46 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



January 20, 1912. 



PROBLEMS IN FRUIT 



CULTURE. 



Hardly a year goes hy hnt what some 

 fresh problems crop up in fruit culture, or 

 some fresh difficulty arises which bring:^ 

 disappointment to those who grow fruit as 

 a hobby and loss to those who depend 

 up:>n it for a living. 



jjastyear when apple^, which in a general 

 way were a good crop, were advancing to- 

 wards the stage of ripening, and Nature 

 was painting colours on their cheeks, the 

 like of which they had never seen before, 

 growers were confident in their anticipa- 

 tions that tlie fruit was maturins; as it 

 should; and that after it was picked it would 

 keep in perfect condition. It m true the 

 fruit ripened earlier than usual, but we 

 put that clown to the extraordinary sum- 

 mer, and never feared but what everything 

 wouM be well. 



So .much for anticipations, but what 

 about the realisation? The general com- 



I need hardly describe tlu^ symptoms of 

 bitter-pit because most pt^op'e unfortu- 

 nately are too well acquainted with them, 

 and they take the form of brown spots in 

 the flesh which have no apparent connec- 

 tion with any surface injury.. 



We naturally look to the Scientific Com- 

 mittee of the Royal Horticultural Society 



for help in troubles of this kind, and the 

 vii^M s of that body were given in the Gat?- 

 DEXERs' Magazine for November 11 last in 

 the foMowing words : No fungi or bactei ia 

 have been found connected with bitter-pit, 

 and it appearti fo br a disease of physiologi- 

 cal origin rather than due to any parasite. 

 The dead brown cells contain starch, 

 whereas in the rest of the flesh the starch 

 has been converted into vSUgar. It would 

 therefore appear that the death of the cells 

 probably took place before the ripening 

 process had pro-ceeded so far as the conver- 

 sion of the starch into sugar, and may pos- 

 sibly be due to an accumulation of a poi- 

 sonous substance in the cells through inter- 

 ference with the water sutpply." The 



A useful, rounded, 

 A.M., E.H.S., Jan. 



PEAR MRS. SEDEN. 



finely-flavoured pear, late, 

 9. Mesvsrs. James Yeitch 



and of good quality 

 and Sons, Chelsea. 



plaint since last autumn has been that 

 app^.es were keeping badly^ and badly they 

 have kept without a doubt. Tons of fruit 

 that was apparently sound when picked 

 have had to be tluowji away, aufl because 

 they were af laid of what might happen 

 many growers rushed their apples into a 

 glutted market^ and sold them for wliat 

 they would feteh in preference to running 

 the risk of keeping them and having none 

 to sell later on. 



What is the actual cause of all this dis- 

 appointment ? This is just where the prob- 

 lem part comes in, but whether it can be 

 so easily solved is another matter. AVe 

 may venture, I think, to give that peculiar 

 disease known as ''bitter-pit'' the credit 

 for a largf^ proportion of the apples failino; 

 to keep, but what was the cause of the 



bitti'i-pit " ? One correspomhuit, writ- 

 ing of tlu> apple crop in his ])articnhir dis- 

 trict and si>eakinp; of the spots with whU-h 

 the fruits were marked, sai<l that they 

 wr'ie bniisos cauM^l by hailstones, but ]w 

 <lid not explain how the hailstones had 

 managed to hit the undersides of the fruits. 



ulvif-e 



italifs are mine, and they go to show that 

 tht^re is a strong element of doubt about it 

 all. And even if the solution is the correct 

 one it does not help the gro\\er much who 

 has lost his apples, and all that he can 

 do is to leave out the scieiitifi<- explanation 

 and say that the dry season is the cause of 

 the trouble. The position appears to he 

 one in which scientists mav surmise and 

 suggest, but they cannot prove and tho 

 grower must apparently follow tin 

 of a noted statesman, and wait and see. 

 Shall we have a repetition of the ^' bitter- 

 pit " trouble in the coming season P We 

 do not know, but we should not if the 

 Scientific Committee is right in its con- 

 clusions, and we are favoured with a noj-- 

 ma! snnnner in point of rainfall. In short 

 wo mnst wait and see. ' 



In t!ie meantime another problem h-ts 

 been ad led to fruit cnlture, the fear of 

 aufhther h)Ns has been ip]ace<l on the alreadv 



bnrdcnrd shoidders of tlie fruit grower, 

 and h\> only hopr is that the trouble may 

 be dui\ ;)s sun;n;(.,^ted. to pliysiologica 1 r(^•i- 



sons, and he may get no more of it. lie 



that as it may, the fact remains that 

 bitter-pit has upset the calculations of 

 growers, and brouglit about loss and dis- 

 appointment in a season when everybodv 

 thought the natural conditions were 

 fa\'ourable for apples keeping in a perfectly 

 sound state. 



Speaking of another fruit prohlem, tako 

 tlie homely gooseberry. A few years ago 

 tJie American mildew was ''discovered'' 

 on it, and a great sensation was the result. 

 It is a matter of history now how the affair 

 ^\as brought before Parliament, the mil- 

 dew was scheduled as a notifiable disease, 

 inspectors were appointed, and plantations 

 and gardens were searched, with tlie result 

 that there turned out to be a good deal 

 more American mildew in the country than 

 was at first imagined. It is needless to 

 say that with it all growers have been put 

 to a good deal of trouble and expense, and 

 now how do they stand? This is the prob- 

 lem, and like Rosa Warble, I only ask the 

 questions, How far have we gone in the 

 eradication of gooseberry mildew? Is 

 there more or less of it now than there was. 



Is it such a 



four or five years ago? 

 dreaded disease as growers were first led 

 to believe? Has any grower failed to ol> 

 tain a crop of berries from established 

 bushes, as the direct result of mildew? 

 The American mildew certainly presented 

 a problem, but the time has arrived when 

 some kind of solution ought to be forth- 

 coming, and there should be something to 

 show for aH the money that has been 

 spent. H. 



ACANTHUS MONTANUS- 



Three years ago a First Class Certificate 

 was given to Acanthus montanus, a tender 

 member of the Bear's Breech family, nearly 

 all of which are quite hardy. This conies 

 from the West Coast of Africa, and requires 

 a wa,rm house for its successful culture. 

 Apart from this feature in which it differs 

 from its hardy relatives, it forms an erect 

 stem of a half-woody character. This stem 

 is regularly furnished with long deeply-cut 

 leaves, disposed in an almost horizontal 

 ma.nner. These leaves have the course of 

 the midrib and principal veins marked with 

 a pale tint, almost white, while tlie remain- 

 ing portion is of a deeper hue, the effect 

 being to give a singularly mottled appear- 

 ance to the surface of the leaf. 



This acanthus flowers, as a rule, in the 

 depth of winter, and, like the common 

 kinds, the blossoms are produced in an 

 erect spike. Each flower is sub-tended hr 

 a large rosy bract, and a succession is kept 

 up from one spike for a considerable tinif- 

 The flowers themselves are white, their \ 

 prin<-ipal feature being the large widely- 

 expanded lip. This species has been growD 

 for over forty years in this country, yet on 

 the occasion of the certificate being graiiteil 

 it was practically unknown. Of easv pr<^' 

 pagation by means of cutti 

 thrive in ordinary potting compoNt, provid- 

 ing it be grown in the stove, or at aH 

 events in the temperature of an inter- 

 mediate house. \V T. 



emum Mrs. Roots-- 



i his variety m ansiirpatssed as a good all- 

 round one; it is equally as good grown 

 pots as in the open border. The habit 

 dwarf and compact. Cuttings rooted i» 

 March flower in October and earlv in Isovem- 

 her. Tops, taken off and struck in Ju"*?- 

 fhnver two weeks later, and only grow about 

 inin. high. Suck-r cuttings result in plant- 

 hearnig flowers two u<.,-ks hitrr ^till, so tlia^ 

 bloonirt of the purest wliitt' are available ^'^\ 

 a long period. TIhmv is nothing blunted 

 about the plants, and tiicv arc t^o mmv u-^^ 

 ful for placing on front\^t ;iov,> in green- 

 houses and conservatories.— ( J Ko. GarnEK- 



