EXPERIMENTS CONDUCTED WITH A VIEW TO CONTROLLING DISEASE. 61 



and healthy with abundance of foliage, but the blossoming was interfered with, so that not a single 

 fruit set. Owing to the dry weather and the unusual heat early in October, the Thrip pest was very 

 bad, and this, combined with a severe frost on 16th October, prevented the setting of the fruit. The 

 pears have borne a fair crop, particularly the Williams, because they blossomed earlier than the apples 

 and had their fruit set before the Thrips were able to injure them. The experimental plot was specially 

 manured with 3 cwt. of gypsum to render the stiff clay friable, together with a liberal dressing of 

 fertilizers. The water was also laid on in order to ensure the proper action of the fertilizers. 



TABLE XXIX. SUMMARY FOR Two YEARS OF DIFFERENT METHODS OF PRUNING. 

 Yield. Pitted. 



Total Pitted. Per cent. Pitted. 



182 30 



141 21 



116 18 



102 23 



There are three trees in each plot, and they are about twelve years old. In the first year of 

 the experiment only comparatively few apples were produced, so that the results of the second and 

 third years' crops are here given. 



Severely pruned trees had the most Pit, but the other methods of pruning did not show a marked 

 difference among themselves. 



8. AT GOVERNMENT FARM, BATHURST, NEW SOUTH WALES. 



The pruning experiments have been carried out for four years in succession on Cleopatra trees 

 of the same age as those used in the manurial experiments. There are two rows of Cleopatras, divided 

 into 3 plots. In the first year the first plot contained 12 trees and was heavily pruned, the second 

 plot of 10 trees was light pruned, and the third plot of 12 trees was left unpruned. Owing to the 

 death of trees from various causes in the light-pruned plot, the number was reduced, but, unfortunately, 

 in after years trees were included in this plot which did not originally belong to it. So only the results 

 of severe pruning and no pruning will be taken into account. 



TABLE XXX. SEVERE PRUNING TEN CLEOPATRA TREES IN Two Rows. 



Fruit. 



Row. Tree. Sound. Pitted. Total Fruit. Percentage Pitted. 



Ibs. Ibs. Ibs. 



1 1 160 16 176 9-09 



2 277 29 306 9-47 



3 182 9 191 4-71 



4 184 6 190 3-16 



5 178 12 190 6-32 



2 1 207 13 220 5-91 



2 168 7 175 4-00 



3 254 18 272 6-62 



4 154 29 183 15-85 



5 190 12 202 5-94 



Totals 1954 151 2105 



Averages 195-4 15-1 210-5 7-17 



