28b 



tH£ CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



November, 191 4. 



raspberries was continued there. He crossed 

 the gooseberry with the black currant, pro- 

 ducing an interesting but sterile hybrid. 

 Some work was also done with plums. 

 Among ornamental plants he was especial- 

 ly interest-cd in roses, and his Mary Amott 

 and Agmes roses, two fine varieties, are the 

 results of his efforts. He originated some 

 very interesting and ornamental hybrids, 

 between the Thunberg' and Purple-leaved 

 barberries, which are at present under test 

 at Ottawa. 



His most important work in hybridization 

 has been left to the last. Visiting the 

 prairie provinces frequently, as he did, he 

 saw the need of hardy apples there, and 

 the success of the wild Siberian crab ap- 

 ple (Pyrus bacata) at Indian Head, Sask., 



gave him the hardy material with which to 

 work. This hardy little crab apple, smaller 

 than a good cherry, from one half to three 

 quarters of an inch in diameter, was used 

 as the female parent of many crosses with 

 hardy Russian and American apples of 

 good size as the male. This work was be- 

 gum in 1894 and continued in succeeeding 

 years. The first fruit was produced in 

 1899, when thirty-six trees bore, and five of 

 these were of such size and quality as to 

 justify their being propagated for more 

 general test. In time about eight hundred 

 trees were set out, a large proportion of 

 which fruited. The largest of these first 

 generation crosses were from one and one- 

 quarter to one and three-quarter inches in 

 diameter, a substantial gain in size over 



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the mother parent. As rapidly as possible 

 the best were set out for test and some of 

 these have proved very hardy, fruiting 

 abundantly on the open prairie without 

 protection. Among these may be mention- 

 ed the Jewel, Charles. Silvia, PrLnce.Tony, 

 Robin and Elsa. So hardy are these, that 

 fruit of these crosses has been produced 

 at the sub-station at Fort Vermillion in 

 latitude 58 degrees, where the temperature 

 frequently falls to between fifty and six' 

 degrees Fhr. beJow zero. 



Not content with hardy apples of so 

 small a size, Dr. Saunders re-crossed the 

 best of these first crosses with apples of 

 larger size in 1904, and from this work 

 over four hundred trees were obtained. 

 Many of these have now fruited, some of 

 which have produced apples two and a half 

 inches in diameter, and of good quality, 

 which are being propagated and sent to the 

 prairie farms for test. It is expected that 

 some of these will prove hardy in places 

 where apples of this size cannot at present 

 be successfully grown. Even should they 

 not prove sufficiently valuable to satisfy 

 the settlers, who would like to have apples 

 equal to any grown elsewhere in Canada, 

 Dr. Saunders has, at least, laid the foun- 

 dation of a hardy race of apples from which 

 probably will eventually come varieties even 

 better than those available at present. 



The love of the beautiful in nature was 

 very strong in Dr. Saunders, amd he was 

 able to give expression to this love in his 

 work in beautifying the Central and 

 Branch Farms. Many countries, many bo- 

 tanic gardens, nurseries and seed cata- 

 logues were searched for plants and seed to 

 test, in order to learn their value under 

 Canadian conditions. Beginning in 1887, 

 and continuing until 1911, he continuously 

 endeavored to bring to Canadians from 

 other countries, all that was best and most 

 beautiful among trees and shrubs and 

 flowers, and from the abundant material 

 available he was able to plan and plant the 

 grounds at the Central Farm especially 

 in such a way that it is to-day one of the 

 most beautiful places in America. 



Comparatively few know of the work 

 Dr. Saunders did in planning and planting 

 the trees and shrubs along the Government 

 Driveway in Ottawa, but it should be re- 

 corded here that a large proportion of the 

 driveway between St. Louis Dam and the 

 Rideau River was planned and planted by 

 him. 



Canadian horticulturists have lost a 

 warm friend in Dr. Saunders. He was a 

 true amateur horticulturist, the love of the 

 work standing out in everything he did. 

 He was a member of the Ontario Fruit 

 Growers' .Association from its early years, 

 and was one of the few enthusiasts who 

 kept the .Association in existence before 

 the commercial side of horticulture had de- 

 veloped much in Canada. 



British Columbia 



In accordance with an arrangement be- 

 tween the Dairy and Cold Storage Com- 

 missioner and the Deputy Minister of .Ag- 

 riculture for British Columbia, Mr. Edwin 

 Smith, who has charge of the Governmemt 

 Experimental Cold Storage Warehouse at 

 Grimsby, Ont., operated by this branch, 

 spent a couple of weeks during the summ<'r 

 in British Columbia conferring with local 

 officials and fruit shippers regarding fruit 

 transportation investigations now under 

 way. 



Arrangements were made with the head 

 of the Canadian Pacific Railway refrigera- 

 tor car service to carrj- on experiments in 

 the Okanagan Valley with the use of salt 



