274 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



I have fruited it five or six years and find it an 

 early and constant bearer, when not allowed 

 to overbear. Its quality is good and it is a 

 good shipper, and for a canning plum it is 

 second only to Reine Claude, according to a 

 report of expert canners made at Rochester 

 N. Y. , where a committee tested ten or 

 twelve varieties not knowing what they were. 



J. G. Mitchell: — Burbank is perfectly hardy 

 here, and succeeds all through the County of 

 Grey. A strong grower but very sprawling 

 in habit. It is unequalled for productive- 

 ness. The fruit is a fairly good shipper, and 

 has sold with us about the same as Lom- 

 bards. In quality, I would place it about 

 second or third among the Japans, but away 

 behind as compared with our best European 

 varieties. 



G. C. Caston : — My experience with the 

 Burbank is very satisfactory. It is ahead of 

 anything in the plum line I have ever tested. 



There are better plums in point of quality, 

 but my customers like it well for canning. 

 In yield it is away ahead of all others. Last 

 year I had five trees in bearing, that were 

 only four years planted, and we picked 

 twenty-six 12-quart basket*. 



W. W. Hillborn, Leamington : — The Bur- 

 bank plum is quite hardy with me. No 

 other variety withstood the severe test of 

 that cold winter, which destroyed so many 

 peach and plum trees in this locality. I 

 have twenty-four trees seven years plant- 

 ed. Last year I sold one hundred doUais 

 worth of fruit from them. I find it one of 

 the best shippers we have. It ripens just 

 before the European varieties, therefore sells 

 well. It is not of as good quality as some 

 of the Japan and most of the European sorts. 

 For this district it is one of the best money 

 makers we have. 



J. H. HALE ON THINNING FEUIT 



IT IS the large, fine fruit that brings 

 the profit ; pays the mortgage, labor, 

 fertilizer and cost of everything. To 

 have high grade fruit we must thin. 

 Fine peaches will bring from ten to 

 sixteen times as much, besides not weak- 

 ening the trees, as little peaches, which 

 are nothing but seed, skin and wool. 

 You have a law that will not allow you to 

 sell milk which is more than so much water. 

 We fruit growers have the advantage over 

 every other producer : the more we water 

 our stock the more they will pay us for it, 

 and the more solids the less they pay us for 

 it. Peaches that are 15 per cent, solids and 

 85 per cent, water are worth 50 cents, but 

 those only 10 per cent, solids and 90 per 

 cent, water are worth $3 or $4. I say, dose 



them with water ; soak them, and this is 

 easiest done by thinning and so getting 

 large fruit full of water. When the 

 manufacturer turns out damaged goods 

 he is wise enough to keep them sep- 

 arate and sells them for whatever 

 anybody will give. He means to 

 have as few damaged goods as possible, 

 however. We fruit growers have been pro- 

 ducing a great many damaged goods, and 

 then, instead of using good judgment and 

 culling them out, we mix good ones with 

 them and send them to market and sell the 

 whole business for the price of damaged 

 goods.' We had to throw in the good ones. 

 By proper thinning we can get the damaged 

 goods down so we will not have more than 

 5 or 10 per cent, of inferior goods. 



