The Canadian Horticulturist. 183 



to twenty-two inches from the ground, with a mixture of Portland cement and 

 Paris green ; one tablespoonful of the latter to a gallon of the paint. Only a 

 small quantity of the paint should be mixed at a time, and it should be made- 

 thin enough to apply readily with a common paint brush. If mixed with skim 

 milk, the paint adheres belter than if mixed with water. 



Girdling Grapes. — -Dr. Fisher reports, in the same bulletin, that he has 

 been experimenting in girdling grapes in several plots in his vineyard, each plot 

 containing one hundred and twenty vines. As a result of his experiment, he has 

 come to the conclusion that wherever a grape will ripen fairly by the natural 

 processes, girdling is a complete drat't upon the gains of the present. With him 

 the increase in weight of fruit was more than offset by the waste, through split 

 berries, and the consequent extra time required to prepare the whole for market- 

 There was no gain in the price from the ten days' earliness. The Concord does 

 not reach the market early enough to command the early prices. Another evil 

 result of girdling was a diminished crop from the vines th& ensuing season. 



Pasturing Stock in orchards that have been recently sprayed, is usually 

 considered exceedingly dangerous. We have, ourselves, as a rule, been very 

 careful to avoid turning in horses and cows into an orchard which has been 

 sprayed with Paris green or London purple. It appears from experiments that 

 have lately been carried on in certain experiment stations, that there is much less 

 danger in this regard, than we had supposed. Prof. Cook, of Michigan, pastured 

 sheep and horses under trees that had been sprayed with four times the usual 

 amount of poison, without their receiving any injury. The fact is that the 

 poison, which we apply to the trees of our orchards, is so extremely diluted that 

 the amount falling upon any particular point is almost imperceptible. 



Late Keeping Grapes. — We have received from Hon. R. W. Scott, of 

 Ottawa, a package of Agawam grapes, which were grown in the open air on the 

 north-west bank of the Ottawa river, and have been kept in cork dust for eight 

 months, during all which time Mr. Scott states that they have had a supply of 

 grapes of various sorts for the table. He packed five kegs of Delaware, which 

 lasted until Christmas. P'or the following two months he relied on Lindley and 

 Roger's No. 9, and during March and April he used the lona and the Agawam. 

 When properly ripened the two last have always proved the best keepers. Mr. 

 Scott does not see why we should not have a constant supply of grapes nine 

 months of the year, by making a proper selection of the varieties, packing them 

 in dry cork dust when the grapes are perfectly ripe, and keeping the kegs in a 

 moderately cool, dry cellar. 



Apples in Liverpool. — A circular from Messrs. Woodall & Co., dated 3rd 

 of April, gives high quotations for Canadian apples in England. It states that 



