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 other letters 



LETTER THIRD. 



ON THE APPLE. 



The apple being the most valuable and useful 

 fruit of temperate climes, it is very important 

 that good varieties should be cultivated, instead 

 of a great number of inferior kinds as at pre- 

 sent. Good fruit always brings a good price, 

 and gives satisfaction to the consumer, while 

 inferior can only be disposed of to those 

 who arc ignorant, — a class often imposed upon. 

 This state of things is, in a great measure, caused 

 by Horticultural writers giving long lists of 

 several hundred kinds, which are all described 

 as being very good ; and nurserymen thinking it 

 necessary to propagate and cultivate for sale all 

 these varieties. The public have also been to 

 blame in this, for had any conscientious nursery- 

 man, ten years ago, published a catalogue com- 

 prising only some thirty varieties each of the 

 best apples and pears, and ten each of plums, 

 cherries, and peaches, his establishment would 

 have been considered a small a£fair, and those 

 with the 200 or 300 varieties would have 

 drawn the custom. Horticultural societies and 

 agricultural fairs have also been greatly to 

 blame. The chief prizes are always given to the 

 largest and best collection of fruit of each kind, 

 ibe exhibitor showing say twenty-five of the 

 best varieties of apples or pears, well-grown and 

 fine, would be passed over without notice ; while 

 one exhibiting only twenty of the best kinds of 

 inferior growth, and some hundreds of inferior 

 and generally worthless varieties, would take the 

 prize. This is also partly attributable to the 

 judges at these exhibitions, it being almost im- 

 possible to get those who arc thoroughly com- 

 petent, for the really competent judge would 

 have merely counted the best varieties, throw- 

 ing the infe-ior aside. Now, as receiving the 

 first prize for the best collection is an excellent 

 advertisement for a nurseryman, each has been 

 obliged to keep large numbers of worthless 

 sorts in their stock, and as those acquainted with 

 good fruit will not buy them they accumulate 

 on hand, and have to be sold low to tree ped- 

 lers and agents, who retail them throughout the 

 country as the best standard varieties. It will 

 thus be seen that it is really the interest and 

 profit of nurserymen to keep in stock only the 

 best varieties, but an ignorant public opinion 

 has obliged him to do otherwise. It will be the 

 object of these letters to endeavor to remedy 



this evil, by enabling every one to know what are 

 the best varieties of each kind of fruit, which if 

 sent for to reliable nurscrjTnen, and not procured 

 from tree pedlers, will give entire satisfaction. 



With the exception of the common morello 

 cherry, and some varieties of plum, the apple is 

 the hardiest of our fruit-trees, and will stand a 

 greater degree of cold than any other, though 

 there are great differences in the relative de- 

 grees of hardihood of the different varieties. 

 Many suppose that propagating at the North 

 will acclimatize varieties for a cold climate, but 

 this is a mistake ; it is quite impossible to inure 

 a tender variety to a rigorous climate, and trees 

 grown in a milder locality are equally hardy 

 with those of the same sort grown in a colder. — 

 The chief cause of want of success is, that 

 young trees that have been forced on by high 

 culture to make rapid growth are not able to 

 stand as great a degree of cold as those grown 

 more slowly. 



The apple w juld probably succeed in maiy 

 parts of Lower Canada where it has failed 

 hitherto, were the ground thoroughly under- 

 drained, by tile drains, from 16 to 24 feet apart, 

 according to ihe nature of the soil, and deep 

 enough not to be injured by frost, thirty inches 

 being sufficiently deep in Western Canada. 

 Thorough draining renders the soil warmer in 

 summer and prevents root-killing by frost \v 

 winter, which is sure to occur in a wet soil. 

 Closer planting, so that the trees might in a 

 measure protect one another, will also be found 

 beneficial in the colder or more exposed situations; 

 and a belt of evergreens planted for protection 

 around the orchard or garden, as mentioned in a 

 previous letter, would be a great benefit. The 

 more unsuitable the soil and climate, the more 

 necessary it will be found to take extra care of 

 the trees to counteract sueh drawbacks, aud it 

 is hardly worth while to be at the trouble niiu 

 expense of planting, if you are not willing to use 

 the means necessary for success. 



The directions for preparing the ground, plant- 

 ing, Ac, in my letter on that subject, are es- 

 pecially adapted for the apple, and need not be 

 here repeated. Standard apple trees should be 

 planted in rich land suitable for their culture, at 

 from 30 to 35 feet apart, — while in poorer soil 

 and colder climate 25 feet will be found suffi- 



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