September, 1909 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



199 



junot, and in special fruit sections men are 

 making a good living out of the orchard 

 alone. We would call attention therefore, 

 to the courses that are being offered at the 



Jntario Agricultural College, as outlined on 

 page 203, of this issue, and we trust that 



fhen the opening day, September 14, comes 

 round, there will be hundreds of young 



nen who are interested in fruit enroll them- 



elves as students at that worthy institu- 



cartage charges on the commission men as 

 it is for the commission men to charge the 

 growers. In other lines of business such 

 a thing would not be thought of. The 

 ccmmission merchants of Toronto should 

 drop this charge. 



our great Dominion who desires to avail 

 himself of the opportunities that it affords 

 for acquiring and disseminating horticultur- 

 al knowledge and wisdom. 



JCREASED GRANT NECESSARY 



The new Ontario Act governing the Hor- 

 [ticultural Societies of the province has been 

 |in operation now for about three years and 

 tis giving general satisfaction. It is working 

 out in one direction, however, in a manner 

 that may prove disastrous to a considerable 

 numebr of societies unless steps are taken 

 immediately to improve the situation. The 

 government grant made to the societies 

 under the present Act is distributed to them 

 in part in iiroportion to their membership. 

 This forces societies in order that they may 

 hold their own to increase their membership. 

 Those societies that do not increase their 

 membership suffer decreases >u meir govern- 

 ment grants. As a result of this clause 

 in the Act, the societies have been putting 

 forth every effort to increase their mem- 

 bership, with the result that during the 

 past two years, their membership has been 

 increased by over 50 per cent. As the total 

 government grant to all the societies has 

 not been increased, the societies are being 

 forced to carry a greatly increased member- 

 ship on grants, that on the average are no 

 larger than they were several years ago. 

 The burden is becoming so great that a 

 number of the societies are finding it a bard 

 struggle to continue their work. The gov- 

 ernment grant to the Horticultural Socie- 

 ties of the province should be increased by 

 at least $3,000. There is no organization 

 in the province that is doing more benefi- 

 cial and educational work in proportion to 

 the assistance received, than the Horticul- 

 tural Societies. The societies should take 

 this matter up e,-iergetically and leave co 

 stone unturned to show the provincial gov- 

 ernment how absolutely essential it is that 

 the provincial government grant shall be 

 increased to a sum commensurate with the 

 work that they are doing. 



AN UNNECESSARY BURDEN 



There is a feature of the fruit commission 

 business in Toronto that should be correct- 

 ed. Commission merchants in that city de- 

 mand cartage fees of one cent a basket and 

 three cents a crate upon all fruit shipped 

 to them for sale, in addition to a commis- 

 sion of ton per cent, for selling. The grow- 

 ers of the Niagara peninsula feel that the 

 cartage charges are an imijosition. Ex- 

 pressions of this feeling from some of the 

 growers appear elsewhere in this issue. To- 

 ronto commission men appear to be alone 

 in requiring a fee of more than 10 per cent. 

 Montreal does not impose it, nor other 

 cities, so far as we know. 



It is claimed that .seventy-five per cent, 

 of the fruit that is sold by commission 

 merchants is hauled away by the buyers, 

 but the commission men offer no rebate to 

 growers on this account; they keep the 

 money that i.s paid for work that in many 

 cases is not done. Even when the fruit 

 is delivered by the commission men, it is 

 not reasonable to make the growers pav 

 for it. That is the commission man's af- 

 fair and not the grower's. The latter's 

 share of cartage operations is done at his 

 end of the line. It would be just ns rea- 

 sonable for the retail dealers to im))ose 



The article and diagrams that are publish- 

 ed in this issue under the heading, "A Mod- 

 el Park for Barrie, Ontario," contain much 

 information for park builders and suggest 

 means whereby many of our cities and towns 

 may be made more beautiful. More parks 

 and better parks are necessary. They are 

 valuable assets to a municipality. In all 

 of our towns there is more or less waste 

 ground that could be turned into parks and 

 pleasure places. It is to be hoped that Bar- 

 rie has initiated a movement towards a new 

 standard which other towns will adopt. 



PUBLISHERS' DESK 



That the virtue of modesty is a good one, 

 cannot be denied ; that its adoption by the 

 publishers of The C.\nadi.4N Horticulturist 

 is not in the interests of fruit growers and 

 of the publication is the opinion of one of 

 our friends in British Columbia, as the fol- 

 lowing letter intimates : 



"Your premium offers are varied, good 

 and attractive, but you don't try quite 

 enough to convince the people thai; The 

 Can.\dian Horticulturist is necessary for 

 them. You let the excellence of the paper 

 speak for it — a sure way but slow. Tell 

 the fruit growers from time to time that you 

 alone stand for the development of Canadian 

 orcharding, improvement of transportation, 

 recognition of merits of Canadian fruit in 

 the markets of the world, — that you are 

 "it" and are indispensible to every one, 

 amateur or professional, who grows fruit 

 in Canada. Intimate to British Columbia 

 men that you are ever ready to help them 

 in any or all of their peculiar problems. 

 Remind them that you are the 

 organ of their provincial fruit growers' 

 association. In short, your paper is deserv- 

 ing genuinely of some "hot air," — just a lit- 

 tle more of the tactics of your American con- 

 temporaries who allure Canadians to sub- 

 scribe. Not that the American journ- 

 als should not be read by Canadians. One 

 should learn whatever he can, and the 

 Americans can teach in many things; but, 

 this Canadian publication should be in every 

 Canadian's hands. 



"There are enough fruit men in Canada 

 to make your mailing list as large as at 

 present. Of course, you have other classes 

 of readers to interest, but my remarks apply 

 only to fruit growers. When I look over some 

 of your fine recent issues, I think of what 

 many Canadians have missed by not reading 

 them. Your paper has improved 200 per 

 cent, as a national fruit publication in the 

 last two years, and I'll bet that right now 

 there are thousands of fruit men in our 

 country who, because they don't know, con- 

 sider it just one of these Canadian papers 

 asking support solely because it is Canadian. 

 They have not been convinced that every 

 number contains something vital to their 

 business interests, some things that Ameri- 

 can papers purposely don't give them." 



We appreciate the words and advice of 

 our correspondent. It has been our aim to 

 make Thr Canadian Hortictti.turist nation- 

 al in character, and therefore equally val- 

 uable to our readers in nil parts of Canada. 

 Besides being the official organ of most of 

 our provincial fruit growers' associations. 

 The Canadian Horticitlturibt is also the 

 personal organ of every horticulturist in 



The illustration on the front cover of this 

 issue shows a part of the beautiful grounds 

 at "Dunain," the home of Mr. Barlow 

 Cumberland, Port Hope, Ont. The hedge 

 is of cedar and the arched gateway leads 

 to the kitchen garden. Scenes similar to 

 this one are wanted from all parts of Can- 

 ada. 



Pollenizing Plum Blossoms 



Wm. H. Moore, Scotch Lake, N.B. 



Several years ago, on the old homestead, 

 a sort of superstitious information was giv- 

 en by a neighbor that if wood ashes were 

 thrown upon plum trees when in full bloom 

 they would insure a crop of plums for that 

 year. The trick was performed and a good 

 crop of plums resulted. This was with some 

 old-fashioned red plums. The farm is now 

 under a different management and this 

 spring I gave the occupants the same infor- 

 mation. They threw ashes upon the blos- 

 soms as high as they could reach. The re- 

 sult is that plums set where the ashes were 

 applied, and that very few set above where 

 the ashes reached. 



From these two experiments, it is appar- 

 ent that this method of treatment is of 

 great benefit if one wishes to secure a crop 

 of plums. I have made some enquiry 

 among local fruit growers but not one had 

 heard of this wrinkle nor could any per- 

 son be found who could even surmise how 

 it could possibly be of any use. Later, I 

 made a short study of "Plums and Plurri 

 Culture," by Waugh, and have concluded 

 from the information gleaned from that 

 book, that the mystery is about solved. 



It is found, in plum growing, that it is 

 well to have planted near each other dif- 

 ferent varieties of plum trees to better en- 

 sure the setting of the fruit, as it may hap- 

 pen that the pollen may not be ready for 

 distribution, that is, the anthers may not 

 be ready to set the pollen free at the same 

 time that the stigma is ready for pollina- 

 tion. By throwing the fine ashes against 

 the blossoms, the anthers may be broken 

 and the pollen distributed upon the stigma 

 or made ready so that when the insects vis- 

 iting the flowers are gathering the nectar 

 they too may greatly aid in pollenizing the 

 flowers. This plan will work with varieties 

 having the stigma ready before the pollen 

 is, but should some have the polle'n ready 

 first (if there are such) then this method 

 would be of no use. Perhajis some of the 

 plum culturists who may chance to read 

 this may be able to throw more light upon 

 the subject. 



The first plum trees set out on my farm 

 were set this spring. The blossoms were 

 well treated to a liberal supply of ashes 

 and there are quite a number of plums 

 set and not a single r>ith or blight. The 

 varieties are Moore's Arctic and Lombard. 



[Note. — It has been demonstrated by ex- 

 periment (Waugh) that plum pollen is not 

 transmitted through the air by the wind in 

 sufficient quantities to insure cross-pollina- 

 tion. A similar conclusion is drawn from 

 experiments conducted in apple orchards by 

 the Oregon Experiment Station. The prac- 

 tice of throwing ashes on trees may in- 

 crease the distribution, but it is scarcely 

 nracticable on large nlantations. The in- 

 formation given by Mr. Moore is interest- 

 ing. Expressions of oninion regarding it 

 from others will be welcomed for publica- 

 tion. — Editor.] 



Items of interest, from all the provinces 

 aie wanted for publication. 



