1848. 



GENESEE FARMER. 



85 



Horticultural Matters in Toronto, C. W. 



We are glad to find Horticulture going for- 

 ward with a sure and steady progress in the city 

 and vicinity of Toronto. Among private estab- 

 lishments that of the Hon. Mr. Boulton, late 

 Mayor, takes the lead. His ranges of green 

 liouses, forcing houses, grapery, &c., are com- 

 plete. The fruit and ornamental department 

 out of doors, is receiving every attention. The 

 whole is under the management of Mr. John 

 Gray, a gardener of well known enterprize and 

 talent, who has superintended the building of the 

 houses and laid out and planted the groundsof sev- 

 eral of the finest places around Toronto. He has 

 recently erected a grapery for the Hon. Mr. Cay- 

 ley, adjoining the residence of Mr. Boulton. 

 It is 100 feet long, rafter for the vine 19 feet. 

 The border is thoroughly prepared and is to be 

 planted with the best varieties. 



We wish the amateurs of our part of the coun- 

 try would move in this mode of cultivating the 

 Grape. A few talk of doing something, but we 

 wish to S3e them act ; it can be made d, profita- 

 ble as well as a pleasant investment. 



In the commercial department we found many 

 marks of improvement. Mr. Jas. Fleming has 

 recently enlarged his houses on Yonge street, 

 and has added to his collection most of the new 

 and popular plants, and has a fine, healthy stock 

 on hand. He carries on vegetable gardening, and 

 does a snug seed business besides. Mr. Logan 

 has built a small neat house on Yonge street, and 

 has it filled with plants in good order for market. 



Mr. Wm. Gordon, a very clever and well 

 known jobbing gardener, who has charge of Mr. 

 Williamson's green houses, and many other 

 fine places around the city, has recently pur- 

 chased the seed business, for a long time conduct- 

 ed by Mr. Geo. Leslie. Mr. Gordon is an 

 honest, upright man, and with his knowledge of 

 business and his industrious and active habits, 

 he will conduct the seed business in a manner 

 creditable to himself and beneficial to the com- 

 munity. He will continue to lay out and take 

 care of gardens and grounds as heretofore. 



Geo. Leslie & Co., proprietors of the To- 

 ronto Nursery, are extending their establishment 

 vigorously. They have now some 14 or 15 

 acres planted. The stock is fine and managed 

 in the best order. They erected last season an- 

 other green house, 70 feet long, which is now 

 filled with plants coming forward for spring sales. 

 Mr. L., having disposed of his seed business, will 

 give his entire attention to the Nursery in future. 



Mr. Turner, a very clever gardener, had a 

 fine, promising young grapery destroyed by fire 

 last November. He is about rebuilding it. Mr. 

 T. is an extensive market gardener, and has a 

 beautiful collection of fruit trees in his garden, 

 for bearing. He obtained some prizes at the 

 Provincial Fair. 



The culture of vegetables, as we have before 

 remarked in the Farmer, is managed in the best 

 manner by the Toronto gardeners. Their arti- 

 cles are of the first quality. We hope to see them 

 contribute largely at the State Fair at Buffalo, 

 nextSept., so as to ''compare notes' with our folks. 



We were glad to hear that the Horticultural 

 Society is about to be revived. It was a shame 

 that petty jealousies and dissensions should have 

 been permitted to dissolve it; but so it was. — 

 We hope for things better in future. We have 

 suffered "some" here, from the same causes; 

 but we trust our trials are over. Gardeners, of 

 all others, should not indulge in angry or jeal- 

 ous feelings ; their pursuit is naturally unfavor- 

 able to such a state of mind. 



We designed noticing several other matters, 

 but cannot find room at present. 



Answers to Correspondents. 



HYBRIDIZING ROSES. 



B. W. S. — Raisin, Mich. Hybridising, when done with 

 precision, consists in removing the anthers of the flower 

 you intend to bear the seed, just as it is opening ; then with 

 a camel's hair pencil or some contrivance that will answei 

 the same purpose, apply the pollen (which will be in a dry 

 mealy state) of the other plant or plants that you desire to 

 cross with, to the pistil of the one you removed the anthers 

 from. 'I'he operation should be performed on a dry day. 



Rose seeds. — Th^ heps containing the seeds o/ Roses usu 

 ally ripen in October and should be gathered and put care- 

 fully away among sand for the winter. Early in spring — 

 as soon as the ground is open — they should be bioken, the 

 seeds taken out and planted in a mellow, rich, loamy soil . 

 cover about a half an inch deep. The greater part will not 

 vegetate till the second year after planting. 



INSECTS. 

 T. S. B. — Hopkinsvdle, Ky. The insect infesting your 

 peach trees is a species of bark louse (Coccus,) that we 

 have not seen here or elsewhere. You will find their his- 

 tory and habits treated of in " Harris' Treatise on Insects," 

 page 198, &c. He recommends, as the best application for 

 their destruction, " a wash made of two parts of soft soap 

 and eight of water, mixed with lime enough to bring it to 

 the consistence of thick white wash ; put on with a brush 

 in the early part of June, while the insects are young and 

 tender." A solution of two pounds of potash in seven 

 quarts of water, or a pickle of a quart of common salt in 

 two gallons of water, is also recommended. We would 

 advise the immediale cutting off and burning of all the small 

 twigs and ends of branches affected, and the application of 

 the above potash solution to the trunk and large branches 

 where the insects may be found. 



STOCKS FOR THE PEAR. 

 W. S.^Brant, N. Y. We would not recommend either 

 the English Hawthorn or Apple to be used extensively or 

 at all for stocks for the Pear. For extensive orchard culture 

 procure good healthy seedling pears ; for garden culture, use 

 the Portugal or some equally vigorous growing quince. 



LOCUST SEED. 



A. P.—Portageville, N. Y. Locust seed should be gath- 

 ered in the fall, (October,) and may be kept in the pods all 

 winter. Thrash it out in the spring. Soak a few hours in 

 water of a temperate heat, and sow as soon as the ground 

 is dry enough : cover about half an inch deep. V'our fail- 

 ure was probably owing to bad seed. Locust seed will not 

 retain its vitality more than two years, if taken from the 

 pods and kept in a dry place, such as the drawers of a seed 

 room. It ought to be kept in the pods till wanted ; and if 

 it be desirable to save it for a number of years, mix with 

 dry sand or earth. 



Peach Trees. N. B. R.—Yowt enquiries, and several 

 others, came too late to be answered this month — they will 

 be attended to in our next. 



