1910.] The Time of Blossoming of Fruit Trees. 33 



April 3rd, and were subjected to considerable snow and frost ; 

 the crop was, however, good. 



Gooseberries were in flower from April 19th to May 6th, 

 being in full flower about April 27th. Picking "green" 

 began on May 25th, the fruit being rather larger than at the 

 same date last year, but the crop was not so heavy. 



Red currants were in flower from April 19th to May 21st, 

 being in full flower about April 29th; the crop was very 

 good; picking began on July 12th. 



Black currants were in flower from April 19th to May 21st, 

 being in full flower about May 7th ; the crop was about half 

 a full crop ; picking began on July 4th. 



Plums were in flower, commencing with the Japanese, from 

 April 19th, and the European from April 22nd to May 16th. 

 In 1908 the European varieties commenced to flower on April 

 2 1 st, and continued in flower to May 20th. 



In order to ascertain the comparative order of flowering 

 of the different varieties, I have taken an average from my 

 records at Wye for 1908 and 1909, from the ten years' record 

 (1888 to 1898) of Mr. John Watkins, of Hereford, from the 

 eleven years' record (1898-1909) of Mr. H. B. Pollard, of 

 Evesham, and from that of Mr. W. Hooper, of Sutton, 

 Surrey, for 1909; the following appears to be the approximate 

 order of flowering : — 



Early Bloomers. — (i) The Japanese plums, (2) Grand Duke, (3) 

 Damascene, (4) Black Diamond, (5) Prince of Wales, (6) Monarch, (7) 

 Rivers' Early Prolific, (8) Greengage, (9) Victoria, (10) Drooper, (11) 

 Pershore egg plum. 



Late Bloomers. — (12) Bradley's King of Damsons, (13) Sultan, (14) 

 Oullins golden gage, (15) Jefferson, (16) Farleigh Damson, (17) Cox's 

 Emperor, (18) Coe's Golden Drop, (19) Prune Damson, (20) White 

 Bullace, (21) Pond's Seedling, (22) Late Orleans, (23) Belle de Louvain. 



Of these some vary in their order of blossoming, notably 

 Victoria ; among those constantly early may be mentioned 

 the Japanese plums, Grand Duke, Damascene, and Black 

 Diamond, whilst among the latest to flower in all records are 

 Coe's Golden Drop and Pond's Seedling. 



Of the eight varieties for which a full record was kept in 



1909 at Wye, the average duration of flowering was 18 days. 



Most of the trees were in full flower on the seventh day after 



commencing to flower. In 1908 the average duration of 



flowering of ten varieties was 17 days. As the total flowering 



D 



