216 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



nuich will not be attempted the first 

 year. In the past, several local asso- 

 ciations have sent agents tf> the north- 

 west and other markets. It is possible 

 that next year the Provincial Associa- 

 tion will appoint agents to represent 

 all the local ones. In the meantime, 

 the officers will be acquiring informa- 

 tion regarding the possibilities. 



LEADING BUYERS AND GROWERS MEET 



A( the close of the meeting a number 

 of leading buyers and shippers, and a 

 representative of leading steamship 

 lines, including some from Great Brit- 

 ain, met the growers and discussed 

 matters pertaining to crop prospects 

 and sales. Their names are as follows: 

 R. J. Graham, of Belleville; Eben 

 James, Toronto, representing Woodall 



&Co., Liverpool, Boyd Barrow & Co., 

 Glasgow, M. Isaacs & Sons, Limited, 

 IvOndon; P'rank Hamilton, of Frank 

 Hamilton &Co., Liverpool; A. S. Chapin, 

 Toronto, representing Thompson & 

 Mathieson, Glasgow, Henry Levi, Lon 

 don, D. Crossley & Sons, Liverpcxjl 

 and Manchester, and North of England 

 Fruit Brokers, Manchester; Fl T. Bo- 

 land, Toronto, representing The Robert 

 Reford Co., Limited, of the Thomson 

 Line, the Donaldson Line, Lord Line, 

 etc.; Fred. Barker, Toronto, represent- 

 ing J. C. Houghton & Co., Liverpool 

 and London, Thomas Russell, Glas 

 gow, J. and H. Goodwin, Manchester; 

 and A. E. W. Peterson. Toronto, repre- 

 senting Jas. Adam, Son & Co., Liverpool, 

 Jas. Lindsay & Son. Limited, Glasgow, 

 Northard & Lowe, London, and Man- 



chester Fruit Brokers, Limited, .Man- 

 (iliester. 



The fact that an organization of this 

 kind has been formed, and that the 

 members were met by leading men in 

 the trade at the initial meeting, is an 

 imp(jrtant step in the direction of 

 placing the fruit trade of Canada on 

 a much more satisfactory basis. The 

 various local cooperative associations 

 have done good work, but have been 

 handicapped somewhat by lack of unity 

 and, therefore, much may be expected 

 from their combined efforts through a 

 provincial association. It will be of 

 value, not only to the affiliated asso- 

 ciations and to the province of On- 

 tario, but it will have, also, a marked 

 effect on the progress of fruit matters 

 all over the'Dominion. 



A.pples on Sandy Soil 



THE following communication was 

 received by The Horticulturist 

 from Mr. Newton Cossitt, Grimsby, 

 Ont.: "I have an apple orchard that 

 does not bear fruit. Eight years ago 

 it produced a very good crop, but little or 

 none before or since. The trees are 20 

 years old, are Spys, Baldwins, and R.I. 

 Greenings, in about equal proportions, 

 and are planted on sandy soil. The 

 trees blossom|profuselv, but fail to set 

 fruit. 



"I have tried various schemes to in- 

 duce fruitfulness. The land has been 

 liberally treated with manure, including 

 20 bushels of wood ashes per acre. I 

 have plowed down four crops of clover 

 within the past eight years. Some 

 years the orchard is left in sod, and 

 other years kept under cultivation. 

 The trees have been well pruned, some 

 times in winter and other times in June. 

 I was told to girdle the trees, and tried 

 it on one. It died. Some person 

 advised me to severelv head back. 

 Two years ago I did this with five trees; 

 as yet there are no results. A neighbor 

 suggested that I prune the trees off close 

 to the ground, and I have almost con- 

 cluded this is the best scheme. However, 

 I decided to ask The Canadian Horti- 

 culturist or its readers for a less heroic 

 solution of the problem." 



The question resolves itself into this: 

 Canfapple trees be grown successfully 

 on sandy land? 



In reply to the question Mr. W. T. 

 Macoun, horticulturist at the Central 

 Experimental Farm, Ottawa, wrote as 

 follows: "Some of the best apples and 

 best crops of apples are produced on 

 sandy soils, although the Baldwins 

 succeed better on heavier land. Occa- 

 sionally a tree will bloom and not set 

 fruit from some apparently physiological 



cause even when the tree is making good 

 growth. 



'There are three causes of unfruitful- 

 ness in trees that bloom profusely but 

 do not set fruit. First — Lack of proper 

 pollenation. Some varieties of apples 

 are self-sterile or nearly self-sterile, and 

 need the pollen of some other variety 

 blooming at the same time to pollenize 

 it and cause fruit to set. In the present 

 case we should have concluded that the 

 unfruitfulness was due to lack of proper 

 pollenation if there had been only one 

 variety, and that the Spy, as this variety 

 is practically self-sterile, and being a 

 late bloomer requires a late blooming 

 variety blooming near it, for the best 

 results. An isolated orchard of Spy 

 trees we know of bore little or no fruit 

 on this very account. Even in the present 

 case we should not expect much fruit 

 from the Spy unless there are some later 

 blooming kinds than Baldwins or Green- 

 ing near it. 



"Second ^Injury from frost or other 

 weather conditions. It is not, however, 

 likely that these have affected the flowers 

 at GrinTsby. 



"Third — Injury from the insects 

 known as the Eve-Spotted Bud Moth, and 

 the Cigar and Pistol Case Bearers. The 

 injury from these insects is often very 

 great, and it is done at a time when one 

 is not usually looking for it, namely, 

 just when the buds are opening. This 

 is the most probable cause of unfruit- 

 fulness. A tree may bloom profusely 

 and yet a large proportion of the flowers' 

 may have been rendered useless for 

 setting fruit by the Bud Moth which 

 cuts through the buds and destroys the 

 essential part of the flower. 



"In the various experiments which 

 have been tried to produce fruitfidness, 

 no mention is made of spraying, and we 



should strongly advise as a last resource, 

 if this has not already been done, the 

 thorough spraying of the trees with 

 Bordeaux mixture and Paris green, as 

 there is probably injury from the Black 

 Spot fungus as well. The two most 

 important sprayings are just when the 

 leaf buds are opening and shortly before 

 the blossoms open. A third spraying 

 should be given soon after the flowers 

 fall." 



A NOVA SCOTIA OPINION 



The matter was also referred to Mr. 

 R. W. Starr of Wolfville, X.S., one of 

 the successful orchardists in that prov- 

 ince. He replied as follows: 



"It is impossible to say why these 

 trees do not bear fruit. It would seem 

 strange to us in this part of Nova Scotia 

 to find an orchard in the condition in 

 which Mr. Cossitt claims his to be, con- 

 tinuously refusing to bear. Possibly 

 overproduction of wood growth, in- 

 duced by excess of nitrogen, and severe 

 pruning may be the main cause; or the 

 soil being sandy may lack p)otash, lime, 

 or phosphates. Experiments with these 

 on different portions of the orchard may 

 solve the question. At the same time 

 I would withhold barn manure and prune 

 no more than was absolutely necessary. 



"As to the question of successfully 

 growing orchards on sandy land : If he 

 can grow strong, healthy trees, there 

 should be no soil reason why they 

 should not bear fruit. If they do not, we 

 must look further for cause — probably 

 to some climatic influence, such as cold, 

 wet weather or frost, during the time 

 of blossoming, sufficient to injure the 

 pollen, or prevent its distribution by 

 insects or wind. All fruit blossoms 

 require a certain amount of heat and 

 dryness of atmosphere at the season 



