324 The Canadian Horticulturist. 



^ ©per) Letters. $ 



THE SHAFFER. 



Sib, — The Shaffer raspberries which you sent with the Canadian Horticulturist, 

 have grown splendidly. The plants were set out in the spring, and the tips layered towards 

 fall, twenty of them taking root. These I planted out this spring, so now have twenty- 

 four large bushes which have given me some good-sized berries this summer. I do not 

 think they are as good as the Cuthbert in flavor, but I never saw bushes make a better 

 growth of wood. 



Abraham Halk, Seaforth, Ont. 



USEFUL ANTS. 



Sir, — Your correspondent, Mr. W. Dempsey (page 220), is, I fear, a one-eyed observer. 

 Most likely the ants which he wishes to destroy are killing leaf pests upon his fruit trees. 

 Ants have their own place in the economj' of nature, and I have found them doing good 

 work when the man they were helping wished me to aid him in their destruction. 



R. W., Winnipeg. 



^ 0(JP J[\afhct(?. ^ 



Apples. — According to reports from all our markets, fall apples have a very dull sale. 

 Fall fruit has been sold in Montreal at from §1.25 to $1.40 per barrel, and in New York 

 City, fancy red winter apples, such as Kings, have sold as high as §2.50 per barrel. The 

 advice from most quarters is to hold back the best winter fruit and late-keeping fall apples 

 as late as possible, until the soft and inferior fruit is cleared out of the markets. Reports 

 from England are somewhat to the same effect, and indicate that there is a large crop of 

 summer and fall apples in Great Britain. After these are cleared out, the prospect is that 

 Canadian apples of a fine quality will do well. Messrs. Wood, Ormerod & Co. , of Edin- 

 burgh, who advertise with us, send us a code, according to which they intend sending us 

 cablegrams of the prices of apples in PMinburgh. They say that at present only United 

 States' fruit is being put on their markets and making, Kings, 19s. to 24s.; Maiden's Blush, 

 20s. to 22s. ; Baldwins, 16s. to 18s. The quality of the apples thus quoted is fair to good, 

 very little of it prime fruit. J. C. Houghton, of Liverpool, cables, under date of Septem- 

 ber 23rd,Kings, $4.3S to §5.82; Baldwins, §3.40 to §4 83; Greenings, §2.91 to $4.12. Messrs 

 James Lindsay & Son, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Leith, cable. Kings, §4.38 to $5.82 ; Blush, 

 §3.90 to §5.35 ; Cranberry Pippins, $4.38 to $5.82 ; Greenings, §2.92 to $3.85. The Trade 

 Bulletin, of Montreal, says that a few contracts for apples have been made by Western 

 men at from$l to §1.28, on the tree. The New York Fruit Trade Bulletin is of the opinion 

 that the shortage in apt)les in New Y^ork and Michigan, will be fully made up by the 

 enormous crop in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, so that the prices will not run very high in 

 America. 



Pears. — According to the New York Fruit Btdletin, the pear crop in the Eastern 

 States is simply enormous, and, consequently, the prices ruling in the principal cities of 

 the States has been the lowest on record, reaching as low as from $1 to $2 for merchantable 

 fruit. Under these circumstances the transportation companies get nearly all the money, 

 leaving very little for the producer. Fortunately, we have done a little better in Canada, 

 and yet, considering that our crop has been not much over half the average, and that the 

 ([uality has been extra fine, growers cannot help feeling inclined to grumble. Probably, now 

 that early pears are over, our markets for late pears will improve. 



Grapes. — These have ripened up all at once this season, and nearly all varieties are 

 ready for shipping. This, in addition to the fact that much green fruit has been pushed 

 forward, is causing a temporary glut in all our markets. There is no doubt that the grape 



