THE CAN API AN HORTICULTURIST. 



that when they i-eached their destina- 

 tion they appeared as fresli as though 

 they had just been put in the case. I 

 was sur[)rised because they had not the 

 appearance of a fii-m berry ; in fact 

 they are very easily bruised, and I 

 siioukl have called them rather soft ; 

 but I did not then know that the 

 hardest or firmest berries are not al- 

 ways the best keepers ; but I know it 

 now. I know that the Wilson twenty- 

 four hours after picking has lost both 

 appearance and flavor, and that the 

 Jersey Queen, in the same time, has 

 suffered no perceptible change in either 

 respect. I know that the latter can be 

 kept three or four days without losing 

 its gloss, although if left in a box that 

 length of time the lower half of the 

 berries will get mouldy ; and it is quite 

 remarkable that though it is not possible 

 to handle them without in some cases 

 breaking through the glossy varnish 

 that covers them, the bruised spots do 

 not appear to discolor, though they 

 would of course more quickly get 

 mouldy. This is certainly a remark- 

 able quality for any berry to possess, 

 and I shall look with considerable in- 

 tei'est to its behavior another season. 

 At present my Jerseys certainly are the 

 liaest row in the field. 



Yours, &c., 

 Barrie, 15th Dec, 1884. A. HoOD. 



TO PKEVENT THE GRASS FROM 

 GROWING AROUND TREES. 



Dear Sir, — You ask for the ex- 

 perience of subscribers. Mine is not 

 worth much, as I am a novice at the 

 business. I have only a small garden 

 and orchard, probably about two hun- 

 dred trees, and about one hundred and 

 fifty goosebei-ries and currants together, 

 and hfty-five grape vines. I have 

 tried an experiment this summer : it 

 may be of benefit to some of your 

 readers, if it is beneficial to trees to 



have no grass growing around them. 

 The expei'iment is this : I sawed a 

 piece off from the end of a log twenty 

 to twenty-four inches in diameter, and 

 an inch and a half or two inches thick, 

 then split it through the centre and 

 made a hole to fit the trunk of the 

 ti'ee, and then closed the two pieces to- 

 gether, leaving them on the ground 

 around the trunk of the tree. This 

 will entirely kill all grass and weeds 

 around the tree. 



Yours truly, 



A. C. McDonald. 

 Dunlop, Nov. 19th, 1884. 



SUMMER WEATHER. 



Fruit growers are more interested in 

 the climate of any given locality than 

 are most other cultivators of the soil in 

 that locality, as with the fruit growers, 

 especially the growers of the more ten- 

 der varieties, such as grapes, tomatoes, 

 strawberries, &c., the lowering of the 

 temperature two or three degrees below 

 the fx'eezing point at a time when such 

 a decline is unusual, or at any unusual 

 period, often makes all the difference 

 between financial success and failure, 

 while the ordinary farm crop might not 

 be seriously affected. A case of this 

 kind occurred in this locality on the 

 30th of May last, when we had our 

 last spring frost (two weeks later than 

 it has occurred for many years pre- 

 viously). It did not seriously injure 

 farm crops, but very materially injured 

 the fruit crop generally, and caused 

 nearly a total failure of the grape, pear 

 and strawberry crop. 



Believing that a record of some of 

 the leading features of the climatic con- 

 ditions prevalent in this locality during 

 the past five years may be of interest 

 to your readers in this neighborhood, 

 and also be of service to such other 

 persons who may desii-e to compare the 

 peculiarities of the climate in their 

 several localities with that of this place. 



