The Canadian Horticulturist. 359 



Once in a while I find a man who knows what tiiese tine grapes are worth and who lias a 

 trade for them an<l he buys them reidily, but, a8 a rule, they are a drag on trade and it is 

 hard to get more for them than for tiie Concords.' " 



Still we are confident that a trade can be worked up in these high-class 

 grapes, and that, in the near future, these varieties will bring the giower more 

 money per acre than such heavy bearers as the Concord. This year Concords 

 are only bringing from i, i ^^ c. to 2 c. As soon as the general public begins to 

 appreciate the difference between the Concord and the Rogers' giapes, there is 

 no doubt that these will be in great demand and that the difi"erence in their 

 selling price will far more than counterbalance their lack in productiveness. 

 There is a certain amount of satisfaction in catering for the trade of that class 

 of people who appreciate first-class stock, and are willing to pay for it. 



Possinii.iTiES OF Apple Culture. — A writer in the E.ural New Yorker 

 has been much encouraged over apple culture by a visit to an orchard on the 

 Hudson River, belonging to Mr. W. H. Hart. The varieties grown are Baldwin, 

 Ben Davis, Spy, Peck's Pleasant, Jonathan, Russets, Greening, etc. The 

 trees were loaded to the ground, many of the Baldwin.s, 25 years planted, are 

 carrying eight or ten barrels apiece. In places the apples hang in ropes, and 

 on a space of two feet, he counted 17 apples. Some beautiful Ben Davis trees, 

 not over ten feet high, with trunk only six inches in diameter, are literally covered 

 with bright red fruit, three barrels to a tree. This is not due to wonderfully 

 fertile soil. The land would not grow corn enough to pay for the labor, being 

 mosdy rough broken hillside, not worth $25 an acre for farming purposes. The 

 secret is in a liberal feeding of the trees year after year. They are annually fed 

 with muriate of potash, ground bone and stable manure. The owner attributes 

 the high color and firm texture of his apples to the use of potash and bone, 

 believing that farm manure tends to produce growth of wood and loose texture, 

 and inferior color in the fruit. 



The Standard Apple Barrel. — The standard apple barrel of Ontario, 

 is said to measure 17 inches diameter of head, and 27 inches from croe to croe of 

 staves. In Michigan the standard is, staves 27 inches long and head 16 ^4 

 inches in diameter, and this is the same as the standard flour barrel of Michigan. 

 The Fruit and Produce Trade Association, of Xew York City, have held a 

 meeting and have adopted the Michigan standard barrel, or American flour 

 barrel size. Some Western apple buyers have been resolving not to purchase 

 apples unless packed in barrels measuring as follows: staves 2S inches long, 

 head 17 inches in diameter, circumference at bilge 65 inches, which is really the 

 same as the Canadian standard. It is unfortunate that a uniform size has not 

 been adopted by all the States, and the Provinces of Ontario. There is, 

 however, one advantage to us in Ontario, in choosing the larger barrel. Our 

 apples bring in the foreign markets 25 to 50 cents more, partly on this 



