THE CANADIAN HOKTICULTUBIST. 



85 



year. I will carefully compare with a 

 microscope : trace one on the Berberry 

 itself and on the wheat near the Ber- 

 berries, and also on wheat at a great 

 distance from any Berberry plants, and 

 will have much pleasure in communi- 

 cating to you the results of those ob- 

 servations, which I ti-ust might be con- 

 clusive. 



Very truly yours, 



H. QuETTON St.' George. 

 Geo. Leslie, Esq., Leslie P. 0., Ont. 



CUTHBERT AND GREGG RASP- 

 BERRIES. 



The Cuthbert now stands at the head 

 of the red raspberries, and the Gregg oc- 

 cupies the same position among the black 

 caps. These stand head and shoulders 

 above their competitors. They have 

 many valuable characteristics in com- 

 mon. Both are rampant growers. Both 

 produce very large, firm fruit, that can 

 be 'jent to distant markets, and will not 

 shrink much in canning or drying. 

 Neither of them ripens very early. 

 Neither of them produce the very finest 

 fruit in either appearance or quality. 

 The Cuthbert, however, gives handsome 

 fruit, of good quality. The dry quality 

 Df the Gregg really adds to its value. 

 Both Cuthbert and Gregg are very pro- 

 ductive. Both of them retain their 

 fruit for some days after it is ripe, 

 which adds much to their value. Fruit 

 ripe on Saturday may be left until 

 Monday. A rain-storm often destoys 

 many berries of other varieties. Both 

 varieties disappoint the pickers, because 

 the beautiful berries do not readily 

 leave their stems. Both varieties 

 lengthen the season. The Cuthbert ex- 

 tends the season for about fifteen days. 

 There are some points of difference. 

 The Cuthbert will, I think, flourish 

 upon a variety of soils. The Gregg is 

 somewhat fastidious. The Cuthbert is, 

 I think, as hardy as any red raspberry, 

 except perhaps the Turner. It is 



thought that the Gregg in hardiness as 

 well as in quality is beaten by the 

 Mammoth Cluster and several others. 

 We now want earlier varieties, equal 

 to the Cuthbert and Gregg. Many 

 claimants are in the field. It remains 

 for them to prove their claims. For 

 family use, berries softer and better 

 than the above are obtainable. Many 

 sensible families, however, prefer to 

 risk the best market varieties. 



Niagara Falls, South. E. MoRDEN. 



BLOSSOMING OF FRUIT TREES. 



The profusion of blossoming on the 

 majority of our cultivated fruit trees 

 is really no indication that a corre- 

 sponding crop of fruit will follow. 

 Varioiis causes may be assigned, but 

 the most probable is that in deviating 

 from the original condition of things 

 consequent upon cultivation, eccentri- 

 cities may be looked for both in the 

 blossoms and fruit ; part of the blos- 

 soming may be abortive, and a prepon- 

 derance of pistillate over staminate 

 blossoms, or vice versa, may occur, and 

 the size of the fruit at the expense of 

 the quantity. The nearer the approach 

 to the original types, abundant fruit 

 corresponding to the blossoms may be 

 calculated on — for example, the Siber- 

 ian crab apple, the crab pear and the 

 Guigne {cerasus avium) — but just as 

 soon as a removal takes place another 

 order of things is substituted, nature 

 being interfered with. 



The failure of the fruit crop gener- 

 ally may be attributed to various causes, 

 late spring frosts and rainy weather 

 just at the time of blossoming, but the 

 chief and greatest cause is the absence 

 of insects of the bee family just at the 

 opportune time for the purpose of fer- 

 tilization. 



You may calculate to a certainty 

 when you hear the hum of insects on a 

 fruit tree that you are going to have 



