APPLE CULTIVATION. 607 
fruitgrowers. The presence of lime in the soil for the best 
results when using potash for fruit trees is being better 
appreciated in this State. 
DISEASES Of THE APPLE AND TREATMENT. 
Apple growing, or, for the matter of that, any_ fruit 
culture, is not simply a matter of planting the trees and 
cultivating the land. Were this the case under our exist- 
ing favourable conditions, there would not be much profit 
in the business. Destructive agents, both insect and fun- 
goid, claim a large annual share of the orchardist’s product. 
At the same time, it must be recognised that if every 
apple which set matured, prices would be considerably 
reduced in seasons of heavy yields. The ideal orchard is 
one which produces annually a good average crop of the 
finest marketable apples. Fruit pests not only destroy a 
large quantity of fruit, but they largely reduce the value 
of what is marketed by an indirect influence on the vitality 
of the tree. The only course open to a grower is to en- 
deavour to control the pests by artificial means, and thin out 
the fruit when heavy yields occur. Whilst in this State 
we are still free from some of the worst pests to be met 
with, yet the following will be found of quite sufficient 
magnitude and destructive power to absorb the orchardist’s 
attention when present. 
Tue Contin Motu (Carpocapsa Pomonella). 
In favourable seasons the above is a very troublesome 
pest, and yet the adoption of the several methods prompted 
by a knowledge of its life history and recent experiments 
will materially curtail its destructiveness. Banding the 
trunks of the trees in the spring and picking the infected 
fruit—a provision of the Legislature in this State—is an 
effective course of procedure, if concerted action could be 
secured; but experience shows that too much cannot be 
relied on in this respect, owing to the apathy of small 
fruitgrowers. It, therefore, devolves upon the progressive 
orchardist to adopt the more advanced method of using 
arsenical sprays: Many will be found in works on horti- 
culture, as also the method of application; but some lhttle 
tenacity of purpose on the part of the user must be 
cultivated to overcome the vagaries of climate, as rain, 
following on spraying, if in any quantity, necessitates a 
repetition of the operation. 
