 

 the season was hot and dry. They 

 flourish best in a rich clay loam, or 

 even a heavy clay soil that has been 



