The Canadian Horticulturist. 6i 



ONE VERSUS TWO YEAR OLD VINES. 



Sir, — ^Are the grape vines usually sold by nurserymen as No. 1 one year old, and No. 

 1 two year old really of those respective ages, or is it simply a matter ot grading one seasons 

 vines and making that distinction ? 



In planting some three thousand vines next spring would you recommend me to set out 

 No. 1 one year vines or No. 1 two year vines, and if the latter, should they be cut back to 

 one bud in the same way as No. 1 one year vines would be ? 



R. 6. Blake. 



Reply by Mr. S. D. IVilhird, Geneva, N. Y. 



Grape vines as usually sold by nurserymen are of the respective ages as 

 stated, one or two year as the case may be. Our experience has been in favor 

 of planting one year vines as a rule, and yet something depends on varieties and 

 seasons. Some weak growing sorts would do better if two year old, and if the 

 seasons had been unfavorable for maturing and rooting a vine properly at one 

 year, we should give preference to a two year vine and cut back same as we 

 would a one year. 



FERTILIZERS FOR STRAWBERRIES. 



Sir, — I have about two acres strawberries planted spring 1890, on sandy loam of not 

 very good quality. 1. Would it pay me to apply some commercial fertilizer ? 2. What 

 would be best ? 3. When should it be applied ? 4. What quantity per acre ? 



J. P. W. 



It always pays to fertilize the land well for strawberries. The best for them 

 is plenty of barn yard manure, rich in nitrogen, which should properly be 

 worked in the soil previous to planting. Dried blood is a special fertilizer for 

 the strawberry, and should be applied between the rows, at the rate of three or 

 four hundred pounds per acre. Commercial fertilizers are excellent if not adul- 

 terated ; they cost about two cents a pound. A cheap fertilizer may be made 

 by adding loo pounds of sulphate of ammonia and loo pounds bone meal to 

 40 bushels of ashes, for one acre. The best time to apply these is about the 

 month of May. 



GOOSEBERRY NOTES. 



Sir,— Fall, 1886, 1 planted 350 Houghton's. Summer, 1887, bushes made good growth, 

 and the tips mildewed a little. 



1888— Fruited a little, mildewed badly. I applied lime, sulphur, ashes, sulphate of 

 iron ; checked mildew very little, if at all. I also noticed a few bushes where the green 

 fly had worked 



1889 — Mildew not as bad as 1888. . Green fly worked at the tips of many of the bushes. 

 Fruited well. 



1890— Scarcely any fruit ; green fly worse than 1889. (N.B.)— Plums are planted in 

 every alternate row. I have Downing & Smith's Improved in same garden, but the texture 

 of the leaf being different, the fly do not trouble them. Smith's Improved shed their leaves. 

 Downing does well, also White Smith. Industry and Golden Prolific not any use. Crown 

 Bob and some others with English blood, not fully tested. 



What can I do for the green fly ? (Aphis. ) 



J. P. Weeks, Homing's Mills. 



Try Kerosene emulsion for the green fly, made according to the following 

 recipe : — Soft soap, i quart ; 2 quarts hot water ; i pint kerosene. Stir until 

 all are permanently mixed, and then add water until the kerosene forms one- 

 fifteenth of the, whole compound. 



