1908.] Time of Blossoming of Fruit Trees. 679 



varieties of fruits in the plantations of the Wye Agricultural 

 College, Kent. The spring of 1908, however, happened to be a 

 season in which practically no harm was done to fruit by frost 

 in this district, except to apricot. This was in full flower on 

 24th April, and the three nights' frost which followed caused all 

 the blossoms to fall. The Japanese plums (Prunus tri flora) 

 which were in flower during these nights of frost, were also 

 severely thinned. 



The record gives little information as to the effect of weather, 

 but is a guide as to which are the early and late blooming varieties, 

 points which are of importance for cross fertilisation purposes and 

 for spraying. It is more convenient to spray trees that are in the 

 same state of forwardness than to spray trees that flower at 

 different times, some of which would be in bud when others 

 were in full bloom. This point is worthy of consideration, and 

 may influence orchard planting in the future. 



Gooseberries. — In gooseberries the flowers and leaves open 

 about the same time. Gooseberries began to flower on 

 15th April ; by the 19th about a quarter of the flowers were 

 open ; on the following night there was a frost of io°, with 

 slight snow, and again when nearly in full bloom on the nights 

 of the 24th, 25th, and 26th they were subjected to frosts of 

 8, 5, and 2 degrees respectively ; on the first night there was 

 snow, which apparently protected the blossoms, as they did 

 not shrivel and fall as might have been expected. Birds 

 (probably house sparrows and chaffinches) "snubbed" many 

 blossoms near the farm buildings between the 15th and 25th 

 April. The bushes were in full bloom from the 28th to 1st May 

 and continued in flower till 13th May, the flowers at the tips of 

 the boughs being the last to open ; by the 21st the flowers and 

 berries that had been pecked by birds had fallen. The duration 

 of flowering from the opening of the first flowers to the closing 

 of the last was thirty-six days. Picking the green berries 

 commenced on 26th May, about a month after full flower. 

 The crop was good, the picking was done by going over the bushes 

 three times with intervals between. The weight of fruit on 

 one good bush was 21 lb. The first ripe gooseberries were 

 picked on 10th July, the fruit from a good bush of Yellow 

 Roughs weighing 14 lb. 



The different varieties of gooseberry in the plantations appear 



