40 



It is prolific, good for canning, and he has kept it until January. In regard to 

 cherries, the Compass is a good variety for this section, being very prolific and 

 ripening about the first of September. 



MULCHING STRAWBERRIES. 



With reference to the culture of strawberries, spring frosts and early summer 

 drouths are the two things most likely to adversely affect the crop. By covering 

 the plants with a heavy mulch as soon as the ground is frozen in the fall, keeping 

 this on until late in the spring, and removing it to the centre of the row, these 

 two difficulties are to a large extent obviated, and he has thus been able to grow 

 the standard varieties quite successfully. 



A number of the crab-apples, such as the Transcendant, Florence and 

 Prolific, have done very well, as well as some of Dr. Saunders's hybrids, of which 

 he considers Charles to be one of the best, although it has been found to be 

 subject to blight both at Ottawa and Brandon, and on this account has not been 

 recommended. 



Mr. Buchanan is quite confident, from his experience, that a number of 

 plums and some varieties of small fruits might be grown profitably in the 

 vicinity o Winnipeg. 



STEVENSON'S EXPERIMENTS. 



On October 16 a visit was paid to the farm and experimental grounds of 

 Mr. A. P. Stevenson at Dunston, about eight miles from Morden, situated 

 near the boundary line in Southern Manitoba. Mr. Stevenson came into this 

 section in 1874 and immediately began to experiment with fruit, attempting to 

 grow the standard eastern varieties, which did not prove s'uccessful. He, 

 however, persevered, and in 1890 planted one year old trees of some 80 varieties 

 of the newly introduced Russian sorts. The majority of these also died as a 

 result of the rigorous climate, but 15 of them proved to be hardy, and these, 

 with a few other varieties, have borne profitable crops of fruit for the past ten 

 or twelve years, and are of very good size and quality. Perhaps the best of 

 these, in order of ripening, are the following: Blushed Colville, the best early; 

 from three trees of this variety, nine years old this year, two barrels of fruit 

 were harvested. This variety is followed by Charlemoff and Anisette, both 

 of which are very good, and the Simbrisk, of which there are two strains, Nos. 

 1 and 9, both having proved hardy and satisfactory. The best winter varieties 

 are Ostrakoff, Antinovka, and Hibernal, the first of these three being considered 

 the most valuable variety in the collection. Hibernal is perfectly hardy, and 

 one tree produced five barrels of fruit the past year. It is, however, quite 

 astringent in flavour. Amongst those not included in the above list, but which 

 are growing satisfactorily, Mr. Stevenson mentions Ukeraine, Volga Anis, 

 Kourish Anis, Gypsy Girl, Heron, Lowland Raspberry, Wealthy, Peerless, 

 Red Cheeked and Ripka Kislaga. He is also propagating a large number of 

 seedlings of these varieties, and reports the fruit of some of them to be of fine 

 size and fair quality. A number of the Minnesota seedling apple trees are also 

 being tested, those most worthy of mention being Perkins and Wilfort Seedlings. 



Some experiments have been conducted to improve some of the wild native 

 plums. By selection and grafting Mr. Stevenson has succeeded in securing a 

 red plum, which he has not yet named, that is proving very satisfactory. Of 

 the Americana varieties Cheeney, Surprise and Aitken have also done well. 

 The Compass cherry is the only one that has given any satisfaction and of these 

 he had a good crop last season. There is a great variety of small fruits growing 

 on this place, raspberries requiring to be covered for the winter, and nearly all 

 varieties doing well under this treatment. The Lowden seems to be the best 



