iEISH GARDENING. 



173 



impracticable, but the diseased apples should 

 be removed as soon as possible. This 

 operation might be carried out at the time 

 of picking the crop, the diseased apples being 

 gathered and destroyed, or if that is impracticable 

 they may be dropped to the ground, where they 

 are less dangerous than if left hanging on the tree. 

 It is advisable, where at all ijossible, to collect 

 the affected fruit and remove it from the orchard 

 or burn it ; in plantations, where the ground is 

 cultivated, such fruit should be dug into the 

 ground. In any case it is imperative that none 

 should be allowed to remain on the trees ovei 

 winter. 



Any affected spurs should be removed, together 

 with cankeis on the stem. This operation is 

 best cai'ried out in summer, but it may be done 

 in winter provided it is completed before the 

 fungus resumes its growth in spring. 



The Disease on Stored A poles. — Apples are 

 attacked by the disease not only while still 

 growing on the tree, but also after they are 

 picked and stored. At the tin^e of storing they 

 should be carefully examined, and all those 

 showing any trace of the rot should be discarded, 

 for the disease will not on'y continue to develop 

 in affected individuals, but may also extend to 

 those around them. For the same reason great 

 care should be taken when apples are selected 

 for transmission to a distance in boxes ; serious 

 losses have occurred in boxed apples owing to 

 neglect of these precaution . 



An experiment carried out on apples after 

 they were picked showed the rot developed in 

 these at approximately the same rate as in the 

 growing fruit, under conditions comparable with 

 those under which apples are stored. Three 

 apples (vai"iety. Bramley's Seedling) were in- 

 oculated from pure cultures of Monilia fructigena 

 and kept at the ordinary temperature of the 

 laboratory throughout the experiment. At the 

 end of eight days the rot had made considerable 

 progress, as shown by a brown area about 

 1 f inches in diameter on the surface of each 

 apple, extending round the point where the 

 inoculation had been made. The disease con- 

 tinued to develop and all three produced 

 numerous yellow pustules of the fungus, and 

 eventually became much shrunken and wiinkled. 



Under certain conditions stored apj)les affected 

 by Monilia fructigena turn black (as observed 

 by Worthington G. Smith as long ago as 1885), 

 the skin remaining smooth or nearly so for some 

 time and bearing few or no pustules. Although 

 there is often no evidence on the exterior of such 

 apples that a fungus is present, the flesh is per- 

 meated by the fungal threads, and particles of 

 the flesh, placed on suitable culture media, give 

 rise to the growth and pustules typical of 

 Monilia fructigena : the black condition, too, 

 can be induced in the sound mature fruit by 

 infecting them through wounds \\ith this fungus. 

 Monilia fructigena has always been isolated from 

 such black apples (both of the cooking and dessert 

 varieties) from the store at Wye College and from 

 other places in Kent, and it has also been obtained 

 by Spinks from cider apples which have turned 

 black. The precise conditions which cause the 

 fungus to produce ai brown rot in some cases 

 and a black rot in others have not yet been 

 determined. — Jovrval of the Board of Agricidture, 

 June, 1918. 



Notes on Allotments, 



Allotment Progress. — The E'ood Production 

 Department report that at Tarporley (Cheshire) 

 every one of tlie 600 householders is cultivating 

 either an allotment or garden this year for food 

 production purposes. At Abergele and Pensarn 

 6(3 per cent, of the householders have food pro- 

 duction plots. At Daventry (Northants) 572 out 

 of 800 householders are cultivating allotments, 

 all of which have been acquired by private agree- 

 ment between the allotment holders and the 

 landowners. 



Among the larger towns that have done ex 

 tremely well in the matter of allotments is 

 Southampton, which has already provided 3,000 

 plots (242 acres) comprising practically all the 

 available land conveniently situated. An effort 

 however, will be made to provide a further .300 

 allotments next season. 



Tliree acres of land have been recommended 

 for next-season allotments at Tythegstone Higher 

 (Glam.). This land will probably be taken over 

 immediately the hay crop has been harvested. 



In many parts of the country landowners have 

 shown an admirable spirit in relation to the pro- 

 vision of land for allotments by private treaty. 

 An instance is reported by the Pood Production 

 Department from Haverhill (Suffolk), where 

 65^ acres of land have been provided by volun- 

 tary arrangement. This land has been cut up 

 into 1,023 allotments; as there are only 1,050 

 houses in the town Haverhill niust come very 

 near to establishing a record in allotment holding. 

 Some of the men to whom land has been allotted 

 are on active service, and, in their absence, the 

 allotments are being successfully carried on by 

 their womenfolk. 



Allotment Tenure. — In reply to inquiries, it 

 is stated by the Ff>od Production Department 

 that war-time allotment holders who may receive 

 notice to quit and be unable to arrange matters 

 satisfactorily with the owner of the land they 

 occupy shoidd communicate with the Depart- 

 ment. Advice has been given in a number of 

 cases and practical assistance of various kinds 

 in others. During the last week in May 1 1 allot- 

 ment holders occui^ying an acre of land at West 

 Molesey, and 17 allotment holders occupying 

 2 1 acres at Deddington (Oxford), having received 

 notices, appealed to the Department. An 

 inspector was able in both cases to arrange for 

 a continuance of the tenancy. 



Fertilisers for Allotment Holders. ^ — 

 Allotment holders and small growers generally 

 are informed that the Food Production Depart- 

 ment is making arrangements with all " Ap- 

 proved " agents for the sale of fertilisers in the 

 1918-19 season to supply sulphate of ammonia, 

 superphosphate, and basic slag in 14 ft., 28 lb., 561b., 

 and 1 cwt. lots to meet the needs of allotment: 

 holders and small growers. It is hoped that this 

 arrangement will obviate a difficulty experienced 

 in some districts in the past season. — Journal of 

 the Board of Agriculture, June, 1918. 



