SB i UC-NRLF 71 BRARp OF THE MAW *G*lG. Olfiftfe Published by authority of the Society. Horticultural 3 Society, Cbc Constitution, flnnua! Report, AND Papers Read During the years Tery, i*96, w feK'y, 1*9$. Mclntyre Bros,, Publishers, Winnipeg. 1898, THE horticultural Society The Constitution, the Annual Report, and the Papers Read during the years February, 1896, to February, 1898, PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY OF THE SOCIETY. Winnipeg: MclNTYRE BROS., - PUBLISHERS. 1898. Fable of Contents, o o o Page. Constitution ................................................. 5 of Officers ............................................. 6 of Members ................................................. 7 House Plants^?. Alston .......... .............................. 10 Ornamental Shrubs and Hardy Perennial Plants W. G. Scott ____ 15 Practical Tree Planting-/). D. England .................. ...... 22 Small Fruits for Manitoba T. Frankland ........................ 27 Winter Flowering Bulbs R. Alston .............................. 31 Growing- Flowers in the Home Mrs. J. McLeod Holiday ......... 37 Prairie Flowers Suitable for Cultivation in Gardens Rev. W. A. Burman. . . 41 Annual Report of the Society . .................................... 50 Organized Horticulture in the North West A. W. Latham ........ 51 Doubtful Fruits A. P. Stevenson .......................... ....... 60 Trees and Windbreaks Angus Mackay ... ........................ 68 Winter Protection of Plants Rev. A. B. Baird ................... 73 The Importation of Fruit and Nursery Stock R. R. Scott ......... 80 Protection of Birds Rev. W. A. Burman .................. .... ____ 84 Forestry E. F. Stephenson . . .............................. _____ 88 Bee Keeping 5. A. Bedford ....................................... 95 Strawberries//. C. Whellams .................................... 103 The Dahlia^. F. Angus ......... .111 Constitution, 000 1. The name of the Society shall be the Western Horticultural Society. 2. Its object shall be the advancement of the interests of Horti- culture, especially in the region between I^ake Superior and the Rocky Mountains, by collecting-, arranging and disseminating information on the subject, or by such other means as may be agreed upon. 3. Its membership shall include all who pay an annual fee of $1, or a life membership fee of $10, in one or two payments. 4. The Society may also elect honorary members for a period of five years or for life. 5. The Officers shall include an Honorary President, a President, six Vice-Presidents, a Secretary, a Treasurer, and three Councillors. 6. Five of the Vice-Presidents shall be chosen from districts out- side of Winnipeg. 7. The Officers resident in Winnipeg shall constitute an Executive Committee. 8. The meetings of the Society shall be held at such times as may be agreed upon by the Executive Committee. 9. The officers shall be elected at the annual meeting, which shall be held in the month of February in each year. 10. Alterations of the Constitution can only be adopted by a two- thirds vote, and only at an annual meeting, or at a meeting, in view of which, notice of the proposed amendment has been given. BY-LAWS, 1. Three members of the Executive Council shall form a quorum. 2. The Secretary shall be responsible for giving due notice of each meeting to the members. 3. At any regular meeting of the Society the order of business shall be that proposed by the Executive and announced by the Chair- man. In the absence of such prepared order of business the following shall be observed : (1) Calling to order. (2) Reading and Confirming of Minutes. (3) Reading and Referring Letters, Accounts, etc. (4) Reports of Committees. (5) Inquiries and Notices of Motion. (6) Nomination and Election of Members. (7) Unfinished and Miscellaneous Business. (8) Adjournment, Officers of the Western Horticultural Society, 1898, PRESIDENT : REV. PROFESSOR BAIRD. VICE-PRESIDENTS : S. A. BEDFORD, Brandon, Man. R. S. THORNTON, M.D., Deloraine, Man. A. STRUTHERS, Russell, Man. A. P. STEVENSON, Nelson, Man. ANGUS MACKAY, Indian Head, Assa. R. ALSTON, Winnipeg, Man. SECRETARY : A. F. ANGUS, Winnipeg-. TREASURER : W. G. SCOTT. COUNCILLORS : REV. DR. BRYCE. G. H. GREIG. H. C. WHEU2, 3, 3%, 4, 5, 6 and 7 feet apart. Some plots are all box-elder, others all ash and others all elm. Then there are plots with box-elder and ash in alternate rows, box-elder and elm, etc. In the transplanted plots >the trees set out 2% and 3 feet apart, cover the ground in the least time and require less cultivation than those set out at greater distances apart. Besides this the trees attain height more quickly and are more suitable for transplanting, and no doubt as they develop will make better trees for any purpose. Trees, at a greater distance than three feet, have a tend- ency to throw out branches from the bod}^, and expend their strength in breadth insteed of height. This is especially true of Box-elder and Kim. Plantations of box-elder and ash, 1 tree of the former to 2 or 3 of the latter, do much better than all box-elder or all ash. With "all ash" plantations there is not sufficient ground protection from the sun early in the season and with Box-elder there is too much. Both together afford sufficient protection, and at the same time permit light and air to enter. For the same reason Box-elder and Elm, in the pro- portion mentioned, do better than all Kim. Native Ash (Fraxinus Americana) is, I think, the most valuable tree we have for forest cultivation. Although slow of growth for a few years it takes a smaller amount of moist- ure and less cultivation, and will, no doubt, live in our dry climate many years longer than Box-elder, Poplar or Cotton- wood, and at the same time be more useful for fuel or other commercial purposes. 73 The Winter Protection of Plants, BY A. B. BAIRD. The Horticultural Society, I venture to think, can scarce- ly render a better service to its members and the public generally, than to make public what is known already about the classes of plants that can with a little care be carried through our Manitoba winter, and if possible extend the range of plants capable of being cultivated here by studying how plants with which we have hitherto not been successful, may by the adoption of improved methods be assisted to withstand the rigors of our severest seasons. This is a subject upon which we can get little help from our friends to the South, the East and the West of us, and we are therefore left to work out our own destiny and discover what plants will live in a state of nature with us and what by the exercise of a few artificial precautions can be helped through the winter. My own three or four years of experimenting, of which I have only recently begun to keep any memorandum, will throw only very little light on the subject, for the conditions of success are so numerous and so complex that one is obliged to verify his tentative conclusions through a series of years before we can announce them with confidence. What I have to offer is therefore only a single contribution towards a body of knowledge which will only be arrived at after we have all observed and experimented and reported for a few years. And there is abundant encouragement for us to go on in this line. Who in Manitoba would have believed half a dozen years ago that hybrid perpetual roses can with safety be wintered out of doors with us ? And yet this is one of the conclusions which I think I may venture to say is now pretty well estab- lished. Who among us would not have laughed a few years ago at the enthusiast who first risked his tulip bulbs by put- ting them into the ground in October, but it has been done 74 WESTERN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. time and again with such success that it does not require a prophet to say that soon tulip bulbs will be planted by the thousand every autumn in Winnipeg- and throughout the West. Allow me to call attention to some general considerations which are of importance before going on to note the methods to be employed in the case of each species. It is very desirable in the case of a half hardy or tender plant that it should be prepared so as to enter the winter in as good a condition as possible. In other words the woody part of the plant should be ripened as well as possible. Let the g'rowth be as rank as you like in the spring and early summer but do not by abundant watering or by the use of manures encourage a strong growth in the late part of the summer. The pinching back of raspberry canes is usually to make the plant branch out and so bear more fruit, but it is good for this purpose too that it hinders growth late in the season, so the cutting back of roses will prepare the bushes for going into winter quarters in a much more satisfactory condition . Again, of the conditions of success in winter protection one is to have a substantial covering over the plant so that the alternate freezing and thawing of spring days and nights will not injure it ; and the other is not to have this covering so close as to smother the plant. Leaves, which are so often recommended in eastern horticultural journ- als, are unsatisfactory because (not to speak of being hard to get) they are so liable to blow off and leave the plant exposed. Strawy manure is liable to the same objection in windy situations and when there is nothing else to be used, as in the case of strawberry beds, it is well to add a few branches of trees which not only keep the straw from blowing about but they have the additional merit of holding the snow. To obviate the smothering of the plants the best method in my experience is to cover the plants with inverted sods THE WINTER PROTECTION OF PLANTS. 75 laid in such a way that there are some air passages under- neath and among* them. If this is done in a neighborhood infested with mice it will be necessary to guard against their depredations by scattering some h.andfuls of poisoned wheat about the mounds. It is also very desirable to have the wintering plant kept somewhat dry. Nothing is more certainly fatal to it than that it should stand in a foot of water for a while in the early spring. And it is good policy in the case of the more tender plants to cover the mounds with tar paper or with packing cases to keep off the wet. Now to speak more in detail about the course to be pur- sued with regard to various kinds of plants it is to be noted that some require no winter protection at all. Small fruits like currants, Downing gooseberries, Turner and Philadelphia raspberries, do quite well without any winter protection, although in the case of raspberries it is altogether better to cover them because it brings them through the winter with unimpaired vigor and because if they are branchy, as they ought to be, the melting snow is very liable to break off the branches. Many of the perennial flowers like the delphiniums, emerocallis, perennial phlox and sweet william do quite well in an ordinarily sheltered situation without any protection but it is safer to scatter a little litter over them ; and there is also a long list of flowering shrubs which are quite independ- ent of any artificial covering during the severest winter and the most unevenly regulated spring. There are on the other hand some plants ordinarily reported hardy which have not proved to be so in my experi- ence. I have tried twice to bring hollyhocks through the winter out of doors and have not succeeded, although the Indian Head experimental farm reports that it succeeded in 1894. My efforts to winter hydrangea paniculata success- fully have been disappointing but on this line I have not given up trying. 76 WESTERN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. But between these two extremes of plants that need no protection and plants that cannot be protected there is a large class that will richly repay a little care. The best way to protect raspberries has been often described, but possibly there are some here for whose benefit it may be repeated. After the old canes and all but five or six of the new ones have been cleaned out, take out with a digging- fork a little earth from one side of the roots, then loosening the roots on the other side also a little with the fork, bend the canes gently over till the tips reach the ground, take care to do the bending as much as possible in the roots so that the canes need not be bent sharply over and broken. Have a boy to hold down the canes while you place a few shovelfuls of earth on them to hold them in position. Even for the tender or half hardy kinds like Golden Queen and Cuthbert it is not necessary to cover the whole plant with soil. All that is needed is to cover it partially so that it will get the protection of the snow during the winter. The work is very easily and quickly done, a man and a boy can lay down snugly a long row in a very short time and it is a great pity to run the risk of losing a part or the whole of the next season's crop for want of a few hours' work. For roses the plan is very much the same only that more pains are taken. The ground about the root is loosened suffi- ciently far down to make it possible to lay the plant over on its side, then it is covered with inverted sods laid in somewhat open order and the whole is covered with a piece of tar paper to keep out the rain. By this means even tender roses can be kept safely through the winter. It proved successful last winter in my garden with the hybrid perpetuals : Duke of Edinburgh, Alfred Colomb, Mrs. John Laing, General Jacque- minot and Paul Neyron, the climber Crimson Rambler, the moss roses Glory of Mosses and Henry Martin and the Lord Penzance Sweet Briars, Amy Robsart and Anna of Grierstein. Those which succumbed were the hybrid perpetuals : Gloire Lyonnaim, Black Prince and Dinsmore, and the climoer Mary Washington, probably from being covered too closely. But THE WINTER PROTECTION OF PLANTS. 77 perhaps last winter with its early and abundant snowfall should not be quoted as an average winter, especially when we know on good authority that the tea rose Madame Caro- line Testout survived the winter in Fort Rouge without any protection whatever. There are many roses no doubt which will live through our winters without being covered at all. Roses of the Rugosa class need no care. The yellow roses Persian Yellow and Harrison's Yellow are perfectly hardy. My friend, Professor Hart, has had for a number of years in his garden a moss rose, a yellow rose (probably Harrison's yellow) and a small pink rose which have lived and bloomed year after year without protection, although they are often frozen back considerably. The garden is tolerably well pro- tected by the house on the North, a board fence on the South and West and by trees. The proper time in the autumn to begin to protect plants is when the frost begins to stiffen the ground, usually in the first week of November, and the covering ought not to be taken off until the plants are about to start into life. The mistake is very often made of uncovering too early. Indeed if by leaving the covering on, the beginning of growth in strawberries or raspberries can be delayed for a week the plants will have escaped very likely one of their worst ene- mies, the danger of frost while they are in bloom. The fruit grower and the flower grower in Manitoba have to face and to conquer difficulties which do not beset the cultivators in milder climates. But what of that ? Difficul- ties exist only for the purpose of being overcome. Anybody can grow flowers in California or British Columbia : it is only the man of intelligence, of perseverance and of watchfulness who can succeed under conditions which are as new and some of which are untoward as ours. DISCUSSION. Some one asked about the hardiness of the Hydrangea. Mr. Bed- ford spoke of one variety as being- very tender with them at Brandon. He said, "We got plants from Rochester and Ontario and both were 78 WESTERN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. tender. One day while visiting the greenhouse I was told that they had some of these plants that came from St. Paul and they found them hardy. I bought four or five of these plants and they have proved to be hardy and they bloom every year. They bloom very late in the season, so I think success depends largely on where you procure seeds or plants. From the East we found the elm tender, while from Oak Lake we found it hardy, and so we should be very careful about where we procure them. Get them as far north as possible. MR. A. McKAY. I would like to ask the best time for uncovering plants. The greatest danger to perennials is taking the covering off too late in the spring. When we cover them with manure and straw until the danger of frost is over, even a cold wind will kill the leaves. This last two or three years we have stopped mulching and we have found that these perennials will stand much more frost. My experi- ence has been that if we could cover them to keep them back by keep- ing them in a cold state by ice or snow that they would be all all right, but if we have just a small mulch on the plant, it begins to grow and a light frost or wind will kill it. PROF. BAIRD. My experience quite coincides with Mr. McKay's in that respect. "With the exception of Raspberries I have given up the plan of mulching. With Raspberries I put ,down all 'kinds. I pinch them back during the summer to get the vines very branch}' before the fall. Then I lay them down about the beginning of November for the purpose of protection, so that the branches will not be broken off them when the snow melts in the spring, even though they do not need it to keep them from being winter-killed. One finds that in this case, as in too may others, it is a bad plan to tamper with nature any more than is absolutely necessary, so with my pansies, for instance, I do not cover them at all. Sometimes a few of them die, but the majority of them come through very well. As regards Phlox, Sweet William, etc., my garden has a fence near by and the snow lies pretty late in the spring and I leave them to the tender mercies of nature. With roses I find the difficulty to be in interfering with the roots, but get over this by pinning the plant down and covering very lightly. MR. A. P. STEVENSON. It is sometimes suggested as a protection for tender roses that railroad ashes are as good a thing as can be got. My experience with the plan of covering with sods was not very pleas- ant. The mice would get in and bark the bushes. But as regards what Mr. Bedford said of getting the trees from as far north as possi. ble I may say that we have one very good illustration of that at home. A number of years ago we got twenty-five of the Ontario soft maple trees and some from northerly Wisconsin at the same time. Those from Wisconsin are probably eighteen feet high, while those from Ontario are probably eighteen inches high ; they are killed back every winter. THE WINTER PROTECTION OF PLANTS 79 PROF. BAIRD. In answer to Mr. Braxton, I may say that I have only about eighteen or twenty roses and the number is not so great but that I can take a great deal of care of them. I do not disturb the soil any more than is required in pinning them down, but a friend of mine here in the dry goods business has a method which does not require pinning at all. He covers the roses over with packing cases tilled with straw or manure, and leaves them standing, and in that way they are protected from the snow in the spring and from changes of tempera- ture. His method seems to be pretty good. MR. McKAY. We have a lot of boxes that we use in growing our melons and things that we wish to ripen early. These we put over the roses in winter filled with leaves. In regard to laying down raspber- ries we have none that will stand without protection in the North- West. We have to put them down every year, but we never touch the roots. We find that we have to cover the whole bush, as unless we do, it will not bear fruit although it may look all right. If we had snow it might not be so, but we have no snow and so find protection of the whole body necessary. MR. TOMAUN. In the case of the Turner Raspberry, did back- pinching make it branch out ? PROF. BAIRD. Not as freely as the Golden Queen and Cuthbert. MR. TOMAUN. That might do very well in the city where you have only a small garden, but in growing fruit for sale a man cannot lay them down as he has not time. I have laid them down and I have left them standing and I fail to see any difference. We should get a kind that will stand. For a number of years I have grown raspberries and I would advise anyone growing them in the country not to cover them. The way I would grow them, if convenient, would be to have them 20 to 25 feet apart and have strawberries between so that the raspberry bushes would hold the snow to cover the strawberries, as about four feet of snow is the best covering you can get for them. MR. A. P. STKVENSON. I have tried pinching back alternate rows and certainly I failed to see a particle of difference in the crop. In reading the report of the experimental farm I notice that they had no favorable results from pinching. As regards what has been said about covering strawberries, I find that if I do not mulch them the frost in spring is liable to spoil the blossoms. L,ast year one half of my crop was ruined by leaving the plants uncovered. Those that we mulched were kept back and did very well. MR. McKAY. We have a raspberry at Indian Head, the Dr. Ryder, It is the best raspberry we have ever had and next to the Turner in hardiness, and I would like to know if anyone here has heard of it. We got our first vine in 1889 from Boston. 80 WESTERN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. PROF. BAIRD. I confess that the Cuthbert aud Golden Queen seem to be so much better in quality than others, that we have paid attention almost exclusively to them. The trouble of laying- them down is not so great as Mr. Tomalin fears. A man and a boy can lay down half an acre in a day. MR. TOMAUN. There is another thing- that I did not mention. In the country the snow blows off and if you are going- to raise them for sale you must do something- to save the moisture for them. The Turner and the Philadelphia are the only two that will stand with- out covering-. These two have been hardy with us so far. MR. A. P. STEVENSON. One of the promising varieties at Nelson is called the I^oudon. The only objection to the Turner is that it is too soft for a shipping berry. It is a fair size and good quality but for market it is too soft. The L,oudon is hard and the fruit appears firm. I have not had it very long but I think it is a very desirable variety. The Importation of Fruit and Nursery Stock. BY R. R. SCOTT. You are all aware that the fruit growers of Eastern Ontario have been asking- the Government to stop the impor- tation of nursery stock and also fruit on account of the San Jose Scale. That would be a very serious matter for Mani- toba, and our Board of Trade took it up very strongly and we have been assured that nothing- will be done until we are heard from. I wrote to an old shipper in Santa Clara, Cal., on the subject of the San Jose Scale and a short time ag-o received his answer. He has had about fifty years experience in growing- and shipping- fruit. You will know that he has considerable experience when I tell you that he is one of the oldest shippers in the United States. In one year his loss was $50,000. He enclosed me a copy of a bill which has been brought forward in the United States to stop the importation IMPORTATION OF FRUIT AND NURSERY STOCK. 81 of infected nursery stock, but it is too long- to read so I will just leave it here for the Society's use. The substance of it is prohibiting- infected nursery stock or poor fruit from coming- into the country, the Government officials to have the inspection. In reg-ard to nursery stock, if the law proposed by the fruit growers of Eastern Canada were passed it would cause great hardship here. Our climate is very similar to that of Wisconsin and fruit trees from there would be more adaptable to Manitoba. I would advise planting- nothing- but the very best varieties of fruit ; there is no use in wasting- your time and money in putting- down poor stock. Ontario people and Ontario shippers have an idea that anything- is g-ood enoug-h for Manitoba, but we don't think so ; we want the very best that can be grown. We are a long- distance from the markets and freig-ht charg-es are hig-h and it requires a considerable amount of money to handle it, so let them keep their poor stock at home. I think I have never seen poorer peaches than those coming- from Ontario, althoug-h the}*- are able to grow very g-ood peaches. I do not think, from my experience, that Ontario peaches will carry. I have had friends come from the East and show me a sample of what were g-ood peaches when they left home but they would be all spoiled. They cannot be broug-ht in here at a profit. We want to enjoy some of the g-ood fruits here as well as they do there, and if they stop the importation of peaches from the United States it would be a very great hardship to the country. And so with apples. Take the King-, Tomp- kins and Gravenstein. These three always command 1 a very hig-h price in the Old Country markets, 25s. to 28s. per barrel, while such as Spys and Baldwins have only broug-ht as much as 16s. You see the nice profit people have in grow- ing- these g-ood fruits. Now I will speak of the smaller fruits that we can grow nearer home. A gentleman at Stonewall grows quite a num- of small fruits and often he drives up to the door and his g-oods look so nice that we buy them even when we do not want them. Take the small item of Rhubarb or Pieplant 82 WESTERN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. for instance. His always looked so nice that even when, we had no place to put it we have never yet made a loss on that good article. We have yet to make our first dollar in selling- poor fruit and we have had sixteen }^ears' experience. Mr. A. P. Stevenson spoke of having good success with Crab Apples. We find that the Transcendent and Siberian are good shippers. The Siberian is not as good as the Trans- cendent. He spoke of Moore's Early Grape. One of the earliest grapes we get from. Ontario is Moore's Early. If you cannot grow Moore's- Early in this country you cannot grow the later varieties. Peaches are sold so cheap here, as low as two cents each or twenty-five cents a dozen, that it is hardly worth the time of going into peaches if you have to turn down the trees every year. Cherries are very expensive, in fact we have never attempted to bring them from Ontario, but get them from California, Oregon and Washington, and even they are expensive. We cannot afford to sell them for less than from $1.00 to $1.25 a box of 8 pounds. I would like to have some fun at your rabbits, Mr. Stevenson. I would hire the work done of fixing the trees and I would shoot rabbits. The impression I want to leave with you, gentlemen, is to get the very best nursery stock it is possible to get and grow the very best goods. You hear of the poor apples you get and then scold the poor storekeeper, but it is not his fault, nor is it the wholesale man's fault, nor the packer's. Large firms doing business pack from 10,000 to 20,000 barrels a year, and it is impossible for one man to supervise the packing of every barrel. You will find a number of small apples in the centre of a barrel. Now it is not the storekeeper's fault, nor the pack- er's, it is the narrow-minded grower's. He is so small he would go inside a walnut shell and yet have rooms to rent. These apples do not pay the grower, the buyer or the packer. We have our own packer in the east, who has for a number of years bought from one of the very largest and wealthiest growers. That gentleman tells his packers, " Do not pack IMPORTATION OF FRUIT AND NURSERY STOCK. 83 too close, and pack nothing- but the very best. I can sell my seconds around home or get them made into cider," and as for us we make more money from what that man sells us than if we bought cheaper fruit. We pay him more for his fruit than we do his neig-hbor, and the man who handles them can make money out of them, and the man who sells them in the first place grows rich on them. You gentlemen that are going into the nursery business get the very best, whatever you get, even if it is only currant bushes, get the best. DISCUSSION. MR. TOMAUN. Did you ever try strawberries that are grown here. They are the very best in the world. The ones you bring- in are very little good. MR. SCOTT. We import from ten to forty cases daily during- the strawberry season, but before the Manitoba berries are in the prices are down. The reason we cannot buy them is that we do not get a chance. There is no margin between the wholesale and retail prices. There is no profit for us, but if this gentleman will grow us from ten to twenty cases daily I will give him a good price for them. We have never been able to obtain them here in Winnipeg. MR. TOMAI.IN. People here always try to run them down. Two boxes of mine would make three of the imported ones, and yet they will give five cents more a box for the imported ones. MR. A. P. STEVENSON. My experience is that the Manitoba ber- ries are the best that we have ever got. I have never tasted berries with a better flavor. You will get a good profit for all you can grow. MR. GOLDEN. Berries grown here have a better flavor than the same variety grown in Ontario. MR. BEDFORD. In the matter of rhubarb, I find that Tottle's Improved is a first class variety and is very productive. It has been very useful to us in the west, in fact better than anything we could g-et from the east. I think that must be the same variety that we get from Mr. Tottle of Stonewall, but we did not know the name of it. Professor Saunders gave it its name. It is known now throughout the length and breadth of the land. I just mention this to show you how useful the wholesale man may be to the producer by pointing out the very best varieties of fruits to use. 84 WESTERN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. Protection of Birds, BY REV. W. A. BURMAN. Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen : A few days ago I wrote to the chairman that it was impossible for me to pre- pare anything- like an address on this subject. I have been out of town and have been pressed in many ways for time, but I may, perhaps, say a few words that will set some of you thinking-. The relation of birds to horticulture and agriculture is more or less understood by everybody. We are all familiar with the crow with his dark glossy coat, but perhaps the farmer is better acquainted with the blackbird. I am one of those, and I hope 'there are a great many here, that think the bird is always the friend of the agriculturist. There is only one bird that does not belong- to the class, the English spar- row, which is not a particular friend of the agriculturist. When we consider birds in relation to the cultivation of the soil for flowers or in any other way, we want to note for a moment their place in nature. They have, of course, a very important place to fill between animals and fishes and are connected with those two great divisions in more ways than one, but we have to consider them to-day in relation to their habits and food. There are three divisions, the flesh-eating birds, called the carnivorous, the birds that eat grain, called the graminivorous, and the insect-eating birds called the insectivorous. Perhaps it would help us to look at those which feed on insects. Apart from any bearing on the sub- ject, insects have a great deal to do with the ripening of fruits. Indirectly a large quantity of the fruits grown here depends on insects for the setting of their blossoms. The want of them may very seriously affect the setting and the ripening of our fruits. We cannot afford to leave out of con- sideration the effect of insect life. You will find that wher- ever the birds have been destroyed the insects are too numerous. Nature, if left alone, will keep the- balance. PROTECTION OF BIRDS. 85 Carnivorous birds, such as hawks, owls and others have a very important part to play in nature. I have often mar- velled at the denseness of many people in what we may call the gopher districts, and at the eagerness with which they will pursue their very best friend. As soon as a hawk appears some one is after him, either the farmer or his son, and they are not satisfied until he is caught and his wings set up as ornaments. I have observed that wherever we have a fair number of hawks and owls, gophers and mice are kept in check. I should like very much to see in some of the acts which regulate these matters that any person may be prose- cuted for killing these. Even if the hawk does steal a chicken or two, he earns them, for we have often and often seen acres of land that would have been destroyed if it had not been for these birds. I would like to mention here the badger as another great friend of the farmer although he is not a bird. Then we have the insectivorous birds. Among these may be named the fly catcher, wren, chickadee and the black bird and others. These do a great deal of excellent w'ork in spite of the bad character which they get and which they partly deserve. I was unable to put my hands upon some information I have somewhere about the result of an exam- ination of the crops of a number of birds which had been killed, and the number of insects which they were found to contain was something immense, so that you see the number of insects which a good healthy bird, his wife and family will require is extremely great. Fly catchers live upon small insects generally. The wren and other small birds live largely upon the larvae of insects and upon their eggs. Then there are others which keep in check the butterflies and other insects of that class. A curious thing is that certain birds eat certain butterflies and will drop any other kind they may happen to catch, and there are some butterflies that no bird will eat. A very large part of the work in killing insects is in looking up grubs that would eventually make butterflies. If you have watched the birds that follow the plow, you will 86 WESTERN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. have noticed them go along* and pick out the wire-worms, etc., so that in this way. we see that they must be the friend of the farmer, and whatever bird or animal is the friend of the farmer is also the friend of the horticulturist. It is a pity that we have no protection for these birds. A large number are shot by those who have nothing- better to do, and some, as you know, in different parts of the world, have been hunted out and destroyed for the sake of their plumage. I am glad that London society has taken up again the matter of wearing 1 so many plumes in the hat. I am sure that the ladies are too fond of flowers to any longer suffer the cruelty, that is involved in securing- the plumag'e, to be practised. There is a third class, the Graminivorous. These are not always the friend of the farmer. The blackbird will eat grain as well as insects. We can tell this class often by the shape of their beak. The sparrow is one that will not eat insects. I remember a gentleman who was well posted in these thing's saying- "Do not let anyone ever persuade you that the sparrow feeds on insects. You can tell by its beak that it is intended to eat grain." I have watche*d a larg-e number of sparrows and I never saw them eating anything but grain. They will bear being watched. If any of you farmers having come from England are inclined to let them alone, I advise you to let sentiment go at once. They are just the one bird that we ought not to protect here. It is not long, four years or so, since I saw the first sparrow in the city and now they are very numerous and are scattered nearly all over the Province and in the summer you will hear more of them. You ought not to protect the sparrow. They are very destructive of other birds. They have a cruel way of insisting that they have a right to whatever they can get. They even steal the nests of other birds and lift the young birds over the side of the nest and let them drop to the ground. Then Mr. and Mrs. Sparrow will set up housekeep- ing in the nest they have obtained in this way. I am afraid that take him all round he is a very bad character. When the sparrow gets possession of a town as he will do in time, he will drive ever} 7 other bird away and not only so but he PROTECTION OF BIRDS. 87 will get up picnic parties in the grain season to the farms and come back at night, like other picnickers, very weary but very well satisfied. I have just tried to give you some thoughts to set you thinking. I should have liked to have gone further into the subject and give something that would have been of value. We have a great number of lovely birds in the country but there is no doubt we have very much to do in the way of pro- tecting and looking after our birds. There is just one aspect which we have not considered and that is that the presence of birds in our gardens makes them much more homelike and pleasant. It is a dreary place where you have no birds. I do not live in a very nice part of the city. Some of you are more fortunate and I would advise that you have them come about because of the education we get in watching their movements and especially where there are children every effort should be made to induce them to come about. We come once again back to the matter of gardens. Let us remember that the birds are given to us to help us in this matter both by their labors and song, so let us pay every respect to these little inhabitants. I am sorry I have not been able to make my remarks in a clearer manner but I hope they will set some of us thinking. DISCUSSION. MR. BEDFORD. What does the King- Bird feed on ? MR. BURMAN. I think he feeds on everything. So far as I know a great many feed on grasshoppers. From all I have seen of his habits he seems to do so. Of course a good deal depends upon the locality. MR. BEDFORD. The reason I ask this is that they are somewhat troublesome to the bees. MR. BURMAN. I believe that they do feed on the bees, but you will notice that they take care that it is the drones they get at. Swallows do not need much encouragement to come around. We have three kinds of swallows. The chimney swallow is seldom found in hollow trees. They build in chimneys, and I cannot say that I appreciate their attentions in that respect. They have a way of mov- ing around at night which is unpleasantly suggestive of ghosts. 88 WESTERN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. Forestry, BY E. F. STEPHENSON. Mr. President and Gentlemen : I am much pleased at receiving- your invitation to read a paper on "Forestry" at your annual meeting-, and, while appreciating- the compliment you have paid me, I feel there are some aspects of this im- portant subject which could be more ably dealt with by other members of this Society. If, however, any effort of mine will conduce to awaken a wider interest in forestry and stimulate the public to a study of the subject and apprecia- tion of its great importance, it will be another proof of the benefit arising- out of this org-anization. The g-overnment, fully recog-nizing their responsibility to the public, have taken the initiative in the protection of our forests ; but while the general public remain indifferent to the subject and fail to appreciate its importance, any regu- lations which the government may make for the conservation and maintenance of the timber supply, must, in the nature of things, fail of its intention. It is to this aspect of the question, I suppose, that the efforts of the Society are to be directed. It may not be out of place, however, to state briefly what has already been done by the government in the direction named. All lands valuable for timber are being reserved from sale and settlement ; and where timber grows in heavy belts, such as in the Riding Mountains, the Turtle Moun- tains, the Moose Mountain and the belt of timber known as the "Spruce Wood," South of Carberry, permanent timber reserves have been established. The area comprised within the reserves selected is upwards of 1,500,000 acres. They are in charge of competent bush rangers, who will shortly be engaged in laying out a system of fire guards, to be cut out during the coming spring and summer. Nature has made it FORESTRY. 89 an easy matter to carry out the work, owing" to the numerous lakelets within the reserves. ' These will be used, when practicable, in forming- portions of the line. It is proposed, in constituting- the lines which will form the fire guards, to make them from 50 to 100 feet in width, as conditions may require, and to plow up the outer edges to a sufficient width to make it safe to burn between them. If, in the following year, harrowing- is not found sufficient to make an effective break, re-plowing- will take place, and afterwards, at the most favorable time, the strip between the g-uards burnt off. The danger, from fire, to these belts of timber, comes chiefly from the west and north-west. There are two causes which, as appears to me, explain this. The first is, that the prevailing- winds in the fall of the year, when the prairie fires are most prevalent, come from a westerly direction. The second, that while settlement is g-enerally found on the east, north and south sides of these belts of timber, thereby afford- ing- a means of check to the fire coming from that direction, there is practically little or no settlement on the west. The rapidity with which this country is being denuded of timber should claim the attention of everyone interested in its general welfare and prosperity. Speaking from my own observation, I have little hesitation in saying that within the last fifteen years our timber resources have been diminished by one-half ; whereas, with adequate protection from fire, the natural increment would have been far more than suffici- ent to have supplied demands, without any diminution what- ever. Many settlers who, a few years ago, had wood con- veniently near their farms have now to haul long distances, in many cases under trying conditions, to obtain their supplies, or else are dependent upon coal. Instead of their fuel costing them nothing, as in former years, they are now in the position of having to pay from $30 to $50 a year for this commodity. What this condition of affairs would mean if it became general, can easily be imagined. Devastating fires occurred last year on Moose Mountain and on Turtle Mountain. A large number of men were em- 90 WESTERN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. ployed on both occasions, and every effort made to check the spread of the flames. Probably more timber was consumed by fire in these two reserves than would supply the settlement depending- on them for twenty years. A bush fire, when once well started, cannot be extinguished by any present known means. Back-firing was tried without any apparent success, and the fires ran their course, regulated only by the wind, and died out when stopped by natural causes. Forest rangers will be placed in charge of these reserves the year round, and it is expected that with the aid of properly constructed fire g-uards and with the assistance of the municipal fire g-uardian service, the chances of fires getting- into the timber on the reserve will be reduced to a minimum. It is a regrettable, but an undoubted fact, that the set- tler, who is reaping the largest benefits from the preservation of the timber, and who has the most to lose by its destruc- tion, is largely responsible for its diminution. The future is simply not taken into account by him. Economy in the cutting of his timber is not considered, and more timber is frequently left on the ground where felled than is taken away. Inexperienced men g-o into the woods for a set of house logs ; upon being cut, a portion of the logs are found unsuited for the purpose intended, and are left lying in the woods ; thus two trees are often sacrificed where only one is made use of. And the same thing may be said of the taking- of timber for fuel ; only the best part of the tree being- taken, the remain- der being left in the woods to be a menace to the green timber in case of fire. I am glad to be in a position to in- form you that this condition of affairs will be tolerated no longer. The g-overnment timber regulations now in force, provide that a settler cutting under permit shall take from every tree felled all the timber there is in it ; and, further, that the tops of trees and other refuse made in the cutting shall be piled up in one place and not left, as heretofore, scattered through the bush. It shall be the duty of the forest ranger in charge of the reserve to se2 that these con- ditions are rigidly enforced. FORESTRY. 91 It should be the aim of the ranger to get rid of this lying- timber as quickly as possible, and I think some special in- ducement should be held out to the settler to take this class of timber first, as it goes rapidly to decay. One way would be to make it free of dues and tax the standing timber. With the dead and fallen timber removed, the difficulty in controll- ing bush fires especially in forests of deciduous trees will be largely overcome. The lying timber can only be gather- ed, excepting with great difficulty, in the fall or early winter, before it becomes covered with snow. Very little of this class of timber has in the past been taken. The drawing of fuel supplies is left off until winter sets in, and then, the fallen timber being under the snow, the standing dry timber is taken, as being easier to obtain. Another source of great danger to the forests from fires is that large numbers of set- tlers go to the sloughs and lakelets in the woods for their hay, which is found in abundance in some places. There are some settlers who, as a means of escaping the trouble and expense of clearing lands by hand, have resorted to the use of fire. The fire that occurred at Moose Mountain last summer, previously referred to, is said to have originated from the burning of one of these hay sloughs in the timber. Fires are also started by settlers clearing their lands of timber for cultivation. I have had many proofs of this. Hunters, fishermen and Indians are also responsible for start- ing many of the fires which have done so much damage to our forests. But a new and greater danger has arisen in the mining prospector. This individual considers it a duty he owes to his calling, to clear by fire all before him, to facili- tate his search for minerals. The loss of the timber does not concern him. The effects of this are already only too appar- ent in our forests. It is estimated that the loss of timber to the Province of Ontario in the Lake of the Woods and Rainy Lake districts attributable to this source alone, is greater already than the value of all the minerals that will ever be taken out. The same thing is happening in British Colum- bia. This cause of destruction is one of the most difficult of 92 WESTERN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. all to deal with, as it is manifestly impossible, or almost so, to exercise any supervision over the mining- prospector. The governing" authorities have come in for no little criticism for what is thought to be the lax manner in which the laws relating- to prairie and bush fires are administered. But, while it is easy to criticize, it is not easy to suggest a more efficient means of preventing- these fires. When it is con- sidered what a sparsely settled and extensive country lies north of the 49th parallel and that inflammable material lies under your feet wherever you go, the difficulty of providing safeguards becomes apparent. The chief hope of a remedy, it seems to me, lies in an improved public sentiment on the question ; and this, Mr. President, if I do not misunderstand the aims of your Society, is one of the objects you have in view. Dr. Franklin B. Hough, who acted as Chief of the Forestry Branch of the Agricultural Department at Washing- ton for several years, has gone into the subject of forest fires very exhaustively. In his report, Vol. 3, he devotes no less than 130 pages to that subject alone. A circular was issued from the Department under his care, to its correspondents in the several States and Terri- tories, with a view of ascertaining the extent of injuries that have been sustained and observed through forest fires, the causes of these fires so far as known, and the methods com- monly employed for preventing them, or arresting them when started and under way. The circular invited such sugges- tions as might appear advisable concerning the means for preventing the continued recurrence of these calamities. Some of the suggestions and advice given are worthy of note and might be adopted with advantage. One correspondent says, in answer to the request for suggestions : " 1. Open the eyes of the people to the danger, the im- mense destruction of property, the rapidly shrinking streams, the increase in the duration of droughts, the blighting of landscapes, and the general climatic effect. This can be done by national publications fitted for the common people, FORESTRY. 93 not by documentary reports. Force these upon the attention of all by tracts or placards in the places of common resort, in lumbering- camps, in all centres of population adjacent to the forests." "2. By stringent national and state laws, fastening- responsibility upon careless g-uides and tourists, and also upon those who are clearing- lands. When a man wishes to burn a fallow piece he should girdle it with swaths. Re- sponsible men, who would not think of endang-ering- their neig-hbour's house by a bon-fire in their g-arden, think noth- ing- of letting- loose their fallow fires into adjoining- timber." The correspondents who offer suggestions almost always ask for more vigorous laws, with rewards offered for the con- viction of delinquents, while others admit the existence of laws, but deplore the fact that the laws are not enforced. A great change has taken place in regard to the enforcement of the Fire Prevention Act within recent years. There were more prosecutions for violations of this act in the last two seasons, probably than during all former years. Much good work has been done by the North West Mounted Police Force in carrying into effect the fire ordi- nances of the North-West ; and by their efforts immense loss to the timber has been averted. Under the Statutes of Manitoba the municipal councils are empowered to appoint a fire guardian service. Repeated efforts have been made to get these councils to take action in this direction, but with poor success. A few of the municipal councils have made such appointments and are showing an interest in all steps being taken to conserve the timber. The difficulty appears to be to get suitable persons to accept the office. The burden of any work in connection with fighting fires, would rest as a matter of course, on those settlers living nearest the timber, and, while it is regrettable to have to make the statement, the reason given for these men for re- fusing to accept appointment is, that the settler living at a greater distance, and who benefits equally by the preserva- 94 WESTERN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. tion of the bush, gives no assistance in case of fire, and hence they do not feel called upon to do all the work. The Society, I believe, is doing- good work, along- horti- cultural lines (if I may borrow a commercial expression) in the Province. Would it be practicable to make an effort on its own behalf, or throug-h the Provincial Government to educate the people up to a proper appreciation of the value of our forests to the community, and to enlist the services of the many throug-hout the country who have the ability to place the subject before the people in its proper lig-ht. A study of the principles of forestry is, in my opinion, a great need in this country. It is not yet too late, by attention to this subject, by put- ting- into operation the g-eneral principles which underlie forest manag-ement, to recover much of the loss that has already taken place, and to ensure an adequate supply of timber for future g-euerations in Manitoba and the North- west Territories. Where fires occurred, in most cases a new growth is spring-ing- up, which will, under proper forest man- agement, in a few years grow to be useful timber. Keep down fires, and restrict cutting- to the dry and fallen timber and mature trees, and there need be no alarm felt for the future in respect of timber supplies. I regret, Mr. President, the inadequate manner in which I have been oblig-ed to treat this important subject, but having only returned to my office this morning, after an absence of two months, I found it impossible to give the matter the attention it deserved, and to take up some other phases of the question, which impress me as equally important, such as the effect of forest on the water supply and climate. These might be brought up for discussion at a future meeting. 95 Bee Keeping, BY S. A. BEDFORD. I wish to state at the start that this subject is not new to me but giving an address on it is new to me. I am passionately fond of keeping- bees. I suppose most of the visitors to the farm have noticed that I have always shown them the bees. I am not alone in this love for this insect. I find that the ladies of our household are also fond of it and we all find that it is very nice to have a supply of honey in the house as it takes the place of fruit to a large extent and you. all know that it is one of the best foods that we have. The pursuit of Bee keeping- has much to recommend it, for instance : It affords healthful out-door exercise. It enables us to utilize what would otherwise go to waste, and yields a delicious food for the table. It opens up a wondrous world to a close observer, for the life history of the bee is a delightful study. It adds to the wealth of the nation ; the product of honey in the United States for 1887 was thirty million dollars. I have not seen an estimate of the product in Canada, but have no doubt it is proportionately as great. Bees are an important agency in fertilizing- flowers, and by this means increasing the wealth of the country. Can bees be kept successfully in Manitoba, and what are the requirements for carrying on the pursuit with profit and pleasure ? From an experience of seven years with bees in this country I feel confident that they can be made profitable and that much pleasure can be obtained in the pursuit of bee- keeping. Our winters, though severe, are dry, and bees are very free of disease. Honey plants are numerous ; we found our 96 WESTERN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. bees feeding- on sixty varieties of plants last summer, many of them wild prairie flowers very general all over the Prov- ince. It requires : 1st. A fondness for the pursuit. Any person who thinks bees require too much attention and are not worth the time expended, should not invest in them. 2nd. A suitable location. In this country, where our winds are often very persistent, shelter, either artificial or natural, should be provided ; a tight board fence will do, but a clump of timber or a ravine is better, because honey flowers are more plentiful in such locations. 3rd. A knowledge of the business can only be gained by experience, assisted by one of the many good bee books, such as Cook's Manual, The A.B.C. of Bee Culture, etc. 4th. A certain amount of patience and perseverance and a willingness to use care in small matters. HOW TO START. Purchase only a few colonies at first, two or three is sufficient, a Clarke smoker, 5 Ibs. comb foundation, four or five spare hives, besides a few minor articles, such as founda- tion wire, a good bee book ; study up the details of each operation before undertaking it and the work will become easier and more interesting each week. The yield per colony will vary much, all the way from nil to 150 pounds, but perhaps 40 to 50 Ibs., spring count, is about the average, although many report larger returns ; we extracted 45 Ibs. per colony on the experimental farm last season. Comb honey is of course the most valuable, pound for pound, but I find it less labor to work for extracted honey, and with us the increased returns more than made up for the lower price per pound, and besides, when working for ex- tracted honey, more room can be given and excessive swarm- ing prevented. Do not remove bees from the cellar until the willows bloom, generally the end of April ; place the hives facing the BEE KEEPING. 97 east, three inches above the ground, on bricks ; this keeps the hives dry and at the same time allows the bees an oppor- tunity to walk up to the entrance should they be blown aside when alighting with a load. Crowd the bees somewhat in the early part of the season to maintain the natural heat. This can be done by the use of division boards. Keep all the colonies strong-, uniting- for this purpose, if necessary. As the weather gets warmer and the brood hatches, give more room ; when bees are found working on the outside combs, put on a super. As soon as the honey flow starts in earnest, give plenty of room, either by extracting or adding additional stories to the hive to prevent excessive swarming. Handle only in the evening this will largely prevent robbing. HOW TO WINTER. On the experimental farm we have tried many different ways of outside wintering, viz : With coverings of chaff, sawdust, snow and mixtures of all these, but have failed with all of them and now winter altogether in a cellar. We see that each hive has 30 Ibs. of honey, and remove to the cellar as soon as we think winter has fairly set in ; place the hives in a fairly dry cellar with a temperature as near to 45 above zero as possible. The openings are protected from mice by a piece of coarse wire netting and -a piece of bagging under the cover ; the cellar is kept as dark and quiet as possible. If the above plan is adopted bees will generally winter well. I would like to say here that there is room for a great many bee- keepers in this Province. If you once take up the study you will find it very profitable and it is a business in which all classes, to a large extent, can take part ; those living- in the city as well as those living- in the country. No matter how small a garden plot you have there is always room for bees. There is no fear of being- stung- if you handle them carefully. There is one good thing about the bee, he will never sting without giving warning and if you are acquainted with the language of the bee you can always tell when they are cross. The bee will fly in a different manner when it is going to sting ; it will dart and strike and not fly quietly along. 98 WESTERN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. Question. What kind of bees do you keep. MR. BEDFORD. We have the pure Italian. They have golden stripes across the back. The pure Italian is supposed to be the best bee. The distance that a bee will cover is remarkable. I have found our bees nine miles from home. Question. How often do you extract the honey ? MR. BEDFORD. Honey extracting depends upon the season. You can suit yourself about that. I might say that the honey produced here is superior to that produced in Ontario. It is certainly better than that which is sent up here. Question. How many times do you allow them to swarm ? MR. BEDFORD. That is a subject that we have taken up during the past year. Two years ago we were troubled with excessive swarm- ing. This year I gave them abundance of room and we had ho swarms. By forcing them to make comb honey they will swarm more readily. Question. How late in the season would you allow them to take possession of a hive ? MR. BEDFORD. It depends upon the season. You can easily unite the hives by gradually approaching them to each other. If there is any trouble between the queens let them fight it out. You very seldom have to feed them as the native flowers here ex- tend their blooming far into the fall, but if you do the best plan is to give them candy made by adding a very little water to granulated sugar and allowing it to simmer on the stove until it becomes brittle when cold. This candy agrees very well with them and there is no danger of illness among them. Question. What is the cost of starting to keep bees ? MR. BEDFORD. That depends very largely on where you have to import them from. Ours cost $12.00 a hive but I think they sell from $7.00 to $10.00 here. $30.00 would start an amateur very well. There are one or two men at Portage la Prairie who have bees for sale. Question. How close would you have them to high trees ? MR. BEDFORD. We do not like to keep them too much in the shade. We find that bees in this country nearly always light on low bushes as the wind is usually too high for them. Question. Which direction would you have them face ? MR. BEDFORD. They want the early morning sun as they start out very early in quest of food but they must be protected from the hot sun of midday. BKE KEEPING. 99 Question. Do you allow the bees to make their own combs ? MR. BEDFORD. No, we supply the foundation as it takes four times as much work to produce one pound of comb as to produce the same quantity of honey. REV. MR. BURMAN. I would like to ask Mr. Bedford if he has had any difficulty with the honey in the matter of granulating. The reason I ask is this. There is in the Province a colony of Swiss and they are great bee-keepers. I have brought with me a sample of honey from that colony which they say is superior to Swiss honey which is the best in Europe. The Swiss complain that it will not granulate. That is why our friends in the East mix honey with glycerine. I atn sorry to say it is true and I know it for this reason, that a person who deals in Eastern honey told me a little while ago that the dealers always ask what per centum of glycerine you would like put in the honey and they say that as a rule they put in about 18 per cent. There is something singular about this honey remaining liquid always and I would like the bee keepers here to examine it. The Swiss think that there must be some particular flower here that keeps it from granulating. I got it last March and therefore it will be two years old next summer. This that I have in this little glass has been exposed to the air since last March. The moisture has evaporated but it has not granulated. I wonder if the gentlemen here can tell us anything about that and whether any particular plant would keep it from granu- lating. MR. BEDFORD. I have heard it said, but I do not know on what authority, that there are certain plants of the artemisia family in California that the honey produced from will not granulate. Possibly this honey was gathered from Artemisia. You know that it is very plentiful here. MR. BURMAN. I have made a great many inquiries but these people do not know enough of the country to be able to tell anything that would throw light upon the matter. I scarcely think that that will cause it. The Artemisia is a bitter plant and it seems hardly likely that it could be that, as the flavor is not at all bitter. It seems remarkable that honey that has been exposed to the air for so long will not granulate and remains so soft. If we can find out what plant this is it will be worth thousands of dollars to the Province. I have been trying to find this out for the past year and I am now having an analy- sis made for that purpose. MR. BEDFORD. Honey certainly does not always partake of the particular qualities of any plant. The best honey that we have at Brandon is produced from the Gum weed, and the plant has a turpen- tine odor but the honey is quite free from unpleasantness. 100 WESTERN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. MR. BURMAN. I would like to ask another question. We have some poisonous flowers here. Would Mr. Bedford or another who understands this think this would be likely to affect the honey. I would think that the flowers of such plants as the poison ivy would be likely to do this. MR. BEDFORD. I think not. Of course there are a great many plants that bees will not feed on and we can leave it to their instincts to choose their food. Question. How many pounds do you get from your bees ? MR. DUNCAN. About 30 pounds this year but I have got as much as 100 Ibs. from a colony. MR. BEDFORD. How far is your place from here ? MR. DUNCAN. About fifty miles South. Question. Where do you winter them ? In the cellar ? Have you tried them outside and if so how does it work ? MR. DUNCAN. In coming here I did not intend to have anything to say from the fact that I do not speak in public. I have had bees for about fourteen years. The first time I got bees it was simply to try if they would live in this country, as I had heard from authorities that they would not live in Manitoba. I came across some parts where there were vast quantities of flowers and that made me certain that bees would do well here. I found out those who had bees in the Prov- ince and purchased a colony. The first year I had them I was not home to attend to them. In the fall as an experiment I put them in the scrub and covered them with dry leaves, then put boards around them and piled in between the boards and the hives with straw. Six years ago I purchased another hive with the intention of keeping bees and during all the time I have kept bees I have not lost more than seven hives. I have had them in the cellar and in the house and they do well either place providing there is proper ventilation, especially if there is moisture. I kept them in the cellar until they became too numerous, and then I built a little house on purpose. I find this year that they are in good condition. Question. How did you build your house ? MR. DUNCAN. Well, about four feet in a bank. I put stone around the bottom and had it about seven feet high. I think bees can be kept profitably provided those keeping them know anything about them. As your bees increase your knowledge of them will also increase. MR. E}. F. STEPHENSON. I may say for the information of any here who may have thought of trying bees, that I got a colony two years ago and the first year I took out 28 pounds of honey and I think there must have been, by the weight of the hive, 40 or 50 pounds left. I put BEE KEEPING. 101 them in the garret and the temperature was possibly from 30 above zero to 30 below. L,ast year I took 28 pounds again from the same box. Question. What was the cost of your hive ? MR. E. F. STEPHENSON. I think $10.00. Question. Did you feed them anything 1 . MR. E}. F. STEPHENSON. Nothing- during the winter. PROF. BAIRD. I see Mr. Gunn, a bee keeper, here and we would like to hear from him. MR. GUNN. Well, Mr. Chairman, if it is experience you want I can give you some. The first time I had bees was eleven years ag-o. In this eleven years I have had as much experience as the average man. I had about three times as much experience as honey, but we got honey too. From the one colony that we started with, we went up to thirty and down to three or four. L/ast year was our most disastrous year. They gave very little honey and wintered badly. We kept them in a stone cellar. We put in eighteen colonies and took out seven. They increased during- last summer to fourteen and from these fourteen I got nearly 100 pounds a hive. They are now in flue shape, experience becoming- less and honey more. I think the cause of death of so many of the colonies on our hands was too much moisture. This winter I took a look at them and found a great number of dead bees, so I put some quick lime in the cellar and I think that takes up the moisture. I looked into the cellar the other day and they seem to be very vigorous. I have known our cellar to go below freezing- point several times. As for summer treatment of them we let them take care of themselves. As to the experience, we began to realize that it was best to leave the bees alone. We have never taken any trouble about having them face east- ward, in fact we have them nearly always facing the South. Ours, when they swarm do not look for the low trees but for the very highest oak trees on the farm. They seem to want to get up in the world. Now we trouble ourselves about nothing but extracted honey. As to the quality of the honey it seems to be generally known that the Mani- toba article is superior to any other. I have found it so in selling honey and I have frequently met people from other places who say that it is first-class and much better than what they get at home. MR. BEDFORD. From the experience we had two years ago I was led to believe that the trouble with our bees was caused by Ihe honey they had stored for winter and that they had got among other things the honey-dew so one year I gave them candy instead of honey and they never wintered better. Candy is also cheaper than honey and when you once understand how to feed it, it is very easy. MR. GUNN. The season of 1896 was a bad season from beginning to end, and so we got discouraged about extracting honey. As a 102 WESTERN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. general rule we feed them on rock candy or syrup made frDin granu- lated sugar but that failed and so we left them with the store they had gathered. We were inclined to attribute the great mortality among the bees to the fact that they had been gathering honey-dew. They must have got something that was not good to winter on. L,ast fall we extracted nearly all the honey and fed them sugar. Miss HIND. What is the average price of honey ? MR. BEDFORD. I think this last season I sold only 125 pounds and that was sold at $10.00 per 100 pounds. The retail price is 12>^c. to 15c. lOc. is the wholesale price at Brandon. PROF. BAIRD. This brings our programme to a close. There are one or two matters in the way of business to take up yet. One is that I would like to give an apportunity to any who are present to become members of the Society. After this it will be known, not as the Man- itoba Horticultural Society, but under some name which will not make any distinction between this province and the Territories. Its aim is to distribute a knowledge of horticulture in its various branches, flowers, fruit, vegetables and trees, and we hope that the people, not only of the city, but of the country about, will rally round us and help to make a successful Society with a considerable membership. No member whose name was placed upon the programme has failed us, and I know that some of them have done so at considerable inconveni- ence to themselves. Many in addition -to those who were invited have spoken promptly and to the point. A motion regarding the prohibition of nursery stock was put to the meeting and carried. MR. GREIG. I move that a vote of thanks be tendered to these gentlemen who have so well contributed to the success of our meeting by their papers and other information. I am sure that the papers and addresses have been very educative and instructive ; and to the Coun- cil for the use of the Council Chamber, and also to the railway com- panies for the reduced rates, and to Mr. Alston for the plants which have been loaned to decorate the room. Carried. QUESTION. Might I ask what is the membership in the country ? PROF. BAIRD. There are fifty members, and perhaps half or a little more than half belong to the city, and the others are scattered over the Province and the Northwest Territories. We expect to adver- tise and take more aggressive measures to secure members in the country. The meeting then adjourned. 103 STRAWBERRIES, BY H. C. WHELLAMS. March 18th, 1898. A. B. C. OF STRAWBERRY CULTURE. As it is the aim and desire of this society to have as much practical information as possible, it will not be within my province to go any deeper into this subject than the ex- perience of the last four years would indicate, and this only brings me to the A. B. C. of Strawberry Culture. I believe the time has now arrived when we may consider that the growing- of Strawberries for market, in Manitoba, has got be- yond the uncertainty of the experimental stage, and we can now say, without hesitation, that in 'this province we can grow as fine flavored and almost as large berries as are grown in Ontario. In making this statement, I am fully aware of the responsibility attached to it, but when I state that a number of gardeners, in the vicinity of Winnipeg, have had fair crops of first-class fruit for the last six years, I consider these facts warrant such an opinion. Of all kinds of small fruits there is not one that will re- pay the expense and trouble of manuring as will the straw- berry. It delights in a deep, well-enriched and thoroughly cultivated seed bed ; it will do well on a variety of soils as long as there is good drainage. Preference may be given to sandy locations over heavy clay, as the former will be earlier and is much easier to work, which is a special advantage in the setting of young plants. The first essential to success is the establishment of good, strong vigorous plants ready for planting in previously prepared land during the early growing seasons of spring and summer, keeping in mind the earlier 104 WESTERN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. they are planted the better will be the crop the ensuing" year. In other countries it is usual to plant both in the spring* and fall ; but I find that plants set out in the fall in this country invariably fail to become well enough rooted to withstand the winter and give good crops the following season, and a plant that does not thrive from the first time that it is put into the ground will never amount to anything as a fruit producer. For growing plants, it is best to select them from stock that has not been allowed to fruit, but which has been kept expressly for that purpose. It will be found that plants grown in this way will be more vigorous than those grown from stock that has been partially exhausted by fruiting. There are several methods of cultivating plants, of which I think the two following are the best : The first is to take small flower pots three inches in depth ; these are filled with specially prepared, moist, rich soil ; they are then completely embedded below the surface. The runners are placed over the pots and held in place with a small, flat stone, or with a small wooden peg. With a little moisture and favorable weather, the little rootlets will soon find their way into the fine earth waiting to receive them, and in a few weeks the plants will be ready for removal. Another and much simpler plan is to put in the little plants as they are thrown out on the runners of the older stock. A little care in setting the runners will be well repaid by a better stock of well-grown plants ; if left to catch where they can, high winds will often do a great deal of harm in shifting the runners, and so dis- turbing the young plants before they are well rooted, and in this and other ways it is often too late before they become well enough established to stand removal. No young stock should be allowed or expected to bear fruit the first season after planting, nor will it be found profitable to allow even the few flower trusses they throw out to remain ; these should be pinched off, as the gain made in the small amount of fruit they will bear the first season, will not compensate for the drain it makes on the vigor of the plant. I fancy I hear someone say I can't afford to let any crop have the use of my STRAWBERRIES. 105 land and not give me any return for the whole of one season, but though these plants occupy the ground for a whole season the intervening- space need not be entirely wasted. It is both economical and essential for horse cultivation to allow from two and a half to three feet between the rows, as re- course can then be had to inter-cropping-. For occupying this space between rows, onions are particularly useful ; the tops do not spread, while the bulbs are hig-hly profitable. Two or three drills may be grown between the rows without injury to either crop. METHODS OF PLANTING. I believe there are more plants of all kinds lost from careless and improper methods of planting- than from any known cause. In order that I may make myself more clearly under- stood as to what is to be desired and what is to be avoided, I have prepared the attached illustrations. In the first fig-ure you will see the plant has been buried tqo deeply, the heart is covered, and conse- quently cannot grow. In the second it is not planted deep enoug-h, and the roots are too straight in the ground. In the third the hole has not been dug deep enough, the roots striking the hard surface, causing them to double up in an unnatural position, with the inevitable consequence, the death of the plant during the first spell of hot, dry weather. The fourth plate represents the proper method of plant- ing strawberries ; the roots are spread out in natural posi- tion ; they are able to gather as much nourishment from as far around the plant as it is possible for the roots to reach. They are all feeding in a different place. The heart of the plant is not buried ; the fresh shoots coming through the crown meet with no resistance, having to push themselves through an inch or two of earth, and still the neck or collar 106 WESTERN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. of the plant is not exposed to the air to become hard and dry, with the resulting* contraction of the sap vessels. One plant planted like this is worth a dozen of the others. The inex- perienced I wish particularly to impress with this point ; remember there are many ways of doing- thing's wrong- to every one way of doing- them rig-ht, and a plant that is not properly planted in the first place will be nothing but a fruitful source of annoyance and disap- pointment to its cultivator. In selecting- a spot for a strawberry bed it is necessary to have it located in a somewhat sheltered position, in order that the snow will lie upon it until quite late in the spring-. If you have not the desired shelter belt, efficient and profitable protection can be had in the following- manner : Plant rows of raspberries or other bush fruits, eig-ht feet apart, filling- in the spaces between with strawber- ries to within three feet of the canes or bushes ; this will not only have the effect of holding- the snow, but will give plenty of light and air to the latter fruits. GENERAL MANAGEMENT. This consists in snipping off the runners as fast as they form, except when they are wanted for producing plants ; this method is somewhat new and I consider it a long way ahead of the matted system. It has been followed in England for about twenty years and is now extensively used in the United States. From the state of Michigan we have one grower remarking, that he would no more think of going back to the matted row system than STRAWBERRIES. 107 think of cutting- his hay with a scythe. As the plants throw out runners they are persistently cut off, a new fruit stem resulting- from every runner that is so cut. The plants will form pointing- crowns from four to six inches across, and the result is, the fruit is more easily and quickly picked ; there is no dang-er of trampling- on unseen berries, the crop is fully as good and you have perfect control of both weeds and plants, and are able at any time to hoe close up to the plant, thus keeping- the plantation clean at all seasons. I have seen many good patches absolutely wasted on account of the in- ability of the owner to get among- them to cut out the weeds for fear of destroying the fruit, whereas, had this hill system been followed, a timely hoeing before fruiting time would have saved the crop. After the fruit is picked all rubbish must be raked off and burned, I say burned as it will then have no chance to har- bor insects. The cultivator is run lightly between the rows. .As soon as the ground is well [frozen in the fall, it will now be in order to mulch the bed with a layer of straw manure, or pre- ferably marsh hay, the latter to be preferred on account of the liabiality of there being so many foul seeds in the straw. This covering should be about three inches thick over the entire bed. In the spring care must be taken to go over the ground and clear away the mulch so that a hole is left above each plant, which will soon make its way above the covering. This layer of straw has a three-fold advantage. In the first place it keeps the frost longer in the ground, thus keeping back too early a growth in the spring, thereby lessening the chance of injury being done to the blossoms by spring frosts. It helps to keep down annual weeds and makes a nice clean cushion for the fruit to rest on ; it also keeps the ground moist, and so prevents evaporation. 108 WESTERN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. GATHERING THE FRUIT. In picking- for market, the fruit should not be gathered while wet, as the moisture is injurious to its keeping- quali- ties. Pick when the fruit is as dry as possible, and do not let it become too ripe. Always leave the shucks and a little piece of stalk on each berry. This will help them to retain their shape and ship better than if they are removed. Let the quality and rize of the fruit be uniform throughout the box. Do not top off with a few large berries, and have all the small nobbled mess in the bottom. It is a dishonest way of doing business and a practice which will bring distrust and failure upon the follower of such methods. Let quality be your trade mark. VARIETIES. There are many different kinds, but there will be no dis- appointment if any of the following kinds are selected : Sharpless, Captain Jack, Wilson and Crescent. The three first named varieties are perfect or bisexual. On the Crescent the blossoms are devoid of stamens and so-called pistellate or imperfect, and in order to produce fruit it is necessary to plant every other row with a staminate or perfect variety to pollenize the imperfect flowers. Some growers claim it is not necessary to plant more than a row every eight or nine feet for the purpose of fertilizing the pistellate varieties, but everything is to be lost by too few staminates ; I think it is safer to be on the right side. There are numerous other kinds that are well adapted for this province, I know, but I have not yet had the opportunity of testing them on their merits. In conclusion, Mr. President, I wish to warn those would-be purchasers who have been and who are so often be- guiled by the enticing plates of enormous strawberries which the salesman from some remote part of Ontario or the States shows them. My advice is to take no stock in such pictures, and do not listen to the promises painted in such roseate hues. Buy your plants from some reliable man who is in the business in Manitoba, who has acclimatized stock, and if you wish for some newer kinds get them from some reputable STRAWBERRIES. 109 nurseryman whose climatic conditions are as nearly like our own as possible. DISCUSSION. PROF. BAIRD. This is a subject everybody either has had experi- ence in or wants to have. There should be plenty of questions. MR. WHET^AMS. I might say that I do not think there is a gentle- man here who has had as much experience as Mr. Tomalin. He has grown strawberries for several years and has always had a successful crop. MR. TOMAT V IN. If I begin I am afraid I will be pulling Mr. Whel- lams' paper all to pieces. I find the best way with plants is to take them up about the last week in September. Take a bunch in your hand, trim them off with a knife and put them into the ground as close as possible and let them stand till Spring. You can then set them out and do not need to water them. Put them in two or three inches apart. Cut roots off short. Always cut them off about one-third. Strawberry roots grow near the surface. Put them all in same depth. Make holes with dibber. I plant perhaps a hundred and not get one a quarter of an inch lower than another. I have'nt time to take pains with them and spread out the roots. The advantage of transplanting them up in the fall is that a number of small white roots are formed. These hold a little ball of earth and support the plant till it is well established in its new position. MR. WnEUyAMS. Two years ago we were setting out a bed of strawberries and some of my men went to work and set out six rows, 360 in a row. They planted them in the morning and made short work of it and said that it did not take half the time my way did. I said I would finish them. Three weeks later every plant in my two rows was thriving, while more than a quarter of theirs had succumbed to to the heat because of improper planting. Prepare ground first and see that it is moist enough. I have tried the old sytem and it killed most plants. In the matter of the hill system. Land around here is infested with weeds and I find that after the first season plants run and become matted. With the hill system you are able to get in and pick weeds. In the matted row system you cannot do that. The plants cover the whole ground and if weeds come up you cannot get down on your hands and knees and pick them out. Last year a traveller who passed through here said he had been all over the province and mine were the finest lot of strawberries he had seen. 110 WESTERN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. W. G. SCOTT. I have had a little experience. When I was plant- ing- I kept a cut before me all the time. I got throug-h 500 in a day and I did not lose more than one per cent. I find that strawberries have too many enemies. I put up scarecrows to keep off birds and found in a few days that the wrens had built nests in hats and coat-sleeves. The small boy is another enemy. I found it impossible to keep them off. It may be different in Kildonan and when I go into the strawberry business again I will move to Mr. Whellams' neighborhood. I have tried the potting system. Put small pots in the ground so that the runners can take root in them and in the course of two weeks the pots are filled with roots and they usually bear the second year. I would recommend this as the best way to manage in the city in a small way. This system is used mostly for getting a crop the following year. You need a system entirely different from what they use in Ontario and the United States, the season is so short. G. H. GREIG. The hill system does not mean that the earth is raised about the roots of the plants, does it ? The ground is all on the level, is it not ? MR. WHEU.AMS. Yes, all on the level. Plant strawberries two arid a half feet apart. As they throw out runners keep pinching off. The more runners you pinch off the larger the fruit grows. I always pinch them off with finger and thumb. PROF. BAIRD. I have only some three or four hundred plants and have them in the hill system. Keeping runners pinched back is labori- ous business and I thought of getting a circular knife and using it to chop them down. I suppose any blacksmith could make it without much cost. MR. WiiEUvAMS. In some places some grow as much as 200 acres all planted in that system. A grower in the State of Michigan had something like sixty acres. He grows them entirely on that system. For us it is a particularly good one. W. G. SCOTT. How many crops should a strawberry patch be allowed to bear ? Some authorities say two others three. W. H. TOMAUN. The best crop I got off my land was two years ago. I had a bed and got two crops off it. It kept raining in the spring and I was not able to make any other use of the bed. Mow near the rows. I am not afraid of cutting an occasional plant. Question. How wide do you leave your matted rows. W. H. TOMAI,IN. I plant them four feet apart and let them meet. DAHIylA. Ill The worst trouble in growing- strawberries is that they need so much water. It takes 27,000 gallons to put an inch of water on an acre surface. I do not like the hill system. It is a great deal of work and trouble. MR. WHEL.I/AMS. If we are growing- strawberries with the idea of never taking- trouble we will not do much of anything-. With hills I can keep weeds down ; it is impossible to do that with the matted row system. I would advise people to try the hill system. Let them try a few plants and they will soon find out for themselves. As regards trouble of snipping- off runners if you have a large quantity of straw- berries there are machines. Buy automatic runner-cutters. The Dahlia. BY A. F. ANGUS. The Dahlia when well grown is one of the noblest and most beautiful flowers in cultivation. No garden flower has improved more in the last ten years by careful selection and cultivation (if you except probably the sweet pea), and no flower is so little known, in its perfection, in our northern country, or indeed in Canada. A bowl of well grown Dahlias, on a drawing room table with its wealth of gorgeous coloring and back ground of rich green is a sight to charm the senses of any lover of the beautiful. The old stiff, round, honey- combed flower of our grandmothers has been superseded by an endless variety in shapes and coloring, the most beauti- ful of these, resembling the chrysanthemum in form, far surpassing them in richness of color and delicacy of shading, from the finest flesh tints to the most brilliant scarlet. The perfect Dahlia, however, is not obtained without great pains, as to grow it well and to have it in perfection during our short summer, requires constant and industrious labor from April to September. The Dahlia, as you are aware, is a tuberous-rooted plant, the root somewhat resembling a sweet potato. It can be 112 WESTERN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. propagated either by seed or by division of the root. The s^eds should be treated like tender annuals, sown in the house in February or March and transplanted to two-inch pots and plunged into a hot bed in April or the beginning- of May. The flowers, however, seldom amount to anything- the first year, but the tubers will form during- the summer, and if taken up in the autumn, carefully dried in a shady, well-ven- tilated place, and housed during- the winter in a cool, dry cellar, they will be capable of producing fine flowers next year by merely placing- them in the soil like potatoes after danger from frost is over. The roots may be divided into several parts, but great care must be taken to see that each part has an eye. These buds or eyes are not scattered all over the tuber as in a potato, but collected in a ring round the collar of the root. The eye, when the root is in a dry state, is scarcely preceptible, and nurserymen, to discover it, have often to place the tubers on a forcing bench or hot bed to start the eye, that is, to force the latent bud forward suffici- ently to show where it is situated, before they can divide the plant to form new roots. Gardeners, as a rule, don't divide the roots, however, but they place the tubers in sand in a forcing bench with a strong bottom heat, early in February, and when the shoot is of sufficient size, they take cuttings which they also strike in sand. Small tubers are also grown to facilitate forwarding by mail, and these are obtained by growing the young plant in a very small pot and allowing the root to form, about the size and shape of a large walnut and then letting the plant dry off or wither. This is the best form of shipping Dahlias by mail, as these small tubers are a convenient size and just ready to spring when put in a pot. They can be brought from England or any distant land care- fully packed, without any danger from frost early in the season, and can be brought well forward in the house in pots before time for transplanting to the garden. Care must be taken however, that you purchase these only from the most reliable dealers, or you may find many of them turn out to be blind or barren tubers, which will fill the pot with roots, but show no signs of growth above the earth. These blind tubers THE DAHLIA. 113 result from the carelessness of unscrupulous nurserymen being- anxious to secure more roots than his stock of cuttings will allow. Instead of making- the base of his cutting- the portion of the stem from which the branches shoot, he cuts his sprig- half way between the branching- parts. This will strike all rig-ht and produce a plant, but will invariably pro- duce a blind tuber, which any amateur and most professionals would not recognize as such. To obtain the best results and have the longest season of Dahlias, it is necessary to get, about the end of April or the beginning of May, wiry, small-stemmed plants, or the small tubers, I have just described, plant them firmly in four inch pots in specially prepared soil of one part loam or decayed sod, one part sand and one part well decayed manure; the re- mains of the former years hot beds, is the best, as the manure does not do to be too strong. Plunge the pots in an active hot bed, with sides rather higher then the ordinary frame to allow the plant to grow to a good size without pressing against the glass. The frame should be kept open during the day time as much as possible even on cold days when there is sunshine and no frost, and closed at night, having a covering of canvass or old carpet handy to protect it from our cold frosty nights, in April and May. When the four inch pots are filled with roots I find it best to change to six inch, keeping the plants in the frame till they are well developed, and even showing buds freely. They should be watered care- fully every day in bright weather, and -when 'the buds begin to show, given their first feeding of liquid manure, not too strongly at first. About the first or second week in June you may prepare for transplanting to your border. To grow Dahlias properly, they should have a border to themselves, on the south side of a wall or fence, protected also on the west by a hedge or by hardy shrubs, as the plants are very easily knocked about by our stong winds. The ordinary Mani- toba soil is too heavy for the Dahlias, so if the location is not a sandy one, I would recommend placing prepared soil around the roots when planting out. I dig a hole for each plant about a foot or a foot and a half square, placing in this 114 WESTERN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. some soil the same that is used for potting, and pressing- this firmly around the roots, and watering- well. The plants having been well hardened by exposure during- the day, and the soil, by this time, being sufficiently warm, there should be little or no check to the growth of the plant. The plants should be staked at once after being transplanted, using strong stakes about 3 to 3^ feet long, one or two stakes ac- cording to the size of the plant. They must be tied up at least once a week during the season of heaviest growth, other- wise they are liable to be broken by the wind. They must be watered over-head every day and given a feeding of strong liquid manure two or three times a week. Some authorities say that the entire border should be mulched with stable manure, four inches thick, but I have found that mulching the roots of each plant with some lawn scrapings does well enough. The buds of the Dahlia grow in threes, like the Chrysan- themum, a large one in the centre and small on either side, on each shoot. If you want well developed flowers it is well to nip off the two side buds, leaving the large centre one, and in the case of medium growers it is better to thin out a good many of the lateral shoots, but plants growing large flowers not so much so. The beauty of the flower is estimated prin- cipally by its perfectly circular shape without having any petals projecting beyond the others. Should any disk show in the centre of the flower, it is considered a great defect, and to allow this centre part to develop, prize growers often go to the trouble of placing a hood over the flower to keep the sun's rays from the rest of the flower that this disk may have time to grow. Dahlias can be grown in three rows in a border, and can be ordered from the florist, as first, second or third row plants, the front being a dwarf variety and the third row reaching as high as four or five feet. There are endless varieties of dahlias, Messrs. Cannell & Son, a firm in England, famous for their dahlias, showing in their catalogue of 1897 more than 600 distinct varieties for THE DAHLIA. 115 sale. These are divided into different classes : The Show Variety, Fancies, Pompoms, Cactus, Singles and Doubles, Decorative and Reflex, etc., the latter being- the mostjuseful for general garden decoration and should be generally culti- vated, although I much prefer the Cactus shape. Of the latter, I have grown with success the following' named varie- ties in order of merit : Miss Violet Morgan, which is a beauty. The base of the florets being* a fawn color, shaded towards the edge to a delicate tone of transparent pink. Matchless, a rich deep velvety maroon of true Cactus shape. Gloriosa, a deep red shaded scarlet, with large and finely formed flowers. Mrs. A. Pearl, creamy white. Robert Cannell, majenta, with bluish tint towards the top of the petals. Of the Decorative and Reflex the best are Beauty of Wilts, a soft terra cotta. Germania, white shaded and tinged with flesh. Maid of Kent, intense cherry red, crimson ground, with pure white tips. Constance, pure white. Kaiserin, sulphur-yellow, outer florets ting-ed with yellow. Of the Show varieties I have tried the following- : John Kicking-, the finest clear yellow, of grand form. Julia Wyatt, a very larg-e creamy white. Agnes, also a fine yellow. Win. Jackson, a large rosy purple of the Fancy varieties. Prince Henry is a beauty ; lilac with right purple stripes, very large. John Forbes, fawn color, stripped maroon. Eric Fisher, buff, striped with scarlet. Comedian, orange, ground flaked and speckled, crimson and tipped with white. The largest Dahlia I have grown was La Colosse, a dull red of good shape, which measured twelve inches across the 116 WESTERN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. flower to the stem. This is the largest Dahlia grown, I believe, and strange to say it flowered very early, about the 4th or 5th of July, too early for last year's show, and sad to relate died young, and I think from too rich feeding or too strong manure at the root. This short paper has been prepared more for the purpose of starting a discussion on the subject from which we may have benefit, than for any practical information it may give, as a person with only two years' experience can hardly be called an authority on Dahlias. , DISCUSSION. Question. Do you advise keeping- the roots in the cellar ? MR. ANGUS. I have succeeded best when I kept them in the cellar without heat. They must be absolutely dry. Dry them in the garden in the sun or in a shed well ventilated. PROF. BAIRD. My difficulty in the matter of growing- Dahlias has been in the winter time when they do not grow at all. The only place I have which is at all suitable is a cellar in which there is a furnace. I have no trouble with dampness, but it is too warm. Perhaps the mistake has been in putting them away in the autumn. Is it not advisable to look after them three or four times in the course of the winter and moisten them in the box in which they are packed ? MR. ALSTON. I find it better not to pack them. Packing heats them and they are apt to be shrivelled up in the Spring. Take them out of the garden in the fall and put them in a box and keep them in a shed from fifty to sixty degrees and they will be all right neither too dry nor too wet. MR. WHEI,I,AMS. We put away about half a bushel ; took them up, shook off the earth and put them in the root house. About two months afterwards they were the consistency of thick porridge. The reason probably was that they were not dry enough. Temperature does not seem to make as much difference as the condition in which they are put awa)'. Recently we manage better ; we put them in a roothouse with a lot of potatoes. The conditions that are suitable for potatoes seem to suit the dahlias. MR. ANGUS. A good deal depends upon whether they are ripe enough when they are taken up. If a potato is not thoroughly ripe it is not fit to keep. It is better to leave the dahlias in the ground from the time when they freeze down in September or the beginning of THK DAHUA. 117 October, till the frost becomes severe enough to stiffen the surface of the soil, say early in November ; this gives time for the tubers to mature. MR. TOMAUN. What kinds of Dahlia are best for this country ? MR. ANGUS. All are pretty good. The dahlia grows very well in this country ? MR. TOMAUN. Do you grow yours from seed ? I tried that plan last spring ; a considerable number of the plants have formed small tubers but as yet some merely have roots. MR. ANGUS. I have not tried growing plants from seed. PROF. BAIRD. I have no doubt that to grow them to as great a degree of perfection as Mr. Angus has, requires a good deal of care starting them early in the greenhouse and transplanting them once or twice. But the average amateur can get good returns by just planting dry roots about the middle or latter part of April, or a little later any time when it is suitable to plant potatoes. If young shoots come up before the frost is past thej r are liable to be cut off by frost. For two years part of mine have been planted in the ground without being in a hotbed at all and I have had good growth. They do not bloom as early as those started in a hotbed ; still they have a long season of bloom before the frost comes and the flowers reach as great a degree of perfection as those that were forced in the earlier part of the season. FINIS. 118 INDEX. Affiliation of Societies 57, 59 Anemone 39, 43 Annuals 40 Annual Report 50 Apple Growing- 60 Barberry 17 Bee Keeping- 95 Birds, Protection of 86 Botany 41 Bulbs, Winter Flowering- 31 Change of Name of Society 59 Cherries 62 Climate, Its Influence on Trees 23 Constitution of Society 5 Crab Apples 61 Crocus 36 Currant, Flowering- 17 Currant 29 Cyclamen 33 Dahlias Ill Fall Planting- 22, 25 Forestry 68, 88 Freesia' 34 Fruit Growing- 60 Fuchsia 38 Geraniums 37 Gooseberries 29 Grapes 63 Guelder Rose 18 History of Horticultural Societies 3, 55 Honeysuckle 17, 46 House Plants 9, 37 Hyacinths 36, 39 Hydrangea 75, 77 Importation of Fruit 80 Insects on House Plants 13 Insects on Trees 67 Iris . . 20 INDEX. H<) Kinds of Trees to Plant 24, 69 Lilacs ... 16 Lilies 21, 35, 49 Members of Society 7 Minnesota, Horticulture in 55 Narcissus 36 Officers of Society 6 Orchid 49 Ornamental Shrubs 15, 71 Pasony 19 Palms 38 Perennials 15 Phlox, perennial 20 Planting- Trees 23, 63 Plums 61 Potting- House Plants 13 Prairie Fires 89 Prairie Flowers 41 Protection of Birds 84 Protection of Plants in Winter 64, 66, 73 Raspberries 29, 76, 78, 79 Report, Annual , 50 Repotting- House Plants 13 Rhubarb 81, 83 Roses, Hybrid perpetual 21, 76 Shrubs, ornamental 15, 71 Sparaxis 36 Spirea (Snowball) 18, 45 Spring- Planting- 22, 25 Strawberries 27, 83, 103 Transplanting House Plants 13 Tree Planting- 23, 63, 68 Trees, Value of 68 Tuberose 34 Tulips 36 Varieties of Trees to Plant 24, 69 Ventilation for House Plants 10 Watering- House Plants 11 Wild Flowers 41 Windbreaks 68 Winter Protection 64, 66, 73 YC 6156