CENTRAL EXPERIMENTAL FARM NOTES.— I 



HORTICULTURE is a promi- 

 nent division of the work 

 at the Central Experimental 

 Farm, as a result of which 

 there are many objects there to interest 

 lovers of trees, shrubs, fruits and flowers ; 

 and it seems unfortunate that so few 

 have the opportunity of seeing them. 

 Thinking it might prove profitable and 

 acceptable to readers of this magazine 

 who are unable to visit the Farm, or 

 who, if they do visit it, come but rarely, 

 it is proposed to contribute monthly 

 such notes on matters relating to Horti- 

 culture as may be deemed the most in- 

 teresting and seasonable. 



Unlike Western Ontario, there was 

 comparatively little winter- killing of trees 

 and shrubs at Ottawa last winter; nor 

 have things suffered so much from dry 

 weather this summer, as in some other 

 parts of the province. July was excep- 

 tionally wet, nearly 10 inches of rain fall 

 ing during that month. August was dry 

 and warm and by the beginning of Sep- 

 tember rain was again much needed. 

 On account of so much rain falling when 

 the season's growth was nearly finished, 

 followed by warm weather, some trees 

 blossomed the second time this year. 



The Experimental apple orchard, now 

 containing more than 600 varieties of 

 apples, furnishes abundant data of inter- 

 est to fruit growers. The apple crop 

 was light this year, but there was about 

 150 varieties which fruited. A few valu- 

 able varieties which are thriving particu- 

 larly well, and which are p r oducing good 

 crops this year, are : Mcintosh Red, 

 Shiawassee Beauty, Gano, Malinda, and 

 Patten's Greening. The indications are 

 that Shiawassee Beauty is going to be a 

 valuable tree in this section of the 

 country. It is a heavy bearer of medium 

 sized, highly coloured fruit, which hangs 



well on the tree, there being few wind- 

 falls. The quality is very good. Mc- 

 intosh Red needs no words of praise, it 

 is one of the finest appearing and best 

 dessert apples grown. While not bear- 

 ing as heavily as some varieties, there 

 are so many points in its favour that it 

 will probably prove in some districts one 

 of the most profitable apples grown. 



The Ben Davis seems quite hardy at 

 Ottawa ; but the Gano, which resembles 

 it very much, is, I think, the better tree 

 to plant in this part of Ontario. The 

 Gano is much more highly coloured 

 than Ben Davis, though no better in 

 quality. The trees are vigorous and 

 and appear perfectly hardy. 



Malinda and Patten's Greening are 

 two promising hardy varieties from the 

 Western States The former is an al- 

 most sweet apple, keeping in good con- 

 dition until April or May ; the latter is 

 a large green cooking apple : season, 

 October. Its hardiness, productiveness, 

 and the uniformly large size of the fruit 

 will probably make this a valuable apple 

 in the colder parts of the country. 



The collection of plums is now quite 

 large, there being about 130 varieties 

 growing in the orchard, most of which 

 are improved American sorts, especially 

 desirable for certain parts of Canada. 

 Although there were but few plums of 

 any kinds at Ottawa this year, 35 varie- 

 ties fruited at the Experimental Farm ; 

 most of the trees, however, bore but 

 light crops A few of the American 

 varieties which are the most promising, 

 are : Cheney, Wolf, Stoddard, New 

 . Ulm, Bicksley, and De Soto. Wyant 

 and Hawkeye are two large varieties ; 

 the former, however, is not as good in 

 quality as any of those previously men- 

 tioned, while the latter is not perfectly 

 hardy here. 



396 



