30 The Canadian Horticulturist. 



FALL AND WINTER PEARS. 



Sir. — Would you please tell me what you consider are the best six varieties of 

 pears for marketing in the late fall, and what six are best for winter market. — E. E. Mc- 

 ■COMBS, Essex Centre 



The varieties of fall and winter pears which would suit best in our locality 

 might not be the best ones for you. But the following six are all excellent fall 

 pears, and ought to give you satisfaction, viz. : Beurre d'Anjou, Duchess d'An- 

 gouleme, Doyenne Bussock, Howell, Kieffer, and Louise bonne de Jersey. 



Of winter pears, that are first-class for market, there is a much more limited 

 number from which to select. The following are some of the best : Lawrence, 

 Winter Nelis, Josephine de Malines, Easter Beurre, Glout Morceau and Presi- 

 ■dent Drouard. 



GRAPE CUTTINGS FROM THE RHINE. 



2. Sir, — I am going to put out next spring four acres of grapes. I will have the seed- 

 lings sent from my home on the Rhine of Germany. Could your book give me a little 

 information about sending and packing the seedlings for this country. And will there be any 

 duty on them, they are only cuttings of the wine stock. — ^Jean Gruenbeck. 



Reply by Mr. jfohn Craig, Horticulturist, Experimental Farm, Ottawa. 



Now that we have direct communication by steamer with Hamburg, 

 shipping facilities are much better, and there should be less difficulty in 

 importing in safety vines or other fruits than formerly when they were 

 reshipped from Liverpool. The vines should be tied in bundles containing 

 from twenty-five to fifty and packed in strong paper-lined cases. A liberal 

 amount of moss should be used, care being taken that this be damp only, not 

 wet. When packed too moist the buds are apt to swell and sometimes burst 

 while in transit, thus bringing them to their destination in an unfavorable 

 condition. And one that is always attended with a heavy loss to the 

 planter. Each case should be firmly packed, with the moss evenly distri- 

 buted between the bundles, and a good coating next the box on all sides. 

 The duty on grape vines costing less than ten cents is two cents each, on 

 those costing ten cents and over, twenty per cent, ad valorem is charged. 



Before importing these vines, I would suggest that Mr. Gruenbeck con- 

 sult the catalogues of our Canadian nurserymen, not only as to cost but as 

 to variety. The experiment is doubtless an interesting one, but it might 

 prove somewhat expensive in the outcome, as the success of the German 

 wine grape in Ontario is very doubtful. European grapes have almost invari- 

 ably failed in this country, their failure being due to defective foliage, tender- 

 ness, and attacks of phylloxera. Again, if designed for grafting stocks they 

 will be foimd much less desirable than our natives, which fact has been keenly 

 appreciated of late by European nurserymen. A prominent writer says, 

 " Already millions of American grape vines are growing in France and Ger- 

 many, hundreds of thousands in Spain, Italy, Hungary, etc., how much 



