JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER.  December 
upper  heights  of  the  chain  of  the  Reeky  Mountains  proper.  Many 
interesting  features  present  themselves,  too,  apart  from  the  scenery. 
Here  and  there  the  traveller  observes  the  tiny  tents  of  the  Indian, 
oiten  in  apparently  impassable  spots,  and  generally  on  the  banks  of  a 
river  for  the  purpose  of  washing  for  gold,  which  is  still  carried  on  to  a 
considerable  extent  by  the  ubiquitous  Chinaman  as  well.  A  keen 
observer  may  occasionally  see  deer  of  various  kinds,  and  perchance 
a  bear.  1 
I  he  climax  of  the  journey  is  perhaps  reached  at  the  Glacier 
louse,  where  your  iron  horse  stops  for  an  hour  to  fortify  its 
passengers  with  a  good  square  meal  in  a  mountain  hotel  established 
^y  the  Canadian  Pacific  Co.  within  a  stone’s  throw’  of  the  line.  This, 
.'(  '00  to  6000  feet  in  altitude,  is  about  the  highest  point  traversed,  and, 
on  the  occasion  referred  to,  was  covered  all  around  with  very  deep 
snow  ;  the  beautiful  Selkirk  Glacier,  a  snowlield  larger  than  the  whole 
of  Switzerland,  lying  vis-a-vis.  Though' not  a  very  rapid  (as  regards 
time)  it  is  yet  an  indescribable  transition  from  the  mighty  splendour 
of  .Nature  m  its  gigantic  moods  to  the  boundless  elevated  prairies 
winch  one  enters  upon  from  the  foot  of  the  Rockies.  For  hundreds 
and  hundreds  of  miles  one  sees  not  a  vestige  of  a  tree  or  shrub, 
nothing  but  a  few  wolves,  and  occasionally  a  Red  Indian  settlement. 
Hfis  enormous  land  journey  of  3000  miles  is  of  necessity  to  some 
degree  monotonous.  One  tires  in  time,  as  much  of  the  very  grandeur 
ot  the  mountains  .as  of  the  featureless  and  interminable  plains. 
-  ev.®r.* .  . ess  there  is  a  certain  element  of  excitement  in  the  endless 
possibilities  of  fortune.  It  is  ahvays  on  the  cards  at  such  seasons  that 
3°u  may  be  snowed  up  or  blocked  by  a  freshet  breaking  out  across  the 
track.  At  one  place  the  writer  recalls  a  consultation  as  to  whether 
some  piles  split  by  the  flowing  ice  in  a  rapid  stream  near  Winnipeg 
w'ou  d  bear  the  weight  of  the  train.  In  any  case  the  tourist  should 
ie  prepared  beforehand  to  meet  with  the  unexpected  ;  but  though 
contretemps,  disagreeable  at  the  time,  may  have  been'  his  lot,  he 
cannot  but  retain  the  impress  of  a  journey  so  diversified  ard  marvellous, 
and  one  that  is  in  its  way  perhaps  unique  compared  with  any  other 
continuous  travel  of  the  same  length. — T.  A.  Carnegie-Ciieales. 
EXPERIENCE  WITH  MANURES. 
I  thought  Mr.  E.  P.  Brotlierston,  under  the  above  heading 
(page  432),  was  going  to  give  us  workers  a  treat.  It  is  needless  to  say 
I  was  sadly  disappointed,  after  reading  his  remarks,  to  find  that  he 
had  advanced  nothing  new,  but  had  even  advocated  theories  which 
may  even  be  misleading. 
He  tells  us  that  “  Chemical  manures  are  an  undoubted  aid,  but 
they  are  not  everything.  .  .  .  They  can  never  take  the  place  of 
farmyard  manure,  nor  do  they  save  the  cultivator  in  tillage. ”  True, 
chemicals  are  not  everything,  any  more  than  farmyard  refuse ;  but  a 
fact  which  many  market  growers  will  admit  is  that,  although  we  use 
plenty  of  dung,  we  pin  our  faith  on  good  artificials,  for  wc  find  they 
are — other  things  being  equal — everything  to  us. 
^  e  wonder  what  cultivator  expects  chemicals  to  do  his  tillage  for 
him.  V  hat  is  the  use  of  applying  artificials  to  soil  unless  there  be 
plenty  of  roots  to  take  up  the  food  ?  Plants  do  not  form  plenty  of 
fibres  in  poo’ly  tilled  soil.  Has  your  correspondent  ever  noticed 
liow  a  root  in  poor  soil,  when  it  comes  into  contact  with  a  piece  of 
farmyard  manure,  will  immediately  begin  to  branch  into  innumerable 
fibres  ?  e  use  farmyard  manure  with  the  object  of  inducing  fibres, 
and  artificials  when  there  are  plenty  of  the  latter,  so  that  they  may 
profit  by  it. 
Reading  onward,  I  come  to  a  sentence  which  states  that  Mr. 
Brotherston  long  ago  affirmed  “that  garden  ground  in  good  condition 
requires  no  potash.”  Rather  a  bold  assertion,  and  it  proves  he  has  yet 
something  to  learn.  I  have  seen  soils  upon  which  potash  proved  of 
the  greatest  value,  and  in  feeding  all  our  plants  we  never  omit  it  from 
our  mixture.  We  have  always  seen  the  greatest  benefit  from  using 
nitrate  of  potash.  It  is  one  of  the  best  manures  to  induce  good 
leaves  and  stem  growth  ;  but  it  is  dear.  Has  your  correspondent  ever 
tried  it  on  Crotons  and  Dracamas  ? 
The  “  pulverising  of  the  soil  into  particles”  and  the  application 
of  a  “6-inch  layer  of  farmyard  manure,”  seems  like  reading  from  a 
text-book  on  agriculture,  and  makes  me  think  your  correspondent  has 
not  practised  his  method  of  cultivation  very  extensively.  The  pul¬ 
verising  of  soil  into  particles  is  very  well  in  theory,  but  we  do  not 
care  to  carry  it  out  in  practice. 
r!  lie  old  school  of  scientists  used  to  teach  us  that  March  and  April 
ovas  early  enough  to  apply  superphosphate,  and  that  it  was  wasteful  to 
use  it  previous  to  winter.  The  new  school  think  differently,  and  T, 
for  one,  shall  be. pleased  to  know  wdiere  the  waste  occurs.  As  to  super 
being  able  to  carry  crops  safely  over  a  drought,  I  think  your  corre¬ 
spondent  s  statement  requires  explanation.  There  were  perhaps  other 
growth-influencing  conditions.  A  grower  in  the  next  field  to  Us  has 
2  acres  of  Celery  planted  in  a  sandy  soil  which  has  not  seen  a  particle 
of  any  manure  for  fourteen  years.  The  trenches  had  plenty  of  farm¬ 
yard  manure  put  in  the  bottom,  but  no  superphosphate,  no  water,  and 
yet  none  of  the  plants  have  bolted,  and  the  Celery  is  good.  Where  is 
the  super  in  this  case  ? 
Harking  back  to  the  second  paragraph  on  page  132,  I  see  the 
author  says  that  “  Science  appeals  to  be  moving  in  the  direction  from 
which  it  started  off  at  a  tangent  some  twenty  years  ago;”  but,  in  the 
meantime,  according  to  “A.  D.,”  how  utterly  helpless  must  it  be  ?  If 
this  be  true,  why  does  your  correspondent  put  science  on  the  right 
track  ?  He  must  know  the  right  track,  or  how  would  he  know  she 
was  drifting  on  the  wrong  ?  If  science  will  not  listen,  let  him  give 
growers  some  good  practical  wrinkles,  and  I  am  sure  he  will  gain  the 
thanks  of  others  besides — A  Market  Gardener. 
FALLING  LEAVES, 
After  changing  from  one  tint  to  another  the  descent  began,  slowly 
but  surely,  and  for  the  past  few  weeks  the  patter  of  falling  leaves  has 
made  a  dull  and  mournful  music,  till  now’  it  is  almost  over,  and  the  trees 
bereft  of  their  foliage  have  again  assumed  their  skeleton  appearance.  But 
the  pattering  of  autumn  leaves  means  the  provision  of  a  commodity  that 
to  the  gardener  is  indispensable — i.e.,  leaf  mould.  Some  gardeners  are 
more  fortunate  than  others  in  being  able  to  obtain  a  constant  supply, 
and  have  no  need  to  resort  to  methods  of  storage  in  order  to  provide  for 
their  wants.  In  one  establishment  where  the  writer  was  employed, 
there  was  an  almost  unlimited  supply  from  hundreds  of  Oak  and  Beech 
trees. 
There  are,  however,  few  places  where  this  is  the  case,  and  it  becomes 
part  of  the  gardener’s  duty  to  use  means  for  providing  himself  with  a 
supply  of  the  commodity  for  future  use.  The  present  is  the  time  for  the 
adoption  of  measures  for  the  storage  of  the  fallen  leaves,  which  will  come 
into  use  when  thoroughly  decayed.  To  keep  drives  and  pleasure  grounds 
in  proper  order,  the  “besom”  must  be  kept  continually  at  work,  and  if 
suitable  places  are  provided  for  storage,  the  future  supply  of  mould  is 
insured.  Under  ordinary  conditions  the  leaves  do  not  become  sufficiently 
decayed  in  one  season  for  potting  purposes,  and  in  some  gardens  they  are 
carted  to  large  heaps  and  there  left  to  rot  away.  If  this  be  done  annually 
a  supply  can  be  kept  up.  There  are  out-of-the-u’ay  corners  in  most 
gardens  that  can  be  used  as  receptacles  for  the  purpose.  It  is  chiefly  a 
question  of  forethought  and  provision,  and  in  many  places  the  outcry  for 
leaf  mould  need  never  be  heard  if  the  matter  received  due  consideration 
at  this  time  of  the  year. 
Apart  from  the  mould  question  leaves  are  invaluable  for  many  pur¬ 
poses  during  the  winter  and  late  spring.  They  are  used  often  as  a  winter 
covering  for  Vine  borders,  Asparagus  beds,  and  crops  that  need  pro¬ 
tection  from  frost.  Again  for  the  making  of  hotbeds  where  litter  is 
none  too  plentiful,  if  leaves  be  used  in  conjunction,  half  the  quantity  of 
the  former  material  will  suffice.  It  is  quite  true  that  leaves  are  an 
important  item  of  the  gardener’s  working  plant. — G.  II. 
PRUNING  FRUIT  TREES. 
I  was  pleased  to  sec  your  notes  on  this  subject  in  this  week's  issue  of 
the  Journal,  more  especially  with  regard  to  horizontally  trained  trees.  I 
grow  a  large  number  of  these  every  year,  and  distribute  them  pretty 
widely  up  and  down  the  country,  and  I  often  feel  desperately  annoyed  to 
see  these  trees  after  they  have  been  under  the  care  of  some  gardeners  for 
a  year  or  two.  In  the  first  place,  many  gardeners  have  the  idea  that  a 
nurseryman  who  trains  horizontal  trees  with  their  branches  1  foot  apart 
does  not  understand  his  business,  and  the  first  thing  they  do  is  to  lay  in 
one  or  two  shoots  between  each.  One  gardener  explained  that  this  was 
to  fill  up  the  wall  space,  so  that  it  should  not  be  wasted,  and  also  to  pro¬ 
duce  more  fruit.  I  replied  that  he  might  have  more  leaves,  but  I  doubted 
if  he  would  ever  have  any  fruit  at  all. 
Again,  a  nurseryman  sends  out  trees  in  this  form  with  three  or  four 
tiers  of  branches,  and  a  leading  shoot  3  to  5  feet  long.  This  I  have 
several  times  seen  nailed  to  the  wall  and  left  full  length,  with  the  result 
that  the  buds  on  the  lower  portion  do  not  develop,  and  the  upper  part  of 
the  shoot  is  a  thicket  of  growths,  most  of  which  are  laid  in.  One  would 
have  thought  that,  even  without  instruction,  a  man’s  observation  would  at 
once  disclose  to  him  the  fact  that  the  leading  shoot  had  annually  been 
cut  back  to  about  15  inches  in  order  to  form  a  new  tier  of  branches. 
I  need  not  add  that  the  trees  thus  treated  are  probably  in  the  minority, 
still  in  these  days  of  education  and  enlightenment  it  is  disappointing  to 
find  any.  If  I  might  venture  I  would  add  this  remark  :  many  young 
gardeners  are  too  keen  to  leave  the  outside  department  and  get  into  the 
glass.  I  would  remind  such  that,  however  beautiful  the  Orchids,  Chrys¬ 
anthemums,  and  other  floral  gems  may  be,  man  cannot  eat  them,  and  the 
owner  will  have  a  much  greater  sense  of  enjoyment  when  e'amining 
their  beauties  if  he  has  previously  had  a  comfortable  meal,  in  which  the 
vegetables  and  fruits  of  the  garden  supply  no  inconsiderable  part. 
Doubtless  glass  houses  have  been  of  infinite  service  to  gardeners,  but 
I  fear  they  have  tended  to  lessen,  though  not  to  exterminate,  the  number 
of  men  skilled  in  the  pruning  and  cultivation  of  hardy  fruits. — 
Nurseryman. 
