AugUBt 24, 1876. ] 



JOUBNAL OF HORTICTJLTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



167 



its aspect, from the Dutch or other ordinary border Hvacinths. 

 In fact, the consanguinity is, as regards aspect and appearance, 

 scarcely to be suspected. This will be understood when the 

 reader is told that Hyacinthus candicans has Crinum-like 

 glaucous leaves from 2 to 2J feet long, and broad as those of 

 Crinum capense, that the stout flower scape rises straight as 

 a gun barrel to the height of 3A to 4 feet, and the topmoBt 

 foot or 18 inches decked with large pendulous bells of exquisite 

 form and purest white, except a slight tiDge of green towards 

 the base. The flowering period is very prolonged, indeed 

 some six weeks or more, the flowers being produced in succes- 

 sion as the spike elongates. This aptly termed " colossal 

 Hyacinth " iB admirably figured, and, what is more, truthfully 

 depicted, in last year's volume of the " Flore de Serres." It 

 comes to us from Natal, and is perfectly hardy. Moreover, 

 the very moderate figure, between 3s. and 4s., at which fine 

 flowering bulbs are obtainable, places it within the reach of 

 all lovers of fine hardy border plants, and to the notice of all 

 such we strongly recommend it. As a pot plant for house 

 culture it would, we should say, be singularly striking and 

 effective ; and further, there does not appear any reason to 

 doubt it being an excellent subject for early forcing or its 

 amenability for the purpose. With regard to the freedom or 

 otherwise with which offsets are produced, and the plant 

 thereby multiplied, our too brief acquaintance with it doeB 

 not enable us to offer an opinion. — (Irish Farmers' Gazette ) 



SIR J. PAXTON STRAWBERRY. 



As several persons have spoken against this Strawberry I 

 should like to state a little on the other side of the question. I 

 think it undoubtedly one of the best Strawberries in cultivation 

 for a dry soil. The fruit this year has been very fine, [the 

 quality first-rate, and the crop very good. 



I have seen it classed in some catalogues as an early, in 

 some a midfleason, and in others a late variety, but it is pro- 

 perly clasBed as a midseason variety. A few of the berries 

 began to colour this year as early as Keens' Seedling, but the 

 fruit does not ripen off so quickly — in fact it is a slow ripener, 

 and that is a very desirable quality if you have a good net 

 over the beds ; for if you do not happen to want the fruit you 

 can leave it. I left one bed for more than a week after the 

 fruit was ripe, and when gathered it was of fine quality ; but it 

 must be remembered the weather was dry. 



Last season was the opposite of this, but Sir J. Paxton stood 

 the continual washings of rain as well as any other variety. — 

 Amateur, Cirencester. 



FRUIT-GROWERS' ASSOCIATION OF ONTARIO. 



The following are extracts from the President's address, and 

 from some of the members' notes : — 



We question if ever fruit-growers had to contend with more 

 malign influences than those which have prevailed during the 

 paBt winter. The season was exceptionally severe, and some 

 noticeable and remarkable effects resulted to almost all vege- 

 tation from its severity. The Apple, Pear, Plum, Cherry, and 

 Grape suffered greatly. There are few horticulturists but have 

 to lament the destructive inroads made on their orchards. 

 Scarcely an orchard escaped the biting blast. It matters little 

 the aspect — trees on southern slopes suffered as much as those 

 on northern exposures. Nor were other varieties of trees 

 exempt. The hardy Oak, the luxuriant Maple, the stately 

 Pine, and the lowly shrub alike Buffered, and this not in one 

 district, but almost everywhere. Confessedly hardy varieties 

 were more injured than certain others that were previously 

 known for their tenderness. Philadelphia Easpberry was cut 

 down, while in its neighbourhood the hornet stood the winter 

 pretty well. Grape Vines in southern exposures were scathed, 

 while the same varieties in northern aspects passed through 

 the ordeal soatheless. The strangest and most paradoxical 

 results have been noted. Important lessons follow. At 

 Drummondville we learn that the mulching of the tender 

 varieties of the Peach had preserved them. In fact, the se- 

 verity of last winter has abundantly taught the beneficial 

 results of mulohing. Trees well mulched suffered compara- 

 tively little — left exposed they scarcely survived. The practice 

 of mulching must soon become general, and this both in winter 

 and in summer. In winter it is needed to protect against the 

 withering cold, in summer as a shelter against the intense 

 heat. My own experience is strikingly illustrative of the 

 benefits of mulching. For years I mulched either with manure 



or turf — for the last two years I have applied fertilisers in both 

 cases on the surface. During the paat summer and spring 

 branch after branch of my beautiful and fruitful Pear trees 

 have gone. My occupation has largely been to trim off great 

 quantities of blighted limbs, and the evil I fear is not over yet. 

 I propose to return to my old mode of culture, and mulch both 

 in winter and in summer. 



In a part of my front green I have purposely kept the ground 

 free of weeds and grass. Every tree on this particular plot 

 has Buffered ; my Pear trees have actually died out, and my 

 Apples have greatly suffered. I intend in the spring to bow 

 grass seed or Clover to protect the roots of my trees. After 

 all, there is something in this grass theory and practice. I am 

 satisfied that a good crop of weeds has something to do with 

 a good growth of wood, and with the fertility of fruit-bearing 

 trees. Some manure which 1 once employed as a top-dressing 

 was full of groundsel seed. A luxuriant crop of what was 

 esteemed a noxious weed was the consequence. Not a siDgle 

 bough, however, blighted, notwithstanding the luxuriance. 

 Thinking it proper and right, I got rid of the groundsel, and 

 have for these two years kept my ground clean but undug. 

 This tidiness on my part has been further carried out by an 

 orderly and painstaking workman, who raked into heaps every 

 bit of bark, bone, pruning, old shoes, rags, &e., which offered 

 a certain kind of mulch, and thereby left the ground bare and 

 clean. The result, come from what cause it may, has satisfied 

 me that trees like a little roughness. Forests mulch them- 

 selves. Mr. Saunders of London can tell a somewhat similar 

 tale, or rather his grounds do if he wo'n't. Having reoently 

 visited his fruit farm, I can testify that even a grass mulch is 

 uumistakeably beneficial, and highly subserves the interest of 

 the horticulturist. Among trees on cultivated land there is 

 at London a very high per-centage of deaths ; in the same 

 varieties grown under grass in the same, nay, almost the im- 

 mediate position, the per-centage of deaths is not a tithe. This 

 speaks volumes for mulching ; indeed, mulching is a great 

 necessity. Ac Ottawa in June last I noticed in Mr. Bucke's 

 garden that the canes of his Easpberries were scarcely touched. 

 In attempting to account for this I found that he had been 

 attending to first principles, and that his Vines were and had 

 been growing under a course of very heavy manuring. 



We have noticed that good hybrids are less liable to be 

 attacked with blight than imported varieties. Crosses are yet 

 to be made which will combine hardihood with quality. Our 

 hybridists are on the track. Skill and delicate manipulation 

 will yet accomplish their wonders. We are only on the threshold 

 of great discoveries in hybridisation. Facts are becoming 

 more and more patent which show the wonderful influence of 

 the stock upon the scion. Stocks ought to be selected with the 

 greatest care. That any stock will suffice is an idea that 

 happily is becoming exploded among fruit-growers. Were 

 testimony to be desired as to the effect the stock has upon the 

 scion, it is not wanted to those who have noted the disastrous 

 results of the past winter. Take for example the Cherry. 

 Cherries worked on the Mazzard stock have in most cases been 

 killed outright, while those on the Mahaleb, standing in close 

 juxtaposition, have in many instances escaped. The Mazzard 

 cannot be compared to the Mahaleb as a stock. Were growers 

 to order trees on the Mahaleb stock they would not Buffer so 

 severely as they have done from the severity of winter. Mr. 

 SaunderB' Cherries on his farm in the neighbourhood of London 

 have almost all suffered that were on the Mazzard ; those on 

 the Mahaleb, while showing symptoms of having suffered, are 

 comparatively uninjured contrasted with those on the Mazzard. 

 What is true of the Cherry on Mahaleb and Mazzard stock is 

 equally true of Pear stocks. Some varieties of stock are natu- 

 rally dwarfish of themselves — in their own nature — and eome 

 are rampant growers. These differences are to be found in the 

 smallest quantities of Pear stock. I have a Lawrence on the 

 Pear stock, which has the diameter of the stock double that 

 of the scion. The consequence both of the growth of the wood 

 and of the fruit is that it far exceeds its neighbours both in 

 wood-growth and in fertility. 



The art of hybridising requires some knowledge of botany 

 and a little delicate manipulation. The female is usually 

 chosen for its qualities as a plant, the male for that of the 

 fruit ; because it is found the former takes after the mother, 

 the latter after the father. These being selected by the expe- 

 rience of the cultivator, the first process in hybridising is to 

 open the flower just before it would naturally do so of itself, 

 and remove the little cap that covers the pistil with a pair of 

 forceps, then take away the male organs or anthers. So soon 



