CONFERENCE ON FRUIT-GROWING. 



77 



In regard to grading, Mr. Udale said the fruit-grower had to 

 adjust himself to circumstances, but we shall not get a British fruit 

 industry until we get some system of grading, both in regard to size 

 and also in regard to quality. What we really want is quality, and 

 the Board of Agriculture are anxious that when any new planting 

 takes place you should get the right variety. You must get rid 

 of varieties which are more or less worthless and replace them by 

 varieties of known value. Orchards should be designed with a view 

 to obtaining quality ; and we must get quality, otherwise our industry 

 will go by the board. 



A Member : I think that improper planting has a great deal to 

 do with the large amount of disease which exists at the present day. 

 Care should be taken that the trees are planted on the proper soil for 

 the fruit to grow in, but I have often found trees planted in improper 

 soil. I have planted perhaps a hundred trees, principally ' Cox's,' 

 with the result that I get a great deal of fruit ; but I am careful about 

 the soil, and plant them four yards apart. All my trees look healthy, 

 and do not want spraying. I think that proper planting will eliminate 

 a good deal of the pests. 



Mr. Smith : I think bad planting has a great deal to do with it. 

 You will find trees which will canker very freely in some positions, 

 but if they are turned out and replanted in a more sheltered place 

 they will keep perfectly clear. ' Cox's Orange Pippin ' will do well 

 in one place, but in another it will do badly. I have even known them 

 to go for ten or twelve years, and then do badly. 



The Member : I have had them growing ten or fifteen years, and 

 have never had any trouble with them. 



Mr. Smith : You have evidently been very careful with them. 

 I think there is more money lost in growing ' Cox's ' than anything 

 else. 



A Member : Can you tell us the best varieties to plant together 

 so as to ensure proper pollination ? 



Mr. Chittenden : As far as I can tell from experiments carried 

 out at Wisley, the only really important thing to do is to plant near 

 one another those varieties which flower together. It does not make 

 much difference what varieties they are, so long as they flower together. 



Mr. Chart : I should like to endorse what has been said as to 

 the importance of fruit-growing in this country. There is a point, 

 however, I should like to bring forward, and which I hope the Chamber 

 will take up. That is the question of compulsory spraying. I have 

 been appointed to the Wilts County Education Committee, and in 

 the course of my duties have come across a lot of old orchards which 

 are often the cause of difficulties. Many of these old orchards are 

 infested with insect and fungus pests, with the result that they dis- 

 tribute the disease to other orchards. I have been able to do good 

 by using a little gentle persuasion ; but in my opinion the time has 

 now come when the Chamber of Horticulture and the R.H.S. should 

 do something to bring about enforced spraying, otherwise I do not 



