February, 1908 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



41 



Nova Scotia 



The most successful sliort courses yet given at 

 the Nova Scotia Agricultural College were held 

 in January. Over 140 students were en- 

 rolled. Lectures were given on live stock, 

 lirying, poultry, field crops, horticulture, 

 isects, and so forth. 



The work in horticulture began on Jan. 2 with 

 talk on the farm orchard by P. J. Siiaw, of the 

 )llege staff. In the evening, an address was 

 -ven by Mr. R. S. Eaton, of Hilcrest orchard, on 

 Intensive and Extensive Orcharding." Mr. 

 laton, who is one of the most successful orchard- 

 Jts in Canada, gave an account of an interesting 

 ixperiment being carried on in his orchard, 

 Fhere apple trees used as fillers were set 8J feet 

 .part, and as they begin to crowd are dug up 

 and reset at a greater distance apart. Allowing 

 for driveways, 500 trees may thus be set to the 

 acre. Mr. Eaton claimed that the.se fillers would 

 more than pay for themselves before it is neces- 

 sary to move them. , 



On Jan. 3, Mr. S. C. Parker, secretary of the 

 Nova Scotia Fruit Growers' Association, gave a 

 talk on spraying, showing why we spray, when 

 to spray, and explaining the important points of 

 a good spray pump. An interesting discussion 

 followed. 



Mr. W. T. Macoun, Ottawa, gave an address 

 on some causes of failure in apple orchards, and 

 the remedies. He dwelt especially on the care 

 the trees should receive when they arrive from 

 the nursery, and on the importance of choosing 

 varieties suited to the soil and climate. He 

 recommended the Duchess, Transparent, Alex- 

 ander, Wealthy, Mcintosh, Milwaukee, and 

 Baxter for severe climates. Mr. Macoun spoke, 

 also, on small fruits, dealing with the care they 

 should receive and the best varieties to plant 

 On Jan. 4, Mr. G. H. Vroom, Dominion Fruit 

 Insi^ector for Nova Scotia, gave a demonstra- 

 tion on grading and packing apples. The after- 

 noon was devoted to a discussion of the vege- 

 table garden led by Mr. Shaw and Mr. Macoun. 

 On Jan. 0, Mr. Shaw gave a lesson on root 

 "grafting. Instruction in the other subjects of 

 the course was continued until ]an. 14, and was 

 thoroughly appreciated by the students in 

 attendance. 



Prince Edward Island 



The Prince Edward Island Fruit Growers' 

 Association met at Charlottetown last month, 

 and with the assistance and encouragement of 

 Mr. A. McNeill, Dominion Fruit Division, did 

 very good work for horticulture in this province. 

 The meetings were more of a family consultation 

 than usual, not so many paijers and addresses 

 being on the program; but the temper of 

 island growers in the present circumstances 

 brooked it best, for just now there are many 

 things to be consulted relative to the practical 

 Side of apple production here. It is true that 

 there were excellent papers, one by Dr John- 

 stone, one by Registrar White, and one by" John 

 Annear, hut these, too, were altogether expres- 

 sive of the season's difficulties and experiences 

 and dovetailed nicely into the discussions 



Chief McNeill gave two addresses, "The Duty 

 of the Hour" and "The Island's Need of Co- 

 operation," which were very much appreciated 

 Hon. S. E. Reid, Minister of Agriculture, spoke 

 of the possibilities of successful fruit growing and 

 .urged hopefulness even in adverse years The 

 department over which he presided would do 

 Its best for the association and what it repre- 

 sented. ' 



It was resolved to adopt Chief McNeill's plan 



of cooperative f)lanting. The best paving 



varieties were declared to be Duchess \lex- 



j ander and Pewaukee. North Star promised 



csijecially well. Ben Davis, too, had brought 



good money and Baxter also, where grown but 



• Its growth had so far l)een restricted The 



) ^""'^^y will take orders for stock, buying it 



< judiciously and distributing it properly. ' 



I Another resolution approved the last Domin- 



, ion Conference and asked for its reconvening 



next year at furthest. The bulletins and fruit 

 reports of the division were commended. A 

 number of local motions were carried and placed 

 on the record. 



When the election of officers came round, the 

 president asked the association to fulfil its 

 promise of last and preceding years and relieve 

 him. He had been long enough in the chair and 

 would support director Johnstone heartily for 

 president. The association, through Dr. John- 

 stone and others, refused to accept the refusal 

 to serve, and in the circumstances the re-election 

 was accepted for another year by the old 

 officiality; Pres., Rev. Dr. Burke; vice-pres., 

 Mr. D. J. Stewart; directors, Messrs. A. J. Mc- 

 Fadyen, C. R. Dickey, Chas. Black, J. Newson, 

 J. Johnstone, O. K. Henry, J. Rolx:rtson, Fred. 

 Bovyer, and J. A. Dewar. 



Qviebec 



W. Logan, Macdonald College 



The Pomological and I'Vuit Growing Society 

 of Quebec held its winter meeting at Macdonald 

 College, Ste. Anne de Bellevue, on Dec. 18 and 

 19. The whole proceedings were characterized 

 by a deep appreciation of the kindness of Sir 

 W. C. Macdonald, and of Dr. Robertson for 

 inviting the society to hold its winter meeting 

 at the college. A paper on "Tree Surgery" was 

 read by Mr. J. C. Chapais, St. Denis. In it he 

 dealt with the method of setting up trees after 

 they had been broken down by wind, snow or 

 overmuch fruit. An interesting discussion on 

 this paper was initiated by Professor Craig, of 

 Cornell, in which Professors Macoun and Stuart 

 took part. 



"The Cultivation of an Apple Orchard" was 

 the subject of an address by Prof. W. Stuart, 

 Burlington, Vt. He gave some advice on the 

 choice of a site for an orchard, the best varieties 

 to grow, and how to seed. He urged a proper 

 consideration of the advisability of an orchard 

 crop, quoting the various depths of frost with 

 different cover crops. He stated that a properly 

 cared for orchard would be good for 00 or 70 

 years. 



"Pruning with Demonstration" was the title 

 of Professor Blair's address, in wliicli he showed 

 the way to prune and dress trees in a practical 

 manner, so that the cuts made would heal 

 properly. A paper on "Fameuse Apples" was 

 read by Mr. R. W. Shepherd, Como. He 

 claimed that this variety of apple was by far the 

 best, though several consecutive severe winters 

 had done a lot of harm to the trees. 



Principal Robertson gave an address on 

 "Education for Horticulture." Mrs. Torrance, 

 of Chateauguay Basin, read a paper on "Our 

 Summer Fruits: Their Value in our Diet." 

 Professor Craig, of Cornell, and others also gave 

 addresses which will be reported later. 



The appointment of officers resulted as 

 follows: Patrons, Hon. S. A. Fisher and Hon. 

 Jules Allard; hon. president, Mr. Auguste 

 Dupuis; hon. vice-president, Mr. R. W. Shep- 

 herd; president, Mr. Robt. Brodie; vice- 

 president, Mr. G. Reynaud; secretary, Mr 

 Peter Reid, Chatauguay Basin. Principal 

 Robertson, Dr. Fletcher and Profes,sor Macoun 

 were appointed honorary life members. It was 

 recommended that members of local horticul- 

 tural societies throughout the province be 

 invited to join the Pomological .Society. 



Enclosed please find renewal subscription. 

 We can hardly get along without The Canadian 

 Horticulturist.— Biggs Fruit & Produce Co., 

 Ltd., Burlington, Ont. 



Montreal 



E. H. Wartman, Dominion Fruit Inspector 

 Since Jan. 7, I have been inspecting fruit in 

 Whitby, Oshawa, Bowmanville, Cobourg and 

 Colborne. I find apples keeping remarkably 

 well all along the line. The wise apple exporter 

 tells me that the place for No. 3 quality apples 

 is to leave them in the hands of the prodiicers 

 and I heartily agree with him. This grade has 

 utilized thousands of barrels and caused many 

 first-class ones to be frozen. The general out- 

 look in fall seemed good and prices were well 

 maintained up to Dec. 1.5, but, to-day, prices 

 are low and stocks large. The future outlook 

 is not so bright. As shippers are now leaving 

 number three quality at home, and as France is 

 wanting some of her favorites, Ben Davis and 

 Golden Russets, let us hope she will take large 

 quantities so that prices may take an upward 

 advance. 



The young orchards coming in yearly, 20,000 

 to 50,000 trees, bearing from half-barrel to 'one 

 barrel, are helping to make the aggregate large. 

 I think that American buyers coming in to buy 

 a few thousand barrels had a tendency to set 

 the average apple man a little wild in his cal- 

 culations. It is said opposition is the life of 

 trade, but sometimes too much causes great 

 disaster, especially among apple exporters. 

 Those packing apples to-day in the face of loss, 

 who say, "I will keep up my grade," are the 

 packers who will another year get back their 

 loss and do credit to the trade in general. 



Our Fruit in England 



The following extracts were taken from a 

 letter from Mr. Robert A. Lister, of Dur.sley 

 England, to Mr. J. A. Ruddick, regarding the 

 Canadian exhibit of apples at the Gloucester 

 Root, Fruit and Grain Exhibition, as illustrated 

 on page 28: 



"Hundreds of people came from a consider- 

 able distance to see this fruit, and were all 

 greatly surprised at the beautiful colors on some 

 of the fruit, many remarking that you must have 

 had a great deal more sun in Canada this summer 

 than we had in this country. 



"I was enabled to allude to Canada, and its 

 great possibilities as a fruit-growing country at 

 the annual dinner, of which I was the chairman, 

 and I am quite certain that from an advertise- 

 ment point of view this cannot be otherwise than 

 helpful. 



"Next year I should like very much to make 

 an exhibit of Canadian preserved fruit, about 

 which I will write you in 9 or 10 months' time, 

 as the exhibition takes place annually on the 

 same day, Nov. 9. Next year Mr. Morgan 

 Phillip Price, a gentleman who paid a visit to 

 the Minister of Agriculture, with his mother and 

 brother, 12 months ago, will be the President, 

 and he is very much interested in the preserva- 

 tion of fruit." 



The board of control of the fruit experiment 

 stations of Ontario has given place to a new 

 advisory board, appointed by the Minister of 

 Agriculture. This advisory board will supervise 

 the work of all the stations in the province, includ- 

 ing the one at Jordan Harbor, and will consist of 

 E. D. .Smith, M.P., Winona: J- L. Hilborn, 

 Leamington; Harold Jones, Maitland; G. C. 

 Creelrnan, O.A.C., Guelph; P. W. Hodgetts, 

 Toronto: and H. S. Peart, Superintendent of 

 the Jordan Experimental Station. 



The Popular Piano-Player.— The player-piano 

 lias stirred up any amount of enthusiasm 

 musical circles, if the many sales being made by 

 Heintzman & Co., Limited, 115-117 King Street 

 VVcst, Toronto, are to lie taken as a criterion. 

 This firm have a very wide selection of player- 

 pianos at terms of payment to suit almost any 

 purchaser. 



High-Class Upright Piano for $225.00.— 



There has Ix-en taken into the warerooms of 

 Heintzman & Company, Limited, 115-117 

 King Street West, Toronto, within the past few- 

 days two upright i)ianos, very little used, and 

 bearing the names of well-known manufacturers. 

 One of these may l)e bought for $22,5, and the 

 other for $250. It is an opportunity to get what 

 is practically a new piano at nearly half the 

 manufacturer's regular price. 



