THE 



Canadian Horticulturist. 



Vol. XXII. 



1899 



No. 4 



THE WOLF RIVER APPLE. 



E agree with the President 

 of the Michigan Horticul- 

 tural Society, who stated 

 at the recent meeting that 

 apple culture had reached 

 a new era, in which better 

 methods and a choicer 

 selection of varieties are essential to 

 success. The man who will not spray, 

 or manure, or cultivate his apple 

 orchard ; who will not trap codling 

 moth, top graft best varieties, grade and 

 market his fruit in the most up-to-date 

 fashion, must go to the wall ; but the 

 intelligent, enterprising apple grower 

 can make as great a success of the 

 industry as any previous time, barring, 

 of course, years of over production like 

 1896. 



No doubt special trade will soon arise 

 in special fancy dessert apples, and t^e 

 man who can cater to the demands of 

 the public will make money out of the 

 business. At Ann Arbor the writer 

 gave the following as three profitable 

 varieties to grow for export, viz. : — 



Blenheim, Cranberry and Ontario. 

 These are varieties intended to cover 

 the winter season from December to 

 March, but for earlier shipments one 

 might name Astracan, Duchess and 

 Alexander. It has been the custom to 

 condemn these varieties, because our 

 home markets were overstocked, and 

 they would not carry farther, but now 

 that our steamship lines are being fitted 

 up with cold storage plants, we can 

 export them in good condition, as was 

 proved by our experiments last August, 

 when these very varieties commanded 

 top prices in Great Britain. Of course 

 they had to be graded for size, as well 

 as quality ; all wrapped in tissue paper 

 and packed in bushel or half bushel 

 cases, and then stand inspection by a 

 government official before shipment. 



Our frontispiece represents another 

 apple that might be included in a list 

 for export, viz. The Wolf River. A 

 little later in season than Alexander, if 

 anything larger and more showy in 

 appearance, and better in quality, it 



