July, 1913 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



171 



A British Columbia Cherry Orchard in Bloom 



fitable. They keep in good condition 

 longer and the prices received have been 

 the best. It is not wise to let the 

 suckers grow unless they are in the hill 

 or near it. 



In the case of the raspberry, cultiva- 

 tion has three purposes : To make the 

 all-important "dust mulch," to prevent 

 weeds, and to keep suckers from grow- 

 ing. But cultivation answers for all 

 three. 



I allow four to eight young plants to 

 grow up in each hill. The nearer these 

 are together the better. It must be re- 

 membered that the young plants that 

 grow the first year are the ones that 

 bear the berries the next year, after 

 which they must be removed. 



My object is to get the canes I allow 

 to grow to have as good a growth as 

 possible. For this reason I remove all 

 but the ones I wish to keep, quite early 

 in the season, when they are only tender 

 sprouts from one to two feet high. 

 Here are some reasons why I do this : 



It is more easily and quickly done, the 

 work is done before the fruiting season, 

 and consequently the strength that 

 would be used in these canes is partly 

 used to make bigger berries and more 

 of them, but what is highly important 

 the young plants which remain have 

 more than double the growth, thus en- 

 suring a good crop the next year ; if 

 many of these new canes are allowed 

 to remain they make the hills bushy 

 and the pickers will not get all the ber- 

 ries. This alone is inducement enough 

 to have it done at the proper time. It 

 makes the removal of the old canes a 

 mu:h easier task. The young plants 

 grow more stocky and branch out more 

 if 'he ends are pinched off after they 

 are fve or six feet apart. Cultivation 

 late in the season after picking is not 

 wise, as it ir.duces a growth of tender 

 wood that d</es not ripen and is likely 

 to winter Kill. Old canes are best re- 

 moved late in the season, in the winter 

 or even spring. 



Cutting out the No. 3 Apples 



L. D. Robison, N. S. 



Improvement in the quality of the 

 apple has not kept pace with the pro- 

 duction. In the mad race for more 

 fruit, too little attention has been given 

 to "better fruit." As a poof of this as- 

 sertion, of the ninety thousand barrels 

 of Gravensteins produced in the Anna- 

 polis Valley last year thirty per cent, 

 graded ones, while fifty-eight per cent, 

 graded threes. I propose in this article 

 to show how the threes may be largely 

 eliminated. It involves better pruning, 

 better cultivation, better fertilization, 

 better spraying, better thinning. 



PBTTNING 



Not only should all dead, diseased, 

 and crossing branches be removed year- 

 ly, but the whole tree should be opened 

 up to air and sunshine by judicious 

 pruning Careful pruning not only in- 

 creases the size of the fruit, but greatly 

 improves its color; for color is now 

 known to depend wholly on sunlight. 

 Then, too, proper pruning has much to 

 do with the production of fruit free from 

 spot, for it is much easier to reach every 

 part of a well pruned tree with spray, 

 and it dries out sooner after a rain or 

 heavy dew. 



OULTIVATION 



Cultivation gives handsome returns in 

 the Annapolis Valley. Fall plowing 

 about three to four inches deep is the 

 usual practice. It possesses the follow- 

 ing advantages over spring plowing: 

 Fall plowing makes it possible to work 

 the soil^ several days earlier in the 

 spring; it is an aid in the conservation 

 of moisture; it covers the dead leaves 

 which carry the spores of apple scab. 



In the spring, as soon as the ground 

 is fit, the orchard should be thoroughly 

 harrowed Afterward, the surface of the 

 soil should be stirred lightly every week 

 or ten days, for the destruction of weeds 

 and the conservation of moisture. A 

 cover crop, preferably one of the le- 

 gumes, should be sown about July ist, 

 later if the season or the soil be dry, 

 earlier if wet. 



FEBTIUZATION 



Annual crops of high grade fruit are 

 only possible in orchards abundantly 

 supplied with plant food. Stable man- 

 ure at the rate of twelve tons an acre 

 applied annually will give excellent re- 

 sults. Equally good results can be ob- 

 tained from fertilizers along with cover 

 crops. While no formula can be given 

 that will be equally good for every or- 

 chard, the following may be suggested : 

 Two hundred pounds nitrate of soda, 

 three hundned and fifty pouTids acid 

 phosphate, and one hundred pounds 

 potash. These amounts applied yearly 

 are usually suflicient for an acre of or- 

 chard in full bearing. The nitrate of 

 soda should be sown when the trees are 



