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THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



May, 1908 



acid formed by the rotting of the vege- 

 table matter in the soil will render the 

 phosphoric acid in the bone partly solu- 

 ble while the cover crops themselves 

 will feed on the bone and potash ; then, 

 when these plants rot in the soil, the 

 plant food is again liberated. 



We may attribute the poor results of- 

 ten noticeable from using commercial 

 fertilizers by themselves, without cover 

 crops, or not in conjunction with barn- 

 yard manure, to the lack of the soil con- 

 ditions so necessary for the best results. 

 A soil rich in humus has also another ad- 

 vantage; it will hold more moisture dur- 

 ing a dry season than one which lacks 

 in humus. As plants take their food in 

 solution, there is a decided advantage in 

 having more moisture, and also the germ 

 life contained in such soil has a beneficial 

 effect. 



APPLY FERTILIZERS PROPERLY 



We are altogether too prone to con- 

 demn artificial fertilizers ; whereas the 

 fault is often in not knowing how to use 



them. An orchard should be kept vigor- 

 ous, but avoid either extreme, in the 

 matter of fertilization, if the soil contains 

 the necessary plant food. If we give the 

 trees a proper chance, they usually do 

 their part, if they are the proper varie- 

 ties, and planted on soil adapted to their 

 growth. 



From co-operative experiments carried 

 on in connection with fertilizers and cer- 

 tain crops, the summing up of the whole 

 • has proved nothing as to any certain 

 conclusions, but individual experiments 

 prove that certain soils may be deficient, 

 and that nitrogen,, or again phosphoric 

 acid will give the best results, or another 

 soil may justify the use of potash, or, 

 perhaps, any combination of these. One 

 thing has been proved, and that is that 

 if the soil is lacking in either phosphoric 

 acid or potash, we cannot hope for fruit 

 of the highest quality, or in any great 

 quantity and, as sandy land is usually de- 

 ficient in these, it is safe to apply such 

 plant food to bearing orchards. 



The Famcusc and its Future^ 



R. W. Shepherd, Montreal 



MUCH has been written about the 

 famous Fameuse (or Snow) apple, 

 but its origin is obscure. Down- 

 ing says: "A celebrated Canadian fruit, 

 (probably an old French variety,) which 

 has its name (Pomme de Niege), from 

 the snow-white color of its flesh, or, as 

 some say, from the village from whence 

 it was taken to England." This is er- 

 roneous and misleading. As a matter of 

 fact, the variety is not known in France, 

 and it is quite improbable that it was 

 ever taken to England from France. 



There is every probability that the 

 Fameuse evolved from seed brought from 

 France by the early missionaries, the St. 

 Sulpicians, for instance, who were the 

 first missionaries on the Island of Mon- 

 treal. I believe the Fameuse to be fully 

 150 to 200 years old. Montreal was 

 founded in 1641, and presuming that the 

 Sulpician fathers brought over with them 

 seeds of French apples for planting on 

 the Island of Montreal, allowing several 

 generations to evolve La Fameuse, we 

 can safely suppose the variety was known 

 and propagated since about 1730, and 

 that this famous apple was under cultiva- 

 tion at the time of the capture of Canada 

 by the British in 1760. The late Chas. 

 Gibbs tells us that trees of Fameuse were 

 sent to England and the fruit exhibited 

 there as early as 181 8. 



NORTHERN APPLES BEST 



This apple attains its greatest perfec- 

 tion in this northern climate. Our sunny 

 days and cool nights in September are 

 conducive to the attainment of the high 



*A portion of a paper read at the last meeting of the 

 Quebec Pomological Society. 



color. It is true that in the higher lati- 

 tudes on this continent the apple attains 

 the deepest red color. My first obser- 

 vation of this fact was at the Centennial 

 Exhibition at Philadelphia in 1876. The 

 fruit "from all apple growing states and 

 from the provinces of Canada, were ex- 

 hibited on tables, over which the name 

 of the state or province was placarded. 

 Apples from the southern states showed 

 very little color, and from the Pacific 

 slope a pale color, and those from the 

 states of Michigan, Ohio and New York, 

 showed considerable color, but the high- 

 est colored apples of all were from the 

 state of Maine and province of Quebec. 

 On the Quebec table there was scarcely 

 an apple that was not well colored. 



What is more beautiful than the high- 

 ly-colored Fameuse and Mcintosh Red? 

 But, to show the effect that climate has 

 on apples, I was informed by the King's 

 head gardener at Windsor, that the Fam- 

 euse trees at Sandringham, growing 

 there since 1896, bear plenty of fruit, 

 but without color, "not to be compared 

 to yours, at all," he said. The Winter 

 St. Lawrence, imported from England, 

 under the name of "Manx Coolin," is not 

 recognizable at all as grown in Canada, 

 because so much improved in quality and 

 color. 



IS THE FAMEUSE TO GO ? 



For centuries the Fameuse has proved 

 to be superior in quality to all of our 

 other Quebec apples, and the most pro- 

 fitable. What are we going to do to pre- 

 serve this wonderful variety? It has 

 stood the test of years. It was almost 

 wiped out of existence by the terrible 



winter of 1859, but young orchards were 

 started the following year on a larger 

 .scale than ever. The winter of 1903-1904 

 also was very severe, almost fifty per 

 cent, of the bearing trees in some dis- 

 tricts being killed or irretrievably in- 

 jured. 



What is being done to maintain the 

 Fameuse? Very few new orchards of 

 that variety are being set out. I ven- 

 ture to say that where one Fameuse is 

 planted, four of Mcintosh Red are set 

 out. The latter is a fine apple, and the 

 tree is hardier, having a better constitu- 

 tion than Fameuse. Being a new variety 

 we would expect that, just as a young 

 man, and lusty, it can withstand greater 

 hardships than an old one. 



The Fameuse has the disadvantage of 

 age. Scions have been taken for years 

 from diseased trees, or trees that are 

 black-hearted, caused by winter injury. 

 Too little care has been taken in se- 

 lecting the scions from perfectly healthy 

 trees ; hence, the weakness of constitu- 

 tion in most of our Fameuse. 



Unless orchardists undertake to set out 

 new orchards the variety must die out. 

 I predict that twenty-five years from now 

 La Fameuse ^-ill be a scarce apple in the 

 province of Quebec, and the prices for 

 good apples of that variety will enhance 

 every year. It is a pity. 



TOP-GRAFTING THE REMEDY 



Perhaps the constitution of the Fam- 

 euse tree may be improved, or its longe- 

 vity increased, if we were to top-graft 

 on hardy stocks, like McMahon, or oth- 

 er robust varieties. By nurserymen 

 adopting this method, instead of root- 

 grafting, or low-budding, we would over- 

 come at least a tendency towards sun- 

 scald and disease of the trunk, or win- 

 ter root-killing. This would necessitate 

 double working, that is, the McMahon 

 root grafted on the seedling, and the 

 Fameuse top-grafted at three years on 

 the McMahon, which, of course, would 

 add to the cost of the nursery tree at four 

 years of age. Unless some such, method 

 is adopted, it will be difficult to preserve 

 La Fameuse for future generations. 



This variety will not be abandoned by 

 orchardists for the same reason that 

 numerous other varieties of our fine Que- 

 bec seedlings have gone out of existence 

 (such as Bourassa and Pomme Grise, 

 which were shy bearers) because La 

 Fameuse is a wonderfully productive and 

 profitable variety, although in late years 

 it has proved short lived. Therefore, if 

 the longevity can be improved by top- 

 grafting on hardy stock, it is certainly 

 worth trying. 



If the person who sent a question oh' 

 growing rape in orchards will send his 

 name, a reply will be sent by mail. All 

 questions must be accompanied by name 

 and address. 



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