THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 19 



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which are afterwards destroyed by cold or frosty weather. This is a 

 very common occurrence north, and even south, of the Potomac, and 

 may be measurably modified by planting on the north side of build- 

 ings or groves of trees, and thus retard the starting of the buds, and 

 shield them from a morning sun after a cold night." The conditions 

 for securing a good crop of apricots have been stated by us before, 

 but we rejoice in the corroborating views contained in the present 

 admirable Eeport of the Hon. the Minister of Agriculture of the 

 United States. 



There is a section of our extensive Province, however, that stands 

 in no need of the apricot and nectarine being planted in the rear of 

 buildings and under the protection of groves. In the neighborhood 

 of Goderich, on Lake Huron shore, both of these varieties of fruit 

 flourish and do well, not under the protection of buildings, but grow 

 and fruit as freely as red or black currants, in the open, in the shape 

 of pyramids or standards. Our attention was first directed to this fact 

 in the garden of my friend the late Rev. Alexander Mackid, of Gode- 

 rich. We afterwards found that the same condition existed over quite 

 a considerable space on the lake shore around Goderich, and at 

 Kincardine, still further north and west ; also at Sarnia, and down by 

 Kettle Point and Bosanquet. The secret of this successful cultivation 

 of tlie apricot and nectarine lies in the fact of the modifying influence 

 of the deep waters of Lake Huron, and also, to a considerable extent, 

 to the remarkable stratum that crops up at the different points which 

 we have already mentioned. At Goderich, for certain, the stratum 

 overlies the great salt basin; the same is true at Kincardine, at Clinton, 

 Seaforth, etc., etc., where abundant crops of grapes, pears, apricots 

 and plums are almost always to be had. The adaptation of tliese 

 different localities to the cultivation of the apricot cannot be doubted. 

 We entertain the strongest hope that the Japan Persimmon will 

 flourish in this portion of Ontario and elsewhere. This fall wo saw 

 the persimmon for the first time cultivated in the neighborhood of 

 Paris, Ontario, by our veteran fruit cultivator Mr. Wra. Smith. Our 

 experience and experiments in this culture (\p not enable me to say 

 what may be the hardiness of the persimmon in our latitude. Should 

 a hardy variety be obtained, or by naturalization from seed raising, we 

 may find that the persimmon, like the Chinese tea plants in the 

 Soutliern and midland States, may do well. We long for the time 



