THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



279 



I had a very fine crop of plums. 

 The heaviest bearer was the St. Law- 

 rence, a seedling- raised by Ellwanger 

 &, Barry. It is about the same coloiir 

 as Smith's Orleans, but I tliink a little 

 smaller. 1 admire Pond's seedling the 

 most. I used both Paris green and 

 air-slacked lime, but as the crop was 

 universally good I should like another 

 trial of these remedies before express- 

 ing an opinion as to their efficacy. 



Cherries did not even blossom. I 

 am afraid they are not a very encour- 

 aging fruit to gi'ow. 



I think I have now gone over a list 

 of my productions. I might add that 

 my soil is a sand. 



I paid a visit to Manitoba last sum- 

 mer. The only wild fruit T saw was 

 the black currant. Some berries were 

 larger than the cultivated. The leaves 

 are different, and do not possess the 

 same aroma. On the wild cherry I 

 noticed the black knot. The wild 

 flowers are very abundant, and some of 

 them very fine. The prairie rose is 

 very sweet, and does not grow higher 

 than about a foot. I saw three colours 

 — white, light, and deep rose. I think 

 many of your readers would be delight- 

 ed to have it in their gardens. The 

 wild vetch is very pretty, and so is the 

 wild coreopsis. A gentleman who was 

 there at the same time told me he had 

 collected and pressed fifty varieties of 

 wild flowers. I was too late for straw- 

 berries, but the plants were to be seen 

 everywhere. I saw the cultivated 

 black, red, and white currant and the 

 raspberry growing, and they appeared 

 to be thriving. From what I saw, 

 there is no reason why the smaller 

 fruits should not be grown there, but 

 there will be greater difficulty in rais- 

 ing the larger fruits. 



Yours, etc., 



Alfred Hoskix. 

 Toronto, Nov. 5th, 1885. 



GRAPES— A REVIEW. 

 It has seemed to me that a brief state- 

 ment of experience with several varie- 

 ties of grapes might not be uninteresting, 

 to the readers of the Canadian Horti- 

 culturist. My soil is a sandy loam, the 

 sand predominating, naturally cool and 

 moist, and situate in the County of Lin- 

 coln, within the limits of the City of 

 St. Catharines. The climate is modified 

 at this place by the proximity of Lake 

 Ontario, which lies not quite three 

 miles to the northward. The winters 

 are often quite open, usually variable 

 weather with sudden changes from cold 

 to warm and warm to cold. The snow 

 can not be depended upon as a covering 

 in winter, a heavy fall of several inches 

 being often quite melted and gone in 

 two or three days. The thermometer 

 rarely falls to 1 5° below zero, Fahren- 

 heit, and often does not get much lower 

 than zero during the whole winter. 

 The summers are usually warm and 

 frequently with long peidods of dry 

 weather, it not being uncommon to be 

 without rain for four to six weeks. A 

 cool summer, with frequent showers, 

 such as the one just passed, is excep- 

 tional. This much by way of explana- 

 tion of the circumstances under which 

 this expei'ience has been gained which 

 is now given. 



Adirondac has proved to be a tender 

 variety, unable to endure our changeable 

 winters. Had it been laid down in the 

 fall and slightly protected, it would pro- 

 bably have survived ; as it is, there is 

 not a plant left out of some dozen or 

 more. 



Allen's Hybrid is so strongly imbued 

 with the characteristics of the viuifera 

 family that it has proved to be as sub- 

 ject to mildew as any of the European 

 grapes. All of the vines have fallen a 

 pi'ey to mildew. 



Agawam (Rogers' No. 15) in favoi-able 

 seasons, and with long pruning, will 

 ripen well ; but in such a season as the 



