260 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



did many others that season, was found 

 bearing. This one tree was left stand- 

 ing and the others cleared away. In 

 the autumn of 1859 or 1860, samples 

 of the fruit were shown in the Prairie 

 Farmer office and public attention call- 

 ed to No. 20, which name had been 

 given it from the plot on which it grew. 

 The fruit of No. 20 bears little or no 

 evidence of ci'ab origin. It is of very 

 pleasant flavor, excellent for table use, 

 or for preserving and canning. For 

 both quality and abundance of fruit 

 and hardiness, No. 20 is a most valuable 

 acquisition to the orchai'd. — Prairie 

 Farmer. 



APPLE TREES FOR THE NORTH- 

 WEST. 



For the special benefit of such as 

 have had little or no experience as to 

 the best varieties of apple ti'ees to grow 

 here in the Northwest, we name the 

 few varieties which have passed nearly 

 unharmed the most trying ordeal ever 

 known to the old settlers of this local- 

 ity. We name these four kinds as the 

 best, all things considered. Each of 

 these kinds is now growing and bear- 

 ing fine crops of choice fruit, which is 

 the best possible test known to orchard- 

 ists. Let experts and experimenters 

 set and care for as many more of the 

 old or new kinds as they have patience, 

 time and money to spare. But let the 

 man who lives by his hai'd labor set 

 only these kinds, and if you ai-e advised 

 and beseiged by the many smooth 

 tongued tree agents to add or extend 

 the list, don't you do it. If you do so 

 remember that you do it at a fearful 

 risk of disappointment and fiiilure. We 

 know of no law that compels any man 

 to please a tree tramp. 



We name the Duchess first as being 

 the most reliable of all for hardiness. 

 The Wealthy has been occasionally in- 

 jured in close protected sites. But all 

 points considered, it has no peer either 



in America or Europe where hardiness 

 is a necessity. Whitney's No. 20 and 

 Briar's Sweet are commonly called 

 hybrids. They ai-e the two be.st can- 

 ning apples known. No. 20 is the 

 best cooking apple ; the Duchess next. 

 All but the Duchess are fine apples to 

 eat out of hand. They all bear j'oung, 

 abundantly and annually. The Duchess 

 is an early summer apple. The Whitney 

 and Briar's Sweet ai"e early Fall. The 

 Wealthy early Winter. We have no 

 tried Winter apple to recommend. The 

 hopeful Walbridge is a failure. This 

 has been our last hope but it has per- 

 ished, and let it go. " It's a poor 

 apple anyway." — Edson Gaylord, in 

 Westeryi Rural. 



MUSHROOMS— OPEN AIR CULTURE. 



In England, mushrooms are grown 

 in large quantities by beds made in the 

 open air, and are regarded as the most 

 profitable crop raised by the market 

 orardener. The climate in Enjirland 

 allows mushrooms to be grown all the 

 year round, but the heat of our sum- 

 mer months, and the severity of our 

 winters, essentially curtail the time 

 during which mushrooms can be cul- 

 tivated out of doors. There is no 

 doubt that with us, beds would be pi'o- 

 ductive during the months in which 

 wild mushrooms are abundant, and 

 probably they could be grown in the 

 spring months also. To make the bed, 

 manure from horse stables is needed. 

 The long litter is forked out and laid 

 aside to cover the bed later, and the 

 remainder, consisting of equal parts, 

 more or less, of solid droppings and 

 short litter, such as one would use for 

 a hot-bed, is made into a heap. The 

 heap has from four to six turnings on 

 alternate days, to bring all into an even 

 state of fermentation. The beds are 

 made two and a half feet wide at base, 

 six inches wide at top, two and a half 



