THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



103 



grafted, and they are splendid apples. 

 I have some in my cellar to-day (March 

 1 1th), and they are keeping good. The 

 Ontario apple is doing well now, but it 

 is subject to dead spots on the bark. 

 The Salem grape was dead when I got 

 it, but I have one that I bought for 

 Salem that in the last ten years has 

 never borne a good bunch of fruit, and 

 I have now cut it down. The Saunders 

 raspberry has done splendidly, and I 

 haye never yet seen a raspberry carry 

 such an immense crop of fruit as mine 

 did last year ; they were the wonder of 

 all who saw them. The Worden grape 

 was doing well, but I had a man in my 

 garden, a new importation, and he 

 thought it was a very thrifty weed, and 

 the hoe put an end to its existence. 

 The Downing gooseberry does well 

 here, but is not quite as prolific as the 

 Smith's Improved. The Prentiss grape 

 I got two years ago is making a splen- 

 did vine, and I look for fruit this year. 

 The Wealthy apple is also doing well. 

 The dahlias I got last year made a 

 splendid root, and I shall hope for 

 flowers this year. 



I will just add that the pears I got 

 some years ago have all died by blight, 

 and so have many others that I have 

 planted, so I have given up in despair. 

 Fruit here last year was a good crop. 



George Ottaway. 

 Barrie, Simcoe Co. 



RASPBERRIES, &C. 



For three years I have been a sub- 

 scriber to the Horticulturist, and have 

 learned to prize it highly. Some of 

 the papers piiblished during the past 

 year about strawberries, grapes, rasp- 

 berries, etc., are alone worth many 

 times the price of the magazine. The 

 lleport also contains an invaluable 

 fund of information. While I espe- 

 < ially prize articles written by our vet- 

 eran fruit growers, such as Little, 

 Robinson, Smith, Spotten, Hilborn, 



Beall and youi-self, yet I am almost 

 as much delighted and profited by the 

 information given to and by our ama- 

 teur horticulturists. 



In the spring of 1883 I received the 

 Hansell raspberry. It made a good 

 growth, and has fruited the past two 

 seasons. It passed through the winter 

 of 1885 very well ; killed back a littlfc, 

 but not enough to hurt. In fruiting 

 I find it a week later than the Turner, 

 about the same size, but light coloured, 

 making it difficult to know when it is 

 fully ripe ; besides, it is covered with 

 a light bloom resembling a mildew, 

 which spoils the aj)pearance. I also 

 find the flavor very poor. I don't like 

 it and can't recommend it. The Tur- 

 ner, Herstine and Cuthbert are very 

 much superior, and cover the season 

 from early till late among the red to 

 my satisfaction. 



I should like to say a word in favour 

 of Shafier's Colossal, which I consider 

 the best canning berry grown. Com- 

 bining to a remarkable degree the 

 habit of growth of both red and black, 

 it also unites the qualities of those 

 kinds in the fruit, and for size is 

 equalled only by the Red Antwerp. 

 The maroon colour of the berry is its 

 weakest point before canning, but 

 afterwards it gives the fruit a very 

 rich, deep colour. Another excellent 

 feature is that it never throws up 

 suckers, but propagates from the tips 

 like the black. Every one who saw 

 the yield upon my bushes last season 

 was astonished. To all your readers 

 who want a profitable raspberry for 

 home use, I would say, try Shaffer's ; 

 you can't help but like it. 



In 1884 I received the Prentiss 

 grape. It is making a fair growth. 

 In 1885 I received the Hardy Catalpa 

 and a Russian apple tree. My Catalpa 

 made a wonderful growth, but as it 

 was still growing and putting out new 

 leaves when winter came, I fear it will 



