THE C A NAD TAN HORTICULTURIST 



March, 191-; 



PURE SEED POTATOES 



FOR SALE 



A quantity of Davies' Warrior, Green Mountain, Noxall and Pats Choice. 



Four of the heaviest yielding main crop white potatoes. 



Write for Price L/st 



PORT ELGIN FRUIT GROWERS' LIMITED 



PORT ELGIN, ONT. 



r 



"Grow Bigger Crops 

 During the War" 



THIS is the Canadian farmer's golden harvest-time. 

 With wheat selling over the dollar mark, and other 

 grains and vegetables bringing war-time prices, 

 farmers should do their utmost to grow as big crops as 

 possible this year. This, friends, is the time of all times 

 to enrich your soil with 



H 



ara 



b 



It is the sure way to make your soil 

 yield bumper crops and make more 

 money for you. By usingthe proper fer- 

 tilizers you can greatly increase your 

 yield at no extra cost of labor or seed. 

 Would it not pay you to grow the 

 maximum from your soil? 



DAVIES' 

 Fertilizers 



If you've been in 

 the habit of using 

 Davies' Fertilizers, 

 keep on using them. 

 They are excellent 

 fertilizers. It's mere- 

 ly a matter of choice 

 between Harab and 

 Davies' . The Ontario 

 Fertilizers Limited 

 supply both. 



If Harab Fertilizers were not exceptionally profitable to use, I 

 don't think there would be such a great and growing demand for 

 them, do you? But perhaps you would like to read the new ferti- 

 lizer booklet that describes them fully. If so, just drop a card to 

 The Ontario Fertilizers Limited, and 

 say "Please send me your new Harab 

 Fertilizer booklet." They have prom- 

 ised me to send my friends this 

 booklet promptly without charge. 



The Ootario Fertilizers Limited, West Toronto, Canada 



23 



Growing Food on Vacant Lots 



W. W. Aadrcwi, Rcfio*, Suk. 



"Our method of handlin>f vacant lots in 

 r<c>fina is by a committee, of which I am 

 chairman. Our secretar>' finds out from 

 owners if they are reasonably sure that 

 they will not build on their land during the 

 cominp- season, and if they are willing to 

 lot us have the land for our purposes. 



Then we arrange to plough and harrow 

 them. This costs us ninety cemts a lot. (It 

 cost us much more at first.) We charge two 

 dollars and fifty cents for use of lot, plow- 

 ing and harrowing, and wc give some flow- 

 er seeds to be sown in the ten feet near the 

 street. Some of the lots were ver>' beautiful 

 We formed a cooperative society among ll. 

 gardeners and they bought their seeds cl 

 operatively. We carried on a series of lec- 

 tures and talks on the conditions of success 

 in western gardening. These were held in 

 the schoolhouses and were the first social 

 centre work in the schoolhouses. These 

 meetings were well attended and the discus- 

 sions were interesting. We pay our seen 

 tary fifty dollars for his trouble. 



We have now one hundred and sixty lots 

 ready for the spring. We had some city 

 property which is now used by the city for 

 pursery purposes. Next year we expect to 

 add a large number of lots to our list. 



We were able to run a small market of 

 our own — cooperatively managed, and this 

 move led with the cooperation of the ladies' 

 association to the re-opening of the city 

 market. We hope to reduce somewhat the 

 fee of two dollars fifty cents. It is very 

 small, considering the results the gardens 

 vield. 



I had one garden and so also had som 

 others of our committee. My little twenty- 

 fivc-foot lot kept our table supplied all 

 summer with abundance of green stufF, let- 

 tuce, Swiss Chard, spinach, peas, beans, 

 tomatoes, corn, onions, carrots, turnips, 

 celery, potatoes and cabbage, enough to 

 do us all winter. The soil here is wonder- 

 ful in its fertility. 



We used the newspapers freely. Our 

 secretary was most indefatigable. The 

 chairman and secrctarv necessarily do most 

 of the work. Some of the stores gave plants, 

 tools, and special seeds af reduced prices 

 to all who presented one of our cards. 



We have decided to recommend all our 

 gardeners who use hotbeds and cold frames 

 to eschew glass and to use factory cotton 

 instead. It costs less, does not grow so 

 hot during the day nor so cool at night. 

 The plants get more air and are in every 

 way harder and stand transplanting better. 



One edge of the factory- cotton we tack 

 to the higher side of the frame and the 

 other edge is tacked to a lath or roller. 

 The cotton is in this way easily rolled up, 

 and when spread over the frame the weight 

 of the roller keeps it in place. Lath may 

 be used as rafters to keep it from sagging 

 during a rain and injuring the plants. 



K movement has been started in the Pro- 

 vince of Quebec favoring the holding of a 

 provincial horticultural exhibition similar 

 to the one which has been held in Toronto 

 for the province of Ontario during the past 

 eight years. The province of Quebec needs 

 such an exhibition. Nothing would do 

 more to unify the horticultural interests and 

 at the same time advertise the fruit re- 

 sources of the Province. The first few ex- 

 hibitions would naturally be small but in 

 time they should become an important an- 

 nual event in the affairs of the Province. 



