THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



93 



that T can get from 6 to 10 inches of 

 depth to start on, without any liand 

 labor of any account. I next hitch the 

 team to the subsoil plough, connected 

 with it by means of a long logging chain, 

 and a long double tree, say 4^ to 5 feet. 

 Driving a horse on each side of the 

 drain, I commence to loosen the sub- 

 soil, first hitching close to the plough, 

 as usual, while the drain is shallow, and 

 lengthening the chain as the drain 

 deepens. I plough one, two or three 

 rounds as the condition of the subsoil 

 Diay require, until we have stirred up 

 6 or 8 inches of earth ; then I com- 

 mence shoveling out by means of long- 

 handled, round-pointed shovels. When 

 all the loose earth is thrown out, I 

 proceed to plough again, and so on un- 

 til about the required depth is gained. 

 Care should then be taken to get an 

 even grade, and this is best done by use 

 of the pickaxe and draining hoe. A 

 narrow shovel for the nai-row pai't can 

 best be made by taking one of the com- 

 mon shovels to the village blacksmith 

 and having the sides turned up, so as 

 only to leave a width of four inches on 

 the bottom. 



I believe this plan will institute a 

 new era in undei-draining ; making the 

 cost less by one-half than the old way 

 of digging with spade and pick axe ; 

 and it is far more economical of capital 

 than buying an expensive ditching ma- 

 chine, and all the expensive repaiivs, 

 etc., attendant upon its use, with the 

 various vexations of its use if in stony 

 or wet land. 



BEST MARKET VARIETIES. 



BY E. MORDEX, NIAGARA FALLS SOUTH. 



The new and wonderfully promising 

 varieties which blossom each year while 

 the snow yet remains will not be no- 

 ticed here. He who has plenty of 



money and an abiding faith in lotteries 

 will, as usual, invest in them. Con- 

 trary to the general rule, the best varie- 

 ties are the cheapest ones in most cases. 



In strawberries, the Crescent now 

 leads. Wilson is valuable of itself and as 

 a fertilizer. Manchester has, I think, 

 come to stay. Sharpless is very large 

 and good, and sometimes productive. 



In red raspberries, the Cuthbert dis- 

 places every other variety. The Turner 

 and Philadel|)hia are hardier at the 

 north. 



In black caps, Souhegan early, Mam- 

 moth Cluster medium, and Gregg for 

 late. The Gregg does wonders here, 

 but fails in some localities. 



With me the Taylor is the best 

 blackberry. 



In currants, the Raby Castle leads 

 by several lengths. On soils of clay it 

 is said the Cherry Currant is productive. 



The Houghton Gooseberry succeeds 

 famously on our soil, but the fruit does 

 not compete with the larger kinds in 

 the case of a glut. The Downing is 

 productive and salable. Smith's Im- 

 proved fails hei'e. 



The Concord is still the leading 

 grape. Worden seems to be a distinct 

 improvement in most respects. The 

 Rogers and many other varieties of 

 grapes ai'e defective as regards gi'owth, 

 productiveness, liability to mildew, or 

 in some other respect. Their merits 

 and demerits cannot be discussed in a 

 brief article. 



MR. AYLEWORTH'S BIG STRAWBERRY YIELD. 



In reply to inquiry. Mr. Ayleworth 

 writes: — Sir, The strawberry plot men- 

 tioned by me in your February No. 

 consists of sandy loam, liberally treated 

 in 1883 and 1884 with a compost of 

 muck, well rotted horse manure, hen 

 manui'e, and unleached hard wood 

 ashes. It is underdrained on thi-ee 

 sides. It was used for raising roots in 

 1884, and deeply ploughed in the fall 



