CENTRAL EXPERIMENTAL FARM NOTES. 



ferent varieties, as some kinds which 

 ripened early last year were among the 

 latest to ripen this year. 



The Walter apple fruited this season 

 for the first time on trees planted in 

 1895. The apples are very large and of 

 fine appearance ; quality about medium ; 

 season, appears to be October and Nov- 

 ember. If it continues to thrive, this 

 variety may be a valuable aquisition to 

 our list of hardy fruits. Two trees of 

 the Milwaukee apple, planted in 1895, 

 bore heavily this season. The fruit is 

 large and is striped somewhat like 

 Uuchess, of which it is a seedling. Its 

 season is said to be from December to 

 March. The trees seem quite hardy, 

 also, is a promising variety and will 

 prove valuable if it is a good keeper. 



In the year 1890 an orchard was 

 planted containing about 3000 trees 

 raised from seeds imported from Riga, 

 Russia. These trees were reduced by 

 blight, winter-killing, and other causes, 

 to about 1000 trees before they began to 

 fruit. Up to the present time, aoout 

 150 trees have borne. The greater part 

 of these have produced fruit ranging 

 from medium to large in size. They 

 are nearly all summer varieties and none 

 of them are especially promising. Al- 

 though there are many of them which 

 appear just as good as some of the 

 named varieties of Russian apples. 



A building for curing tobacco in has 

 been erected this autumn from plans 

 prepared by one of the most practical 

 tobacco growers in Canada. The sys- 

 tem of ventilation is well planned, and 

 good results should be obtained. One 

 and a half acres of tobacco, consisting 

 of three varieties, namely, White Burley, 

 Little Oronoko, and Havana Seed Leaf, 

 were grown, and the plants are now cur- 

 ing in this building. Besides the three 

 varieties mentioned, there were 45 varie- 

 ties grown for comparison. 



43' 



The potato crop was good this year 

 in the Experimental Plots. Most of 

 the varieties which usually yield best 

 will again be near the head of the list 

 this year. Among the most productive 

 and best in quality are : American 

 Wonder, Everett, Carman No. I, and 

 Empire State. 



The leaves of the trees and shrubs 

 are, with few exceptions, not highly 

 colored this autumn : the weather being 

 cloudy and wet has not offered favorable 

 conditions. Three of the exceptions 

 are : the Ginnalian maple (Acer tartari- 

 cum Ginnala), Thunberg's Barberry 

 (Berberis Thunbergi) and the Fragrant 

 sumach (Rhus a?omatica), The first 

 of these is a little maple from Amurland 

 whose deeply cut, pretty leaves, and 

 ornamental fruit are very attractive in 

 spring and early summer, while in 

 autumn there is no maple yet tested here 

 which surpasses it in the brilliant color- 

 ing of its leaves ; the season appearing 

 to make little difference. It is perfectly 

 hardy at Ottawa, but apparently does 

 not live to be more than 10 or 12 years 

 old, by which time it reaches a height 

 of about 13 feet. Thunberg's barberry 

 is a compact little shrub which does no*^ 

 usually grow more than from three to 

 four feet high, but it is a perfect blaze 

 of color in autumn. Its scarlet fruit 

 also makes it quite ornamental in win- 

 ter. It is a very desirable shrub. The 

 Fragrant sumach is a native shrub of 

 spreading habit. Not specially orna- 

 mental in early summer, but it should 

 have a place where there is much shrub- 

 bery, on account of its high coloring in 

 autumn. 



The perennial border, which is half a 

 mile long, contains about 1200 species 

 and varieties of herbaceous plants, and 

 is very attractive to visitors from early 

 spring until late in autumn. The severe 

 frost of the 2nd of October this year 



