^Zid 



T H K C A N A D I A N H O R T 1 C U L T U R I S T 



toxin has been discovered that will cure 

 the mice, and it is anticipated thai the 

 toxin can be so adjusted as to cure 

 cancer in human beings. These and 

 other experiments of a similar nature 

 show that diseases in man, animals, 

 plants and trees are intimately connect- 

 ed and related. 



My mother said to me when a lad 

 working in the garden : ' 'You cannot 

 cheat a cow, hen, hill of corn, or a fruit 

 tree." Sh-? said that there was a law 



common to aninials and plants. The 

 roots of a tree are its stomach, where 

 it takes in food and digests it. The 

 leaves are its lungs, where it takes in 

 that which gives life to its sap or blood. 

 The tree must have healthy leaves just 

 as a man must have healthy lungs. 

 The trees in our streets are gradually 

 dying because insects destroy their 

 leaves by midsummer. They have less 

 and less vitality each year, and finally 

 die as a person, with consumption, or 



are winter killed because too feeble to 

 resist the cold. 



The doctors will organize a new pro- 

 fession and can render most beneficent 

 service to the lover of trees, fruits and 

 vegetables. We must learn to treat 

 young trees and plants like children, 

 study their habits, likes and dislikes, 

 temperament, needs, appetites and ail- 

 ments, and find remedies for their ill- 

 nesses. They are more human than 

 manv of us realize. 



A Day AvitK MarKet Gardeners 



EARIvY in August, an editorial rep- 

 resentative of The Canadian 

 Horticulturist accompanied 

 Prof. R. Harcourt, of the Ontario Agri- 

 cultural College, Guelph, on a short 

 trip to the market gardens of Hum- 

 ber Bay and Weston, near Toronto. 

 The main purpose of the trip was to 

 observe the behavior of certain fer- 

 tilizers, sent early in the season by Pro- 

 fessor Harcourt to different vegetable 

 growers for experimental work with 

 various kinds of vegetables. In a later 

 issue of The Horticulturist these and 

 subsequent observations on fertilizer 

 experiments will be published. At the 

 time of the trip, it was too early to 

 record results sufficiently accurate for 

 publication. 



The scope of the cooperative ex- 

 periments with fertilizers, as conducted 

 by Professor Harcourt, embraces work 

 with various fertilizers on tomatoes, 

 potatoes, onions, celery and other crops. 

 Should results show that fertilizers can 

 be used profitably as a partial substi- 

 tute for barnyard manure, the work 

 will be valuable. On the other hand, 

 should the application of these fertil- 

 izers show no results of value, the ex- 

 periments will be considered by grow- 

 ers as failures. 



One of the growers visited has had, 

 so far, no results. Already he is con- 

 demning the use of fertilizers, going so 

 far as to say that fertilizers are no 

 good, and that he would not paj' a 

 penny a pound for them. This man 

 is a skilful gardener; the general ap- 

 pearance of his crops show it. Yet, 

 he is condemning fertilizers as vo good. 

 There is a reason for it. 



The long-continued use of large quan- 

 tities of stable manure on market gar- 

 dens near large cities, has made the 

 soil unresponsive to the action of nitro- 

 genous fertilizers. In the Humber Bay 

 district, manure is used at the rate of 

 75 to 100 tons an acre. The soil is 

 excessively rich in organic matter and 

 in nitrogenous constituents. A soil 

 over rich in nitrogen does not require 

 a commercial nitrogenous fertilizer. Such 

 is the condition of affairs on the gar- 

 dens of Humber Bay. 



the use of fertilizers 



Before a market gardener can eco- 

 nomically invest much money in fer- 

 tilizers, and before he can intelligently 

 apply such to his soil, it is essential 

 that he consider the value and use of 

 fertilizers from all viewpoints. Soils 

 vary widely in their demand for fer- 

 tilizers. Gardeners cannot afford to 

 use commercial fertilizers at random ; 

 it is time they knew the reason why. 



Artificial fertiHzers, rightly used, are 

 a potent means of restoring the fer- 

 tility of soils deficient in one or more 

 elements. They are of value also to 

 start off the plants quickly in the 

 spring. The plant food is available, 

 and acts at once. 



For general use, it is usually ad- 

 visable to use one of the so-called 

 complete fertilizers. If a luxuriant 

 growth of stalk and foliage is wanted 

 rather than roots and fruit, an appli- 

 cation of nitrogen in some form usually 

 is advisable. On the other hand, if a 

 soil is producing stem and leaves at 

 the expense of fruit, nitrogenous fer- 

 tilizers should be used sparingly and 

 supplemented with potash and phos- 

 phoric acid. 



On some of the gardens visited by 

 Professor Harcourt, tomatoes were go- 

 ing too much to vine ; the crop of fruit 

 not only is lessened but also it is re- 

 tarded in ripening. Rapid growth of 

 vine, due to an over-supply of nitro- 

 genous manures, such as that from 

 the stable, retards the maturity of the 

 crop and, as a result, the advantage 

 of an early-market price is sometimes 

 lost. Further experiments will be con- 

 ducted by Professor Harcourt to de- 

 termine the practical value of this 

 well-known theory. 



A pointer on beets 



Besides the fertilizer question, other 

 items of interest to gardeners were 

 noted by the representative of The 

 Horticulturist. On the grounds of 

 Mr. T- W. Rush, Humber Bay, who 

 kindly drove Professor Harcourt and 

 The Horticulturist man from one 

 farm to another, a method of growing 

 beets was noted that mav be worth 



more general practice. Instead of thin- 

 ning out the beets to five or six inches 

 apart, as is often done, they are sown 

 thickly and not thinned at all. By 

 so doing they grow more tender and 

 smooth. Continual cropping is scarce- 

 ly perceptible, as the growth of the 

 beets fills up the spaces made by the 

 removals. By this means an enor- 

 mous quantity of beets can be har- 

 vested from an acre. It should be 

 noted, however, that this method can 

 be followed only on very rich soil. 



PLANTING early POTATOES 



Early potatoes are planted by Mr. 

 Rush on the level. They are planted 

 as soon as the weather is settled, about 

 April 15 to May 1. By planting them 

 onlv one and a half inches deep, larger 

 and earlier potatoes are secured. 



WHEN TO PLANT CAULIFLOWERS 



It was pointed out by one of the 

 gardeners visited that cauliflowers should 

 not be planted too early. Experience 

 shows that cauliflowers planted about 

 Mav 1 are ver\- unsatisfacton.- in 

 growth; about May 15, only fair; 

 while those planted about June 1 are 

 always the best. For prime heads, 

 the plants should grow quickly, but 

 the heads should form slowly. When 

 heading, best results are secured when 

 the weather is cool. 



ONIONS 



Many fine onion beds were seen. Mr. 

 Wm. Harris, Mr. Aymer and others 

 have large crops of good quality. The 

 ground is light, well pulverized, well 

 cultivated and rich. The leading varie- 

 ties are grown, such as Prize Taker, 

 Yellow Globe Danvers, vSouthport White 

 Globe, Dutch Sets, Barletta. etc. 



Speaking of marketing onions. Mr. 

 Rush said that there should be a defi- 

 nite trade bunch in all parts of the 

 country. Bunches of six each would 

 be better than bunches of three. Such 

 a trade bunch, universally adopted, 

 would do away with confusion that 

 now exists in market reports from the 

 different onion districts. 



SOME MARKET GARDEN TROUBLES 



Garden crops are subject to the dep- 

 redations of many insect and fungous 



* 



