350 The Canadian Horticulturist. 



Water Plantain Spearwort, R. alismivfolius, is from one to two feet 

 high, sometimes rooting from the lower joints; flowers bright yellow, but small, 

 the petals being only about one quarter of an inch long, appearing from June to 

 August. 



Smaller Spearwort, R. Jlammula, has also very small yellow flowers ; 

 and the variety reptans, known as the Creeping Spearwort, its threadlike, 

 creeping stems rooting at all the joints ; may be found in bloom from June to 

 September. 



4jo Markham St., Toronto. D. W. Beadle. 



MAKE THE ORCHARD PAY. 



F orchardists want the greatest returns from their trees they must be 

 prepared to dispose of their products in the most economical and 

 profitable way. I have found that to evaporate second quality apples 

 is a good plan, but the expense depended greatly on the condition of 

 the fruit, whether it be badly bruised and soft, or not. The fruit that 

 I evaporate is nearly all from grafted trees and averages six pounds per 

 bushel. The average natural fruit will make about four pounds per 

 bushel. Baldwins and Greenings six to seven, Russets eight. 



My average expense for evaporating and boxing has been three and a half 

 cents per pound, or at the rate of twenty cents per bushel. About ten cents is 

 the average price at wholesale for evaporated apples. I use an American 

 evaporator, that is intended for bleaching apples, but it is not desirable. The 

 dry fruit should be bleached from five to eight minutes in a separate place, and 

 as soon as it is cut and spread on the trays it should go thence directly to the 

 evaporator. There will be thus no complaint of smell or taste of sulphur in the 

 apples. Another fault that I found with my evaporator was that it was built to 

 take the apples into the top and deliver them next the furnace. In this way it 

 is impossible to keep the desired amount of heat without scorching the apples. 

 I improved this by entering the apples over the furnace and taking them out dry 

 at the upper end. Steam heat in pipes would be much more economical than 

 furnace heat. 



Expenses for making this crop salable, doubtless vary in different localities. 

 My apples are cut and placed on trays by women at sixty cents per day. A 

 man is employed to attend the evaporator, and he is paid one dollar. Six 

 hands dry, on an average, 150 pounds per day. One must not expect to get 

 rich, drying apples. The fuel costs me three dollars per cord. When one has 

 a quantity of apples hardly fit for market, he can get a fair profit by drying them. 

 I consider it safe to dry all not worth a dollar per barrel at the door without the 

 barrels. The fruit is sometimes quite scabby, and when it is so afflicted it 

 seldom pays to pack it for market. I put such fruit through my evaporator and 

 then it pays. — P. Whittier, in Alleghany Gazette. 



