282 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



My dwarf pears are mostly killed by what Down- 

 ing calls the "frozen-sap blight"; still, I have 

 some years a specimen or two. 



The most of the orchards in this latitude suffered 

 severely last winter. About Montreal, many trees 

 were killed. Some of our first settlers, forty years 

 ago, who had been acquainted with fruit-growing 

 at home, planted out a few acres of seedlings 

 which have thrived well f ir many years. Some 

 of these trees have been pointed out to me that 

 have carried thli-teen or fourteen bushels in a season. 



What I have related apparently shows that to 

 attempt to grow the apple and pear in this latitude 

 (45") is very precarious. Still, our crabs proving 

 hardy, there is some ground for hope that some 

 hardy kind may be found that will thi-ive with ns 

 and prove good fruit. It appears to me that it is 

 our severe spring frosts, after the sap is in motion, 

 followed by strong sunshine, that is the cause of 

 the evil. 



I am trying peaches, and have, with protection, 

 brought them through two winters, ai d anti.iijjate 

 the pleasure of seeing some fruit on them the 

 ensuing summer. 



I grow two kinds of grapes in the open air 

 (black and white) quite successfully, on the renewal 

 system, and liave generally from fifteen to twenty- 

 five bunches on a vine. Some clusters of the white 

 weigli over a pound, and have generally pretty 

 well ri[)eued by the middle of September, and, 

 when urged, a little earlier. 



I had a tine specimen of the Eeine Claude de 

 Davay [duin, but it was killed last winter after 

 giving one crop. I have some thrifty young shoots 

 from it. 1 have not slicceeded with the Washing- 

 ton^ Imperial Oage^ and some others; neitlier have 

 I succeeded with the May Duhe and Black Tar- 

 tarian cherries. 



Some of the most noted gooseberries have done 

 pretty well with me. Last year I had a good 

 crop. 



1 do not tliink it is insufficient culture that is the 

 cause of failure with me, for I have always fi)und 

 that my growth was too luxuriant in most seasons. 

 I have hud it from tliree to between four and five 

 feet on apples, plums and pears, thus becoming 

 more liable to be winter killed. 



I had some specimens of plums sent me by an 

 amateur in Montreal, a few years ago, which 

 thrived very well with him, and had the pleasure 

 of plucking some of the fruit from the parent trees. 



My soil is a loam on a marly clay subsoil, and in 

 my nursery plot, if I leave a young plant for two 

 or three years in it, I find it always deejdy imbeded 

 in this subsoil — I mean the leading roots. 



Aruprior, C. W. • AND . KUSsELL. 



WINES OF ITALY. 



The Hon. J. S. Cabot, in a letter published in 

 the Magazine of Horticulture^ says: 



"As you may well suppose, from the number of 

 vineyards, there is much wine made in Italy. These 

 may be divided into two classes, sweet and dry, 

 perhaps 1 might say acid, for all this last class are 

 moi'e or less so, and each of these again into many 

 varieties, taking the name of the town or district 

 where produced, there being generally a red and 

 white wine of each variety. AH of the wine of 



which I have tasted seems to me light, without 

 much strength — not more than belongs to good 

 bodied cider ; indeed, one of the sweet kind seemed 

 to bear a strong resemblance to good cider, except 

 in this, which gave it the advantage in my opinion, 

 that it had the fiavor of grapes instead of apples. 

 Many of these wines are very pleasant, with a 

 good deal of flavor, and if at first not entirely 

 agreeable, they from use become so. Some of the 

 principal wines in Southern Italy are— the.Lachry- 

 ma Ohristi, a product of the vines that grow on the 

 slopes of Vesuvius; Capri, that takes the name of 

 an island at the entrance to the Gulf of Naples ; 

 and the Falernian. These are all somewhat acid, 

 bearing more resemblance to the Bordeaux wines 

 tlian to any tliat I now remember, although each 

 with its own distinct and peculiar flavor — the first 

 having, in my judgment, the preference. The Mus- 

 catel de Syracuse is a sweet wine, of a decided and 

 very peculiar flavor — that of the richest raisins — • 

 and to those fond of a sweet wine it is very agree- 

 able. The Montefiascone and Orvieto are very 

 pleasant wines, without the acidity of the three 

 first named or the sweetness of the last. The Ale- 

 atico de Firenza, the Chianta, and the Montepulci- 

 ano are Tuscan wines — the first a sweet wine, with 

 somewhat of tlie flavor of the Muscatel de Syra- 

 cuse, though not as decided or as rich, and the two 

 last dry, the Montepulciano, to my taste, being the 

 richest and best flavored of the two. One of the 

 pleasantest wines tor a light table wine that I saw 

 in Italy was at Genoa, called the Aste Blanc, re- . 

 sembling our very best cider, but with the flavor 

 of grapes instead of apples. The Vin ordinaire is, 

 everywhere that I have seen it, very indifi'ereut, 

 and I presume seldom drank by strangers or those 

 who can aflord anything better. Wine is a common 

 beverage, and Italy, as it seems to me, affords a 

 strong instance confirmatory of the opinion of such 

 as maintain tliat a free use of light wines, prevent- 

 ing that of ardent spirits, is conducive to temper- 

 ai:ce ; for I have never seen, in any part of the 

 peninsula, a person under the influence of intoxi- 

 cation." 



Canadian Apples in England. — The Toronto 

 Qlohe says: "An enterprising attempt has been 

 made by a Niagara farmer to open a new market 

 for Canadian fruit, which is deserving of mention. 

 Mr. R. N. Ball.shijjped last season eighty barrels of 

 apples of his own growth to Glasgow, and received 

 such a return as will induce him to send a large 

 quantity during the present season. He realized 

 one-half more tlian he could have done here, under 

 the most favorable circumstances. This is business 

 into which it is not possible for mere sjjeculators to 

 enter with success. The apples must IJe good, well 

 picked, and carefully packed. The careful farmer 

 who will attend to these things himself, may have 

 an ample return from England. The demand there 

 for good fruit, at prices which would be considered 

 high in this country, is almost unlimited. In every 

 part of Canada apples can be grown with consider- 

 able profit, yet how few there are^ who make it 

 tlieir business to secure good varieties, to look well 

 to the condition of their orchards, and prepare the 

 produce for market as carefully as they treat theii' 

 wheat or oats? We actually send to the States for 

 api l-;s to be consumed in our cities." 



