84 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



April, 1907 



Varieties for Manitoba 



r. "W. BrodricK, Horticuiturisi, M.A.C., "Winnipeg 



UP to the present comparatively little 

 has been done in apple growing in 

 the west. The varieties grown are 

 confined almost exclusively to the hardier 

 Russian sorts. Of summer and early fall, 

 the following varieties are recommended : 

 Duchess of Oldenburg, well known; 

 Charlamoff, a variety highly recommend- 

 ed by the Minnesota Hort'l Society for 

 western planting, resembling Duchess, 

 but a little later; Barovinka, another 

 variety resembling Duchess; Blushed 

 Calville, a variety resembling in appear- 

 ance Yellow Transparent ; and Teof esky 

 is grown to some extent in the west. 



Of late fall and winter varieties, 

 Hibernal is recommended as being the 

 best on account of its great hardiness. 

 The trees are productive and the fruits 

 of fair quality. Wealthy may be grown 

 in some parts of the province, but is 

 scarcely hardy enough for western 

 planting. Patten's Greening, a variety 

 recently introduced and highly recom- 

 mended by Minnesota hort'l societies, 

 is frequently mentioned. Anism and 

 Simbriske, Nos. 1 and 9, are also recom- 

 mended. 



Crabapples seem to be standing west- 

 em climate very well, and a number of 

 varieties are grown. Transcendent, 

 Hyslop, Martha, Whitney, Virginia, and 

 Tonka grow well and give fairly good 

 returns. 



Tree planting on the plains is quite 

 a different proposition from planting in 

 Ontario or the east. Little can be done 

 without first providing suitable wind- 

 breaks for protection of the trees against 

 the cold, searching winds which sweep 

 over the west. The form of the tree 

 also must be greatly modified to enable 

 it to withstand the rigorous winds which 

 prevail in the west. The trees are 

 headed back in order to develop a low, 

 bushy form which seems to enable them 

 to winter much better than where the 

 trees are allowed to develop a wide open 

 top. 



Plum culture is attended with but a 

 moderate amount of success. A few 

 of the heady sorts can be grown and 

 ripened under western conditions. The 

 following varieties are recommended for 

 western planting: Cheney, Aitken, Wy- 

 ant, Forest Garden, Surprise, and 

 Bicksley. The best results are obtained 

 by growing in protected locations and by 

 keeping the trees well headed back. 



Bush fruits, such as currants, rasp- 

 berries and gooseberries, may be grown 

 with good success with ordinary cultiva- 

 tion and moderate winter protection. 

 The following is a good commercial 

 list: Red raspberries; Shipper's Pride, 

 Loudon, Ironclad, Cuthbert, Phila- 

 delphia, Kenyon, Turner, Marlboro; 

 black raspberries, Gregg, Older, Ohio; 

 yellow, Golden Queen; red currants. 



Stewart, Cherrv, Versailles, Victoria, 

 Raby Castle, Red Dutch, Fay's Prolific ; 

 black currants. Black Beauty, Black 

 Champion, Crandall, Black Naples; 

 white currants, White Grape, White 

 Dutch; gooseberries, Gothland, Hough- 

 ton, Downing, Smith's Improved, Cham- 

 pion. 



Strawberries, when given proper cul- 

 tivation and careful mulching, give good 

 returns and are one of the most profit- 

 able fruit crops that western farmers 

 can grow. The old and well-tried 

 varieties seem to be most in favor. 

 The following list will give a good idea 

 of the kinds grown : Strawberries, Sharp- 

 less, Bederwood, Crescent, Wilson, 

 Brandy- wine. Senator Dunlop, Glen 

 Mary, Warfield, and Haverland. 



Renovating' an Old OrcKard 



I am trying to work over and fix up an orchard. 

 It is a comparatively young orchard, but has 

 been neglected, neither pruned nor sprayed; 

 hence, there are quite a number of pests infest- 

 ing it. A number of trees have patches on them 

 resembling dry whitewash. It may be a scale 

 of some kind. These s]X3ts vary from one and a 

 half inches to three inches long, and one and a 

 half inches to two inches wide, mostly on the 

 trunks. Would it be advisable to apply whale 

 oil soap or Bordeaux mixture? 1 never saw an 

 orchard where so many of the trees had spurs 

 from one and a half inches to three inches long 

 all along the main branches. These should be 

 cut off should they not ? They are very thick and 

 have numerous annual rings on them. The 

 orchard is 10 or 12 years old. — K. W. S., Lan- 

 caster, Ont. 



With regard to the neglected orchard 

 at Lancaster, I might say that one of 

 the best ways of invigorating the trees 

 is by pruning, so that I should advise 

 the thorough pruning of the trees, not 

 by the removal of many large branches 

 — as in the colder parts of the country 

 this is not a wise practice, as disease may 

 set in — but thinning out the smaller 

 branches from the outside of the tree. 

 If possible, the sod should be broken up 

 and the orchard put imder a good state 

 of cultivation. I fancy that the patches 

 which are said to resemble whitewash 

 must be due to lichens or fungous growth 

 on the trees. I would advise giving the 

 trees a thorough spraying early in April 

 with a lime wash, made in the propor- 

 tion of one pound of lime to a gallon of 

 water, and sprayed on the trees from 

 top to bottom, making two applications, 

 the second as soon as the first becomes 

 dr}'. This will have a very beneficial 

 effect on the trees, cleaning them tip in 

 good shape. In addition to the lime- 

 wash, the trees should be thoroughly 

 sprayed with Bordeaux mixture and 

 Paris green, beginning just before the 

 flower buds open, but if the lime-wash 

 is not used, Bordeaux mixture should 

 be applied just as the leaf buds are 

 breaking. Whale-oil soap need not be 



used unless there are aphis on the trees- 

 Long spurs on the main branches should 

 not be removed, as these are the ones 

 which bear the fruit. The ring-like 

 appearance on the spurs is quite natural 

 on old spurs. If possible, manure should 

 be plowed imder when breaking up 

 the sod. — Answered by W. T. Macoun, 

 Horticulturist, C.E.F., Ottawa. 



XKe Apple ApHis 



Last year the apple aphis did much damage 

 in my orchard. Both fruit and foliage were in- 

 jured by them. I sprayed several times with 

 Bordeaux mixture, which was not intended to 

 affect the aphis but to keep diseases in check. 

 Please tell me how best to combat this pest? — 

 H. B. S., Shediac, N.B. 



This pest has been very abundant in 

 New Brunswick and Nova Scotia or- 

 chards for the past two years, and is 

 capable of doing much injury by sucking 

 the juices from the young buds and the 

 leaves. There are three effective rem- 

 edies: (1) Tobacco and soap wash, 

 made by dissolving two pounds whale- 

 oil soap, or four pounds ordinary soap, 

 in two or three gallons of a strong decoc- 

 tion of tobacco stems or leaves, and 

 adding water to make 50 or 60 gallons. 

 (2) Whale-oil soap soltttion, one pound 

 to six gallons of water. (.3) Kerosene 

 emulsion solution, prepared by dissolv- 

 ing half a pound soap in a gallon of hot 

 water, then adding two gallons coal oil 

 and churning violently until a thorough 

 creamy emulsion is obtained. In the 

 application use one part of this emul- 

 sion to 12 parts of water. It is advis- 

 able that the first application, by spray- 

 ing, should be made just as the buds are 

 opening, and the second and third ap- 

 plications at intervals of two or three 

 weeks. — Answered by Prof. W. Loch- 

 head, Macdonald College. 



Transplanting Currants 



Is it advisable to transplant cunant bushes? 

 — S. H. M., Montreal. 



Currant bushes are hardy and bear 

 transplanting well. It is not profitable 

 or advisable, howeve , to transplant old 

 bushes or those that are overgrown. If 

 your bushes are comparatively small or 

 have been kept regularly pruned, they 

 may be transplanted easily and without 

 danger. When doing so, have the holes 

 that are to receive them prepared in 

 advance and see that the roots on re- 

 n'oval are covered with wet sacking or 

 other material to keep them moist and 

 not exposed to the wind. Should the 

 bushes be beyond their prime, it would 

 be better to take cuttings of the young 

 growth and propagate new bushes. 



Pruning in early spring, before growth 

 begins, induces wood growth. 



Shrivelled trees may be made plump 

 before planting by burying tops and 

 all in earth for several da vs. 



