July, 1908 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



155 



Mr. Robt. Govenlock 



A Friend for Thirty Years 



A gentleman who has been a subscriber 

 to The Canadian Horticulturist ever 



I since it was started and who has been a 

 member of the Ontario Fruit Growers' As- 

 sociation since 1870, is Mr. Robert Goven- 

 lock of Seaforth, Ont. Recently Mr. Gov- 

 pnlock was asked to tell of his experience 

 tn horticulture and he wrote as tollows : 

 _^_^^^.^___ " The first time 

 that I really took an 

 interest in fruit- 

 growing: was in 1873, 

 when I went to Otta- 

 wa to a summer 

 meeting- of the On- 

 ,irio Fruit Growers' 

 .Association. I went 

 with Dr. Arnold, of 

 Paris, Dr. Beadle, 

 and Mr. A. M. Smith 

 of St. Catharines, 

 Mr. Leslie of Toronto, 

 Col. McGill, of Osh- 

 awa, Mr. Dempsey of Prince Edward Coun- 

 ty, and some others. We all took some fruit 

 with us as there was very little grown 

 around Ottawa at that time. One day Hon. 

 R. W. Scott entertained us all to lunch- 

 eon. I am glad to see that he is still 

 alive but I think that Mr. A. M. Smith 

 and I are the only ones on that trip still 

 living. 



"We talked over the matter of a publica- 

 tion on the way home and when some years 

 after Dr. Beadle got out his first issue, 

 he wrote me and I got him about twenty 

 subscribers. The Canadian Horticul- 

 turist was a small affair then to what it is 

 now. I would not like to be without it 

 as it contains the experiences of the best 

 men in the Dominion. I learn something 

 in every copy. Our lives are too short to 

 ;est everything for ourselves. 

 "About the time of the first issue 1 plant- 

 a hedge around three acres of land 

 aving the south side open. Then I 

 lanted a few hundred grape-vines, mostly 

 ogers varieties. They all did well and 

 caped the spring frosts. I never was 

 laught by the frosts in the fall as good 

 Itivation will ripen them two or three 

 weeks earlier. The two serious drawbacks 

 I had were the spring frosts and thieves. As 

 mine was the only vineyard around, 1 often 

 had my grapes Stolen. Sometimes I es- 

 cajicd the frost but never the thieves ; like 

 the poor, they are always with us. I gave 

 up grape-raising some years ago. One 

 year 1 had my grapes ripe on the 12th of 

 August and sold them for 12 cents a pound. 



I his shows what good cultivation and feod- 

 ig will do. I still take a great interest 

 1 fruit and flowers." 

 Insects on Vegetables 

 For all persons who grow vegetable.s, for 

 rofit or for pleasure and who roquirt! a 

 practical treatise on the various pests that 

 attack such crops, an excellent book en- 

 titled "Insects Injurious to Vegetable's," 

 has been prepared by F. H. Chittenden of 

 the United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture. It is published by the Orange Judd 

 Company of New York City. 



In this work, the chapters on the preven- 

 tion and destruction of insects by meclian- 

 ioal and farming methods as well as by 

 insecticides are particularly interesting and 

 valuable. All injurious insects on the var- 

 ious kinds of vegetables are dealt with in- 

 dividually in respect to their habits, life 

 histories and methods of control. 



Too Many Handling Seeds 



Editor, The Canadian Horticulturist: 

 It has long appeared to me that too many 

 people han<lle seeds before the grower gets 

 them. I have always got satisfaction when 

 ordering direct from some large dealer, but 

 when buying from others, the case is too 

 often disappointing. I once ordered a cer- 

 tain variety of mangel seeds. When the 

 crop matured, I was surprised and dis- 

 appointed to find numerous varieties of 

 mangels, garden, field and sugar beets. All 

 varieties of this class of seeds look alike 

 and possibly at the end of the season, 

 small quantities of each variety that are 

 left unsold will be mixed together careless- 

 ly and given a name and sold. This results 

 in injury to the farmer. 



I ordered asparagus beans and obtained 

 something that was apparently of no value 



in this district. I disapproved of the seed 

 sent but was assured that it was the var- 

 iety ordered. I knew better but sowed it 

 for curiosity. One day Prof. H.W. Smith and 

 some students from the Nova Scotia Agri- 

 cultural College, who visited our gardens 

 when the plants were thrifty, pronounced 

 it to be the southern cow pea. It did not 

 mature. 



I often have ordered seeds and found 

 that the name of them was not given on the 

 parcel. This ought not to be. It is fraught 

 with mischief.— Peter Barrett, Home for 

 the Poor, Truro, N. S. 



Have you a horticultural library? In our 

 neat little 36 page book catalog, we have listed 

 many practical horticultural works. A free copy 

 will be sent to any reader on request. — Address, 

 Book Department, The Canadian Horticul- 

 turist, Toronto. 



REFORESTRATION 



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for 



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durable, and is in large demand for Fence Post and Railway Ties. 

 RUSSIAN OLIVE— Useful for Hedges and Windbreaks, and very ornamental Winter and Summer Verv 

 " i^',?y- ':"vered in summer with sweet-scented blossoms and in autumn with olive berries 

 roliage and twigs silvery white. 



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(Group of Black Walnuts, a few yeart old, rapidly irowinc into value) 



ASH COTTONWOODS NORWAY SPRUCE 



CATALPA elms RUSSIAN POPLAR 



CAROLINA POPLAR MANITOBA MAPLE SILVER MAPLE 



The above varieties furnished in first cl.iss transpl.intcd seedlings and strong rooted cuttings 



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oldest and largest in CANADA 



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OVER 800 ACRES 



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