190 



THE CANAniA.N HOKTICULTURIST. 



Newcastle, 2,244 to Hull, and the bal- 

 ance to other ports in small lots. 



The 62,974 barrels of Maine ajiples 

 shipped from Portland to Europe do 

 not begin to rejiresent the total Maine 

 exportation. Thousands of barrels 

 have been carried by Portland to Bos- 

 ton for shipment. One buyer at Bridg- 

 ton has forwarded 5,000 ban-els, and 

 thei'e may be other buyers who have 

 sent more, but his shipments afford a 

 hint of the extent of the Vjusiness. Of 

 the 508,118 barrels exported from Bos- 

 ton, a large per centage was Maine 

 fruit. The Grocer thinks it is probably 

 striking undei", rather than over, the 

 actual figures to estimate the total num- 

 ber of barrels of Maine apples export- 

 ed since last fall at two hundred thou- 

 sand. 



Averaging the price which the farm- 

 ers received for this fruit in their cellars 

 at $1 60 per barrel — which Mr. Isaac 

 Beiry, of Messrs. I. Berry & Bro., 

 Portland, the leading Maine shippers, 

 thinks is about right — then the very 

 comfortable sum of $320,000 was re- 

 ceived by Maine farmers for the 200,000 

 barrels which they furnished to Eu- 

 ro])e. 



The reason why more Maine apples 

 are shipped from Boston than Irom 

 Portland is the difference in freight, 

 which has been nearly a shilling less 

 from the foi-mer than from the Maine 

 port. Portland i-ates have run from 

 2s. ^d. to Zs. a barrel. — Home Farm. 



Transactions of the Massachu- 

 setts Horticultural Society for the 

 year 1884, Part II., have just been 

 received from Mr. Robert Manning, 

 Seci-etary. From it we learn that the 

 display of plums at the Society's Ex- 

 hibitions has steadily increased for 

 several years, hence we infer that more 

 attention is being paid to the cultivation 

 of this fruit than formerly. 



MARKET GARDENING IN THE WEST. 



As a rule the cheapest manures ai-e 

 not the best. The competition is very 

 keen, and you can now get fertilizers at 

 quite reasonable jirices in proportion to 

 their real value. But can not you buy 

 stable manure at a cheap rate ? To grow ' 

 celery plants, you can probably use 

 artificial fertilizers to advantage. But 

 for growing the crop itself, plenty of 

 well-rotted stable manure should be vour 

 main reliance. If you had a slough that 

 is well-drained twoandahalfto three feet 

 deep, with a supply of water in August 

 within two feet of the surface, then you 

 could raise celery to perfection and at 

 small cost. Celery is a semi-aquatic 

 plant. If you cannot get the moist 

 land, you must depend on an extra dose 

 of manure that will, by decomposition, 

 furnish jilenty of nitrates. A supply 

 of nitrates to a considerable extent is 

 equivalent to a supply of water. The 

 same remarks will apply to cabbages. 

 For raising the plants, or for very early 

 cabbges, artificial fertilizers may prove 

 ])rohtable, but for the main crop, 

 stable manure ought to be sufficient. 

 Do not plant too close. Cabbages pumj) 

 up a great deal of water out of the soil 

 and eva[)orate it through their leaves. 



If you have a limited supply of water, 

 as you undoubtedly have, it is unwise 

 to have too many pumps. Some of them 

 will soon " suck air," and run down, 

 others that go deeper will hold on 

 longer. The fewer the pumps the better 

 will it be for you when the dry weather 

 comes. How to conserve water in the 

 soil is an important question for the 

 market-gardener. Heavy manuring on 

 the one hand and thorough cultivation 

 and no weeds on the other hand, are 

 the principal factors — and if you have 

 five cabbages with only moisture enough 

 for three, two of them are weeds. — 

 Joseph Harris in American Agricul- 

 turist/or March. 



