April 6, 1912.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



219 



nearly simultaneous than I have ever seen it 

 before, and a severe frost during the next week 

 or two would do an incalculable amount of 

 damage. I have a regular record of Plum blos- 

 soming for the past 11 years, and an irregular 

 one for some previous seasons, and no approach 

 to the forwardness of this season appears in it. 

 April 17 is the earliest date for even Black Dia- 

 mond or Monarch to reach the stage of full blos- 

 soming, and in nearly all other years it has not 

 been reached before the end of the third week 



of April. 



A few blossoms of Louise Bonne of Jersey 



Pear were open on March 30, while all other 

 varieties of that fruit were showing clusters of 

 blossom-buds well out of their sheaths. In 1903 

 earlv Pears were in full bloom on March 31 : but 

 I have no other record of that stage having been 

 reached in any other year before April 21, 

 though in several seasons the appearance of un- 

 opened blossom-buds has been as early as it was 

 this year. 



One Cherry tree was in nearly full blossom on 

 March 30, and other varieties were showing a 

 few gexpanded blooms. The earliest previous 

 record of full blossoming is April 15, an account 

 having been kept for the past 11 years. Peaches 

 and Nectarines in the open were in bloom on 

 March 18. Only once before have I noticed them 

 in full beauty as early as the 21st. Gooseberries 

 and Red Currants were nearly fully out at the 

 end of last week. On a few previous occasions 

 similar precocity has been noticed. 



Apples promise to be relatively as premature 

 in blossoming as other kinds of fruit, as the clus- 

 ters of blossom-buds on some early varieties were 

 out of their cases on March 18, a date beyond 

 precedent in a register of 16 years. Black Cur- 

 rants and Strawberries are not particularly for- 

 ward. 



The Promise of Fruit. 



After the hot drought of last summer it was 

 not at all surprising to find trees covered with 

 fruit-buds, as an uncommon development of such 

 buds was predicted. The display is most strik- 

 ing in the case of Pears, every variety of which 

 in my orchard is densely covered with clusters 

 of b5ossom-buds or (in the case of the earliest) 

 blossoms. No doubt, one reason is that Pears 

 failed to fruit to a great extent last season. 

 Apples, although well up to the mark, are less 

 striking than Pears in promise of blossom; but 

 then they bore a great crop last year. Most 

 varieties of Plums and particularly those varie- 

 ties which had only half-crops last season are, 

 or will be, well covered with blossom. Mature 

 trees of Early Prolific, which alone bore a tre- 

 mendous crop last year in my orchards, have 

 comparatively little blossom, except on their 

 tops, which presumably had not come into bear- 

 ing last season. But young trees of this variety 

 promise well. Cherries always bloom so pro- 

 fusely that it is difficult to compare one season's 

 display with that of another; but they could 

 not be fuller of blossom than some of them are 

 already, while others will exhibit equal splendour 

 in a few days. Gooseberries and Red Currants 

 promise to fruit abundantly. Of Black Currants, 

 strawberries and Raspberries, it is too early to 

 speak m this connection. Growers view the fine 

 outlook with fear and trembling, because of the 

 Premature blossoming alluded to above. It is 

 nardly necessary to add that, even if we escape 



strength for Apples, namely, one gallon of the 

 factory-made solution in 30 gallons of water, in- 

 stead of 40, as for Apples. One gallon to 20 

 would not be too strong in the case of home-made 

 lime-sulphur, if not boiled- The wash should be 

 applied after the fruit b js been gathered, and 

 again early in March. In the strength named 

 the wash did no harm a t all to the young leaves 

 in the spring. 



Watching for the Aphis. 



Repeated search amongst Plum and Apple trees 

 has hitherto failed to reveal any aphides. Is it 

 possible that, for once, they are out of their 

 reckoning? It would be sanguine to indulge any 

 such hope. Moreover, it is quite common to search 



The Need of Summer Pruning. 



Nothing has struck me more forcibly while 

 pruning Apple trees during the winter or in 

 March than the enormous waste of energy involved 

 in neglecting the summer pruning of young 

 trees particularly. An attempt was made last 

 summer to deal with all trees not over seven 

 years from the planting; but time did not allow 

 us to finish the task, and the amount of cutting 

 away of shoots from 2 to 4 feet in length required 

 in the cases of some Cox's Orange Pippin trees 

 planted seven years ago was remarkable. From 

 some of the larger trees 100 to 160 shoots were 

 cut, mostly being shaved closely off the main 

 branches, as they were too stout for spurring as. 

 a rule, or too weak to bear the tax of spurs. From 



in vain for the pest on one day, and to find them just below the cut made in the preceding win 

 swarming on trees three or four days later. A ter pruning, 10 say nothing of laterals lower 

 curious point about the Plum aphis is that I have down, three shoots had grown in the great ma- 

 never found its eggs upon the trees. This is not jority of instances, and the most vigorous of the 

 the case w T ith Apple trees; but this season, in 

 pruning, only about half-a-dozen shoots with 

 eggs upon them have been noticed. It seems to 

 me that the eggs must be deposited to a great 

 extent upon w T ild trees or shrubs. It is most im- 

 portant, particularly in the case of the leaf- 

 curling aphis, to spray at the very beginning of 

 an attack, as it is little better than waste of 

 labour and money to spray after the leaves have 

 curled over the insects. 



Nicotine as a Spray Stuff. 



Reference to the aphis is a reminder of the 

 proposal, now under consideration of the Board 

 of Agriculture, to allow the growing of Tobacco 



Fig. 98. — strawberry leaf-spot. 



in this country under certain regulations, ren- 

 dering it unfit for smoking. It appears to be 

 assumed that nicotine must be extracted from the 

 crop by the ordinary process, which is an expen- 

 sive one. This, however, is quite unnecessary. 

 The crop should be harvested just as it grows, 

 after being sprayed with an offensive smelling 

 wash, such as lime-sulphur or potassium sul- 

 phide. The Tobacco plants, stems included, 

 could be tied up in bundles as beans are, and 

 cut up roughly and boiled when required to make 

 spray stuff. A few experiments by chemists 

 would show the weight of Tobacco plants neces- 

 sary to make a decoction of a hundred gallons. 

 As Tobacco wash is harmless to vegetation, it 

 would not be necessary to be very precise in the 

 matter. I do not see why every grower of not 

 less than 10 acres of fruit trees should not be 

 allowed to grow a patch of Tobacco plants. He 

 might be required to register, and perhaps to 



damaV f * * V¥ca ll vvc e&uape mignt oe required to register, and pernaps to 



upon th g h ^ Sts ' fructlfication wil1 de P en d largely pay a small fee to cover expenses of inspection, 



upon the character of the weather during the 

 d ossoming periods, particularly in relation to 

 sunshine and wind. Gloomy weather, discourag- 



clu • 1 workin S of Pollinating insects, or very 

 cold wind, which has a like effect, besides being 



Seat L mi ? n T t0 blossoms > ™ght spoil to a 

 great extent a fine prospect. 



which would be needed only once in a season, 

 when the crop w r as denatured by spraying it 



before harvesting it. 



polic 



Remedy for Strawberry Leaf-spot. 



for Sr^?S hUr i aP ? 6ars to be a complete remedy 



Cl f « d ^ ^^ < S P h **dla ^agari*) 

 *we used it a little strong +W +u * 1 



ana little stronger than the summer able wash cheaply. 



inspect the operation, or any other person ap- 

 pointed by the Board of Agriculture. Nicotine 

 wash is one of the best destructives of the aphis 

 and the Apple sucker, ^nd the safest of all to 

 use on tender foliage. At present its price is 

 prohibitive, and it seems to me that fruit 

 growers should be allowed to grow Tobacco for 

 I themselves, in order that they may make a valu- 



three was commonly the middle one, which in 

 nearly every instance was growing in the wrong 

 direction, and had to be cut away. The two 

 shoots that had to be sacrificed had robbed the 

 one left to grow of quite two-thirds of the 

 nourishment which it should have received, and 

 in many a case it is slender in consequence. 

 This waste would have been almost entirely saved 

 if the trees had been pruned, or rather pinched, 

 in the summer. I say " pinched " because I 

 think that the operation should be carried out 

 early in the summer, when the superfluous laterals 

 have only recently started and are tender enough 

 to allow of pinching them off by the nails of 

 finger and thumb. The worst of it is that, if 

 left as spurs, they would require pinching a 

 second time early in the autumn, as fresh 

 growths would then have emerged from them, 

 This involves a great amount of work ; but I be- 

 lieve that it would pay well. In the cases of 

 trees sufficiently furnished with branches it 

 would be better to rub the embryo laterals off 

 entirely than to leave them unpruned until the 

 winter. That could be done quickly, and 

 no second operation before the winter pruning 

 would be necessary, unless fresh laterals 

 formed. Weak and slender main shoots, indeed,, 

 would be all the better for the complete removal 

 of the laterals, although judicious spurring is 

 the ideal system for most varieties of Apples. 

 Of course, very young trees may need some of 

 the laterals to be left to form branches. If time 

 can be found to deal with mature trees, which 

 make only slight extension, the complete removal 

 of laterals from new shoots in the early part of 

 the summer would be beneficial, and this would, 

 render winter pruning unnecessary. The only 

 objection is that the operation has to be carried 

 out in one of the busiest seasons of the year.. 

 A Southern Grower. 



Publications Received. — Bulletin of the 



Department of Agncul.ure, Jamaica, edited by 

 H. H. Cousins. (Kingston, Jamaica : Govern- 

 ment Printing Office.) Price 2s. — The Small- 

 Holaer's Handbook, edited by W. M. Elkington. 

 (London : L. Upcotfc Gill.) Price 3s. 6d. net. — 



Traders, Farms, and Agricultural Organisa- 

 tion, by Edwin A. Pratt. (London : P. S. King 

 & Son.) Price 3d. — Popp'es, by George Gordon,. 

 V.M.H. (London : Agricultural and Horticul- 

 tural Association.) Price Id. — Les Produits 

 Coloniaux, par G. Capus et D. Bois. (Paris : 

 Armand Colin.) 7 fr. — Report of the Maryland 

 State Horticultural Society held in Baltimore, 

 December, 1911. (College Park, Maryland: 

 Maryland State Horticultural Society.) — Ferns, 

 and Fern Culture, by J. Birkenhead ; revised by 

 F. Parsons. (London : A. B. May & Sons, and 

 W. H. and L. Collingridge.) Price Is. — The 

 Grow ng of Tobacco for Nicotine Extraction, 

 Part II., by G. H. Garrad and D. R. Edwardes- 

 Ker. (Wye: South-Eastern Agricultural College.) 

 Price to residents in Kent or Surrey, Is. ; to non- 

 residents, 2s. — Gardening for the Ignorant, 

 by Mrs. C. W. Earle and Miss Ethel Case. (Lon- 

 don : Macmillan & Co., Ltd.) Price Is. — Die 

 Feigenbaume Italiens, von Dr. Ruggero Ravasini. 

 (Bern : Max Drechel.) Price 11 M, 



