APHIS BRUSHES. 



APPLE TREES. 



Aphis Brushes. 



When the aphis, or green fly, collects in 

 ^reat numbers on the end of a shoot of 

 any plant, such as the rose, covering it 

 with a thick external coating of insect life, 

 it has been found that they may be easily 

 removed by means of aphis brushes. These 

 brushes are made in the form of scissors, as 

 shown in the accompanying illustration. 

 At the end of each arm is a narrow brush 

 formed of soft bristles. The brushes are 

 closed on the infested shoot a little below 

 the insects, and then drawn upwards and 



APHIS BRUSHES. 



along it. Two or three applications of 

 the brush will very nearly, if not entirely, 

 remove all the aphides without doing any 

 injury to the shoot. Sometimes the aphis 

 brush is made in the form of sheep shears 

 that is to say, an elastic steel bow, wiih 

 a brush at the end of each arm. Pressure 

 only of the thumb and ringers is required 

 to bring the brushes together, and the 

 shoot is cleared as before by drawing the 

 brushes along it. The cost of an aphis 

 brush is is. 6d. 



Apple. 



The apple is a somewhat capricious 

 fruit, some sorts affecting clay soils, while 

 others do better in sandy loam, and even 

 in well-drained peat soils. Apple-planting, 

 therefore, requires some discrimination as 

 weii as observation as to the sorts most 

 Successfully grown in the locality. 



Early Dessert Apples. The following 

 are ten good varieties that ripen their fruit 

 early. They are arranged in order of ripen- 

 ing, and those which are marked with a 



star in all cases may be planted in cold 

 soils : 



Dessert Apples for Storing. The follow- 

 ing are eight choice varieties for storing : 



1. King of Pippins. 



2. Cox's Orange Pip- 



pin. 



3. Blenheim Orange. 



4. Gascoyne's Scar- 



let Seedling.* 



5. Wyken or War- 



wick Pippin.* 



6. Golden Knob.* 



7. Sturmer Pippin. 



8. Court Pendu 



Plat.* 



Cooking Apples for Immediate Use. Tht 

 following are the names of twelve good 

 orts: 



Cooking Apples for Storing. The follow- 

 ing are choice varieties for this purpose : 



Apple Trees, How to Prune. 



The modern system of dwarfing fruit- 

 trees, by which space is so much econo- 

 mised, is produced by a special course ol 

 pruning, commencing a year from grafting, 

 when the apple tree should be pruned 

 back, leaving about eight buds on the 

 shoots. In the second year the head will 



