CA NA DIA N IIORTICUL TURIST. 



57 



encourag(Miient to more earnest ell'ort 

 to realize the goal they wish to attain. 



Some fourteen years ago I purchased 

 a one-tifth acre lot in the west end of 

 Hamilton, and having built a domicile 

 for my family, I proceeded to plant the 

 portion not built upon. At that time, 

 1 may say, I w=is totally ignorant of 

 the Hrst requisite to become a gardener, 

 and it was only by watching others 

 and never being ashamed to ask for in- 

 formation, that I eventually mastered 

 the rudiments necessary to ])eing called 

 even an amateur. Subsequently I be- 

 came a member of the Horticultural 

 Society and the Hamilton Society, and 

 was a member up to the time of its un- 

 timely death and have been a mourner 

 ever since, as its object was the cultiva- 

 tion of a taste for the beautiful ; and 

 the excellence of its yearly display 

 caused an emulation to exist amongst 

 its members and excited their zeal to 

 excel ; and that was conducive to more 

 refined tastes amongst the working arti- 

 zans of the city. My first planting I 

 found in two years had not been wisely 

 done. T had planted standard apple 

 trees which I found likely to be in a 

 short time an incumbrance, I at once 

 decided to tear them up again. One 

 morning after a stormy night I found 

 five dwarf pears killed by fire blight ; 

 and I lost two cherries by late frost in 

 the spring. My dependence now rested 

 on my grape vines, of which I had a 

 small but .select variety. As these 

 throve T added to them, taking my cue 

 from the experience of the writers in 

 the Horticulturist plus my own ; and 

 to-day I have about forty vines includ- 

 ing nearly all that are considered worth 

 growing, and last season they yielded 

 me the grand total of 1,200 lbs. of 

 grapes. I have never given them any 

 fertilizer but bone dust, and wood ashes 

 unleached ; and I am of the opinion 

 they cannot get anything which will 

 serve them better or make them more 

 profitable. 



I have also tried my hand at grow- 

 ing grapes under glass. Having an 



opportunity of puichasing some old sash 

 cheap, I constructed a cold vinery some 

 twenty feet long, ten feet high at back, 

 eighteen in front and twehe feet from 

 toe to heel, or front to back. I planted 

 in this structure one black Ffamburgh, 

 one Muscat Hamburgh, oik; IMu.scat of 

 Alexandria and one Golden Hamburgh. 

 In three years from the planting of the 

 young vines, I had a Ijeautiful crop of 

 Muscat and Black HamVjurghs, and 

 they were ripening beautifully, when 

 one day I noticed a wasp's nest up 

 under the sash. I tried with a stick to 

 dislodge the " varmint," but it was no 

 go. I bethought me of sulphur. I 

 would sulphur them out. To think 

 was to act. I got an iron pot and put 

 the sulphur in and then dropped an 

 hot coke into the pot, hastened out- 

 side and closed the door ; in one hour T 

 returned to see the result ; the smoke 

 had subsided and I could .see inside 

 without opening the door. You can 

 guess what I saw : the labour of three 

 years destroyed with the wasps. Yes, 

 the " varmint" was no more, neither 

 were the grapes or the vines. Nothing 

 daunted, I started again and planted a 

 Muscat of Alexandria and one of 

 Ilicketts, the Welcome. The Muscat 

 died the second year whilst the Wel- 

 come thrived and made great headway- 

 The fir.st time it fruited I was disap, 

 pointed in the size of bunch and berry, 

 but I must confess the flavor was there, 

 and such a flavor ! I have never tasted 

 the like ; it was, to use a plagiarism, 

 like the nectar of the gods. The 

 second year of its bearing it mildewed 

 badly, and I lost patience with it and 

 neglected it, hence the result was I 

 have not been able since to flavor this 

 well-named, beautiful grape. In out- 

 door grapes I may say, I have been 

 fairly successful. I grow Rogers 3, 4, 

 9, 15, 19, 22 (Salem), ;W, 33, 41, 43, 

 44, Delaware, Concord, Creveling, 

 Eumelan, Isabella, Clinton (for wine). 

 Adirondack, Hartford Prolific, Lady, 

 Pocklington, Word(>n, Niagara, Jefflcr- 

 son, Liidy Washington, Moore's Enrly. 



