38 Thk Canadian Horticulturist. 



It is scarcely necessary to speak of his position as Secretary of the Central 

 Farmers' Institute, as that is so recent and well-known to our readers all through 

 the country. The first secretary of the Central Farmers' Institute was Mr. Thos. 

 Shaw, who relincjuished it on accepting a professorship ai the Ontario Agricul- 

 tural College, Ciuelph. Mr. Pettit was then unanimously elected to the position. 

 He was a man fitted for this appointment, being a prominent member of the 

 committee which drew up the report, laying out its plan of operations. 



For some time Mr. Pettit has been the Director of the I'ruit (irowers" Asso- 

 ciation of Ontario for agricultural district No. 8. In December. 1890, he was 

 elected Vice-President of that old and respectable body, and at the annual meet- 

 ing, held December 15th, 1891, he was elected President. 



We have been very fortunate in securing a first-class photogravure of the 

 subject of our sketch, which, we believe, wilt interest a large number of our 

 readers. 



OsAdE Hed(;es. — In the best farm districts of Pennsylvania the progressive 

 farmer still sticks to the osage orange fence. They are by all odds the cheapest, 

 but the leading objection is the robbing of the earth by the roots. The roots of 

 trees grow no further away than the top is allowed to grow. A well-managed 

 hedge only throws out the roots to about ten feet on each side. But even this 

 is begrudged by a good farmer, who can plow to within two or three feet of a 

 post and rail fence. The Chester county farmer uses a corn-knife or hook to 

 trim the hedges. They are cut twice a year — hay time and harvest. A man 

 can cut a mile a day. — Meehans' Monthly. 



\\\ ON Walls. — A friend recently called attention to a case which he 

 thought subverted our view, that the ivy growing on walls tended to make them 

 dry rather than damp. On looking at the case, we find that the wall was 

 covered with the Atnpelopsis V\'iichii, or as it is called, Japan Ivy, and that the 

 vines had been suffered to grow over the shingle roof of the house some four or 

 five feet from the gable end, and that the spouts and other water conduits were 

 completely choked by this growth of vine and filling up with leaves. It is no 

 wonder that a house should be damp under such circumstances. It should not 

 be forgotten that the vines on walls must never be allowed to reach the roof or 

 clamber in the gutters, but must be confined entirely to the vertical surface of 

 the walls on which they grow. The innumerable number of small rootlets 

 absorbing moisture continually, generally make walls so dry and hard that it has 

 been found at times in the old world, when necessary to take down a building, 

 almost impossible to do so, on account of the extreme hardness of the mortar, 

 which has been kept dry for so many years through the agency of these roots. 

 The case we have referred to, shows how often a good idea may be spoilt by 

 reason of the thoughtless manner in whi< h the idea is carried out. Affe/in/is' 

 Monthly. 



