Mat 4, 1912. J 



HIE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



295 





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Ai 



4 





crop has not been seriously reduced by th 

 frosts. Whether the setting of the blossoms of 

 Plums and Apples has been interfered with by 

 the north-east wind which prevailed during two 

 out of the last three weeks of the month remains 

 to be seen. Injury done by this wind, which 

 almost invariably prevails when Apples are in 

 blossom is commonly attributed to frost. 



Remarkable Immunity from Aphis Attack. 



Up to the end of April I had not seen a single 

 aphis on a Plum tree, and only a few could be 

 found on Apples. In every preceding year since 

 my Plums were planted they have been badly 

 infested, and last season they were smothered 

 with the insects. They may be forthcoming later 



Apple blossom have fallen, in order to poison 

 the food of the codlin moth caterpillars and anv 

 leaf-eaters not killed by the farst operation. 

 Whether cr not it will be'necessary to add to the 

 arsenate of lead any soft soap and quassia will 

 depend upon the extent to which there proves 

 to be any remaining infestation of Apple suckers 

 or a fresh one of aphides. At present most varie- 

 ties are hardly infested sufficiently to render this 

 addition necessary. It is to be hoped that it will 

 not be required, as it is desired to use lime- 

 sulphur with the arsenate of lead for all varieties 

 of Apples subject to scab, and this cannot be 

 mixed with soft soap without coagulating the 

 latter. Consequently, if the soft soap has°to be 

 included, a separate spraying with lime-sulphur 



V . -. «m ^m r-t *"» L -v > . — > I - - — _— — _ — . — _ _ 



in the season j but if they do not prove trouble- for scab \ y[ll ^ i:: ,_7 rv . 



some, it would be very interesting to learn to 



what cause we owe a very welcome immunity. 



Is it possible that the mother-queens had hatched 



out prematurely during the mild weather which 



preceded the severe frosts of the end of January 



and the beginning of February, to meet their 



death during that period? 



The First Summer Spraying. 



All my Apple trees, young and old, were 

 sprayed for Apple suckers and caterpillars in the 

 latter part of April, however slightly they were 

 infested. Where this operation is carried out 

 annually, growers of fruit are much less troubled 

 with these pests than where spraying is 

 neglected or done irregularly. A great' deal of 

 dodging about among the several varieties is 

 necessary in this spraying ; for, on the one hand, 

 it is of comparatively little use so far as the 

 sucker is concerned, or the aphis where it was 

 present, to spray before the clutches of blossom- 

 buds are divided ; on the other hand it is highly 

 objectionable to use the poison necessary to kill 

 caterpillars where any blossom has expanded, 

 because of the risk of killing bees and other 

 pollinating insects. Short-stalked varieties of 

 Apples are very troublesome in this connection, 

 as their clutches of blossom-buds remain in a 

 compact form until two or three days before 

 they begin to expand their flowers. Moreover, 

 the efficiency of the operation is impaired in all 

 varieties by the irregularity in which blossom 

 develops on each of them. Soft soap, quassia 

 extract, and arsenate of lead were used by me, 

 at the rate of 10 lbs. of soft soap, 3 pints of 

 strong quassia extract, and 4 lbs. of arsenate of 

 lead to 100 gallons. 



Examining Results. 

 A careful and prolonged examination of Apple 

 trees a few days after the spraying showed that 

 some suckers were still alive. These were found 

 almost exclusively in the backward clutches of 

 blossom, which had been in a compact form at 



and off season for this fruit. Here there is no 

 such regular sequence; but many varieties of 

 trees, after they have become mature, crop well 

 only every other season. Some which have 

 cropped regularly while young get into the habit 

 of taking a comparative or absolute rest in 

 alternate years. Allington Pippin, which has a 

 tendency to premature fruiting, is one variety 

 which, with me, has got into this habit. Last 

 season I labelled some trees in the eleventh year 

 f.om the planting, showing which had been bare 

 of fruit, which bore a moderate or rather small 

 crop, and which fruited heavily. This year the 

 first was densely covered with blossom, the 

 second moderately, and the third not at all. 

 Similarly, Bramley's Seedling trees of the same 

 age bore heavily last season, but will be nearlv 



the time of spraying. Some dead suckers were 

 found, but in many cases where the globules of 

 mucus secreted by the insects were to be seen, 

 no suckers could be found, dead or alhe. 

 Whether they drop to ths ground after being 

 wetted with the spray stuff, or are blown off 

 when dead and shrivelled, is uncertain. At 

 a ny rate, a large proportion had disap- 

 peared. This was the case also with caterpillars 

 and thrips, though many of the former 

 were found dead and a few of the latter. The 

 tnrips appeared to disregard soft soap and quassia 

 where arsenate of lead was omitted in spraying 

 ® om * tT6es ov er Gooseberries, in which case it 

 oula have been dangerous to consumers of the 

 ernes to have used it ; but where the poison was 

 use d not a single live thrin was found a few davs 

 auer the spraying, and hardly any dead ones. This 

 Rp!tT aranCe is one o£ the mysteries which re- 

 tZrT 11 ? C( l ed to solve ' as {i can hardI y be sup- 

 El * ^ G Datural career of the ^rips on 



feUen X" ^r^ before the blossom had 

 6Q - Near] y all the aphides found were dead. 



The Next Spraying. 



«Cnt e rt Ul f; 0n ° f 8pra>ing Wi " have to be 



ered a S ain as ^on as the petals of the 



SJX'cL. 



Fig. 144. — narcissus cenone: a white incomparabilis variety. 



The Splendour of Fruit Blossom. 



Never before has there been a more beautiful 

 display of Pear and Cherry blossom than there 

 was in the third week of April. Both kinds of 

 trees were densely covered w 7 ith the largest of 

 blossoms, all varieties of each being almost -equal 

 in display. The Apple blossom a week later was 

 also magnificent, though less dense, except in a 

 few varieties. Plums with me had not been more 

 striking than usual, excepting Victoria, which 

 was a mass of whiteness. 



On and Off Years for Apples. 



devoid of fruit this year, though young trees of 

 the same variety make a good show. Most of 

 the mature Lord Grosvenor took a rest in 1911, 

 but have a tremendous promise now, while the 

 converse was and is the case with much youi „er 

 trees. Again, Lane's Prince Albert, one of the 

 most constant fruiters, is promising only the 

 poorest crop which it has ever borne for me. 

 Queen and Wellington are other varieties for 

 which this is an off season, while Lord Derby, 

 after a rest in 1911, now gives splendid promise. 

 As for Golden Spire, with me it has always been 



Although, taking it as a whole, the show for an inveterate alternate-year fruiter. Possibly, if 



Apples is a very good one, it is with me strik- 

 ingly partial. In the L^nited States it is com- 

 monly recognised that there is alternately an on 



we thinned great crops severely, this alternation 

 of abundance and scarcity would not occur. A 

 Southern Grower. 



