S46 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



ashamed to put his name on apples it 

 is a very good sign that they would 

 better be kept at home and not sold 

 at all. We noticed last season a lot 

 of poor apples branded with the name 

 of a Methodist minister deceased for 

 many years, and having no descendant 

 in the land. He was a dear old man, 

 and would not have packed bad apples 

 for the world. I knew him well, and 

 have no doubt he is in the better land. 

 We wish he had taken his stencil along 

 with him, and several other bogus ones 

 still in use. Some cases have arisen 

 which seem to prove that grade marks 

 are sometimes changed in second hands. 

 It is well that growers when selling 

 their apples are now compelled to 

 brand them plainly No. 1, 2 or ,3, as 

 it was all too easy to add an X, par- 

 ticularly when tempted by a super- 

 fluity of No. 2's. 



In conclusion we would say that we 

 repudiate the idea that our apples are 

 fraudulently packed to any great ex- 

 tent. Poor apples in plenty have been 

 shipped, some that a well-bred and 

 self-respecting hog might resist to eat. 

 But we have found very little over- 

 facing or wilful intention to deceive, the 

 apples in nearly every case being marked 

 to indicate that thev were not a sham. 



THe Keeping Qualities of Apples 



FresH Grapes in W^inter 



A novel method of keeping grapes 

 fresh, for marketing during the winter, 

 is followed in the vineyards of France. 

 When cutting the grapes, a piece of the 

 vine five or six inches in length is left 

 attached to the bunch. The cellar in 

 which they are to be stored should have 

 a low uniform temperature. In it are 

 placed a number of bottles, wide necked 

 and filled with water. Into the water 

 are placed the vine stems, the bunches 

 hanging outside. 



Water is added to the bottles from 

 time to time to replace that lost in 

 evaporation through the stem and fruit. 

 In this way the grapes may be sold in the 

 winter as fresh as when cut in the fall; 

 and although thej^ come high, a ready 

 sale is alwavs found. 



Repairing BroKen Trees 



Fruit trees, when heavily loaded, are 

 often broken or split by the weight and 

 by the wind. This condition may be 

 remedied, when not too severe, bv 

 the following method : 



Bind the divided portion with gal- 

 vanized wire and draw them tight to- 

 gether by twisting the ends of the wire 

 with a stick. Cover the wounded sur- 

 faces with grafting wax, or other ma- 

 terial, to exclude air and the spores 

 of fungi. Wlien applying the wire, 

 do not wind around each limb separ- 

 ately, or you will cut off the circulation 

 of sap, and bring about the death of 

 one or more of the limbs. Trees that 

 are broken must be attended to at once. 



THK time of harvesting apples has 

 an effect on their keeping qualities. 

 There can be no definite time 

 advised. Each variet}', of course, has 

 its own particular season, but, also, each 

 is affected by various local conditions. 

 The degree of cultivation has a material 

 effect on the maturing of the fruit, apples 

 grown in highly cultivated orchards 

 ripening much earlier than those grown 

 on sod. Location is another potent 

 factor, as orchard;^ planted on hills will 

 ripen their fruit much earlier than those 

 in valleys. Soil also has its effect ; 

 apples grown on sandy soil ripening 

 eariier than on clay. There are many 

 similar factors; so, it is evident that a 

 definite date cannot be recommended 

 for harvesting. It is better, where long 

 keeping is desired, to pick the apples 

 early rather than to leave them hanging 

 on the tree until fully matured. Those 

 left late, however, are of better quality 

 and have better color than the ones that 

 are picked at an earlier stage. 



There is a great deal to be learned 

 regarding the keeping qualities of the 

 various apples, and of the best methods 

 of preserving them from decay. It is a 

 noticeable fact that where apples have 

 been picked from the same tree, at the 

 same time and underthe same conditions, 

 and have been packed in the same box or 



barrel, rot will affect s^jine of them much 

 quicker than others. There are different 

 reasons given for this, one of which is 

 that the apples on the outer side of the 

 tree mature earlier than those under 

 the shade of the foliage on the interior, 

 and consequently they are more apt to 

 decay first. Pickers are always cau- 

 tioned not to bruise the fruit for fear 

 of rot. It has been noticed, however, 

 that apples on the tops of barrels, bruised 

 in pressing down the head, did not decay 

 at all, the bruised portion often being 

 composed of a corky substance that 

 seemed incapable of rot. Where they 

 did start to rot it was on some other 

 part of the fruit. It is not merely neces- 

 sary, in storage, to keep the apples as 

 cool as possible without freezing, as we 

 are so often taught. Proper care must 

 be taken to pick the fruit at exactly the 

 right time, and to put in cold storage 

 immediately after picking. 



Never allow apples to stand in piles 

 or in barrels in the orchards. The 

 rapid changes of temperature from the 

 heat of noon to the chill of midnight 

 causes them to ripen rapidly and is fatal 

 to their long keeping. Soil and location 

 also have an effect in this respect. The 

 keeping quality of apples is a subject 

 that should be studied carefully if success- 

 ful apple growing is an object. 



-A. Tree of Many Fruits 



Frances ^^ayland Glen, BrooKlyn, N.Y. 



FORTY years ago I had in my garden 

 more Tallman Sweet apple trees than 

 I wanted, and less summer and au- 

 tumn fruit than I desired. I grafted upon 

 a Tallman Sweet 12 summer and au- 

 tumn varieties, as near as I can now re- 

 call, Red Astrachan, Early Joe, Early 

 Harvest, Early Strawberry, Benoni, 

 Summer Pearmain, Sweet Bough, Au- 

 tumn Strawberry, Gravenstein, Jersej' 

 Sweet, and Fameuse. After the buds 

 upon the grafts began to grow, I cut 

 off all but one bud of each variety, 

 and left that bud to form the branch. 

 The tree was well fed with stable man- 

 ure and was healthy, and bore fine 

 fruit of each variety. 



I left some of the branches of the 

 original Tallman vSweet so that I had 

 13 varieties upon the tree. All of these 

 varieties received such food as came 

 to them from the earth through the 

 same trunk, and not until the sap 

 reached the leaves of the different 

 varieties was there any change. In 

 the leaves the sap met 13 varieties of 

 lungs. There the sap met the air, sun- 

 light, dew and rain, and was converted 

 into sweet, sub-acid and acid, and into 

 red, striped, green and yellow apples 

 of all shades, some ripening in the 



latter part of July, others in August 

 September, October and November 

 Does not this fact prove that the leaves 

 are the lungs of the tree, and must 

 be kept in a healthy condition for 

 the tree to produce good fruit or to 

 five? 



-Many times my plum trees, full of 

 fine fruit, have been attacked with 

 leaf blight, as we used to call it, and 

 the fruit shnmk, withered and fell to 

 the ground. We know now that it 

 was an insect that produced the leaf 

 blight. We thought then that it was 

 something in the condition of the air 

 or the sun's raj-s beyond our control. 

 The insect destroA'ed the lung of the 

 tree (its leaves), as bacteria destroy 

 our lungs when we die from tuber- 

 culosis. 



Cherry pits intended for planting ■ 

 should not be allowed to dry much ■ 

 after removal from the fruit. They 

 should be washed clean and dried 

 sufficiently in the shade to prevent 

 mould, then mixed with clean, moist 

 sand and buried in a dry place, cov- 

 ering with a few inches of earth, over 

 which may be placed boards or flat 

 stones to keep out mice. 



