THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
53 
a monopoly of this business, if every intelligent land 
owner who do as I have directed, evergreen groves would 
spring up as by magic all over our land. The time has 
come for horticultural writers to stop telling farmers that 
they cannot do this work; they must tell them howto do 
it. It is the only way to cover our land where necessary, 
in the shortest possible time, with beautiful conifers. Too 
many articles are written on this subject by men who never 
grew one from seed in all their lives. We want the ex¬ 
perience of the men who have made it a success. I will 
close by saying that, with my experience of over a quar¬ 
ter of a century, I know of no case where one has followed 
the directions given to the letter but he has met with 
complete success in our soil and climate.” 
FRUIT PROBLEM IN ENGLAND. 
In discussing the future of fruit-growing for market in 
the current issue of the Journal of the Royal Agricultural 
Society, Mr. Lee-Campbell, of Glewston Court, expresses 
the opinion that every thoughtful man must view with 
feelings akin to consternation the increasing dependence 
of our population on foreign supplies of food, and pro¬ 
ceeds : “ There seems something radically wrong as well 
as sad in the reflection that our acres should be lying idle, 
and our population unemployed, while we are pouring out 
our millions of money annually in enriching other nations 
and giving employment to their populations.” There is 
undoubtedly “something radically wrong,” but without 
pausing to discuss what that “ something ” is, we turn to 
what Mr. Lee-Campbell has to say with regard to the 
question of bringing about a more satisfactory state of 
things. He tells us that much of our fruit may be sup¬ 
plied from home sources. He also holds the opinion, and 
properly so, that our soil and climate are admirably suited 
for the growth of apples, plums, and certain other hardy 
fruits ; but he is careful to warn those who have not the 
necessary qualifications against engaging in what to them 
would be a disappointing enterprise. Mr. Campbell is 
evidently in full agreement with the views we have urged 
from time to time, for he states, in no halting manner, 
that to achieve success in the production of fruit for 
market a thorough acquaintance with the details of cul¬ 
tivation and of marketing the fruit is essential. The 
necessity of a soil and climate suitable for the fruit it is 
intended to cultivate is insisted upon, and as might be 
expected, the planting of inferior varieties and indifferent 
trees is strongly condemned. We are not surprised that 
Mr. Campbell should have expressed himself strongly in 
favor of bush trees, for when we had the pleasure of 
walking through his remarkable orch rds in the autumn 
of 1894 he pointed out to us, that while his bush trees 
had borne full crops for some five or six years, the 
standards planted at the same time were only producing 
their first crop. In answer to the question, “ Who are to 
be the fruit growers of the future ? ” Mr. Campbell re¬ 
plies that it will not be the farmer, as he has not the 
technical knowledge, and that the landlord can hardly be 
expected to risk his capital in a venture which largely 
depends upon the aptitude of the tenant. The only hope 
he holds out is that a race of practical fruit growers may 
spring up either possessing capital themselves, or associ¬ 
ated with others who are more fortunate in this respect. 
It is quite certain that fruit growers, to be successful, 
must be well qualified by previous training ; and we have 
no doubt, that with security of tenure and equitable com¬ 
pensation, the desired race of fruit growers will be forth¬ 
coming.— Magazine. 
NEW BORDEAUX MIXTURE. 
A Bordeaux mixture first suggested by M. Michel 
Ferret, at a meeting of the National Agricultural Society of 
France, was designed to remove certain objections to the 
use of the old mixture. It has'the advantage over that 
famous mixture in being less injurious to foliage, less 
liable to be washed away by rains, and less likely to choke 
the nozzle of the spraying machine. The new formula is as 
follows: Quicklime, 4 lbs. 6 oz.; molasses, 4 lbs. 6 oz.; 
sulphate of copper, 4 lbs. 6 oz.; water, 22 gallons. The 
essential difference between the new and old formulas is 
the presence of the molasses, which has a greater influence 
than would at first be expected. The prescription, as 
given by M. Ferret, is to add the molasses to 13 gallons 
of water, then slack the lime and add 434 gallons of 
water to form a milk of lime. Four this slowly into 
the sweetened water, stirring briskly in order to mix inti¬ 
mately. Next, in a third (wooden) vessel, dissolve the 
bluestone and pour this into the previous mixture, stirring 
well. In this blending of materials chemical changes are 
taking place. When the milk of lime and sweetened 
solution are intimately mixed together, then saccharate of 
lime is formed. Next, when to this is added the solution 
of sulphate of copper, a double decomposition takes place, 
sulphate of lime is formed on the one hand and soluble 
saccharate of copper on the other. This saccharate of 
copper is only formed in presence of an excess of lime, 
and its formation is indicated by the mixture assuming a 
beautiful greenish tinge. Thus the mixtue is rendered 
alkaline, and the acid is neutralized by the lime. 
The history of the world for all time proves that tree¬ 
less regions suffer most greatly from the extremes of 
drouth and storms, and present Iowa people yearly 
have ocular proof of that fact on the barren plains of 
neighboring states and territories adjacent thereto, says 
the lozva State Register. Iowa safety and fertility are 
involved in greatly increasing our timber and pond areas. 
This spring now promises to be unusually favorable for 
successful tree planting, and all the trees in the home 
nurseries of the state should be planted on the farms, 
orchards and lawns of Iowa during the next two weeks ; 
and the timber area be increased many times by the 
general planting of trees, which can be obtained without 
price in almost every neighborhood in the state. 
