August, 1908 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



pd. all and every right which he had, so 

 that even if the nurseryman could be reach- 

 ed by law, the buyer of the goods has prac- 

 tically put himself out of court by signing 

 such a contract. The agent, who sold the 

 ( stock, was not known in the neighborhood 

 ' in which he was doing business, had no 

 property in the country so far as was known 

 and, therefore, was wholly irresponsible, 

 iThus, it will be seen, that the customer 

 Ihas no chance of redress, should occasion 

 ? require, either from the nursery firm or its 

 f agent. This contract was used by the 

 Northwestern Nursery Co., Fife Lake, Mich. 

 . We draw attention to this extraordinary 

 contract with the purpose of warning our 

 ; fruit growers and farmers against signing 

 i contracts and agreements without knowing 

 ' o.xactly what they are signing. It is in- 

 : discreet, also, to deal with unknown agents, 

 , supposed to represent foreign nurseries, 

 i whether the nursery firm is well-known or 

 Enot. 



171 



PURCHASE BARRELS EARLY 



We wish to emphasize still further the 

 wisdom of bayinjr apple barrels early in the 

 season. Coopers will sell much cheaper 

 at the present time, and buyers of apples 

 will buy the stock much more readily, if 

 the owners have the barrels on hand. In- 

 deed, this is very often an inducment by 

 which the latter can get an advance of 

 half the price of the barrels. Present pros- 

 pects indicate that there will be a fairly 

 large export trade this year, and barrels 

 are sure to cost more after September than 

 before. 



There is no reason, also, why every 

 . jfrower should not estimate the crop which 

 he is likely to have within the limit of 

 twenty-five per cent., over or under. If, 

 then, he orders for what he thinks is 

 seventy-five per cent, of his crop, at the 

 present time, in case his estimate should 

 be too low, he will not have to buy more 

 than twenty-five per cent, at higher prices. 

 If his estimate should be higrher, he will 

 have, at most, only twenty-five per cent, to 

 carry over, and. with proper care, will be 

 out only his interest on a small sum for 

 this. Think about this, and buy your 

 barrels now. 



Changes in Prize List 



Several important chang-es have been 

 made in the fruit prize list of the Cana- 

 dian National Exhibition, Toronto. In the 

 sections for plate fruit, the prize list calls 

 for nine specimens on each plate, instead 

 of five, as formerly. These sections cover 

 ipples, pear.s and peaches. In the case of 

 Blums, 20 specimens were called for in- 

 [tead of 12, as formerly. Prizes have been 

 dded for pyramids of fruit. 

 The object of the change is to insure 

 better display of fruit. The manage- 

 ment of the exhibition has felt that the 

 lisplay of fruit in the past has not been as 

 Ittractivc as it should have been. It is be- 

 [cved that the prizes offered warrant these 

 Tianges being made. 



The latest report of the Dominion Chem- 

 ^t, Mr. Frank T. Shutt, M. A., Ottawa, 

 Jonlains much information of value to fruit 

 Ind vegetable fjrowers. The questions 

 feated include the control of moisture in 

 rchard soils, eommerrial fertilizers, inser- 

 _irides and funsicides, analyses of apple 

 pomace, and so forth. Write to the Can 

 tral Experimental Farm for a copy. 



Fruit Wrapping Machine 



A fruit wrapping machine has been put 

 in operation in California, says a corres- 

 pondent of the Country Gentleman. It re- 

 quires practically no attention, and entire- 

 ly automatically wraps the fruit. 



The fruit rolls dowj a slight incline to 

 the operator, turning slowly over as it ap- 

 proaches him and giving him an oppor- 

 tunity to remove defective sptcimens. The 

 fruit is lifted and placed, stem up, in rub 

 ber cups, which carry it to a mechanism 

 operating much as the human hands. It 

 is carried to the paper being cut and print- 

 ed from the roll. The twist of the paper 

 is made over the stem ends, thus cushion- 

 ing the stem and preventing puncture in- 

 jury. If the machine becomes clogg^ed, 

 it is stopped by a clutch operated by elec- 

 tricity. A counting attachment registers 

 the number wrapped. 



A Fruit Drying Process 



An invention which produces "naturally 

 dried fruit" in an "artificial manner" by a 

 hot air process, has just been tested before ex- . 

 perts in California, and proven highly success-l 

 fill. The fruit is laid in trays, constructed of 

 wire netting, and a continuous draught of air 

 heated to 150° is forced through the fruit. 

 Moisti^re extracted is carried away through an 

 air stack and by control of heat and air, nature 

 is closely imitated. 



The new process is claimed to do the work 

 in two weeks' less time than the field drying 

 method, and with the same result. The first 

 tray of fruit, which happened to be prunes, 

 taken out of the dryer was acknowledged by 

 the experts to be exceptional. When weighed 

 to ascertain the shrinkage by the new method 

 compared with the old, an increase of 10 points 

 was noted in favor of the hot "air. 



Profit in Spraying 



The Nebraska Experiment Station has 

 just issued Bulletin No. 106 entitled, "Does 

 It Pay to Spray Nebraska Apple Orchards ?" 

 The Bulletin contains much information of 

 value to Canadian fruit growers. 



The spraying operations from which the 

 records published in the bulletin were ob- 

 tained were conducted in two orchards. The 

 purpose of the work was to demonstrate 

 the proper methods of spraying apples ; and 

 to determine whether, under the conditions 

 existing in Nebraska, it pays to spray. 

 The materials used were Bordeaux mix- 

 ture and Paris green in the first three 

 sprayings ; and arsenate of lead alone in 

 the last two sprayings. 



The cost of spraying in one orchard was 

 about 2g cents per tree for four sprayings, 

 and in the other orchard about 40 cents 

 per tree for five sprayings. Spraving pro- 

 duced a net gain per tree above the cost of 

 spraying of $1.70 in one orchard, and $2.56 

 ill the other orchard. It increased the 

 yield of fruit by 1.7 bushels per tree in one 

 orchard, and by 2.1 bushels per tree in the 

 second orchard. The improvement in 

 quality of fruit was also very noticeable. 

 In one orchard the sprayed trees produced 

 about 45 per cent, of No. i fruit while the 

 unspraycd trees gave only 4 per cent, of 

 No. I fruit. In the other orchard about 62 

 per cent, of the croj) on the sprayed trees 

 was first class fruit while only about 22 per 

 rent, of the crop on unsprayed trees was 

 first grade. 



Suggestions arc gn'vcn in regard to me- 

 ihods of preparing and applying sprav mix- 

 tures, and various arrangements for con- 

 venience in the work are pointed out. Five 

 sprayings are recommended, as follows: 



First- After the cluster buds open, but 

 before the individual flower buds expand 

 (usually late in April). 



Second—Just after the petals fall (usually 

 early in May). 



Third— Three weeks after the blossoms 

 fall (usually early in June). 



Fourth— Ten weeks after the blossoms 

 tall (commonly late in July.) 



Fifth—Three weeks later (commonly 

 about the middle of August). 



Marketing Muskmelons 



A bulletin has been issued by the Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Station of Illinois on 

 Marketing the Muskmelon." This is a 

 summary: 



. '^^f,. leading type of muskmelon grown 

 M.. i'"^'^ ^°'" ^^^ general market is the 

 Netted Gem, and the matter presented in 

 this bulletin has special reference to the 

 marketing of this type. 



Illinois Gem melons intended for ship- 

 ment to the Chicago market should, as a 

 rule, be picked as soon as the fruit will part 

 readily from the stem., but not before 



Well graded melons sell better than un- 

 'graded stock. 



The quality of a melon is the primary 

 factor which determines its grade. The re- 

 lation between the netting of a melon and 

 Its quality, makes it possible to grade 

 melons with extreme accuracy as to qual- 

 ity, on the basis of ..etting. 



The full benefit of grading cannot be 

 secured unless methods of packing are 

 employed which will enable the melons to 

 present an attractive appearance upon the 

 market. 



Different styles of pack should be adopted 

 for melons of different sizes. 



A convenient packing shed facilitates 

 proper grading and packing. 



To handle the melon crop properly, the 

 working force must be thoroughly organized, 

 and each person trained for his particular 

 duty. 



The most satisfactory way of supplying 

 melons to the smaller cities is to ship di- 

 rectly to one high-class retailer in each 

 city. 



The safest plan to follow in shipping 

 melons to a large city market is for the 

 grower to make arrangements with some 

 trustworthy coinmission firm to handle his 

 entire product. 



Landscape Gardening 



One of the most notable personages in the 

 art of landscape gardening that ever lived 

 and one whose works and writings have 

 been felt throughout the avenues of experi- 

 ence during the past century was Hum- 

 phrey Repton of England, 1752-1818. He 

 was a master in the science and practice of 

 landscape architecture. Two of his best 

 works are: "Sketches and Hints on Land- 

 scape Gardening" and "The Theory and 

 Practice of Landscape Gardening." These 

 two books have been re-printed and illus- 

 trated in modern form and have been is- 

 sued in one volume under the title of "Thi' 

 Art of Landscape Gardening," editp<l by 

 John Nolen, A.M., member of the Ami'ricaii 

 Society of Landscape Architects, and pub- 

 lished by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., of Ho.s- 

 ton and New York. The pric(! of the vol- 

 ume is .113 net. 



The work is a classic in land.scape archi- 

 tecture. Its preparation has been careful- 

 ly done. Its illustrations are high cla.ss. 

 It deserves a place in the libraries of jili 

 persons interestrd in the laying-out and 

 miinngcmi-nt nf grounds. 



