276 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



with its extreme earliness, its good- 

 sized beny, and compact (if not good- 

 sized) cluster, its healthful foliage, and 

 great vigor, hai'diness and productive- 

 ness, — there it is, — come to stay, I 

 verily believe ! We may tcdk about 

 kicking it out : but as long as men find 

 that with Champion vines they ai-e 

 sure of big grapes and lots of them, so 

 long it will rear its crest triumphant. 

 People will certainly be shy of all black 

 grapes on the fruit stands while the 

 Ohampion is around, yet most folks 

 who buy would prefer Champion grapes 

 to no grapes. So let us as a remedy 

 ti-y to work market quotations into a 

 sepai'ate rate for Champion, and then 

 let this irrepi-essible Labrusca have its 

 fling ! 



I don't succeed with Pocklington, or 

 Prentiss, or Lady Washington. I have 

 them in a sunny spot on very rich soil, 

 but where we neglected proper cultiva- 

 tion. Some other varieties with poorer 

 treatment have done well. Some have 

 utterly failed. So I am not competent 

 to pass an oi:)inion upon these from 

 experience. 



Jefferson has been a disappointment. 

 The fruit sent me some years ago, upon 

 its introduction, was the most delicious 

 I remember ever tasting ; the foliage is 

 of the healthy native type, and the 

 growth vigorous. But it winter-killed 

 with me, when left exposed, so that I 

 liave never grown a cluster : 1 must 

 experiment further. It proves fully as 

 late as Concord, on the grounds of a 

 friend in town. 



It would never do to omit mention 

 of the " old i^eliable " 



Concord. — This has ripened here 

 this season ; that is, it has fully 

 colored. But was it ripe ? The fact is 

 the Concord demands a longer period 

 of sunshiny weather than we usually 

 get in this northern lake region ; so 

 that even when it does color you have 

 to lay it down, gently or otherwise, 



with the sad conviction that you are 

 eating Concords that are not Concords. 

 The Concord body there, but the Con- 

 cord soul is henc(! ! 



But whatever our Concords lack in 

 sweetness, etc., is more than made up 

 in its noble child, the 



Worden. — Here we have to the full 

 the th rip-proof, mildew-proof, Concord 

 leaf, almost the Concord vigour of 

 growth, more than Concord size of 

 cluster and berry, a time of i-ipening 

 close behind Moore's Early, and by far 

 the purest, most delicious flavor of all 

 the Concord family. Indeed, after 

 comparing it with well ripened Eume- 

 lan. Early Victor, Delaware, the best 

 of the Rogers varieties, and with well 

 ripened Concoi-d from southern dis- 

 tricts, I must confess that, so far as 

 this season's grapes are concerned, I 

 prefer the Worden to any other what- 

 ever. 



After giving such an unusual opinion 

 (which I hope some of the newer varie- 

 ties may give me reason to change) 

 perhaps I had better not go on to speak 

 of the Rogers, and other hybrids, at 

 this time. 



GREAT STRAWBERRY YIELD. 



In looking over the September num- 

 ber, I see Mr. Croil mentions a won- 

 derful yield of strawberries on the 

 " Slip-shod System." There is a some- 

 wliat similar case in this village, only 

 with fiir more astonishing results. I 

 ean verify the statement as to yield, 

 and I measured the patch myself. 



A man put in a patch in his garden 

 Sharpless strawberries in the spring of 

 1883, one foot apart every way, kept 

 them as clean as he coiild, but allowed 

 the runners to cover the ground. Last 

 year he raised 75 baskets, and this year 

 375 baskets ! The piece of ground 

 measures 7 yards by 17. He says he 

 has had very little trouble this year 

 with weeds ; and no wonder, when I 



