THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



clean-cut and scholarly, with a taste for 

 literature and natural science. He won the 

 gold medal in natural science and received 

 the B. A. degree in 1883 — recognized by his 

 fellow students and the college staff as a 

 young man of rquch promise. From Janu- 

 ary. 1883, to January, 1886, he held the posi- 

 tion of assistant master in the Cobourg Col- 

 legiate Institute, teaching science and some 

 other branches. While thus employed he 

 took a special post-graduate course in chem- 

 istry and mineralogy at Victoria University, 

 and subsequently went to Cambridge, Mass., 

 for a short course under Dr. Richards, of 

 Harvard University. 



In June, 1886, he was appointed to the 

 professorship of chemistry at the Ontario 

 Agricultural College, Guelph, a position 

 which he filled with marked efficiency, teach- 

 ing and illustrating the principles of chemis- 

 try and showing their practical application 

 to agriculture in such a way as to make the 

 subject one of much interest and profit to 

 the students in attendance at the college. 



Soon after his appointment at Guelph Mr, 

 James married Miss Fannie Crossen, daugh- 

 ter of the late James Crossen, of Cobourg, 

 and commenced housekeeping in the Royal 

 City. Mrs. James was a noted entertainer, 

 and an invitation to her hospitable home was 

 much appreciated by both students and pro- 

 fessors. The only child in the family is a 

 bright and promising boy. 



In 1 89 1 the Hon. John Dry den, Minister 

 of Agriculture, chose Mr. James for the re- 

 sponsible position which he now occupies as 



Deputy Minister of Agriculture. In this 

 position Mr. James has many and important 

 duties to perform — preparing the reports of 

 the Provincial Bureau of Industries, looking 

 after the publication of agricultural bul- 

 letins and reports, attending to a large cor- 

 respondence, dealing with the public in ab- 

 sence of the minister, and representing the 

 department on the public platform through- 

 out the country ; and in all these capacities 

 he has shown himself the right man for the 

 place — able, tactful and courteous. His 

 work in the department soon proved him a 

 good executive officer, and his visit to dif- 

 ferent parts of the province has established 

 his reputation as a public speaker, always 

 clear, vigorous, instructive and pleasing. 



Mr. James is a member of the Board of 

 Regents of Victoria University, and Presi- 

 dent of the Ontario Historical Society. For 

 a number of years he spent time and money 

 in collecting books and other publications on 

 the early history of Canada, and not long 

 since he made a unique and very valuable 

 donation of Canadian historical works to the 

 library of Victoria University. 



As an author Mr. James is well known to 

 the people of Canada by the excellent ele- 

 mentary work on agriculture which he wrote 

 a few years ago. This book is authorized 

 for use in the public schools of Ontario, 

 Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Manitoba and 

 the Northwest Territories, and an American 

 edition has been published by Appleton & 

 Co. for use in schools across the line. 



ORCHARD MANURES. 



IT is not too late to apply soluble manures 

 to fruit trees. If it is desired to en- 

 courage growth in a fairly healthy tree ap- 

 ply, say, from a quarter to 2 lbs. of nitrate 

 of soda on the ground round the area of the 

 roots. Sprinkle it on the ground evenly well 



out from the trunk, and fork it in; later 

 rains will wash it down to the roots. The 

 quarter of a pound mentioned is for a tree 

 two years old, and the 2 lb. for one, say, 10 

 or 12 years old. An old warrior may have 

 more. 



