TH?: CAIfADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



181 



made of acacia wood have been known 

 to stand exposure for a hundred yeai's ; 

 and, when shipbuilders wish to use 

 wooden pins in place of iron bolts, they 

 select acacia wood, and call the pins 

 tree-nails. No wood is so valuable for 

 posts, hoops, cog-wheels, or carriage 

 axles. 



The North American locust tree is 

 not so very long-lived ; but Von Mar- 

 tins, a traveller, states that in the 

 South American forest he found the 

 Great Locust Tree, a variety that lives 

 to an age of three or four thovisand 

 years. He speaks of one specimen so 

 lofty that the forms of the leaves could 

 not be made out, and having a trunk so 

 immense that fifteen Indians with out- 

 stretched arms could only just embrace 

 one of them. 



In some parts of the country the 

 locust tree borer (clytus rohinue) has 

 done cfreat damage. It is one of the 

 long-horned beetles, and may frequently 

 be found upon the Golden-rod ; it may 

 be identified by the peculiar markings 

 of its back, where at the base of the 

 wing-covers a figure like W is easily 

 discernable. In some sections the lo- 

 cust tree cannot be grown on account of 

 this borer, but at Grimsby it flourishes 

 thus far in spite of him, and is the ad- 

 miration of travellers who are at all in- 

 terested in arboriculture. 



PLUMS AT PORTSMOUTH. 



I have about 100 plum trees grown 

 from suckers, some about ten years old. 

 The fruit is red. Large size, fine for 

 dessert or cooking. Trees very hardy, 

 fast growers, and free from knots. 

 Trees grown on sti'ong clay soil. I 

 will send a sample of the above to the 

 Fruit Growers' Association the first 

 opportunity. 



Yours truly, 



S. N. Watts. 



Portsmouth, Out. 



STRAWBERRIES. 



Strawberry plants have come through 

 the winter in splendid condition. Of 

 the new varieties, Connecticut Queen 

 appears to be the most hardy ; in fact, 

 no other variety, either new or old, has 

 withstood the winter as well. Should 

 it prove to be productive, firm, and of 

 good size, it will be a valuable addition 

 to the list. 



Mrs. Garfield was injured most of 

 any by the winter, although it is pick- 

 ing up well now. 



In the May number of the HoHictd- 

 turist T. C. Robinson gives a good ar- 

 ticle on "hill culture" of strawberries, 

 and asks those of the " matted row 

 leanings to speak up." As I belong to 

 that class, I will have to " speak up." 



My object in growing strawbetBO^ 

 for market is to make money, and ftte 

 method that will give me the greatest 

 net returns for expenditure in labour, 

 etc., is the method I will follow. For 

 my section of tke country, that is the 

 " matted row sj^stem." 



Mr. Robinson will no doubt succeed 

 in his locality with the " hill system," 

 where they nearly always have the 

 plants well covered during the coldest 

 part of winter. He can also grow and 

 fruit Taylor's Prolific Blackberry, while 

 with me they kill down so far every 

 winter that I have never been able to 

 get a pint of fruit from it. My soil is 

 a strong clay loam, and when I grow in 

 hills they often kill out during the 

 severe cold of winter and freezing and 

 thawing of early spi'ing to such an ex- 

 tent that the ci-op is not nearly so large 

 as from those grown in matted rows 

 right by the side of them. 



There is no doubt but finer fruit can 

 be grown by the " hill system," where 

 they are well pi-otected either by snow 

 or heavy mulching, especially on light 

 soil ; but the labour required to keep 

 the runners cut adds so much to the 

 expense of growing, together with the 



