34 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTUKIST. 



which, without one particle of alcohol, 

 keeps well, making a refreshing, whole- 

 some beverage. In drinking it no 

 danger of imitating Noah. 



In flavour the Champion grape may 

 be inferior : yet in the three essential 

 particulars of being very early, wholly 

 free from mildew, and immensely pro- 

 ductive, is has no compeer ; for every 

 year it bears twice the quantity of all 

 the other vines put together. 



True, one thing in its favour must be 

 mentioned. It happened to be planted 

 oil the edge of an under -ground pool, 

 caused by water from the kitchen sink. ! 

 But even hei-e its benefit is apparent, I 

 for it certainly absorbs the noxious j 

 qualities of the pool, thus promoting 

 health. Who wishes a full supply of . 

 ripe, sweet gi-apes on his table two j 

 weeks earlier than the Concord comes ; 

 in, let him plant the Champion, i 

 Surely this is the grape for the million i 

 Fra^s'Cis Colemax. ' 

 Hamilton City, Ont. i 



REPORT OX PLANT RECEIVED FROM 

 F. G. A. j 



The grape vine (Prentiss G. ) you 

 sent me last spring has done well, j 

 Before I got it I had planted the Pock- 

 lington. Lady and Lady Washington, 

 still it seemed to take root sooner and 

 send out vines faster than any of them. 

 By the fall it had produced more per- 

 manent wood than any of the others. 

 Another feature about the plant I 

 noticed compared to the othei's was that 

 it stood the autumn frosts better than 

 the others. My soil is very warm and i 

 dry, there being onlv about eight inches 

 of earth on solid limestone rock, with , 

 here and there fissures running through : 

 it. In the very dry season I have to 

 water all my plants, and while I 

 noticed some of my other grape vines 

 with their leaves softened the Prentiss j 

 remained fresh and green all through I 



the season. I may be able to report 

 further after another season's trial. 

 Yours respectfully, 



A. C. Sloan, M. B. 

 Annan, Dec. 29th, 1884. 



BLACK KNOT. 



Scientists haA^e demonstrated that 

 the Black Knot, affecting the plum 

 and cherry, is a fungoid epidemic, and 

 I think this theory is correct. Trees 

 of the Damson type are more subject 

 to it, and all the hybrids are moi-e or 

 less affected, particularly the Lom- 

 bard, Purple Gage, and Early Or- 

 leans ; others not having so much of 

 the Syi'ian element in their composi- 

 tion, are not quite so bad, such as 

 Pond's Seedling, Bradshaw, Glass' 

 Seedling, and Imperial Gage. The 

 only varieties that are exempt on my 

 grounds are the Prince's Yellow Gage 

 and Yellow Magnumbonura, evidently 

 having a hardier element in their com- 

 position, probably from some of the 

 wild varieties indigenous to Europe. 

 I think the liability of trees to be af- 

 fected with the Black Knot is exactly 

 in accordance with an unsound condi- 

 tion ; the trees which I cut down w^re 

 all rotten inside, having only a small 

 rind of sound wood next to the bark, 

 illustrating that an unsound condition 

 is more subject to the attack of epi- 

 demics than a sound one. 



Plum growing has hitherto been a 

 profitable business, but since the ad- 

 vent of the Black Knot, orchardLsts 

 will have to substitute something else. 



A field is now open for hybridists, 

 and I have no doubt but that a hardier 

 race can be produced, admixed with 

 some of the European and American 

 varieties of plums. The hybrids now 

 pi'oduced between the European and 

 American grapes are a success, 

 why not the plum. 



Berhn. R- 



