THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



281 



shade of carmine, unlike any other 

 apple I ever saw. The tree is said to 

 be hardy, and the fruit to keep longer 

 than the Fameuse, and to be free fi'om 

 from spots and blemishes." 



It is a most startling fact to apple 

 growers to find how universally preva- 

 lent is that scourge of the orchard, the 



FUNGUS SPOT ON THE APPLE. 



We find from Mr. Brown's letter 

 that not even the salubrious sea breezes 

 can ward oflf this plague. He says : — 

 " The crop of apples in this Province 

 is very large this season, and in most 

 kinds of high quality, with good color 

 and size. Of late years, certain kinds, 

 the Yellow Bellefleur for instance, 

 formerly always exempt from spots, 

 have become so much disfigured that 

 they are worthless for export ; the Fam- 

 euse is another of these and going out 

 of use in the best fruit counties. At 

 an exhibition in Digby County last 

 week, I saw one collection of some 

 twenty-five kinds, nearly all of which 

 were more or less spotted, the apples 

 were also small in size for the kinds. 

 In this case I came to the conclusion 

 that the trees were old, unpruned and 

 neglected, and that the fungus disease 

 was communicated to all kinds alike 

 because unthrifty. It would be a wise 

 man however who could give an ex- 

 haustive statement of the cause of, and 

 remedy for, these fungus spots. I have 

 the Early Harvest and the Fameuse in 

 good soil and well pruned, the former 

 utterly worthless, the latter will give 

 me a small proportion of its crop in fair, 

 clear fruit, but the great part will be 

 spotted. Full exposure to sun and air 



is essential to clear fruit, and perhaps 

 severe pruning would be in many cases 

 the sole remedy needed " 



Let us hope that the late discoveries 

 in science concerning these low forms 

 of plant life, may give some basis upon 

 which our scientific students of horticul- 

 ture may solve these mysteries and pro- 

 vide us with a remedy. (See editorial 

 under '^Scientific.'") This spot is 

 spreading in Ontario from one kind to 

 another. Beginning with the Fall Pip- 

 pin and the Fameuse it has extended 

 to the Rambo, Greening, Spitzenberg, 

 Early Harvest, and even the Northern 

 Spy. It utterly unfits an apple for fo- 

 reign shipment, indeed a spotted apple 

 can hardly be sold at home. 



HONOURABLE APPOINTMENT OF 

 MR. WILLIAM SAUNDERS, 



FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE JRUIT GROWERS' 

 ASSOCIATION OF ONTARIO. 



Our readei*s will all be pleased to 

 read the following letter to the London 

 Free Press from an Ottawa correspon- 

 dent : — 



"Prof. Wm. Saunders, of London, 

 Ont., has just been appointed Director 

 of the Experimental Farm Stations of 

 the Dominion, and will assume the 

 duties of his important ofiSce at once. 

 His jurisdiction will extend over the 

 stations in all parts of the Provinces, 

 under the direction of Hon. Mr. Carling, 

 Minister of Agriculture. He was en- 

 gaged last fall in visiting institutions 

 of a similar character in the United 

 States, and prepai'ed an exhaustive re- 

 port on his observations. That report 

 was laid before Parliament at its last 

 session, and not only there, but from 



