110 



has one tree that bore a few specimens last year of a very nice apple — name 

 unknown. U. S. Consul Taylor, and M.essrs. Bannatyne, Higgins, Fonseca and 

 others have done considerable pioneer work; but while their labours have been 

 crowned with little success, their valuable experiments have thrown much light 

 upon the probable cause of failure. It is possible, in Mr. Hall's case, surrounded 

 and sheltered as his orchard is on three sides by heavy timber, that a lack of what 

 Prof. Budd calls air drainage may have contributed no little to his failure. In 

 the case of the larger apples, the fact that the Duchess is reported at its northern 

 limit in North Iowa or South Minnesota — that Tetofsky is said to be tenderer than 

 the Duchess, and that the "Wealthy so far has shown itself better adapted to a, 

 climate several degrees south of the place of its origination — these facts seem to 

 point to the conlusion that hardier varieties must be procured before successful 

 culture can be assured. A few of the United States importations of Eussian fruits 

 from a climate very similar to our own were procured firom Minnesota, but many of 

 these had been grafted upon crab and unsuitable roots, and it is on record that not 

 a dozen of the fii'st root grafts of this period are to-day alive in Minnesota, while in 

 Manitoba no trace of them is found, except in sprouting roots denuded of their 

 sprouts each succeeding winter. The grasshopper plague wrought sad destruction 

 and blasted many sanguine hopes, perhaps only a little before the time. Southern 

 slopes, without judicious shelter, inducing sun scald and bark bursting, have given 

 force to the theory that March and Apiil blazing sunshine must by some means be 

 prevented from doing its deadly work. The desire for large trees, often delivered 

 with the host part of them left in the nursery rows, many killed before starting 

 and more during transit, stuck unceremoniously into little better than gopher holes, 

 soddened with water, smothered with weeds, and wished well, " the iron clad apples 

 sure to succeed." All these and, perhaps, many more reasons, could be given for 

 lack of success, and have caused such discouragement that the highest ambition of 

 most people here seems to be to make the successful culture of grain, small fruits 

 and vegetables a suflScient source of income to provide for the importation of the 

 larger fruits from the Pacific coast, which bids fair to be the most successful fruit 

 region of the American continent. 



Present Experiments. 



Stonewall is situated upon a ridge of land dividing the water-sheds of lakes 

 Winnipeg and Manitoba, and the municipality of Eockwood, in which it is situated, 

 forms, on a small scale of course, the Michigan of Manitoba — its peninsular location, 

 with its sheltering timber bluffs scattered over the prairie, exercising a most 

 ameliorating influence on the climate. In 1886 the writer made careful enquiries in 

 regard to fruit culture of Profs. Budd, Saunders and Messrs. Gibb, Sias, Peflfer and 

 others. The very candid opinions given by these gentleman as to the capabilities 

 of this hyperborean region, gave a few scattered rays of hope. The Eussians, hardier 

 than the Duchess, and crabs, truly Siberian, were recommended and selected. 

 Seeds of the northern-grown fruit were procured, and in the spring of 1887 about 

 half an acre of good garden sandy loam soil was planted. One year old apples, 12 feet 

 apart, with rows of raspberries, blackberries, currants, gooseberries, strawberries and 

 vegetables, in intervening spaces, secured cultivation all over the garden, and the 

 trees and shrubs did remarkably well for a first season, and ripened up their wood 

 before the winter. In the spring of 1888, while none came out in leaf at the 

 terminals, the damage was confined to from J inch to 4 inches of previous season's 

 growth, but none were killed. A good, healthy growth was made during the season, 

 and again the dry fall weather hardened up the wood for winter storms. The 

 spring of 1889 opened favourably, and almost every tree burst its terminal buds, and 

 bid fair for a successful growth. On the nights of 28th and 29th May a rather 

 severe frost wilted the opened buds, blasted plum, currant and gooseberry blossoms, 

 and many trees were seriously injured, but only two or three entirely succumbed 

 out of eighty apple trees. In the fall previous I noticed splitting of the bark at the 

 crown, and while I left the mound of earth round the trees late in the sprino- the 



