208 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



dilated upon the benefit of being a member of the 

 Society. 



His talk on strawberry culture was very inter- 

 esting. Men have made from $200 to $1000 from 

 one acre. The eyes of the small boys opened and 

 their mouths watered as he told about the large 

 strawberries— as large as snow apples — that had 

 to be sliced to be eaten. In fact he said they were 

 too large to go into the boys' mouths. If the 

 speaker had a plot of ground he would have it 

 half in strawberries The H. S. Zobo band gave 

 a selection in fine style which was applauded. 



The Society may feel grateful for having such 

 first-class officers. There are 116 good members 

 and "there's more to follow." 



Mitchell. — On the 17th of March we held our 

 second annual Horticultural Society meeting in the 

 Town Hall. Like its predecessor of the year be- 

 fore it proved a large, select and enthusiastic 

 gathering. The hall was crowded to the doors, 

 and when Mrs. Torrance rose to speak she said 

 that she had never before seen so many prominent, 

 and would-be prominent citizens on the platform. 

 This alluded first to the fact that all the clergymen 

 and other prominent citizens occupied seats on the 

 platform, and secondly to the fact that the front 

 of the platform was crowded with boys who had 

 been driven from their seats on the floor of the 

 hall by the immense crowd. The musical pro- 

 gram was very choice, and the floral display furn- 

 ished by Mr. C. E. Skinner of our local greenhouse, 

 supplemented by some of the society members, was 

 exceedingly pretty and inspiring. 



Dr. Smith, the society president, first introduced 

 the Secretary, who told in a few words what the 

 society had done so far, and was likely to do for 

 the current year. Besides the plant distribution 

 last spring, $50 worth of bulbs — tulips and hya- 

 cinths — has been distributed among the seventy- 

 four members last fall, and in addition to the or- 

 dinary plant distribution this spring, one thousand 

 gladioli, purchased from Mr. Groff of Simcoe, will 

 be distributed among the members. This will still 

 leave the government grant, about $50, to be in- 

 vested in bulbs for the fall. 



Dr. Smith being called away, Mr. W. Elliot. 

 B. A., vice-president, took the chair, and called 

 upon Mrs. Torrance as the first speaker. She gave 

 an instructive talk on shrubbing for the lawn, the 

 best shrubs for the lawn, the system and methods 

 of planting, and care after planting. The second 

 speaker was Rev. R. S. Howard of Trinity Church, 

 who gave a very inspiring address on the pleasures 

 and influences of floral culture in and about the 

 home. The third speaker was Mr. R. B. Stevenson, 

 who talked first on verandah decoration, and then 

 on the preparation of soil for pottery plants. So 

 instructive was Mr. Stevenson that some of the 

 audience asked him to talk for a few minutes on 

 strawberry culture for the family table. It was 

 nearly eleven oclock when Mr. Stevenson sat 

 down and the meeting was dismissed with the 

 national anthem, led by Rev. A. McAuly of Knox 

 Church, who, as well as Rev. Mr. Howard, Rev. 

 Mr. Kenner and Rev. Mr. Whiting, is an enthus- 

 iastic member of the society. 



OUR BOOK TABLE. 



♦Sylvan Ontario. — It is well that Educationists 

 are considering Nature study as a means of devel- 

 oping habits of observation and discrimination, 

 for there is abundant evidence that such training 

 is needed. We do not expect city-bred people to 

 be familiar with the various trees and shrubs adorn- 

 ing our raral landscape, yet we are fully persuaded 

 that our country-bred are as little able to name 

 correctly the different species of the trees mayhap 

 growing on their own farms, to say nothing of the 

 shrubs. 



The appearance of this work at this time is very 

 opportune. It is very creditable both to the enter- 

 prise and scholarship of the author. The very 

 modest price places it within the reach of every 

 one. It should be used in the public schools of 

 city, town and country. It should be in every 

 family where the boys and girls can learn to know 

 the distinctive features of each tree and shrub, 

 thus forming an intimacy with nature that will be 

 a source of purest pleasure through all of life. 



*.Sylvan Ontario, a guide to our native trees and shrubs. 

 By \V. H. Muldrew, B. A., Dr. Paed , principal of the Graven 

 hurst High School. Illustrated with 131 leaf drawings. 

 Toronto, Wm. Briggs, cloth limp 50 cents, cloth boa'dsTS 

 cents, leather iinap $1.00. 



The text opens with an exhaustive and simple 

 explanation of the terms used in describing leaves 

 in all of their varied forms and peculiarities. This 

 is followed by a leaf index which enables the 

 reader, now become familiar with the descriptive 

 terms, to ascertain the botanical name and the 

 number under which the plant is more fully des- 

 cribed in succeeding pages. By the use of the 

 leaf-index and the drawings, in which will be 

 found a typical delineation of every form of leaf, 

 it is a very simple and easy matter to become 

 thoroughly acquainted with the botanical and the 

 common names of all of our arborescent plants. 

 The descriptions given are necessarily short, yet 

 give valuable information concerning each of the 

 two hundred and ten Ontario trees and shrubs. 



307 Givens St, Toronto. D. W. Beadle. 



Country Life in America for April, if possible 

 surpasses all previous numbers in general excel- 

 lence. The illusttations are superb, and the read- 

 ing matter elegant. Nothing equal to this journal 

 has ever before appeared, and the price is reason- 

 able, only $3.00 a year. The publishers are Double- 

 day, Page & Co,, 34 Union Square East, New 

 York City. 



