tfiE OANADIAN SORTICULTtRlSl". 



1S5 



®pm fetters. 



3IK. LOUDON. 



The Jessie. — Sir : In passing by 

 the home of the Jessie, at Janesville, 

 Wisconsin, on my way home from the 

 North-west, I conkl not resist tlie desire 

 to see the Jessie, so I hiid over till the 

 next train and I do not regret it, al- 

 though I had to walk out about a 

 mile. A very genial and kindly man 

 is Mr. Loudon, and after a kind re- 

 ception from his wife and himself, when 

 breakfast was over, he took me to the 

 Jessie field where he has 70 other new 

 seedlings, some of them larger than the 

 Jessie. You and others ought for 

 yourselves to see the sight I saw. After 

 three pickings they still lay in heaps 

 around the plants. I could have had 

 my eyes covered and went on any row 

 and picked bushels of berries, of which 

 twenty would fill a quart. 



JOHN LITTLE, Grauton. 



Sir : I observed in your June num- 

 ber an article headed "The English 

 Sparrow," where it is blamed for pick- 

 ing the heart of the plums and cherries 

 2 



when in bloom. Now I think your 

 correspondent has made a mistake. 

 There is a bird that might be mis- 

 taken for the sparrow — the purple 

 Finch, ( Frigillia piLvpurea), which I 

 have often detected in the same opera- 

 tion, but never the sparrows. They 

 are a bold bird and beautiful singers. 

 See Wilson's Ornithology. 



JOilX McLEAN. 



Niagara Grapevine, Insecticides, 

 jfec. — Sir : I am glad to inform you 

 that the Niagara vine you so kindly 

 sent me is thriving most vigorously. 

 As it has been planted in an exposed 

 position on the mountain, I will let 

 you know how it stands the winter. 

 As allusion is often made in the jour- 

 nal as to various insecticides, I would 

 say that this year I ha\e tried thp 

 " Slugshot," and have found it in every 

 way satisfactory. This powder has kept 

 the currant and gooseberiy bushes en- 

 tirely free from the caterpillar. 



D. BERWICK. 



Hamiltou, June 30, 1887. 



[Note. — The so-called " Slug-shot " 

 owes its effectiveness largely to the p:e- 

 stiuce of arsenic. — Editou. ] 



The Black Knot. — Sir : I fear we 

 sliall all be used up this year with the 

 black-knot, which is far worse than 

 than during any previous single year. 

 It has struck all over the trees, both 

 cherry and plum, so that I think 1 

 sljall have to cut down many of them. 

 1 do not know if its ravages extend 

 beyond our city, but doubtless it does, 

 and fear there is no remedy but to 

 wait until this generation is succeeded 

 by a new order, for better or for worse. 

 C. JARVIS, Brautford. 



[Note. — Prof. Panton's paper at Col- 

 liugwood showed cloai-ly that the black 

 knot is a fungus growth, propagated by 

 spores, which scatter at maturity ; and 

 that the only way to check its progress 

 is to cut off and burn all affected 

 parts. — Ed.] 



