484 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



ity, and the calyx is large, open and set in a 

 large abrupt wrinkled basin. The flesh is 

 snowy white, tender, almost butter tincture, 

 hne grained, fairly juicy, and of refreshing 

 agreeable flavor. We should count it good 

 as a dessert apple, and very valuable in the 

 amateur's garden, but too tender for export. 



Top Grafting. 



1323. Sir, — Could large apple trees, of an unde- 

 sirable variety, be grafted to form a new head, 

 and, if so, how would you proceed ? 



Carleton Place, Ont. Thos. McQuaig. 



Certainly, old trees of 

 undesirable varieties, if 

 still vigorous, may and 

 should be top grafted ; 

 indeed it is a foolish 

 waste to allow trees to 

 continue bearing unsal- 

 able fruit, when in two 

 or three years they can 

 be made to produce sal- 

 FiG. 2477. able kinds. 



The best time to undertake the work is 

 in May or June. Limbs in various parts of 

 the head, not over two inches in diameter, 

 may be sawn smoothly off, and split with a 

 grafting chisel to receive the beveled end of 

 the scion as shown in our engraving. One 

 important point is to so unite the cambium 

 or inner bark of the parts that the growth 

 may continue. Care must always be taken 

 to have the scions cut well in advance, be- 

 fore the buds have begun to push. After 

 the graft is set, it is important to protect 

 the cut surfaces from the air by grafting 

 wax. 



Plum Differences. 



1324. Sir, — I to-day take the liberty of mail- 

 ing you a sample of two varieties of plums, and 

 should be much pleased if you would name them. 

 The smaller was bought for Shropshire Damson 

 from E. D. Smith, Winona, Ont., but the judge of 

 fruit at the Charlottetown exhibition gave the prize 

 to a plate of similar plums entered under the name 

 of Blue Damson. The larger is locally known as 

 the Old Blue and has been in cultivation for a great 



many years and comes true from pits and suckers. 

 It is a great bearer, and before the advent of the 

 knot every farmer who chose to plant a few trees 

 had abundance of plums, but the tree is very sus- 

 ceptible to the knot and is now very little grown. 

 A plate of this variety was awarded first prize as 

 Shropshire Damson. To me it appears more like 

 a small variety of prune, probably introduced by 

 the early French or English settlers, as it is a free- 

 stone. 



What do you think of Spaulding as an early 

 plum ? Is it as hardy as the ordinary Domesticas, 

 such as Bradshaw ? 



What are the distinguishing points between Mc- 

 Laughlin and Jefferson ? Also between Imperial 

 Gage and Huling's Superb ? 



By answering the above questions in the Novem- 

 ber issue of the Horticulturist you will greatly 

 oblige. 

 Lower Montague, P. E. I. D. J. Stewart. 



The small samples sent by our corres- 

 pondent are Shropshire Damson, if the trees 

 of that variety in our experimental plot are 

 correctly named ; but the other samples were 

 too much smashed to identify. 



The Spaulding is of good quality, and so 

 far as we know quite as hardy as Bradshaw. 



Jefferson and McLaughlin considerably 

 resemble each other, but the stem of the 

 former is shorter and the stone is free, while 

 that of McLaughlin is cling. 



Huling's Superb is a larger sized plum 

 than Imperial Gage, and a clingstone ; while 

 the latter is nearly free and rather better in 

 quality. 



New Apples. 



1325. Sir,— I am sending you by this day's- 

 express a box containing several apples, as fol- 

 lows : 



No. I Seedling, submitted by Miss Dunlop, 

 Price's Corner, post office, Township of Medonte \ 

 two samples. 



No. 2 Seedling, grown by C. L. Stephens, Oril- 

 lia ; two samples. 



Mr. Race, whom we had at our Fall Show, ap- 

 proves of both in their season and for this section. 

 No. I is about 10 or 11 years from seed, and bore 

 a few apples last year, and a fair crop this year. 

 No. 2 is 7 or 8 years from seed, or perhaps only 6 

 years. It was brought to me quite a small tree 5 

 years ago, it has made a thrifty but not vigorous 

 growth ; this year it bloomed for the first time, 

 and bore 5 12-quart baskets of fruit. The samples 

 of Nos. I and 2 have been picked since the i Sth of 

 September, and have been in my cellar since the 

 22nd. I also send a few varieties for which I 

 would like to get correct names. 



No. 3 has come to me under three different 



