1890. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



253 



makes a charming hedge plant. For cheap- 

 ness combined with utility, the common 

 Arbor- Vita" may be recommended a-s among 

 the most available evergreens. In shaded 

 situations, or in fact wherever a very low 

 boundary is needed, nothing can take the 

 place of ordinary Tree Box, or its varieties 

 known sis Chinese Box. 



Those desiring a neat and serviceable en- 

 closure for cemetery lots, will find the latter 

 unsurpassed, although it is questionable 

 taste to have any hedge around them, hate 

 summer may be recommended for planting 

 Kvergreehen dges; during a droughth the 

 operation will almost, certainly fail, but if 

 the season be moist failure rarely results. 

 When out of the ground. Evergreen roots 

 must be preserved damp, and if the day be 

 cloudy and wet during removal, success is 

 certain. At this time roots will form at 

 once, and the plants will secure a firm hold 

 of the soil before winter. 



Summer Meeting of the Ontario 



(Canada) Fruit Growers' 



Association. 



The picturesque little town of Xiagara-on- 

 the-Lake liad been selected for the place of 

 summer meeting (July 8th, 9th and ll)th), 

 perhaps in the hope that the charms of the 

 place would assist in inducing members to 

 attend. The number of those present, how- 

 ever, was so small, that there was talk 

 among the officers of the organization to 

 abandon the whole scheme of having sum- 

 mer meetings in future, and concentrate all 

 efforts upon the winter meeting. Unques- 

 tionably this will be a wise thing to do. 

 ^ Ornamental Thees for Ontario, D. 

 Nichol read a paper on the " Suitability of 

 the different kinds of ornamental trees for 

 the different localities in Ontario. ' Extracts 

 of this will be given later. He spoke of the 

 common Beech as un.surpassed as a shade 

 tree.and recommended the Cut-leaved Weep- 

 ing Birch as the one tree above all others for 

 the lawn. In reply to a question he stated 

 that the Ironwood can be made one of the 

 prettiest ornamental trees if trimmed low 

 and shaped into a compact growth. 



The American Elm stands very high as a 

 shade and lawn tree. The Horse Chestnut 

 does not last long. There is too much money 

 spent in the Province on this tree, when 

 native trees would give much better satis- 

 faction. The principle trouble with the 

 Blue Spruce is its liability to be attacked by 

 a fungus, which affects the leaves and di.s- 

 figures the tree. Has tried the copper rem- 

 edies for this disease, but thus far without 

 definite results. 



Hi'MBCGS IX Horticulture. Mr. T. Race 

 addressed the meeting on this sub,iect. At 

 the head of an extensive list of humbugs, 

 he says, stands the nursery .jobber who pre- 

 tends to be a nurseryman, but who has not 

 a foot of land nor a tree. If the Society Unds 

 that the farmer is bound to be humbugged, 

 it should try to educate him not to be. 

 Although not a protectionist he is in favor 

 of a prohibitive tariff on nursery stock to 

 shut out the tree jobber. These men like to 

 buy the surplus stock of nurserymen on the 

 other (American) side, because they can get 

 the stuff very cheap, and then palm it off 

 on our Canadian customers. People should 

 be sensible and buy directly from reliable 

 Canadian nurseries, A farmer needing a 

 bam does not wait until some carpenter 

 comes along and convinces him that he 

 ought to have one, but he goes to work and 

 has one put up. People needing trees ought 

 to do the same. 



Humbugs are also found in connexion 

 with nurseries. The Russian Mulberry has 

 proved to be one. The Russian Apricot is 

 another. These were pushed by reliable 

 nurserymen, and much damage has been 

 done. It is a humbug to sell to a farmer a 



little tirape vines for $1..50 or -^S.OO, and the 

 farmer invariably finds it so in a year ortwo. 

 All new fruits should be tested at the 

 stations, and only sent out after having been 

 found worthy. 



In the discussion following this address 

 Mr. Dempsey stated that the Russian Apri- 

 cot on Plum stock is worth cultivating as 

 an ornamental tree. 



Secretary Woolverton was sure the Rus- 

 sian Apricot was sent out with confidence 

 and in good faith. But many of them have 

 proved deficient in hardiness. They came 

 from a section where the more tender fruits 

 succeed. There may be some among the 

 named varieties that will be more hardy. 

 At least he hopes that there will be some 

 found yet worthy of recommendation. 



The Russian Olive was mentioned as a 

 fine ornamental shrub, having proved hardy 

 at Ottawa. 



Points in Pe.\ch Growing in the Ni- 

 agara District. This was the title of a 

 paper by Secretary Woolverton. After 

 twenty years of experience, with failures 

 outnumbering the successes, he is still of 

 the opinion that Peaches in this region can 

 be grown with profit. Even when we get 

 only one good crop in five years, the Peach 

 is still worthy of a place on our fruit farms. 

 A good yield will sometimes pay the owner 

 as much as -ftiUO per acre, and this gives an 

 average of $iO per acre for five years, in the 

 most unfavorable case, while at the same 

 time there is a chance of doing much better 

 One of the few points requiring careful 

 attention is wise selection of varieties. 

 Alexander, Early Rivers, Early Hales, 

 Early Crawford, Wager and Bowslaugh's 

 Late, recommended at last winter meeting 

 by President Smith, all are excellent ; but 

 Mr. Woolverton is becoming more and 

 more discouraged with Early Crawford. 

 Failure has become almost the rule. If we 

 get it, it is so fine we feel like planting it ; 

 but the trouble is we get it so seldom, that 

 the choice is between no fruit and one of 

 less desirable quality. 



Hyne's Surprise and Horton Rivers were 

 named as reliable bearers at the late West- 

 ern New York meeting. Mr. Woolverton is 

 testing, among others, Troth's Early. C'hris- 

 tianha, Salway, Steven's Rareripe, Wheat- 

 land, WiUets, Conkling, Cooledge's Favor- 

 ite, Foster, Hill's Chili, Lord Palmerston, 

 May's Choice, Mountain Rose, Richmond, 

 Shnmacher, Pineapple, Globe and Centen- 

 nial. Perhaps one or the other of these may 

 prove worthy to be placed on the list of the 

 six best sorts. The secretary is loth to leave 

 out the Old Mixon, which is one of the 

 grandest old varieties both in quality and 

 appearance tested, but it is tender, and 

 more than others subject to the yellows. 



Another important point is selection of 

 suitable site and congenial soil, for the 

 Peach is hard to please. For best results it 

 demands a well-drained soil. The essayist's 

 best orchard is on an elevated piece of 

 ground of about five acres. On other parts 

 the trees have been short-lived, and un- 

 satisfactory, especially on clay loam. 



Mr. Woolverton advocates rather close 

 planting of Peach trees (about 12 feet apart) 

 on account of their liability to be thinned 

 out by the yellows at an early age. 



The method of pruning has much to do 

 with deciding the distance. If limbs are 

 allowed to grow to any length spreading 

 out like bare poles, with foliage and fruit 

 far out towards the ends, close planting 

 would not answer. But this method is out 

 of date, in Canada, even. Trees so treated 

 die young, and are not so productive as 

 where properly shortened in. The idea of 

 shortening in is simply to cut back the new 

 growth about one-half every spring, and in 

 case of neglected orchards which have 

 already become straggling, to cut back the 



old wood severely, and in this way an abun- 

 dant supply of young wood is kept up which 

 is productive of better fruit, and a greater 

 abundance of it. An orchard so treated 

 will also live longer, and be more attractive 

 in appearance. 



The Peach orchard must have thorough 

 cultivation, especially in the early part of 

 the season. Among Peach enemies we 

 have the curl, the curculio, the borer and 

 the yellows. No remedy is known for the 

 curl. The borer gives little trouble if the 

 trees are heaped up with earth in early 

 spring, thus blocking out the borer from the 

 tender part at the collar of the tree. The 

 yellows remain still as great a mystery as 

 ever, notwithstanding the enormous ex- 

 pense incurred by the U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture in trying to understand it. No 

 better remedy is suggested than the one 

 which has been faithfully employed for 

 years past, and that is rooting out every 

 case as fast as discovered. 



In packing for market the old bushel 

 crate, the half bushel and basket, have 

 given place to the twelve quart basket, and 

 now the question is whether even this is 

 not too large. For choice samples, during 

 the growing season, Kilb Grape basket may 

 be used, putting only the finest in this 

 package and the ordinary in a larger basket. 



Judge Miller's Notes on Blackberries 

 in 1 S90. 



There is none of our small fruits that fill 

 a greater place than the Blackberry. They 

 last a long time, and seem to be just the 

 thing for the hot weather of summer. Law- 

 ton and Kittatinny I discarded years ago as 

 failures, and now I have Snyder, Taylor, 

 Triumph, Erie, Minnewaski.Stone's Hardy, 

 and Freed. All have done well, and a little 

 description may be interesting. 



Snyder ripens first of the Bramble sorts; 

 next comes Triumph, then Taylor. Erie, 

 Minnewaski, Stone's Hardy and Freed about 

 the same time. Minnewaski and Erie have 

 come to stay. Hardy, prodtictive and good. 

 Erie to my taste the best. They are the 

 largest cultivated ones I have with the 

 exception of the Triumph. 



Stone's Hardy and Freed are both exelleut 

 large berries, the latter a production of 

 Pettis county, this state, and the one most 

 grown where it is best known. But I have a 

 rather strange story to tell about this fruit. 

 Bordering my original Blackberry patch on 

 the east side, along a declivity under the 

 lofty cliffs, there are thousands of seedlings 

 from the Snyder and Triumph, some re- 

 sembling one some the other, while many 

 show both traits. 



F"'rom this wilderness bushels and bushels 

 have been gathered, that are fully equal to 

 the cultivated ones, and in another place 

 where the native wild ones sprung up in 

 weeds and sod, we gathered finer berries 

 than any other. These volunteers are larger 

 on an average than the named ones, and de- 

 cidedly better in quality. The question 

 arises is the Blackberry not a fruit that will 

 take care of itself and yield abundantly? 

 This looks like it. 



Once I was told of a very large superior 

 Blackberry in a secluded spot in Cedar Glen, 

 near here. The following season I visited 

 it in fruit time, and sure enough it was a 

 grand one. It was marked, and in the fol- 

 lowing fall 1 took the plant home; propa- 

 gated it, sent some plants to the finder, and 

 named it Cedar Glen, with an idea that we 

 had a big thing. 



When the plants came to bear they were 

 of so little account, that after two years 

 fruiting they were rooted out. The same 

 was the experience of the friend to whom I 

 sent plants. 



. ^Vllen we find an extra fine wild one in 

 the forest, it is likely that the roots run 



