264 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



excellent in quality, and the Late Duke 

 which considerably prolongs the season, 

 though otherwise very similar to the well 

 known May Duke. 



MULCH FOR APPLE ORCHARDS 



HITCHINGS, of Onondaga County, 

 N. Y. , is an ardent advocate of 

 mulching for apples in preference to culti- 

 vation. Instead of ploughing his orchard 

 he cuts the grass and places it about 

 the trees. This he claims answers a double 

 purpose ; it saves the fruit from bruis- 

 ing when it drops, and it retains the 

 moisture in the soil, and this latter is surely 

 as good as a dust mulch made by cultiva- 

 tion, and much less expensive. He clain-s 

 also that it is superior to Mr. Woodward's 

 method of growing an orchard in sod, and 

 keeping sheep in it to fertilize it, and eat up 

 the fallen apples. 



In a recent issue of the R. N. Y. Mr. 

 Hitchings writes : — 



Mr. Woodward gives an estimated gain of $6 

 per acre ia fertility and $8 in pasturage. During 

 the time his sheep were making this fi4 gain per 

 acre eating fallen apple.s, I was picking up from 

 the grass mulch the Astrachan, Oldenburg, 

 Wealthy and Gravenstein, practically uninjured, 

 and selling them for top prices, for these kinds of 

 apples should be left on the trees as long as possi- 

 ble to be at their best, Those picked up brought 

 at least $60 per acre, pretty expensive sheep food. 

 I think, furthermore, that the yield per tree was 

 increased by leaving the apples until fully ma- 

 tured. I fight the Codling moth by spraying; have 

 had no trouble with the apple maggot ; am saved 

 the expense of buildiiig fences to enclose the sheep, 

 and can employ the time that would be spent in 

 caring for the sheep in growing strawberries, 

 which pay one much better. 



My first experience in apple growing was watch- 

 ing the sheep to keep them from girdling some 

 young trees set among the older ones. I came to 

 the conclusion then that growing fruit trees and 

 sheep were a poor combination, so first the sheep 

 went, then the hogs, and then the cows, all but 

 one, and I have never missed them, financially, 

 out of all the stock put together. For a full-grown 

 orchard where the rof)ts have full possession of the 

 soil, with trees headed high and strictly commer- 

 cial varieties, Mr. Woodward's method is all right; 

 but for a young orchard and a local ma'-ket I dif- 

 fer with him. After all, whatever method is fol- 

 lowed, the man at the helm is the deciding factor 

 between succe.-s or failure. 



MULCH FOR PEAR TREES 



MR. E. C. BEMAN, of Newcastle, 

 Ont. , has for years practiced this 

 treatment of his pear orchard, with ex- 

 cellent results. The accumulated cut grass 

 of many years deeply covers the ground 

 about the trees and protects the fallen pears 

 from injury, and through gradual decay is 

 furnishing fertility to the soil. Providing 

 inaterial is at hand in sufficient quantity no 

 doubt mulching the ground under orchard 

 trees is commendable, and in heavy clay soil 

 much less laborious than constant cultiva- 

 tion. 



THE ROXBURY RUSSET 



I'^HE Roxbury Russet has more value 

 than it usually gets credit for. Only 

 recently. May 20, 1902, this apple was worth 

 $4.00 a barrel in the markets, and no apple 

 comes out of the cellar in such excellent 

 condition in the month of May. The tree 

 is spreading, reminding one of Greening, 

 and in its appearance the fruit often re- 

 sembles that old variety. Not usually on 

 the list for planting, the Roxbury has been 

 little considered, and yet no apple we grow 

 may be counted upon to come out in the 

 spring with a better showing. It has one 

 fault, in that it is very subject to Codling 

 moth. 



MICHEL, THE FIRST EARLY STRAWBERRY 



BY general consent the commercial 

 growers of strawberries in Ontario, 

 give this the first place for earliness. They 

 plant Michel and Williams to cover the 

 season, the latter for main crop. This 

 season Michels were offered in Hamilton 

 market about the ist of June; they were 

 grown in a specially favored location, but 

 the crop generally was having its first pick- 

 ing between the 5th and the 9th ; while as 

 yet no other variety generally grown was 

 showing a ripe berry. 



This characteristic makes Michel a profit- 



