236 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



November, 1908 



building built with floors six feet apart, 

 and have the berries placed about six 

 inches deep on these floors. I had a 

 large crop one year — put ninety barrels 

 in a pile three feet deep — and lost all of 

 them by frost. They keep well in a 

 building like the one I now have, and 

 color well. 



A friend of mine living in this district 

 is better located as' regards frost. He 

 picks October ist, and ships at once. 



I have a machine to winnow the ber- 

 ries with and then they run into a barrel. 



I then use sieves fifteen feet long and 

 two feet wide, sitting on benches two 

 feet high. The berries are put into the 

 sieves and hand-picked. The dirt and 

 little berries drop through the sieve to 

 the floor. I then put the good berries 

 into barrels holding two bushels and 

 three pecks and ship them in small lots. 

 It pays best to sell at once while the ber- 

 ries are in good condition. 



One great cause of berries spoiling is 

 that they sweat in the barrel. The cause 

 of them sweating is that they get cold in 



the barrel during a cold spell of weather, 

 and then the weather suddenly changes. 

 The berries being cold, the warm weath- 

 er condenses the moisture in the air, and 

 the berries get wet. The secret is to 

 keep the berries at an even temperature, 

 either cold or hot. 



A well-cared-for cranberry bog will 

 yield one barrel to the square rod. I 

 have had pickers that could pick six 

 bushels a day. The pickers pick in peck 

 boxes and the foreman marks it down 

 every time they empty them. 



The Iris 



H. J. Snelgrove, M.A., President, Ontario Horticultural Association 



THE border of every garden should 

 contain a bed of this singularly 

 charming flower, whose name is de- 

 rived from a Greek word meaning "rain- 

 bow," and indicating its beauty. The 

 iris is a native of the north temperate 

 zone, inhabiting Asia, Europe and 

 North America, and in the hands of skil- 

 ful horticulturists has und rgone marvel- 

 lous development during recent years. 



Owing to their diversity of origin, the 

 varieties have a great diversity of color- 

 ranging from pure white, through all 

 shades of mauve and blue to dark pur- 

 ple. The flowers of all the varieties are 

 large and handsome, often stately, ex- 

 hibiting beautiful variegation and shades 

 of color. All are hardy. 



The life of the flowers varies from 

 three to six days. They are fragile, but 

 if cut before the petals unroll they will 

 keep fresh longer. 



There are growing in the Botanic 

 gardens about 300 species and varieties, 



Major H. J. Snelgrove, M.A. 



President of the Ontario Horticultural Association 



covering a blooming season of more than 

 two months. The iris is so easily culti- 

 vated that everyone who is fond of flow- 

 ers should have a good collection. 



One of the finest early blossoming 

 iris is the orris-root (7«5 Florentina.) 

 This is an old-fashioned species but it is 

 one of the best. The flowers are large, 

 lavender or nearly white in color, and 

 delicately scented. It begins to bloom 

 during the last week of May. 



The varieties of Siberian iris also blos- 

 som a't this time, and while not admired 

 by many, owing probably to their re- 

 semblance to our wild species, they are 

 of very attractive shades of blue or purp- 

 lish-blue, and are particularly useful in 

 bog-planting. Some of them reach a 

 height of four feet. 



After the Siberian iris, the many vari- 

 eties of the so-called German iris begin 

 to bloom. Two of the best of this May- 

 flowering class are Kharput and Purple 

 Ring, with flowers of great size and 

 bluish purple in color. Closely following 

 these are the other varieties in many 

 forms and colors. As with the lilac, it 

 is difficult to reduce the list to a reason- 

 able number, but the following twefve 

 give a good range of color and are 

 among the very best in the opinion of 

 Mr. W. T. Macoun, Dominion Horticul- 

 turist : Gracchus, Darius and Maori 

 King for combinations of yellow and 

 brown, Madame Chereate, Coeleste and 

 Lord Seymour, for mauve and lavender ; 

 Mrs. H. Darwin, for white ; Couqette, 

 for pink ; Walneri, Sappho and Duchess 

 de Nemours for different shades of dark 

 and light purple ; and Jacquiniana or Ar- 

 nola for maroon or velvety purple. 



While the varieties of Iris pallida 

 might be first in the last group, they are 

 kept separate to give an opportunity of 

 mentioning three which should be in 

 every collection if possible. These are 

 Mandraliseuse, Racemosa and Lilacina. 



After the German irises are over, or 

 about the first week of July, the magnifi- 



cent Iris aurea begins to bloom. This 

 species in good soil will reach nearly 

 five feet in height. It has large golden 

 yellow flowers and is altogether a strik- 

 ing and beautiful iris. 



The Japanese varieties now follow and 

 continue blooming through most of July. 

 A dozen varieties will give a good range 

 of color. These are lovely flowers, the 

 richness of color and form giving them 

 quite an orchid-like appearance. These 

 are more often sold unnamed than the 

 German irises, and most of even the un- 

 named ones are very satisfactory. The 

 Japanese irises are not expensive. 



There is another late blooming iris 

 which should be mentioned, namely, Iris 

 ochroleuca, usually known as Iris gigan- 

 tea. It is a very striking erect species 

 growing from four to five feet in height. 

 The flowers are white and yellow. 



To protect the leaves from frequent 

 changes of temperature in winter, coal 

 ashes will be found satisfactory. 



Iri* Germanica 



