THE CANiSDlAN IIOUTICULTURIST. 1G9 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



ROTTING OF TOMATOKS. 



Will you or some of your correspondents inform the readers of tlio 

 Horticulturist what caused the rot in tomatoes this year and last. In 

 this section more than half the crop was thus destroyed. Is it caused by 

 insects, or is it atmospheric ] I see by the jiaj)ers that the disease, or 

 whatevej' it may be called, is not an endemic, but an epidemic, extending 

 over a large area in Ontario, It has proved the most desti-uctive where 

 planted on rich land. Before tJie fruit has attained its lull size it begins 

 at the flower end with a black spot, a kind of gangrene, and spreads very 

 rapidly, making the fruit useless. 



Can a peach tree be successfully grown by grafting on a plum stock 1 

 Will it be as hardy, and stand the winter's frost, and bear fruit, or will it 

 be sterile 1 Hoping to see an answer to these queries in your next issue, 

 I am, dear sir, youi-s, &c. Thos. Coates. 



The peach is often budded on plum stocks, and is fully as hardy 



and productive as when grown on the peach stock. The Editor has 



not any experience in the rotting of tomatoes. Can any of our readers 



answer ? 



Dear Sir: — I send herewith one dollar to renew my subscription. I 

 consider the Horticulturist well worth the money, and look out for it 

 every month with great interest. Saunders' Hybrid Raspberry did well. 

 It made live or six oanes of about live feet each in length. I use a liquid 

 manure prepared from the parings of horses' hoofs steeped in water for a 

 week before using. When the liquid is drained ofi" add more water. In 

 this way a bushel of parings to a barrel of water will produce an abun- 

 dance of manure for vines, small fruits and plants for six months. I used 

 it with good success. This manure is excellent for plants in pots, but is 

 objectionable on account of the smell it produces in a house. I think that 

 a solution of copperas sparingly used would cure the smell ; and I learn 

 that fuchsias are very fond of copperas. — James Stephen, Toronto. 



The Downing gooseberry and Salem grape both did well with me The 

 Swayze Pomm eGrise apple tree was as dry as an old stick when received ; 

 couldn't bring life into it. Flemish Beauty pear did well. The Glass 

 Seedling Plum I did not get until the plum blossoms had all fallen off my 

 trees. It was well packed, and several shoots had made a growth of three 

 or four inches long, the shoots quite white. I nursed it very carefully, but 

 it did not do well. Had it planted in a nursery row with others, and the 

 deej) snow of '78 and '79 broke it off close to tlio ground, so that was the 

 last of it. The Diadem Raspberry did pretty well, but in moving from 

 the town to my farm it got lost by some means. The strawberries were 

 not of much account. The Burnet grape did well. The Ontario apple 

 was a splendid tree, i-eceived in good condition, and has made great growth. 

 Saunders' raspberries did very well, especially No. 50. — Walter Hick, 

 G'oderich. 



