174 



tin; f \.\aj>ian horticulturist 



Mr. M. F. Rittenhouse 



\\'hose name stands for generosity and l>cr:cvolence 

 in his native county of Lincoln. 



red clay. The remainder of this farm 

 is composed of clay loam, some 27 

 acres, incumbent upon a heavier sub- 

 soil about 15 inches deep. 



The contour of the Harris farm of 

 44 acres is more level, in fact, almost 

 all level, with an occasional knoll. 

 On this farm there is also about 

 four acres of red clay. The largest 

 part of the surface, however, is clay 

 loam, about 30 acres, but it is shal- 

 low and lies mostly on a red clay 

 subsoil at an average depth of nine 

 inches. There are about 10 acres of 

 sandv loam, six acres of which is more 

 or less in a block, and four acres scat- 

 tered over the farm in sandy knolls. 

 The light soil averages 15 inches deep, 

 and is incumbent upon a clayey subsoil. 



The character of the soil on the two 

 farms, as examined and estimated by 

 a representative of The Horticul- 

 TtTRiST, may be summed up as follows: 



Sandy loam, in blocks 8^ acres 



Sandy loam, scattered 10 j 



Clay loam 57 



Red clay 8i 



Black muck, clayey 4 



Bush land IJ 



90 acres 



From this it will be seen that clav 

 loam constitutes 65 per cent, of the soil, 

 and sandy loam a little over 20 per cent. 

 While the farm, as a whole, is an ex- 

 cellent one for experimental purposes, 

 yet the percentage of light soil for the 

 culture of peaches, English cherries, 

 small fruits, etc., is too small. This de- 

 fect can be obviated by the purchase 

 of the land across the road, on which 

 Mr. Rittenhouse has given the govern- 

 ment an option, where there is at least 

 75 acres of excellent light sandy soil, 

 from one foot to three feet in depth, 



and lying upon a subsoil also sandy, 

 although slightly heavier in texture. 

 Since the acceptance by the govern- 

 ment of these farms, for the purposes 

 of the station, several deputations of 

 practical fruit growers have visited the 

 jilace, and have expressed themselves 

 as being, on the whole, well satisfied 

 with the property. 



OTHER ADVANTAGES 



Immediately adjoining it is the Rit- 

 tenhouse school and school grounds, 

 which are models of their kind. Across 

 the road is "Victoria Hall," splendidlv 

 equipped and built for public meetings 

 and entertainments. Both these hand- 

 some structures have been donated to 

 the section by Mr. Rittenhouse. On 

 one side of the hall are large, well-built 

 sheds for horses and carriages. There 

 is an excellent system of waterworks 

 in connection. The buildings are light- 

 ed with acetylene gas. The grounds 

 around and about the hall and school- 

 house are well laid out and planted with 

 trees, shrubberv and flowers. Nearby 



is also a small public park for the use 

 of picnic parties, and others who de- 

 sire it. 



Mr. Rittenhouse has agreed to give 

 the farm the use of \'ictoria Hall for 

 meetings, classes, etc. The pumping 

 station will supply water to the farm 

 and buildings at cost price. It is un- 

 derstood that Mr, Rittenhouse intends 

 to macadamize the road on the town 

 line from the lake to the stone road 

 under the mountain; and probably he 

 will lav a cement walk from the lake 

 to the'G.T.R. tracks. 



PRESENT EQUIPMENT 



There is now growing on these farms 

 a few small plantations of various fruits. 

 On the first farm that was given there 

 are about one acre of grapes, two acres 

 of apple orchard, one and one-half 

 acres of pear orchard, and a couple of 

 acres of plum trees, the latter of no 

 value. On the Harris farm there are 

 two acres of grapes, nine acres of apple 

 orchard and about one acre of peach 

 trees. The buildings now on the place 



Plan of a Portion of the New Experiment Station 



This diagram is a fair representation of the contour of the first farm given to the Ontario Government by 

 Mr. M. F. Rittenhouse, of Chicago, for an experiment station in the Niagara district. It was drawn before Thb 

 Horticulturist examined the premises as reported in this issue. We believe that a close examination will show 

 that the area marked sandy loam in the diagram, is largely clay loam instead. The area of red clay is 4 or 5 

 acres, not 4005 acres, and in the left upper comer the word "South" should be "Louth.' 



