246 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



country and its present condition. He 

 traced the marvellous growth of horti- 

 culture in Ohio, from the days of 

 Johnny Appleseed down to the present, 

 and paid a high tribute to that ro- 

 mantic pioneer of fruit culture. The 

 nursery-men of Ohio should erect a 

 monument to his memory. "It was 

 not many years ago," he said, *' when 

 all the peaches used in that wonderful 

 fruit market of Chicago were grown in 

 one orchard. Now the orchards of 

 many States are required to furnish 

 the hundieds of carloads that daily 

 pour into Chicago." President Earle 

 suggested the need of a pomological 

 bureau under governmental charge and 

 of experimental stations. Central Rus- 

 sia has been building up a race of fruit 

 almost under the arctic circle that has 

 for hundreds of years withstood the 

 hard winters and arid summers. An 

 investigation of these fruits with a view 

 to their introduction in the interior of 

 the United States should be made. 

 The complaint of over-production in 

 fruit growing is not so much due to 

 over-production as imperfect distribu- 

 tion. Apples in New York and Michi- 

 gan last fall seemed too plentiful, but 

 many a family out of range of the apple 

 districts went unsupplied. 



He spoke at some length on the rapid 

 destruction of our forests, and the bad 

 results that have followed in producing 

 extremes of climate, of drouth and 

 flood, frost and heat. Ohio, in 1853, 

 had 45 per cent, of her surface covered 

 with timber; in 1884, but 17 percent. 

 No wonder the Ohio valley was visited 

 annually by destructive floods, and that 

 the climate had changed for the worse. 

 It seemed that the State was making 

 rapid strides toward the Agricultural 

 condition of Arabia, and Ohio stands 

 for America. " I quail before the inex- 

 orable penalties which nature has in 

 store for all States and peoples who 

 will ruthlessly destroy so glorious a 



heritage of forest as the American 

 people once possessed. Without forests 

 no successful agriculture is possible 

 and no high civilization can be main- 

 tained." 



The address was spoken of in the 

 highest terms by several members, and 

 a committee appointed to take action 

 in regard to it. It should be given the 

 widest possible distribution. 



Fine Duchess Pears. — At the re- 

 cent exhibition of fruits in this city, 

 during the meeting of the American 

 Horticultural Society, N. Ohmer ex- 

 hibited one of the finest plates of 

 Duchess pears we have ever seen. The 

 largest weighed nearly 1 J pounds, and 

 five others were but little lighter. The 

 large pear he presented to Miss Ragan, 

 daughter of the secretary, for which he 

 has our thanks. Mr. Ohmer marketed 

 nearly 1,300 bushels of pears this year. 



Best Time to Gather Apples. — 

 At the recent meeting of the Mont- 

 gomery County Farmers' Club, Mr. 

 Way mire said he had the best fruit he 

 ever raised. Apples have been falling, 

 and he has been picking to keep them 

 from falling. In August he picked 

 green samples of many varieties, except 

 Maiden's Blush and Fall Pippin ; laid 

 them away in the dark, and from the 

 fact that they have ripened and mel- 

 lowed up finely he is beginning to be- 

 lieve in early picking, and let the apples 

 ripen themselves. 



Mr. Turner wanted to know the best 

 time to pick apples — came to the meet- 

 ing to make this inquiry. His apples 

 were falling freely. One or two varie- 

 ties will fall from the trees if he waits 

 till October. 



Mr. Ohmer replied that thirty years' 

 experience in growing fruits taught 

 him that if you want apples to keep, it 

 is best to pick them when they begin 

 to fall, even if that be as early as the 

 first of August, unless the fruit is 

 wormy. The fact that apples are fall- 



