THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



223 



opens the barrel the nails will draw out 

 as the hoop is knocked off. Mark the 

 grade, name and your name on the 

 other end and they are ready for market. 



N. COX 



QUERIES AND NOTES. 



PRUNING. 



Dear Sir : I have somewhere read 

 that apple tree pruning should be 

 carried out in April ; having performed 

 the operation in that month, I was 

 much disappointed on finding that 

 every branch cut from the tree was 

 replaced by three or four ; would it be 

 better to defer the operation till the sap 

 has risen ] 



ASPARAGUS. 



My asparagus beds (planted twenty 

 yeai's since) have failed for the first 

 time, this season. The mode of treat- 

 ment adopted is to cut and burn the 

 healm on the beds early in November, 

 then dress with well-rotted manure, 

 afterwards a good sprinkling of salt is 

 applied, washed in with liquid manure ; 

 can you or any of your nvimerous read- 

 ers recommend a diSerent treatment] 



WHITE CEDAR AS WINDBREAK. 



After an ex[)erience of thirty-one 

 years, I can recommend the white 

 cedar as a wind break ; with us, open 

 as we are to the gales from the 

 Georgian Bay, they sow themselves and 

 thrive wonderfully, the only fault is 

 that if not thinned in time they die 

 out. I have upwards of a mile and a 

 half of cedar hedges which, when 

 clipped, grow as thick as the yew in 

 England. 



PIGS IN ORCHARDS. 



Would it not be advisable to plant 

 our orchards with artichokes for pigs 1 

 The animals when rooting them would 

 loosen the soil without damaging the 

 trees, the orchard being dressed every 

 third year. I found when trying the 

 experiment in England that sufficient 



tubei's remained for next year's crop. 

 The artichoke would be ready for the 

 pigs when the stubbles had been fed ofi*, 

 and the pork is very firm. What 

 artificial dressing for the orchard would, 

 be a substitute for fai-m yard manure, 

 which I have diflSculty in procuring 1 

 THOMAS SIBBALD. 

 Sutton West, Ont., Uth Sept., 1887. 



With regard to the season of prun- 

 ing there is little to choose between the 

 months of March or April, and June 

 or July, providing it is done annually 

 and judiciously. It is thought, how- 

 ever, that wounds made in June heal 

 more readily than those made in the 

 spi'ing. 



Severe pruning, or sawing off large 

 limbs should always be avoided by 

 training each tree in the way it should 

 go from the first. Some people persist 

 in sawing out the leading limbs to let 

 in the light. This always induces the 

 growth of sprouts, at whatever season 

 it is done, and is injurious to the tree. 



As for growing artichokes in an 

 orchard, and keeping pigs in it, the 

 plan is a good one ; but if the trees are 

 grown up so as to be safe from their 

 gnawing the trunk, we would prefer 

 making the orchard a sheep pasture, 

 for the sake of tidiness. 



The best substitute we know of as a 

 fertilizer for an orchard is the common 

 unleached wood ashes. 



A COLD STORAGE HOUSE. 



I am much interested in a cold 

 storage room which I am building above 

 ground, and expect it will be frost-proof. 

 It is 80 by 40 ft. in size. It will be 

 cheaply built, the sides are lined with, 

 paper, and there are 18 inches of saw- 

 dust between the two walls. The first 

 floor will be 8 ft. high with sawdust or 

 leaves overhead. With the ventilation, 

 and temperature under control, I can 



