November, 1909 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



239 



In this orchard there are several 

 varieties of peach trees planted. Some 

 of them are Alexander, Admiral Dewey, 

 Crosby, Fitzgerald, Early Crawford, 

 Triumph and Elberta. These all show 

 better growth than trees on the flat land. 

 — F. Aitken, Peachland, B.C. 



Grow^ing Stra^vbcrrics in Alberta 



James Chegwin, Leduc, Alberta 



Preparing Land for Planting 



Various methods of preparing land for 

 planting fruit trees are practised. Some 

 growers commence the preparation of 

 the soil one or two years in advance 

 while others plant almost in sod. Read- 

 ers of The Canadian Horticulurist are 

 asked to discuss this question through 

 these columns, giving their experiences 

 and stating reasons why they would ad- 

 vise others to follow their practice. 

 Growers in all the provinces are invited 

 to contribute their views. The follow- 

 ing letter was received recently from Mr. 

 W. E. Corman, Stoney Creek, Ont. ; 



"In the first place, I subsoil the soil 

 both ways fifteen inches deep and then 

 cover the soil with refuse lime and ashes 

 from the kilns at the rate of three tons 

 to the acre. This material costs us thirty 

 to forty cents a load of three tons. We 

 sow it from the waggon with a shovel. 

 After cultivating it in, the land is rolled 

 and is then in good shape for planting." 



Lombardy Poplars 



We are thinking of planting Lombardy 

 poplars and would like to know any argu- 

 ment against their use ; also notes as to 

 planting. Our prevailing wind blows in 

 summer from the south. We are thinking 

 about planting the trees along the south 

 fence of the orchard. — P.O.C., Slocan, B.C. 



The Lombardy poplar makes a very 

 good wind break as the trees grow tall, 

 and as the branches are thick, they af- 

 ford considerable protection. In some 

 parts of the country poplar becomes 

 diseased and is also injured by winter, 

 which are against the use of this tree 

 where these occur. If the trees were set 

 out about twelve feet apart in a single 

 row it would be a good distance. The 

 poplar is one of the easiest trees to get 

 established so that no special preparation 

 of the soil is necessary.— ^W. T. Maroun. 



THREE years ago, I came to Alberta 

 from Ontario where I had grown 

 strawberries for over forty years. 

 In these three years, I have given them 



A Strawberry Plantation in Alberta 



On farm of Mr. James Chegroin, Leduc. 

 In a later issue, Mr. Chegroin's methoda 

 of cultivation will be described. 



a trial and my hopes of success have been 

 fully realized. 



In May of the first year, I planted 

 about 8,000 Williams plants. Some of 

 the largest plants were allowed to bear 

 fruit, which is contrary to my usual cus- 

 tom, as I usually cut off all the bloom 

 the first year, but the plants grew so well 

 that I thought I might risk getting some 

 fruit off of them for our own use. That 

 season we picked about ninety quarts of 

 fine berries. 



The plants were covered with straw as 

 soon as the first hard frost came and 

 were not uncovered until time to dig the 

 plants for sale the next spring. All came 

 through the winter in good shape. I 

 uncovered the rows only as I wanted to 

 dig them, covering the ones left to pro- 

 tect them from the June frost which every 



one said would kill my first bloom, leav- 

 ing two rows uncovered as an experiment. 

 To my surprise, that June frost never 

 came. 



On the uncovered rows I had a good 

 crop of berries. The balance of the patch 

 I kept covered until I thought all danger 

 of frost was past. They came out in 

 bloom fine and I thought I would 

 have a splendid crop as the ones I had 

 uncovered first were forming fruit. Just 

 then came nine days of successive rain. 

 It rained hard and there was no sun- 

 shine ; consequently, the pollen was 

 washed off the bloom and the fruit did 

 not come to perfection. Much of the 

 fruit was ill-shaped. 



I find that the Williams berry does 

 not fertilize here as well as in Ontario. 

 There, it does well planted alone, but 

 here it is better if another staminate vari- 

 ety that is a heavier pollenizer is plant- 

 ed with it, if the two bloom about the 

 time. On the two rows that I had left 

 uncovered, the fruit had set before the 

 rain came. The next spring, I brought 

 from Ontario nine other varieties and 

 from Michigan, eleven varieties. I had 

 very poor luck with all of those as they 

 seemed to heat. With many of the 

 varieties I did not get more than fifteen 

 per cent, of the plants to grow. I got 

 enough, however, to test them all and 

 have picked about twelve varieties as 

 most suitable for this country. All of 

 these are staminate kinds, as I do not 

 think the pistillate varieties will do as 

 well here as there are so few bees in the 

 country to carry the pollen and so much 

 wet weather at blooming time. This 

 year I had a good crop of berries as fine 

 as any that I ever got off the same varie- 

 ties in Ontario. I am satisfied that 

 strawberries can be grown to perfection 

 in Alberta, if given proper care and at- 

 tention. 



■ Gravelly and somewhat stony soils, 

 fairly rich in plant food, are excellent 

 for apple growing. The gravel and 

 small stones assist in the drainage. 



The Grand Diiplay of Fruit made by the St. Catharine! Cold'Storage Company at the Niagara District Horticultural Exhibition 



This exhibit wa.s .iwardod a. Wilder silver medal b.v tlie Airiericaii I'omolog (tal Society. It. consisted of 36 boxes of apples. 78 boxes of 

 pears, 75 boxes of peaches. 18 boxes of plums (in four-box trays), and 35 boxes of tomatoes. These were all packed in cases, western style, 

 and were grown by members of the 8t. Catharines Cold Storage and Forwarding Co. Tliis company has sent so far this season 125 oars of 

 mixed fruits in baskets and boxes to the West, and expects to reach 150 by the end of the season. 



