April, 1914 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



93 



poor grower while young,, but becomes 

 more vigorous and productive with age. 

 The berry is medium in size and very 

 BKid. 



^^BChatauqua has the same fault as the 

 ■Prince Albert, being a very slow grower 

 when young, but very productive. The 

 berry is large, light red, and the seeds 

 are very large. 



" Perfection is a cross between White 

 Grape and Fay's. The berry is very 

 large, clusters are long and a beautiful 

 bright red. Ripens with Fay's. 



Raby Castle or Victoria is exceeding- 

 ly productive, but is rather out of favor 

 on account of its small size, larger cur- 

 rants having a preference on the market. 



GOOSEBERRIES 



People have been planting gooseber- 

 ries extensively during the past few 

 years, and at present prices they are pro- 

 fitable. Up to a few years ago the pre- 

 ference was for American varieties on 

 account of their resistance to mildew, 

 but recently, in the light of improved 

 spraying methods, the English varieties 

 have been largely planted. On the whole 

 the latter sorts are much larger, but not 

 of better quality. 



There are innumerable varieties of 

 English gooseberries, but only a few 

 are grown commercially in Ontario, 

 among the best being Industry, Lanca- 

 shire Lad, Crown Bob, Keepsake, and 

 Whitesmith. The Industry is a vigor- 

 ous, upright grower and a heavy crop- 

 per. The berry is red when ripe, hairy, 

 and has a pleasant, rich flavor. Lanca- 

 shire Lad is not as strong a grower as 

 Industry, nor as heavy a bearer. The 

 berry is smooth and roundish-oblong, of 

 medium size. 



Crown Bob is another red berry favor- 

 ed by some, but we pulled ours all out, 

 as they were poor growers and shed their 

 leaves prematurely. The fruit is large, 

 oblong, and hairy. The Keepsake is a 

 large, straw-colored berry of excellent 

 flavor, and can be pulled very early for 

 green gooseberies. The Whitesmith, in 

 my opinion, is the best of them all. It 

 is very vigorous and an excellent bearer 

 of large, oblong, smooth, greenish-white 

 berries, the ribs of which are plainly 

 marked. 



There are practically only three Ameri- 

 can varieties that are worth planting 

 commercially, namely, Pearl, Downing, 

 and Smith's Improved. The Pearl is an 

 exceedingly productive variety of good 

 size and quality. It is as productive as 

 Houghton, and larger than Downing. 

 The Downing produces large, roundish, 

 light green fruit which has distinct veins 

 and a smooth skin. The bush is vigor- 

 ous and productive. The Smith's Im- 

 proved is a vigorous grower, and the 

 berry is larger, oval, light green, and has 

 '■lla bloom. The flesh is moderately firm. 



A Perennial Border at Small Cost 



H.R.H. 



THE perennial border is a "thing of 

 beauty" which is within the reach 

 of every garden-maker, and yet, 

 except in very large gardens tended by 

 professional gardeners, very few suc- 

 cessful ones are seen. Many amateurs 

 shrink from undertaking a perennial bed 

 for the same reasons which for many 

 3'ears caused me to confine my horticul- 

 tural efforts to the cultivation of annuals, 

 in spite of the fact that these require 

 much more care and attention and re- 

 ward one's best care but for a single 

 season. These reasons are, firstly, the 

 by no means trifling expense of establish- 

 ing a well-filled bed of good perennial 

 plants ; and secondly, the mental vision 

 of a semi-naked bit of garden forming an 

 eyesore during the two or three years that 

 must elapse before the plants grow to 

 sufficient size to cover the ground and 

 produce the abundance of bloom desired. 

 As an amateur who has successfully 

 overcome both these difficulties I should 

 like to give others the benefit and en- 

 couragement of my experience. 



Having decided that I would have a 

 perennial border, and having likewise 

 determined that the cost must not be 

 great, I started operations in the fall, 

 marking out my bed along the west side 

 of my lot, a length of eighty feet, and 

 making the bed eight feet wide. This 

 area I had dug up and the soil thor- 

 oughly worked to a depth of three feet. 

 A large load of well rotted manure was 

 distributed over the surface and dug in- 

 to the soil, then the bed was raked over 



> Qu«. 



and made ready for the fall setting-in 

 of plants. Spring planting, of course, 

 is often practised. 



Behind the bed was an ugly wire fence 

 separating my lot from that of my neigh- 

 bor ; to cover this completely, perman- 

 ently and promptly was my first problem, 

 and a serious one it proved, for to buy 

 enough plants to set out a hedge eighty 

 feet long involved too much expense, 

 and the plants would take several years 

 to grow to the height required to con- 

 ceal the fence and form an adequate 

 background for my border. After care- 

 ful consideration I decided to plant a 

 thick row of common elder which grows 

 wild in large quantities in most parts of 

 the country, and is extremely easy of cul- 

 tivation. A man with a. cart dug, hauled 

 and planted, with my supervision and 

 assistance, enough thrifty young bushes 

 to line the entire fence ; every single root 

 grew and flourished, and, the following 

 season, formed a complete screen of its 

 own peculiarly effective, light green foli- 

 age, surmounted with, white blossoms 

 and later with clusters of red berries. 

 The result has given me cause for much 

 self-congratulation. By the time my 

 background was established, the per- 

 ennial roots and plants I had ordered 

 from the seedsmen had arrived, and these 

 were duly set out in their allotted posi- 

 tions, as shown in the diagram. Thi; 

 supply was modest, not to say meagre, 

 considering the extent of the bed. It 

 consisted of : 



Ten large-sized delphinium roots, ten 



A Veteran Amateur Geu-dener: Mr. J. G. Graham, St. Thoma*, Ont. 



Mr. Qra,tiam was awiarded &r8t prize Last yo3.r for hia ve^table trtirdeu, ia a ooatest conducted 

 by the St. Tbomafi Uortaoultaraa Society. 



