2 4 



rapidly discarded owing to the general prevalence of the afore- 

 said woolly aphis (American Blight). 



In regard to Paradise stocks, there was at one time a con- 

 siderable call for them in the trade here; we ourselves amongst 

 others kept a large stock, but have now entirely discarded them, 

 as we found it impossible to keep them free from Blight, and it 

 is moreover a well-known fact that this insect is particularly 

 partial to the paradise root. This stock has the effect of bring- 

 ing the tree quickly into bearing and tending to increase the size 

 of the fruit, and it is largely used in England, where trees take 

 so long to come into bearing. But here we could not plant them 

 under any consideration whatsoever, because their mass of fibrous 

 roots gets matted with Blight, and the growth does not appear 

 free enough to prevent the tree being sunburned in our climate, 

 and it is within our experience very frequently so throughout the 

 entire length of the country. 



With regard to the Blight-proof stocks, we have naturally 

 taken considerable interest in the matter for some years, and find 

 both the Northern Spy and Winter Majetin to be good stocks; 

 we prefer the former for all purposes, and all our trees worked 

 on Blight-proof stock are of one or the other of these two sorts. 

 There are, we believe, other stocks being used in this country 

 and called Blight proof ; they may be so, but the Spy has to its 

 credit the fact that it has made the apple business of Australasia : 

 and here we have now had it under observation for 21 years, and 

 have put it to most severe tests without in a single instance 

 finding a trace of Blight on it. Others may have had a different 

 experience, but this is ours. However, growers must understand 

 the limitation of the Spy as a resistant stock. We believe that 

 many think that if an apple, no matter of what sort, is worked 

 on a Blight-proof stock, that it will always be free from Blight ; 

 this is not so ; almost all varieties of apples are subject more or 

 less to Blight, and even if worked on these stocks will be in the 

 same proportion subject to Blight that they were on communis, 

 but the stock will be always perfectly clean below the point where 

 graft is inserted, and this is a consideration the importance of 

 which cannot be over estimated. Blight above ground can be 

 eradicated, and, if not entirely so, at least kept in hand ; whereas 

 once in the root, always in the root, is a safe prediction. 



We have heard people in this country try and belittle the 

 of Blight-proof stocks by explaining to planters that their 

 trees will get Blight just the same, but we trust that no one will 

 allow themselves to be deceived in this matter. 



Pears are worked on one of two stocks, either common pear 

 for standards, or quince for dwarfs. The result of our experi- 

 ence has also here been that we have discarded dwarfs ; that is 

 to say, pears grown on quince, our reason being that the advo- 



