96 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



NO. TWO STANDARD EXPLAINED. 



Asked as to the standard for No. 2, Mr. 

 Carson read from the Ontario Exporters' 

 Bulletin, which required an apple hand- 

 picked from the tree, perfect in color and 

 quality, and not smaller than 2)^ inches in 

 diameter. In Russets, he thought the stand- 

 ard might be reduced to 2 inches. 



In finishing arrange for two layers laid 

 stems up. Apples, like eggs, will stand 

 most pressure at the ends. Place a pad on 

 on the second row and shake the barrel by 

 racking — i. e., rocking back and forth on 

 the bottom without raising clear of the plank. 

 This is most peculiar work. Remove the 

 pad and place in the face layer, nipping 

 stems and grading as before. This row 

 should stand just above the edge of the 

 barrel. Only one man should be permitted 

 to empty baskets and shake the barrel. Put 

 on a layer of paper. Knock off the top hoop 

 and apply the press after the head is in pos- 

 ition. Run this down carefully. Just here 

 Mr. Carson advised the use of good presses 

 with steel arms and double threads. Use a 

 hatchet for driving nails only. Never hit a 

 head with a hammer. Put it in with the 

 press. If properly shaken, this can be done 

 nicely. Ship at once on packing. 



The barrel was then opened and exhibited 

 before an intensely interested audience. 



We would not favor Mr. Carsons's advice 

 about using more than one size in packing. 

 In our experience, always, a uniform size 

 throughout a package tends to bring a high- 

 er price than mixed sizes. 



Tillage in fruit growing was emphasized 

 by Prof. Bailey of Cornell University, who 

 believed that ploughing in an orchard should 

 cease after five years, and, instead, the aim 

 should be to produce a dust mulch by sur- 

 face tillage with a spade harrow and grape 

 hoe. Cover crops he counted important to 

 furnish humus. He recommends fall vetches 

 for this purpose, but would not allow them 



to grow long in spring. He would put them 

 down with a gang plough, turning a shallow 

 furrow, not over four inches deep. 



Land worked early in spring should not 

 require deep ploughing oftener than once in 

 every six or seven years. Rye had been a 

 success as a cover crop with him. No land 

 is too poor for it. Hence it is a good thing 

 to begin with. He usually drills in 400 or 

 500 lbs. of acid-phosphate with the rye in the 

 fall. He thought highly of crimson clover, 

 except that in some cases it induces too rapid 

 a wood growth. This introduced the ques- 

 tion of pruning, but tillage and pruning 

 must be considered together at a later time. 

 Sod is now a thing forgotten in orchard 

 culture. 



Commercial Fertilizers were not needed in 

 an -orchard not in bearing, in ordinary land ; 

 but instead, plenty of tillage " hot plough- 

 shares;" with sufficient tillage, he doubted if 

 commercial fertilizers were very often needed. 



Apple Tree Management had changed ac- 

 cording to Prof. Bailey, since the days when 

 the production of cider apples was an im- 

 portant object, and when any kind of an 

 apple was good enough. Then neither fer- 

 tility of soil nor high tillage were important. 

 Now, the production of high grade fruit is 

 the aim of the fruit grower; therefore the 

 conditions of success in this have been em- 

 phasized, viz., first spraying, next tillage, 

 then cover crops, and now possibly the ques- 

 tion of the hour is pruning. Sometimes it 

 might be necessary to till an apple orchard 

 right up to harvesting fruit, in which Case barn 

 yard manure had to be depended on to sup- 

 ply humus ; but if manure was scarce, rye 

 could be sown as late as October ist. 



Planting Entirely For Export Prof. Bailey 

 counted a mistake ; because ofteh our home 

 markets would pay higher prices. For ex- 

 ample the King was a most desirable apple, 

 and one that had originated in Tompkins 

 County, New York State, and yet he could 

 not buy in that very county a first class 



