The Canadian Horticulturist. 229 



Ontario. Has it any value at the north ? for its chief point of merit is sup- 

 posed to consist in its hardiness. 



The Montmorencys seem to be excellent bearers. Some trees set out a year 

 ago are already doing their best to give us a good crop of fruit. 



The Raspberry Rootborer is quite bad with us in some of our older 

 plantations. We noticed first some canes sickly and dying, and upon pulling 

 them up and cutting open we found the enemy safely hidden away in his tunnel 

 .just about at the neck of the root. In appearance it so resembled the peach- 

 borer {^geria exitiosd), that our foreman declared it one and the same ; but 

 further investigation proved it to be another species of the same family, viz., 

 ^geria rubi. 



On inquiring of Prof. Jas. Fletcher, Ottawa, he responded as follows concern- 

 ing this borer : " I fancied I had good results in treating this insect over a 

 limited area, in a small garden, by applying wood ashes around the roots of the 

 plants. Strange to say, I have seen the moths lay their eggs on the leaves no- 

 where near the roots. Another row I treated with carbolated plaster, as pre- 

 pared by Prof. Cook, and was also successful with these. Until I stopped them 

 they were entirely clearing out a fine lot of Brinkle's Orange and Cuthbert rasp- 

 berries, which I grew in my garden at Stewartville. I took young shoots and 

 transplanted them to another part of the garden, keeping them well treated, and 

 then I never could find another specimen." 



Ground Bone as Fertilizer. — In a report on experiments made at the 

 New Jersey Station with ground bones as a fertilizer, it is pointed out that ground 

 bone is both a phosphate and a nitrogenous manure, insoluble in water, but 

 when in the soil is decomposed and yields its constituents to the feeding plant 

 in proportion to the fineness. It varies but little in composition and is less 

 liable to adulteration than most fertilizers. They, in fact, are usually pure. 

 Ground bones have a tendency to cake, and to avoid this the manufacturer may 

 use other substances, which, while aiding mechanically, reduce the chemical 

 value of the mixture. Raw bone is most usually pure, but the fat it contains 

 renders it less easily decomposed. Bones having served the purpose of the glue 

 maker are low in nitrogen and very high in phosphoric acid. The method now 

 employed of steaming the bones under pressure improves their quality without 

 altering the amount of the plant food ingredients. As the value of ground 

 bones depends upon composition and their fineness, a mechanical as well as 

 chemical analysis is required to determine their value. The farmer must deter- 

 mine by crop tests which grade he should buy — whether, for example, pay a 

 dollar for ten pounds of phosphoric acid in one condition, or for eighteen and a 

 half pounds in another form. Average wood ashes are worth $9 per ton, but 

 the best vary considerably. — Fruit Groivers' Journal. 



