44 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



February, 191 4 



■AUTIFUL 



OLD-FASHIONED 



GARDENS 

 ofENGLAND 



KELWAY'S famous Hardy 

 Herbaceous Plants are modern 

 developments of the old English 

 favourites. The cottage " Piny 

 Rose " has become the Paeony, 

 incomparable in form, colour and fra- 

 grance. The old-fashioned Larkspur 

 has developed into the stately blooms of 

 the Delphiniums ; Gaillar- 

 dias, Pyrethrums and the 

 rest, all serve to bring back 

 the charm of the old-world 

 English garden. Special 

 care is taken in packing 

 plants to arrive in Canada 

 in good order, and they can 

 be relied upon to thrive with 

 a minimum of attention. 



Last, and of most importance, Ontario 

 a provincp, has ffot to produce a better 

 Krade of fruit. Herein lies the most diffi- 

 cult problem, for in Ontario the apple or- 

 chard is usually a side line to general farm- 

 ing. It is umsprayed, unprutied and uncul- 

 tivated, for the farmer does not realize its 

 money value to him. He sells the fniit foi 

 whatever he can get, and every dollar he 

 jfets he considers money found. I would 

 .Tgain quote the Winnipeg Tribune as fol- 

 lows: "The whole trouble lies with the 

 Ontario fruit grower. Fundamentally, he is 

 not a fruit grower at all, but a mixed farm- 

 er, who devotes most of his time to his 

 grain and his stock. He neglects the foui 

 fundamentals of scientific fruit growing, 

 which are judicious pruning, adequate 

 spraying, careful thinning and thorough 

 cultivation of the orchard ground. Onl> 

 when these are attended to can really first 

 class fruit be secured. .A man cannot worli 

 his farm and neglect his orchard and raist 

 good fruit. This is the fundamental faull 

 which has brought Ontario fruit into dis- 

 repute in the west." 



The farmers of Ontario as a whole have 

 got to be taught the value of cultivating 

 pruning and spraying. Then, and not un- 

 til then, can we look for a general improve- 

 ment in the grade of Ontario apples. Th< 

 western apple growing districts have th« 

 advantage of us in that fruit growing is s 

 comparatively new industry there. The? 

 are not troubled to nearly the same extend 

 with insect pests and fungous diseases 

 and in the majority of cases, fruit growins 

 is the sole means of livelihood of the ppop1( 

 in the fruit growing districts. It is theii 

 occupation, their business, and they havi 

 irot to make it pay. It is not a side lin< 

 to be neglected and the crop sold for wha' 

 it will bring. 



PICKLING MKTHODS AT FAfLT 



I believe also that much of Ontario's ap 

 pie crop is picked before it is fully mature 

 and some after it is over mature. This i; 

 partly due to the fact that Ontario grower; 

 take all the fruit off the trees at one pick 

 ing. Immature and over-ripe fruit has lo^ 

 storage and shipping quality. Green imma 

 ture fruit is subject to scald, and if ver] 

 greon will shrivel in storage, while the sam( 

 variety fully matured holds much longer an< 

 in better condition. This principle ha; 

 been found to hold true for all kinds o 

 fruits except pear? and lemons. These an 

 apparently the only fruits which are bette: 

 when picked before full maturity or ripe 

 ness as the term is ordinarily interpreted 

 By full maturity is meant full color, witl 

 iirm flesh, and the seeds fully grown an< 

 colored. It is best, especially with th( 

 earlier ripening varieties, to make mon 

 than one pickine. selecting each time thi 

 fully colored fruits, and allowing the unde 

 veloped to remain. The fruit grown on th( 

 outer branches develops more rapidly an< 

 consequently ripens first. 



FRIENUI.y CRITICISM 



I have had the opportunity recently o 

 reading a letter from an Ontario man wh( 

 has lately gone to the northwest. He ha: 

 made a special study of market conditioni 

 there. He writes as follows: 



"I feel keenlv with regard to the mar 

 keting of Ontario apples in the west, and ' 

 am strongly of the opinion that althougl 

 Ontario is rapidly losing that market, ye 

 it is not too late, were proper methods o 

 holding it adopted. 



"The most serious phase of the quesfioi 

 is this : The people of British Columbi; 

 are making a rapid advance in the matte: 

 of apple nroduction. They are not onb 

 packing their apples well, but they are im 

 proving- the quality as quickly as possible 



