I034 



THE BOOK OF GARDENING. 



unexpanded blossoms. The larvae when hatched enter the young 

 fruit, hindering its growth, causing it to be deformed, to crack, 

 and eventually to fall. The pupal state is assumed in the soil, 

 and the insect passes the winter in that condition. Spraying 

 with arsenite is not of much good, as to do so 

 when the fruit-trees are in blossom would be to sacrifice the 

 whole crop ; while, once the insects are in the young fruits, they 

 are perfectly safe from insecticides. Preventive measures consist 

 in the collection of the fallen fruits which show signs of infestation, 

 and burning them before the larvae can enter the ground to 

 pupate. In America, kainit, as a dressing under the trees in 

 late summer, has been found of service, using it at the rate of 

 half a ton per acre. The gnat is only 2mm. long, and the larva 

 also about 2mm., yellowish, and footless. These larvae are very 

 lively, and move by a series of jerks and bends much after the 

 fashion of the aquatic larvae of certain relatives. Infested fruits 

 which are hanging might readily be shaken on to sheets laid 

 under the trees. 



Gymnosporangiuui sabince is a heteroecious fungus responsible 

 for a peculiar disease, characterised by blotches of a yellowish- 

 red colour in autumn. This is but one stage in the life-cycle. 

 The dark-reddish teleutospores are developed on certain species 

 of Jiniiper (of which the common kind is one) in spring. In 

 combating this disease the difficulty lies in discovering the 

 whereabouts of this host-plant. It may be in the garden of a 

 neighbour, who might object to having his trees destroyed for 

 what he may regard as a fad. The Pear-tree stage is sometimes 

 known as Pear-leaf Rust {Roestellia cancellata). 



Plums and Damsons. 



In the Open. — Wherever the common Bullace will fruity 

 Plums and Damsons will also succeed ; in fact, when the 

 drainage is good, almost any soil will grow them well, although 

 some varieties of Plums will not prove satisfactory in cold or 

 exposed situations ; all the Gage class require a fairly warm soil 

 and position. Others are reliable even in cold localities, and of 

 these hardy varieties Dove Bank is a very good one. The Czar, 

 White Magnum Bonum, A^ictoria, Orleans, and Sultan have all 

 proved hardy and fruitful under what may be termed unfavourable 

 conditions. Again, in Apple-growing counties, when old orchards 

 are exhausted, it is a well-known fact that Apple-trees do not 

 follow Apple-trees well ; but Plum-trees thrive splendidly after 

 Apples, and also after Pears. Some growers even plant their 

 Plum-trees between the Apples and Pears a few years before 

 they abolish the latter, and in this way the Plums are in a 

 bearing state by the time the other trees are cut down. It is 

 unnecessary to state the distance that the trees should be apart, as 

 the advice given as to how Apples should be planted is applicable 



