Established Fruit Trees 



dressing. I cannot give particulars of a general 

 mixture for fruit trees, for so much depends on the 

 nature of the soil, the age, kind, and condition of the 

 trees, etc., and special advice is necessary in each 

 case. I can, however, give a few hints which may be 

 useful. No harm can be done by applying phos- 

 phatic and potassic manures such as superphosphate 

 and sulphate of potash. Both of these supply very 

 necessary foods, the lack of which often means much 

 trouble with diseases such as silver leaf, canker, 

 scab, mildew, etc. On the other hand, an overdose 

 in early spring of nitrate of soda, sulphate of 

 ammonia, or of other nitrogenous manures may do 

 a lot of harm. I prefer to wait and see how the 

 blossom sets before giving manures which stimulate 

 the growth of leaf and stem. This applies particu- 

 larly to young trees. 



WINTER SPRAYING. 



Insect pests are always less numerous when the 

 bark is clean. Moss, lichen, and green mould all 

 provide shelter and breeding places for insects, 

 but when the bark is clean and healthy the pests 

 are easily seen by birds, washed off by rain, or in 

 some cases destroyed by frosts. 



Fungus diseases may also be checked by spraying. 



Our forefathers annually cleansed the bark with 

 lime. Limewash was applied to the stems and large 

 branches with a brush, and slaked lime was scat- 

 tered amongst the smaller branches and twigs on a 

 damp morning. This certainly did a lot of good, but 

 the method was so laborious that the custom eventu- 

 ally died out. Modern growers use a proper lime- 

 washing machine, which does the work in less time, 



36 



