THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



21 



lieen winter -killed and completes any work that 

 may have been overlooked at the previous 

 prunings. 



Mr. T. G. Ruddell, of Oakville, has five acres 

 of red raspberries that he grows in hedge rows. 

 His method of pruning is somewhat similar to 

 the above-mentioned, except tliat instead of 

 leaving six canes to a hill, he thins out so that 

 the new canes will stand about 10 inches apart 

 in the row, and in spring, he is particular to cut 

 back to a uniform height, about three feet, so 

 " that the hedge row will be level and neat in 

 appearance. Mr. Ruddell grows the Marlboro 

 and Cuthbert most extensively; for black caps, 

 he plants Souhegan, Palmer, Lucas and Gregg. 

 He also has a large plantation of blackberries, 

 made up largely of Snyder for main crop, and 

 Worchester Thomless, a productive, hardy sort, 

 medium size, mid-season, and with smooth, 

 thomless canes. 



STRAWBERRIES 



In Oakville a large area is devoted to the 

 culture of strawberries. Mr. Ruddell has 10 

 acres, seven of which consists of Lovetts, which 

 he considers the best commercial berry. It is 

 quite large, of dark color, firm, rather tart in 

 flavor — a good point in a shipping berry, and 

 it is one of the very few varieties that will hang 

 on the vines after ripening for three or four 

 days without deteriorating. 



Mr. W. F. W, Fisher, of Burhngton, is another 

 Strawberry enthusiast. He said: "The Wil- 

 liams is the best and most profitable variety I 

 have ever grown. It is an excellent shipper 

 and can be cropped for two years without dim- 

 inishing in size or yield." Among other varie- 

 ties suggested for his locality are Bederwood, 

 medium size, very prolific and early; and Sam- 

 ple, a pistillate variety, large, good color, pro- 

 ductive and a good all-round berry for market 

 purposes. Mr Fisher believes in cropping his 

 plantation twice. In his own words: "Whether 

 one or two fruitings should be taken off de- 

 pends largely upon the availability and cost of 

 labor. I myself harvest two crops. I keep the 

 soil in good condition and well fed, and when 

 planting I select the best plants for the new 

 plantation. The second cropping is always 

 earlier in season than the first one and this is 

 important in this district," 



A NEW SYSTEM 



Mr. W. A. Emory, of Aldershot, president 

 Ontario Vegetable Growers' Association, has 

 adopted a new system of growing strawberries 

 which he calls the "hedge row system." A 

 stde-by-side test with the old "matted row" 

 system has shown Mr. Emery that the new sys- 

 tem is the better one. It requires more work 

 than the old method, but returns justify the 

 labor as the profits are doubled. In the "hedge 

 row" system, the rows are kept as narrow as 

 possible; the. plants are .set at intervals of 2 J 

 feet in rows 3i feet apart. Each of the mother 

 plants are allowed to set four new plants, two 

 on either side and the rest of the runners are 

 cut off. The earliert runners are allowed to 

 root so as to secure strong, healthy growth be- 

 fore winter. Among the many advantages 

 claimed for this system by Mr. Emory are: 1. 

 It is a happy medium between the matted row 

 and hill systems and combines the good qual- 

 ities of both. 2. It does away with what i.s 

 always lacking in vigor of plant and in yield of 

 fruit in the centre of matted rows. 3. All the 

 productive effort of the hedge row is brought 

 to maturity. 4. Each hedge row will produce 

 twice the yield of matted rows. 5. Fruit is 

 larger and better colored than from matted 

 rows. 6. Plants are stronger and freer from 

 disease. 7. Fruit can be picked without in- 

 juring plants and crushing over-hanging berries. 

 8. The plants can be cropped oftener than when 

 grown in matted rows. 



I used to go in for general farming but now 



grow fruit, and find that it pays better than 



wheat at $1 per bushel, even if we don't get a 



frop of peaches more than every third year. — 



C. S. Nelles, Grimsby, Ont.) 



i POULTRY DEPT. i 



H* Conducttsd by T^ 



f S. SKort. Otta-wa J 



nky^~>> «-)M^^^ na|^ ^~)«J%>s /1M%>« 



JANUARY is the critical month for the 

 poultry keeper. The results of last sea- 

 son's matings and hatches can be seen at a 

 glance, and whether or not any of the young 

 stock are fit for the show ring. The birds are 

 now mature and in full plumage, defects in 

 which are apparent. Notes can be taken for 

 hel]) in mating next spring. April and May 

 hatched pullets should now be laying. If 

 breeding for winter eggs, the pullets laying ear- 

 Hest should be marked so that they may be 

 used for breeding next season. There were a 

 good many flocks of poultry composed of the 

 following: old hens of various ages, cockerels 

 and pullets, kept together in the same pen, and 

 the result is misery to them all. There are but 

 two excuses for keeping hens of the American 

 (Plymouth Rocks and Wyandottes) and Asiatic 

 (Brahmas and Langshans, etc.) breeds after 

 they are two and a half years old. The first is 

 — if the bird is a high-class exhibition specimen 

 or breeder of exhibition specimens, and second- 

 ly, if she is an exceptionally good layer and 

 likely to be a breeder of good layers. That 

 she is a splendid sitter and mother is the reason 

 given for keeping some scaly-legged spurred old 

 veterans. This is not a good reason. 



Seventy-five per cent, of all the hens that 

 cluck make just as good sitters and mothers the 

 first time they cluck as they will at any time in 

 their career. The old hens should have been 

 taken out in October or November, and the 

 pullets would' have done better. The cock- 



erels are sufficiently mature \o select any birds 

 needed for breeders; the rest should be dis- 

 posed of and in the nieantii'it kept separate 

 from the females from which ^^inter eggs are 

 expected. 



The poultry houses should bt: made as light 

 as possible. Overcrowding should be avoided. 

 Each bird should have eight or len square feet 

 of floor space. Two pens with 2 i fowl in each 

 are better than one pen with 50. Ventilate. 

 Dry pure cold air is better than damp vitiated 

 warm air. The subject of ventilation will be 

 dealt with at more length in our next issue. 

 The successful production of winter eggs and 

 the hatching of chicks from eggs laid in win- 

 ter quarters, depend more on proper ventila- 

 tion than any other factor. 



Note — In adding a poultry column to The 

 Horticulturist, the management hope that 

 it will prove of interest to our many readers. 

 The addition is in the way of enlarging the 

 usefulness of this magazine. The poultry col- 

 umn will be devoted to seasonable and general 

 information, including the care, housing, breed- 

 ing and exhibiting; in fact, poultry keeping in all 

 its branches. Believing that many of our sub- 

 scribers keep poultry in a small way as much 

 for pleasure as for profit, this column will be 

 conducted more for their help and interest than 

 for the expert fancier or large breeder who 

 raises poultry for a livelihood. — (Editor). 



The manager of the Oakville Fruit Growers, 

 Limited, the co-operative fruit growers' associa- 

 tion at Oakville, that was described in the No- 

 vember Horticulturist, desires to explain that 

 while the fruit of the growers is stored in bins 

 before it is graded, as stated in The Horti- 

 culturist, the apples are not stored in bulk, but 

 kept in barrels in a separate compartment for 

 each grower. The price paid by the associa- 

 tion for barrels this year was 33 cents. 



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cty. writes Nov. 25th, 1905 -" You have conferred a great boon on the American Fruit Grower." 



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