322 JOUENAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
A Word as to Insects and Blights. — The errors here are mostly those 
of omission, and the old adage, " Prevention is better than cure," is very 
apt in this connection. The best plan is to attack insects on their first 
appearance, and before they have got a hold or had time to increase and 
multiply. A timely attention to an aphis-infested twig will often check 
the evil at its first source, and prevent its spreading to other subjects. A 
curled leaf, or a twig where the leaves cluster together at the end, bespeaks 
the pest's presence, and the same spot should be inspected every alternate 
day, and the tree be carefully washed until the aphis has been entirely 
got rid of. American blight is another case in point ; it wants attention 
at once, or the insects fly on the wind and establish themselves all over 
the place. 
Another important point is always to have the rubbish heap outside 
the garden, and in a spot where it can be kept burning, with hedge- 
clippings, prunings, old stalks, &c., as nothing tends to harbour all kinds 
of insect life more than collected rubbish, which when burnt becomes a 
valuable manure. All stakes, pea sticks, &c., should be stored well away 
from fruit trees, and a supply of insecticides be laid in before the season 
arrives, so that the infested trees can be tackled at once. 
A matter often delayed until too late is that of properly labelling fruit 
trees before the nursery labels are obliterated ; it is needful also to see 
that the wire used for attaching the labels is placed on a stake, or on the 
wall, and not on the tree itself, as the branches grow so rapidly that the 
wire cuts in, and the mischief is not detected until a branch is literally 
strangled, the form of the tree spoiled, and not infrequently the com- 
mencement of canker set up. 
In fruit culture, either under glass or outside, absolute cleanliness and 
abundance of light and air are requisites that should never be lost sight 
oi. Trees that are " liousy," or full of spray branches, or houses that 
are dull, stuffy, or close, cannot produce good fruit. 
For the past five years we have been favoured with very grand 
summer weather for hardy fruits, and several old discarded varieties have 
thus been recommended in the press ; but I feel that a word of caution is 
much needed here, as, should a wet and cold cycle appear, such varieties 
will cause great disappointment, whereas if growers would but select those 
varieties that succeed in unfavourable years, they might be confident that 
such would be still more super-excellent in a really good year. This point 
has been very pronounced during the year 1900, several quite third-rate 
Pears having been grand, and many Apples that fail to ripen in the 
Midlands and Northern counties have come up to exhibition quality; but 
let growers beware how they put their eggs in such baskets. Still we all 
should be very grateful for these warm sunny years, as they not only help 
the crops on the trees, but they lay a good foundation for future success 
by giving us firm, hard, and fully ripened wood, which an ordinary frost 
will not injure. 
