3o6 



The Canadian Horticulturist. 



ornamental planting. Indeed, where these 

 are procurable, we can see no reason for ap- 

 plying to the nurseries for exotics, which may 

 or may not be adapted to the locality in which 

 you live. It is, however, difficult to remove 

 trees from shady places and to make them 

 grow well in sunny exposures, without first 

 accustoming them to the change by degrees. 

 Large trees, too, are less apt to succeed than 

 smaller ones, on account of the greater loss 

 of roots in proportion to the top. It would 

 be better, no doubt, to set aside a small 

 piece of the garden for a year or two, as a 

 nursery plot ; and then to select a good collec- 

 tion of our native trees of small size, and 

 grow them with care until they have devel- 

 oped a quantity of fibrous roots, and have 

 acquired vigor to insure their growth in the 

 places where they are required. On the 

 whole, we advocate spring in preference to 

 fall planting, especially in the colder sections 

 of our country. 



suddenly turns black and dies. The only 

 cure, therefore, with which we are acquaint- 

 ed, is to cut off every vestige of the blight as 

 soon as it is discovered. A sharp look-out 

 for it should be made during blossoming 

 time, in the spring. 



THE PEAR BLIGHT. 



95. Sir, — I have an orchard of fifty trees, 

 and something has caused their leaves to 

 blacken and a great many of the limbs to die. 

 Can you tell me the cause of this, and say if 

 I can prevent its spread?— John McLean, 

 Mount Pleasant. 



Our correspondent does not say whether 

 his orchard consists of pear or apple trees, 

 but we presume the former. The blight has 

 been so often referred to in these pages that 

 it seems unnecessary to make any further 

 explanation of it here. It is thought by 

 scientists that the pear blight is due to 

 bacteria, the presence of which, in plants and 

 ^n animals, account for so many hitherto un- 

 explamed diseases. The little microbes, which 

 are the germs of the disease, escape from 

 blighted limbs of one tree and float imper- 

 ceptibly to others ; they find entrance 

 through little stomata, or breathing pores of 

 the leaves or young wood ; they multiply 

 with exceeding great rapidity in the wood 

 cells, from one to another of which they 

 have a peculiar faculty of making their way 

 by making holes through the thin partitions. 

 Thus, unless checked in some way, the sap 

 of a large portion, if not of a whole tree, be- 

 comes corrupted through their action, and 



BUSINESS MEN AS FRUIT 

 GROWERS. 



96. Sir, — I would like your advice as to 

 the most suitable book for me on fruit cul- 

 ture. I am a tailor by trade, in business 

 here some years, and quite green at fruit 

 growing. Many years ago I was very nearly 

 attempting the same thing, but circumstances 

 thwarted me ; business since has fully occu- 

 pied me. About six miles from my place of 

 business, between Lambton Mills and Wes- 

 ton, I have some land lying idle. One field 

 of sixteen acres, with a few stumps on, I am 

 told, has yielded good crops, and field of five 

 acres, gravelly. Both fields are level 

 plateaux. These, and a few other fields, ai'e 

 almost wholly surrounded by the Humber 

 river and Black Creek flats. The five acre 

 field is delightfully situated, commanding a 

 good view. I prefer it, but suppose it would 

 hardly pay cultivation. If you could tender 

 me any advice as to fencing, ploughing and 

 generally getting it under weight, whether 

 advisable to put in a few trees and try my 

 hand in a small way, or hire a man and go in 

 larger, I would feel obliged, — Thos. H. 

 Taylor, 518 Queen Street, W., Toronto. 



We hesitate very much to advise any man 

 to engage in fruit growing who is entirely inex- 

 perienced in the business. It is hard enough 

 for those of us, who have spent years, devoted 

 to the study and practice of this branch of 

 agriculture, to get very rich at the business ; 

 and, on the other hand, it would be quite 

 easy for an inexperienced man to lose what 

 property he had. We believe in fruit cul- 

 ture, properly and systematically pursued, 

 a.s one of the most profitable branches of 

 agriculture, but we cannot advise a man 

 whose life has been spent in a trade, or in 

 mercantile life, to enter into fruit culture for 

 profit. The best plan for our correspondent 

 is to try it first on a small scale, if he in- 

 tends managing it himself ; or, if he can find 

 a gardener who would grow small fruits on 

 shares, finding implements and team, then 

 try it on a large scale. The gardener would 

 no doubt agree to allowing pear, peach, 

 quince trees and grape vines to be planted. 



