THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



January, 1909 



ways. Firstly, if the trees to be plant- 

 ed are grafted on seedling stock, the or- 

 chardist must stick to ordinary sized 

 varieties and plant closer together. A 

 striking illustration of this plan can be 

 seen at the Central Experimental Farm 

 at Ottawa, where Mr. Macoun has plant- 

 ed a very interesting orchard of Wealthy. 

 Other varieties, such as Yellow Trans- 

 parent, Duchess, Lowland Raspberry, 

 Wealthy, Mcintosh Red, Wolf River, 

 Ben Davis, Salome and Fenouillet Grk, 

 will answer the same purpose. Their 

 fruit is early, large and quickly picked. 



Those who can obtain more labor, can 

 have Fameuse, Golden Russet and Can- 

 ada Red. 



PLANT DWAEP TEEE8 



Another way is to plant dwarf trees. 

 I have seen such an orchard in Quebec. 

 The small trees which composed it were 

 hardy and their fruit within hand reach. 

 It contained a young Perdrigon plum 

 tree from our nurseries, and although it 

 was only in September, and in Quebec 

 climate, the little Perdrigon was heavily 

 laden with nearly all ripe fruit. It may 



be objected that such an orchard or such 

 orchards would require what we call 

 intensive culture and also special know- 

 ledge, but thanks to those two neighbor- 

 institutions, the Macdonald College and 

 the Oka Agricultural Institute, the coun- 

 try will soon be supplied with competent 

 young specialists in orcharding and fruit- 

 growing, who besides having know- 

 ledge that they can use for themselves 

 will also be endowed with the necessary 

 qualities and training to communicate 

 their knowledge to their fellow-country- 

 men. 



What Amateur Gardeners Can Do in January 



THERE is not much to do outdoors 

 in January. During warm days, 

 watch the trees and bushes for 

 eggs and cocoons of insects. Destroy 

 all that can be found and decrease the 

 number of pests for next year. Some 

 pruning may be done. Remove dead 

 limbs and branches and cut out any 

 limbs and branches that are directly 

 crossing others and injuring them by 

 rubbing when blown about by the wind. 

 Indoors, give the house plants proper 

 attention but do not over-do it. Most 

 window plants delight in a moist atmos- 

 phere. Keep a pan or two of water un- 

 der the hot water or steam radiators to 

 keep the air moist. It is desirable oc- 

 casionally to sprinkle the foliage of 

 plants with clear water on warm, sun- 

 ny days. 



As a rule, fertilizers need be applied 

 to house plants only when the pots have 

 become too full of roots which have ex- 

 hausted the soil. Use some prepared 

 commercial plant food. 



In temperatures, avoid extremes of 

 either heat or cold. For most window 

 plants, a temperature of sixty-five to 

 seventy degrees Fahrenheit is ample dur- 

 ing the day, and from fifty to fifty-five 

 degrees at night. The plants nearest 

 the window can be protected from zero 

 weather on cold nights by placing sheets 

 of newspapers between them and the 

 glass. 



Ventilate the room on fine, sunny 

 days. To avoid direct draughts on the 

 plants, admit the air by lowering the 

 top sash of the window. 



Be on the look-out for aphids, red 

 spider, scale and mealy bug. For the 

 former, use a strong solution of tobacco 

 water. Red spider may be kept in con- 

 trol by sprinkling the foliage occasion- 

 ally, especially on the lower side ; it does 

 not like a moist atmosphere. To get 

 rid of scale, wash the leaves with strong 

 soapsuds and rinse afterwards with cold 



water. An old toothbrush dipped in 

 soapy water also will remove scale eas- 

 ily. Remove mealy bugs by brushing 

 them off. Good culture is the best pre- 

 ventive of disease in plants. 



Give your potted bfilbs proper care. 

 Do not allow the soil in the pots to be- 

 come dry. To prevent extremes of tem- 



them to be, and write the names of the 

 vegetables and flowers that you intend 

 to grow in them. Change the positions 

 of the various kinds of vegetables from 

 that of last year. Most of them do bet- 

 ter when not grown in the same place 

 annually. 



If vou intend to have a new lawn next 



A Field of Asters and Gladioli 



Grown by Mr. Jas. Gilchrist, Guelph. who stands in center of illustration 



pcrature, remove the pots from the win- 

 dow at night. 



If you want home-grown plants for 

 Easter, begin now. Try hortensias, 

 greenhouse spiraea.s and freesias. Buy 

 spiraea roots now and pot them. Spiraeas 

 must be kept constantly moist. From 



year, make your plans and selections of 

 shrubs now. Bear in mind the first prin- 

 ciples of landscape gardening, which is 

 that the lawn is the basis of the whole 

 picture, and should not be treated as a 

 nursery for planting all kinds of trees 

 and shrubs promiscuously. Keep it open 



the time they start to grow, they will re- and plant the trees and shrubs around 

 quire about twelve weeks to come into 



bloom. 



.\n occasional hour may be spent pro- 

 fitably and pleasantly in making plans for 

 next year's gardens. Draw a diagram 

 of the vegetable garden and of the flow- 

 er garden to scale. Draw lines to repre- 

 sent the rows and the beds as you want 



the borders. Place the latter mostly 

 in groups. Shrubs may be planted at 

 the junctions of driveways and walks. 

 The latter features should be as few as 

 possible. If the grounds are large 

 enough, plan to have the roads and 

 walks curve gracefully from the point of 

 entra,nce to the house. 



