IRISH GARDENING 



79 



Sheltered corners of walls, or by the sides of 

 glass-houses, may often be utilised for bedding 

 ])lants to relieve the congestion under glass, but 

 make ])rei)arations to cover the ])lants at night 

 should frost threaten. 



The Fruit Garden. 



By Alfred Barker, Gardener to Lady Fitz- 

 gerald, Carrigoran, Co. Clare. 



'• Welcome, merry m.onth of May." Fruit 

 ])roS|)ects are on the whole looking cheery enough, 

 and let us hope that they shall continue to the 

 end, and not find us later on lamenting the 

 vagaries of the weather, as anything but a 

 " merry " prospect may result from the ungenial 

 weather such as is occasionally vouchsafed 

 during this month. 



Though there is during this month a con- 

 siderable hill in operations on frait quarters, 

 some of our troublesome insect pests become very 

 active in their annual operations, and these mviit 

 be taken in hand pro m.ptly on appearance. The 

 aj)his tribe, or, as they are more frequently 

 styled, green fly, black fly, &c. (not forgetting the 

 woolly aphis) very quickly establish themselves 

 on currants, plums, cherries, apples (and peaches 

 if grown ()ut(lii(>i-s), these may all be readily 

 disi)osed of l)y timely spraying, thovigh the 

 longer s])raying is deferred the n'ore tinae and 

 spray must be expended on making a clearance 

 of these pests, which increase and multiply at an 

 amazing rate, in case harsh dry weather may 

 prevail on their advent. The instinct of self- 

 preservation " even in these lowly subjects " 

 is soon evidenced in the curling up and blistering 

 of foliages, points of shoots, &c, thus rendering 

 the insects to a great extent ini.mune from, 

 attacks of enemies and sprays. If the a] his 

 are left undisturbed, this curling of leaves 

 rapidly increases (o such an extent that nothing 

 short of hand-pickinu the iiiiled leaves, &;c., 

 will suffice to destroy tiie fly (this ap])lies specially 

 to cherries infested with black fly). Of course 

 the dipping of such leaves, shoots, &c., in 

 insecticide, as sometimes advised, may be resorted 

 to, but the disadvantages are so obvious that 

 it hardly merits mention at all. 



All varieties of currants are subject to aphis 

 attacks, though black currants are most sus- 

 ceptible, and the fruit very soon seriously injured 

 by an unchecked attack of aphis. Spraying 

 compounds wherewith to combat all kinds of 

 insect attacks are now so numerous, and mostly 

 quite effective, that it is invidious to be recom- 

 mending any particular compound ; however, 

 it is no uncominon occurrence for some of these 

 pests to appear quite unexpectedly, or people 

 may not be " forearmed " with the requisite 

 compound, or the frviit might be almost consumed 

 by the expectant flies ere the compound arrived 

 from n^aker or store ; soft .soap is readily obtained, 

 and makes an effective wash for most kinds of 

 ai)his, s])ecially currant aphis. Where great 

 numbers of bushes or trees are affected, it may 

 be used as follows : — Take 3 J lbs. of soft soap, 

 ])lace it in a bucket and ])our over it a 

 couple of gallons of very hot or boiling water, 

 then stir with a lath or narrow strip of board 

 until the whole is dissolved ; ])our this into such 

 a utensil as an emi)ty ])araflin or other barrel 

 (holding about 40 gallons), then fill u]) with rain 

 water ; if sufficient hot water can be added to 



make the whole new milk warm for using, the 

 mixture is more effective. Soft soaps vary in 

 comi>osition, and to make sure of the mixture 

 being strong enough take an infested leaf or 

 slioot and dii^ in the mixture ; if the flies are 

 not at once killed, dissolve another ^ lb. of the 

 soap and add to mixture ; this must be sprayed 

 on with a good i)ressure, niostly to the underside 

 of foliage. One spraying thoroughly carried 

 out is generally sufficient, though on plums a i 



second spraying is likely to be required, as the 

 a])his (one or two kinds) peculiar to plums is 

 not so readily destroyed as currant aphis. If , 



the trees or bushes have become badly infested, 

 the badly curled or blistered leaves should be , 



picked off before any spraying is carried out, ' 



these cux'led leaves, &c., being thrown ino a 

 bucket, and boiling water ]ioured over the leaves ^ 



to destroy the ajdiis ; any amount of si^raying 

 would not suffice to kill the aphis in these curled 

 leaves. Woolly ajjhis may make its appearance , 



this month on apple trees, and should be de- 

 stroyed pr mptly ; small quantities may be de- 

 stroyed by brushing the woolly patches over with | 

 methylated spirits, using a very sm.all i)aint 1 

 brush or a small bunch of hairs m.ade into a j 

 brush for the purpose, rubbing the liquid well j 

 into the ajihis. \VTiere larger areas are to be ] 

 dealt with, spraying must be resorted to ; s])ecial 1 

 force umst be used in order to dis]ierse the woolly I 

 covering and allow of spray reaching the insects. 



Wherever the necessity for s])raying of bush , 



fruits for caterpillars, or the larger fruits for j 



black spot, &c., exists, it must to a great extent \ 



be carried out this m.onth, either in conjunction 

 with winter spraying or where no winter spraying ' 



was done either bv reason of excessive rainy and | 



unsuitable weather during ])ast winter, or, as in ' 



some cases, where a belief exists that the re.sult j 



of winter spraying for scab on fruit trees does 

 not justify the outlay. In any case no practical j 



and up-to-date fiuit grower in these tiines ; 



gainsays the advantages following on s])raying 

 in suiiuuer or winter, and it is very im])ortant l 



that it should be carried out this nu)nth 

 thoroughly, using whatever compound nuvy be I 



most favoured. The spray to be most effective 

 (and economical) must be made very fine, and , 



just sufficient to moisten all the foliage, &c., ! 



and not be applied so heavily as to cause ! 



dripping from leaves or branches. For cater- : 



pillars it seems to be very generally conceded j 



that Arsenate of Lead is more effective and | 



extensively used than any other comi)ound ; this j 



mav be used — I lb. of the ])aste to 25 gallons of | 



water, si)rayed over the bushes, being careful 

 to cover all the foliage with a fine si)ray, just 

 sufficient to moisten the whole of the foliage. 

 Care must be taken not to spray with this i)oison 

 at any tim.e within a month of tlie fruit being j 



gathered ; also bear in mind that this is a 

 dangerous poison, and run no risks of injury 

 being inflicted on hum.an l)eings or domestic 

 animals by the iise of it. j 



Mulching of newly planted (and specially late 

 planted) fi-uit trees," if not already done, should j 



be seen to this month ; such trees always derive 

 considerable benefit from a mulch of farmyard 

 manure, about half-decayed, but still retaining 

 a considerable part of its nutritive )iroperties : , 



in most cases nuinure can be procured for either | 



large or small nunibers of trees, and all who 

 mulch freelv will find themselve-s an^])ly com- 

 pensated in the healthy vigorous growth and 



