362 



The Canadian Horticulturist. 



THE PEAR BLIGHT. 



Sir, — Alas ! alas ! The pear blight has 

 been very bad this season. I have a lot of 

 trees badly affected that never showed it the 

 least before. The Beurre-Gifford that was 

 always free from it before was very bad, the 

 Clapp's Favorite was worse than any others, 

 black all over, in fact, nearly every variety 



I have was affected more or less, even the 

 Bartlett I found the Doyenne Bussock toler- 

 ably free, also the Duchess. The pears acted 

 just like the apples, plenty of blossom but 

 very little fruit. 



We had a very good crop of raspberries 

 and gooseberries, a fair crop of currants and 

 grapes, also a fair crop of cherries and 

 plums.— W. Hick, Goderich, Ont. 



^ Ow 



PUBLIC SCHOOL AGRICTJLTURE. 



The First Principles of Agriculture, by Jas. 

 Mills, President, and Thos. Shaw, Professor 

 of Agriculture, Ontario Agricultural College, 

 Guelph, On*. Published by The J. E. Bryant 

 Publishing Co, Toronto, 



That a book covering the ground above 

 described is sadly needed in Ontario, we 

 think no rational person will deny. Why 

 young men, going into other lines of life, 

 should have so much more training for their 

 work than farmers, has been for a long time 

 an unsolved problem. This work has been 

 undertaken by two men who are the leading 

 educationists in our Province, in this line, 

 and has been most ably executed. The first 

 chapters have been very properly devoted to 

 some scientific principles concerning the 

 plant and the soil, which should be under- 

 stood by all farmers ; the rest of the book 

 is largely taken up with practical instruction 

 upon such important subjects as rotation of 

 crops, management of the various crops, 

 feeding stock, care and management of 

 horses, cattle, sheep and swine, breeds 

 of live stock, dairying, etc. The amount 

 of ignorance characterizing many Canadian 

 farmers on these subjects is surprising, and, 

 it is to be hoped, will give place to a different 

 state of affairs, through the agency of this 

 book, and the useful work of Farmers' 

 Institutes. 



REPORTS. 



The Transactions of the Indiana Horticul- 

 tural Society for 1889, C. M. Hobbs, Bridge- 

 port, Secretary. Twenty-second Annual Re- 

 port of the Missouri State Horticultural 

 Society, for 1889, L. A. Goodman, Westport, 

 Secretary. Transactions of the Main State 

 Pomological Society for the year i88g, D. H. 

 Knowlton, Farmington, Secretary. 



Transactions of the Massachusetts Horti- 

 cultural Society for the year 1890. Robert 

 Manning, Boston, Secretary. 



MAGAZINES. 



The Farmers' Advocate, a monthly maga- 

 zine published by Wm. Weld. London, Ont., 

 $1.00 per annum. This journal has been 

 established over twenty-five years, and has 

 always ably advocated the interests of the 

 farmer. It has a department for the Farm, 

 Stock, Orchard, Garden, Dairy, Veterinary 

 and Household. The immense amount of 

 matter given yearly in its columns, for the 

 small amount of the subscription price, can 

 only be accounted for by the large size of its 

 subscription list. 



CATALOGUES. 

 Autumn Bulb Catalogue, 1890. Peter 

 Henderson & Co., 35 Cortlandt Street, New 

 York city. 



