The Canadian Horticulturist 191 



bars are all dovetailed in, you have only to lift them out of their place and everything 

 drops to the ground, so that an aci-e of vines can be made ready for covering in about an 

 hour, which is a great advantage over the old method, having to untie them all from the 

 trellis, and in the spring after the covering is removed you can lift everything back into 

 its place. The vines should be made to grow all one way and two or even three branches 

 may be tied to each wire. 



I think it will be seen at a glance that this method gives every branch perfect sunlight 

 and full exposure to the dew, and that it is the best for convenience in laying down for 

 winter protection, and that the vines are not so much exposed to winds and gales as the 

 old-fashioned method of upright trellis, and I don't think the first cost will be any greater, 

 while the labor saved every fall and spring will bo considerable. 



There are some other points also which I claim for this method, which I think are of 

 considerable value. You will have noticed that, unless the vines are well pruned back 

 every year, there is very little foliage near the roots. Now, if the vines are planted near 

 enough together, the tops of one will in a few years cover the roots of the other and form a 

 perfect shade for them, which, in my mind, is necessary they should have I have noticed 

 that in laying down vines, if the wood is several years old it is almost impossible to bend 

 them down without a certain amount of injury being done to the wood. Now, in my plan, 

 the vines are started in a slanting direction, and the bending is very slight. 



I send you this, Mr. Editor, and if you think it worth inserting in the Horticulturist 

 for the benefit of those who live in districts where it is necessary to cover vines for winter 

 protection, please do so. 



E. Lane, Gait. 



PRICKLY COMFREY. 



Dear Mr. Editor, — Having read carefully Mr. A. G. Heaven's remarks on Prickly 

 Comfrey, I feel it my duty to give your readers the benefit of my experience with the above 

 forage plant. Four years ago last March I agreed, after a good deal of persuasion by an 

 agent from Michigan, to invest So (which was only one-third of the supposed value ; the 

 other §5 to be called for in the fall) in Comfrey root, which was shipped to me the follow- 

 ing month, C. O. D. ,per Detroit. I prepared the ground and planted similar to Mr. 

 Heaven's direction. It grew fast, answering in thisparticular everything the agent repre- 

 sented it to do. But alas ! when I c-ime to cut and feed it, the cows would not touch it, 

 nor yet the horses. But I was not satisfied with one trial ; I tried and tried again, think- 

 ing I might get them to cultivate a taste for it, but it was like teaching some English people 

 to eat tomatoes, for I have never yet seen them eat a mouthful of it. We left it in the 

 ground for two seasons, and then 1 ploughed it out. I am told the root is used for medi 

 cinal purposes, but the amount the druggists use is limited. The agent called it Caucasian 

 Prickly Comfrey, but, from the description Mr. Heaven gives of the growth of the plant, I 

 think it Is identical with those I experimented with. 



N. J. Clinton, Wimhor. 



TASMANIAN APPLES. 



Sir, — The prospects of fruit here seems very uncertain. The season is backward, and 

 we are still having very cold winds, and the trees are not yet in blossom. 



It may interest you to know that this season there will arrive in England 140,000 

 cases of Tasmanian apples. This fruit is brought in the mail steamers from Hobart, in 

 refrigerators, and, as a rule, arrives in very fine order. The cases contain about thirty-six 

 or forty pounds of fruit, and they consist principally of King Pippins, Ribstons, Blenheim 

 Oranges and Scarlet Nonpariels all soft fruit. They reach us as if freshly gathered. 



"The fruit consignment of 800 cases sold at prices varying from 14/ to 20/ per case. 

 The second arrival of 12,000 cases this week realized from 9/ to 15/. The next steamer 

 brings 25,000 cases. 



Although the prices may appear high, the incidental expenses are tremendous. TKe 

 freight, co«t of case, packing and incidental expenses alone amonnt to 7/6, and this with- 

 out the cost of the apples. 



Garcia, Jacors & Co., London, Eng. 



