NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



171 



robs the soil of much moisture, and is diffi- 

 cult to plough under. 



Woodward said he had tried rape, turnips, 

 oats, rye, and other things, but had found the 

 hairy vetch the best of all. He had given 

 it three years' trial, and found it very hardy 

 and afforded an excellent cover for winter 

 protection. Besides, being a leguminous 

 crop, it gathered nitrogen for the enriching 

 of the soil. The only hindrance to its gen- 

 eral use was the cost of the seed, which was 

 9 cents a pound, but he saw no reason it 

 could not be grown in Canada and sold for 

 less money. 



It was quite a consolation to some of us 

 when Mr. Woodward mentioned chick weed 

 as a good cover crop — one that makes a per- 

 fect mat of protecting material against e 

 winter's cold, catches the leaves so they are 

 not blown away by the wind, and aflfords a 

 large quantity of humus when ploughed n- 

 der in spring. Many of us had been look- 

 ing upon this as a most troublesome weed 

 that would grow up late in the fall when the 

 fruit harvest prevented its destruction, and 

 gave the orchard an appearance of being un- 

 cultivated. Henceforth then are we to en- 

 courage the growth of chickweed in the or- 

 chard ? 



OVERDOSE OF NITROGEN POSSIBLE. 



POWELL (Representative N. J. Hort. 

 Society, 1902) thinks there is a limit 

 beyond which it may not be wise to sow 

 clover in an orchard. He believes it possi- 

 ble to give too much nitrogen to the soil, and 

 advises that, after three years of crimson 

 clover in an orchard, a crop of rye or of 

 some other non-leguminous crop should be 

 sown. He thinks too much nitrogen tends 

 to make lighter colored fruit and to lessen 

 its keeping qualities. We should be glad 

 to have further light upon this point, which 

 so far as we know has not been so stated by 

 anv father authority. 



What do yoH think of oats as a cover 

 crop ? 



Oats, said Mr. Woodward, are excellent, 

 but I would advise sowing rye with the oats, 

 for they would remain alive through the 

 winter. The hairy vetch was, in his opinion, 

 the best cover crop, because it takes easily 

 and forms a complete winter protection. He 

 advised sowing five pounds per acre. 



QUANTITY OP SEED PER ACRE. 



FOR cover crops the following quantities 

 of seed are recommended : Buckwheat, 

 I bush. ; crimson clover. 8 to 16 lbs. ; corn, 

 2^ to 3 bush. ; cow pea, 2 bush. ; oats, 2>4 

 to 3 bush. ; peas, 2 to 3 bush. ; rye, i^ to 2^2 

 bush. ; vetch, i bush. 



VARIETIES OP PEARS. 



"1 



THE DUCHESS. 



AM losing faith in the Duchess dwarf 

 pear," said Mr. Woodward. His 

 reason was that of late it grew knotty, un- 

 even and inferior in quality. He had given 

 it the same treatment as has been advised 

 above for the plum, giving shallow cultiva- 

 tion, careful spraying and fertilizers, only 

 less stable manure and more potash and 

 phosphoric acid. Still it did not succeed as 

 well as formerly, and this spring he had cut 

 off the heads of a good many of his trees, 

 hoping thereby to secure finer fruit. But 

 even if first class, the markets do not call for 

 it as formerly. 



We have noticed this same difficulty at 

 Maplehurst with the Duchess, and this 

 spring we have cut at least two feet oflf the 

 tops of our Duchess trees, hoping thereby to 

 secure better growth of tree and consequent- 

 ly more perfect fruit. We notice too a poor 

 demand for this fine pear in our home mar- 

 kets ; indeed, for almost any pear. It would 

 seem as if our markets are too limited to 

 take the quantities produced, and that our 

 only hope is in export. For this the Duch- 



