284 The Canadian HoRricui/ruRisr 



FIN FOR IRLir I.ABELS, AND IOWA FRLTr rROSPECTS. 



m 



SiK, — I enclose you h sample pin whicli I have been using to hold a card with tlie 

 names of fruit and the entry tag. at our exhibitions. I have the Dames of the fruit 

 printed in Knglish and Ccrmiiuon clear wliite cards, and it shows a long way from 

 the fruit stands. The card enclosed will show you wliere the pins may be bougiit 

 at a cost of thirty cents for a bo.x of one hundred. Our fruit crop is poor this year 

 owing to 80 much rain and cold weather during April, May and the first part of 

 June. All our fruit blossomed very full, but dropped badly. Plums are an 

 entire fAilure ; cherries rotted on the trees and the grajjes have mildewed and are 

 rotting. I am selling my early api)les, largely Ducliess of 01denbur,g for S4 per 

 bai rel. 



J. E. CoKLETT, Si'c. Clayton Uor. Soc, Firnmrshurtj, lova. 



Fig. «(i. 



GARDENING IN MIDDLESEX. 



This will not be a very profitable year to the fruitgrower in this part of Middlesex, as 

 the late frosts in the spring iiijured both strawberries and raspberries, aad also currants, 

 and when the apples, plums, cherries and pears came in blossom the weather was so wet tiiat 

 fertilization was not complete, and consequently our crop of fruit is very light, compared 

 with what it was last year. Peaches were badly winter-killed and did not blossom ;it all, 

 and, owing to the excessive dry weather, some of my blackberries and black raspberries 

 have dried up without ripening their fruit. The Erie blackberry is not hardy here but it 

 gives larger berries than either Agawam or Ancient Briton. The latter I tind tl>e hardiest. 

 The Rancoces raspberry did not do well with me this year, and tlie Cuthbert was winter- 

 killed to tlie snow line. 



Potatoes will be a short crop here. Many planted them the second time, and vegetables 

 generally will be a poor crop, but we have a very good crop of early potatoes, cabbage, 

 onions, and we had ripe tomatoes by the first of August. The flower garden has given a good 

 account of itself this year so far, and now the monthly roses are giving some excellent 

 flowers. Even though tiie past three or four weeks have been extra dry, the Polyantlius 

 have been continually in bloom. The following roses of the hybrid perpetuals did best 

 with me this year. White Baroness, Merveille de Lyons, Perfection de Blanches, Helen Paul, 

 and White Perpetual Moss, I'aul Neyron, John Hopper, Vick's Caprice, Comtesse de 

 Serenye, Dinsmore, Zebrina, Little (Jem, Henry Martin ; but some others 1 have are not as 

 good. (ien. Jacqueminot did not bloom nearly as well this year as formerly. I iiave a seed- 

 ling pink Scotch rose, that gave some excellent blooms early in the season, but, like most 

 of Scotch roses, only bloomed early in the summer and then took a long rest. I got some 

 French Canna seed this spring and they are connnencing to bloom now. I tiled small holes 

 in tlie seed and then soaked them in hot water before planting, and then I tried to keep 

 the ground from getting too dry, as that is sure death to any kind of seed after being soaked 

 in water, and when I transplanted them to the open ground I puddled the soil in around 

 them and tiien put some dry clay on top and shaded them for a few days, and they never 

 stopped growing when the dry wcither came. 



Your proposed changes in the HoKTKiLTrRi.<5T meet with my approval, the size of 

 the page as at present just suits my fancy and of course no reader should grumble at an 

 aildition to the number of pages and illustrations. 



J AS. .\I. Waters, Fenihill P.O., Out. 



Tin: WILLIAMS' STR.\Win:RK\-. 



SiK, — Tlie Williams' Strawberry has ^leased me this season better than ever before. 

 Tiie cool moist weather seems to have f-avored tlie dcvelopiiuiit of its characteristic qual 

 ities. The crop was something enormous and the berries tiie largest of any I ever saw ; 

 There was no trouble with the wlii^e tips. Some of the best berries mea.xu red five and a 

 ((uarter inches in circumference. Its season lasted over a muntii.and iield its size longer 



