124 



The Canadian Horticulturist. 



zero without injury. The coldest we have 

 had in eight years was this winter, when it 

 was 24 below. 



Do you think that the Montreal Peach 

 Apple would be hardy here ? Would not the 

 Simon's plum be as hardy here as at Colling- 

 wood, Ont.? Theory is good as a guide to 

 practice, hence the best way to answer these 

 questions is by trial. In the meantime your 

 views on these questions in the next num- 

 ber of your valuable magazine would be 

 interesting to your maritime subscribers. — 

 Sanford H. Purdy, Greenville, Cnmbeidand 

 Co., Nova Scotia. 



No doubt the Montreal Peach would suc- 

 ceed with you, and also the Duchess and the 

 Wealthy. -Simon's plum is too new a fruit 

 for us to make any statements about it's 

 hardiness. 



PRUNING YOUNG TREES. 



27. I WOULD like something said in your 

 your next number about pruning young trees 

 up to the age of six or eight years. — A. J. 

 Kelly, Talbotville, Ont. 



If one is desirous of having shapely apple 

 trees, the earlier one can take them in hand 

 the better. If left growing too long in the 

 nursery rows they will be slender, and in 

 most cases have a poorly formed head, for 

 nurserymen have ioo much in hand to con- 

 sider the symmetry of the tree, except at 

 salable age. It is best, therefore, to buy 

 trees at two or at most three years of age, 

 when there will result little loss of root 

 fibre. Then select three or four side 

 branches as the basis of future operations 

 and stop the growth of the leader, as in Fig. 

 35. During the first summer 

 only two or three buds from 

 each of \hese should be allowed 

 to grow, so that by the end of 

 the season the tree will appear 

 somewhat as in Fig. 33. No 

 precise rule can be given 

 for_ this work; much must 

 necessarily depend upon the 

 taste and judgment of the oper- 

 ator. In general, something 

 of the same process must be 

 repeated with the new growth 

 year after year until a sym- 

 metrical head is well developed, 

 and, if done with judgment, 

 little heavy pruning will ever need to be 



resorted to. The great point to be aimed at 

 is to avoid long limbs, bare of fruit spurs on 

 the one hand, and too much crowding of 

 branches on the other. The natural habits 



Fig. 33. 



of the tree must also be studied and these 

 tendencies favored ; thus it would be mani- 

 festly wrong to try to make a Northern Spy 

 and a Greening follow the same general form. 

 The enquirer does not say what kind of trees 

 he wishes to prune. We have treated only 

 of the apple ; the pear and the peach need a 

 different treatment, and will be taken up at 

 some future time if desirable. 



Fig. 32. 



PROPAGATING RASPBERRIES. 



28. Sir, — ^How are those raspberries pro- 

 pagated by the tips ? Are they fastened 

 down after they have done fruiting ? Will 

 the canes produce fruit more than one year ? 

 — George Hannaford, Pevensey, Ont. 



This question is pretty fully answered on 

 page 49. The Shaffer (known botanically 

 as Rubiis occidentalis), which we distribute 

 this spring, is a cap raspberry, and all of this 

 class are propagated by tips. They will 

 often take root of themselves in soft ground, 

 but usually, on account of the swaying by 

 the wind, very few plants can be got without 

 attention. The best time to begin layering 

 is about the close of fruiting season, or as 

 soon as the tips reach the ground : for by 



