240 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



Octol)t'r. 1907 



Grapes Near LaKe Huron 

 The engraving on the front cover of 

 this issue illustrates a thirty-year reader 

 of The Canadian Horticulturist, in 

 the person of Mr. W. Warnock, picking 

 grapes in his garden at Goderich, Ont., 

 which is on the eastern shore of Lake 

 Huron. Mr. Warnock has nearly forty 



without fruit and without being nipped. 

 These are allowed to run over the top 

 wire so as to mature leaves sufficient 

 to recuperate the roots from the severe 

 pruning and from over-bearing, which 

 tends to shorten the life of the vine. 



"The annual pruning is done as soon 

 as the leaves fall. T prune all canes at 



The Display of Grapes at the Niagara District Horticultural Exhibition was Excellent 



varieties of grapes, many of which do 

 well in that locality. In a recent let- 

 ter to The Canadian Horticui<turist 

 Mr. Warnock states that he owes much 

 of his success and pleasure in garden- 

 ing and fruit growing to The Canadian 

 Horticulturist. He wrote also: "I 

 consider The Horticulturist indis- 

 pensable to a complete and progressive 

 life in horticulture. I have gained so 

 much profit and pleasure through read- 

 ing the experiences of correspondents 

 and writers in The Canadian Hor- 

 ticulturist, that I feel it may interest 

 others to learn of my experience in 

 growing grapes- at Goderich. 



"My grapes are planted ten feet 

 apart in rows. A post is placed be- 

 tween each vine and on these, five 

 wires are strung, the first being ten 

 inches from the ground. On the first 

 wire are trained two arms five feet 

 long, one in either direction. From 

 this low-trained parent vine grow the 

 fruit-bearing canes each year. As they 

 grow, they are fastened to the upper 

 wires. When the canes produce four 

 or five leaves above the upper bunch 

 of grapes, the top is nipped off. All 

 lateral growth, also, is nipped. I allow 

 one or two canes to grow however, 



a point one inch above the first good 

 bud above the parent vine. In less 

 favorite localities than Goderich, it 

 would be necessary to lay down the 

 parent vine and cover with earth be- 

 fore the ground freezes in the fall. 

 The covering would be removed as 

 soon as the ground thaws the following 

 spring, and then the vine would have 

 to be tied once more to the wires. At 

 one time, I covered my vines, but during 

 the past ten years, I have not done so, 

 and have not lost any of them by win- 

 ter freezing. The canes mature more 

 perfectly near the lake than they do 

 inland. The deep water of the lake 

 tempers the climate of the shore and 

 keeps off frosts. I have grown thirtx- 

 two ounce bunches on Wilder and 

 Ea.ton vines, and twenty-six ounce 

 bunches on Campbell's Early and Aga- 

 wam. This year the fruit looks well, 

 but is late in ripening." 



Cranberries should be picked this 

 month, after which the bog should be 

 covered with water a foot deep to pre- 

 vent the plants from heaving, to pro- 

 tect them from frost and to drown out 

 bugs and insects. Cranberries should 

 be grown more extensively in Canada. 



PacKing Apples in Boxes 



A. McNeill, Chief, Fruit Division, Ottawa 



Never attempt to fill a space with an 

 apple decidedly smaller than the rest 

 of the apples being packed. If the row 

 cannot be tightly filled by turning the 

 apples slightly, it can be assumed that 

 the wrong style of pack has been chosen, 

 and another must be tried. A partial 

 exception to this rule is sometimes seen 

 in the case of the diagonal pack, even in 

 the work of good packers. It is one of 

 the characteristics of a good packer that 

 he almost instinctively chooses the right 

 pack . 



It sometimes seems necessary for be- 

 ginners, and indeed for all but the most 

 skilled, to deviate somewhat from the 

 regtilar pack. For instance, in a four- 

 tier box, straight pack, it is occasionally 

 convenient to pack the second, or the 

 second and third layers on the side, and 

 the others on the end. Such expedients 

 must be a confession of partial failure, 

 and only to be tolerated till more skill 

 is acquired. 



In selecting a style of pack to suit a 

 particular size of apple, the beginner will 

 find it a great help to make a prelimin- 

 ary trial with a single row of apples 

 across the end of the box, then from the 

 bottom to the top, and lastly from end 

 to end, maintaining the apples in tht 

 same position for the three dimensions. 



The art of packing can only be learned 

 by packing. It requires a deft hand and 

 a well-trained eye, so that slight differ- 

 ences of size and shape may be recog- 



Apples in Boxes at Canadian National 



Note llie difference in lengtli. Tlie one in foreground 

 was not legal in size and it received a prize. 



nized and utilized to fill the box, not 

 only full of apples, but so tightly packed 

 that the box may be put on end with lid 

 off, and yet no apples fall out. This is 

 rather a high standard, but one that 

 should be aimed at by all wh(j expect to 

 become proficient in the art. 



Windfall apples should be destroyed • 

 or fed as soon as possible. 



