THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



use, it did not bring as high a price as its 

 merits deserve. The same could be said of 

 the Wilder, a much superior grape to the 

 Concord, but in the Montreal market it sold 

 for only about i cent more a pound than the 

 latter variety, with which it is not to be 

 compared in productiveness. 



SPRAYING. 



I^HE varied duties of the farmer, in Mr. 

 Race's opinion, made it very difficult 

 for him to find time to spray his apple 

 orchard as often as is laid down in the 

 calendars, and, since the early sprayings 

 are the most important, he recommended 

 that the farmer be urged to treat his trees 

 to at least three applications, (i) with copper 

 sulphate before the buds open, and (2) with 

 Bordeaux as the bloom falls, and (3) again 

 about two weeks later. "Of course," said he, 

 "the fruit grower, who has nothing else to 

 do but grow fruit, should give his trees 

 several more applications !" 



Of course the Bordeaux is much more 

 troublesome to prepare and to apply than a 

 simple dilution of copper sulphate and water, 

 which may be equally effective for the first 

 application if every part is covered. The 

 addition of the lime, however, shows at once 

 what portion of a branch is covered ; besides 

 it remains upon the tree a longer time. 



As to the quantity of copper sulphate to 

 use in the early applications, without lime, 

 it has been usual to advise for Downy mil- 

 dew and black rot of the grape and for the 

 apple scab, i pound to 5 gallons of water, 

 to be applied in winter or before the 

 buds swell ; and for peach leaf curl, i pound 

 in 25 gallons of water. Fulton, of the Mich- 

 igan Station, has been experimenting with 

 copper solutions of varying strength for 

 peach curl, and found that trees sprayed early 

 with I pound of copper sulphate to 100 

 gallons of water showed no more curl than 

 trees sprayed with 1 pound of copper sulphate 

 to 20 gallons of water. 



PLUMS OVERPLANTED. 



FROM the low prices obtained for plums 

 in our markets for several years past 

 it is evident that we are planting too many ; 

 more than our home markets can take at 

 paying prices. If we had an export trade in 

 them, as we have in apples and in pears the 

 case would be different ; but even if our cold 

 storage conditions would land them safely in 

 Great Britain, they are not wanted there at 

 prices that would pay for such a long ship- 

 ment. Our only hope for an outlet for this 

 fruit seems to be in the great North and 

 North-West, as soon as better rates and con- 

 ditions of carriage are provided. "In dry 

 seasons," said Mr. Smith, "when the plum is 

 not much effected by rot, we can handle the 

 crop fairly well, but in wet seasons when the 

 rot is prevalent, we can not dispose of the 

 crop. " There is room for a large quantity of 

 Reine Claude and other plums of the Gage 

 family for canning, for there is an unlimited 

 market for "canned gages" both in the 

 home and in the foreign market. Then 

 there is another class of plums for which 

 Mr. Smith finds a good demand, viz., such 

 good late varieties as Monarch, Grand Duke, 

 Black Diamond, etc. These are large and 

 of good quality, and are suitable for shipping 

 North and West. Then there is the Damson, 

 a variety too much despised because of its 

 small size ; but there are people who will 

 have this plum, and it would pay to grow 

 more of them than we do at present. 



H 



THE KIEFFER PEAR. 



OW is it?" some one asked Mr. 

 Smith, "that Kieffer pears have 

 been so unsalable this year?" "Well," he 

 replied, " I do hot think it is because they are 

 overplanted ; I think it is because of the 

 enormous apple crop ; and the canners were 

 so busy canning up the immense quantity of 

 seconds which they could buy at low prices, 

 that they had no time to go into the pears. 



