424 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
bored by the caterpillars of a small moth, frequent upon the Apple 
and Pear, called the Apple Clearwing, Sesia myopseforme. This was 
presumably the first instance recorded of its occurrence upon the 
Apricot, but there would be nothing remarkable in the insect’s attack¬ 
ing that species and its allies. I do not for a moment suppose that 
the common dying-off of branches recently described is thus to be 
explained, yet it is likely the insect attacks the Apricot more than 
has been hitherto observed. There is no external sign of the damage 
going on within until the moths come forth, leaving small holes in 
the bark. I believe there is no means of preventing their visits ex¬ 
cept by catching them, and they are not easy to secure. The eggs 
are deposited (very small) during June and July.— Entomologist. 
FRUIT PROSPECTS. 
Perhaps it would be scarcely correct in commencing my notes 
to say we have no “fruit prospects nevertheless, what little 
prospect we have in this direction is very gloomy indeed. True, 
the Apple blossom, with the exception of Irish Peach, which 
blooms nearly as early as the bona fide Peaches, is still folded up, 
and we may hope some of it is secure ; but the trees are dying 
with canker, not by inches, but by yards. 
Pears in the open are only just opening their flowers, although 
many of them were showing colour in February ; they, too, are 
cankered badly, and the prospect of fruit from them cannot be a 
brilliant one. Nothing in the vegetable world can stand still 
through three spring months and then have a good prospect before 
it. Pears on one south wall are a good crop and swelling well ; 
on another south wall, not so much protected, they are only 
middling ; on an east wall Jargonelle and Glou Morgeau are in 
full flower and promise well. None of the Pear trees on walls 
ever canker. 
Apricots are nil, and the trees half dead. Of Peaches there is 
less than a quarter of a crop, and this from the late flowers ; the 
early ones which expanded in February and early March did not 
survive. 
Plums on east and west walls are out of flower and stationary ; 
whether they will ever make another start time alone will prove. 
Cherries on a south wall are half a crop and good. Morellos on 
a north wall are in full flower, also good on west wall, just set, 
very promising. 
Gooseberries are swelling nicely, but we have not so heavy a 
crop as usual. Currants of all sorts are in flower. Some of the 
flowers are killed, but I am in hopes of seeing a crop. Straw¬ 
berries are just beginning to flower, and look promising. Rasp¬ 
berries are not so forward. 
We had four and a half hours of a heavy snowstorm on the 
10th, lasting from 5.15 to 9.45 A.M., not microscopic flakes, but 
good-sized ones, many of which would cover a pennypiece. Cur¬ 
rant bushes were laid flat, but the snow has not done so much 
harm as the continued cold which has prevailed for the past two 
months.—W. Taylok, Longleat , Wilts. 
Though the cutting winds and frosts which prevailed through¬ 
out the month of March and the early part of April had the 
effect of reducing the prospect of a crop of stone fruit, excepting 
Cherries and Golden Drop Plum, to a minimum ; they have, how¬ 
ever, in retarding the opening of the blossom thereby rendered 
the prospect of a good Apple and Pear crop a promising one, 
the trees of the former in our large orchard and kitchen garden 
being at the present time, with few exceptions, resplendent in the 
profusion of their lovely pink and white blossoms. The follow¬ 
ing, among other varieties of Pears, promise to yield good crops 
in various aspects and under different modes of training—viz., 
Marie Louise, Glou Morgeau, P>curie Ranee, Easter Beurre, 
Beurrd de Capiaumont, Beurre d’Amanlis, Josephine de Malines, 
Passe Colmar, Thompson’s, Winter Nelis, Duchesse d’AngouKme, 
and Ne plus Meuris. While Apricots and Peaches are very thin 
on the trees, the following varieties of the latter are fairly well 
cropped—namely, Bellegarde, Yiolette Plative, and Early Louise, 
the latter a very free-bearing variety. The Fig crop promises to 
be a good one, and the same may be said of Raspberries, Cur¬ 
rants, and Strawberries ; but Gooseberries, though some trees are 
heavily cropped, cannot be pronounced plentiful.—H. W. Ward, 
Longford Castle, 
It is rather early to write with any degree of accuracy on the 
prospects of the fruit crops in this locality. The trees generally 
are crowded with bloom, in fact considerably more so than they 
have been for some seasons past. Early Pears and Damsons have 
set an abundant crop, but I fear many of them will fall through 
the effects of the frosts, hailstorms, and piercingly cold east 
winds experienced of late; in fact the latter have commenced 
falling. Midseason and late varieties of Pears, as well as Cherries, 
are now in full bloom, some of the earliest expanded flowers 
being quite black ; but fortunately sufficient remain unexpanded 
to insure a crop, as the trees are now fairly well covered with 
foliage. Apples generally have scarcely yet opened their blossoms, 
with the exception of a few early-flowering varieties, and the 
prospect of an abundant supply of this fruit is good. All small 
fruits at the present time promise well, with the exception of 
Gooseberries, which are rather a thin crop. Many have fallen, 
and there remain many upon the trees that are yellow and will 
eventually drop. A full crop of outdoor fruit in this locality 
is a great uncertainty, as we suffer very much from slight frosts 
very late in the season, and our hopes on many occasions have 
been blighted. At present the weather is mild, but hitherto we 
have had a great absence of sunshine.— Wm. Bardney, Norris 
Green, West Derby. 
That a backward spring is favourable to the fruit crop will be, 
1 think, fully exemplified this year, for the blossom is fully three 
weeks later than it was last year, and therefore is in much less 
risk of harm from ungenial weather. But we do not consider it 
safe yet; for was not the blossom of last spring almost totally 
destroyed by a south-western gale, and not by extreme cold ? 
The prospect of a crop of full and great abundance is, however, 
extremely good. Apples almost without exception are full of 
blossom buds, but very little of it is expanded. Pears and 
Cherries on walls and in the open are all wonderfully full of 
bloom, and some of the earlier kinds are setting fruit. Some 
Plums promise well, but others have suffered so much from the 
ravages of birds that very .few blossom buds remain. Peaches 
and Nectarines on open walls have almost all set enough fruit. 
Of Figs on walls having plenty of young fruit, White Marseilles, 
Grizzly Bourjassotte, White Ischia, Brunswick, and Brown 
Turkey are worthy of especial mention. Nuts and Filberts will 
probably prove a total failure, for the male flowers were almost 
all destroyed by the wet winter. Strawberries are making 
growth strongly and well ; bush fruits, too, give promise of great 
abundance.— Edward Luckhurst, Oldlands, Sussex. 
The magnificent weather which, after some good preparatory 
rains set in just before Whitsuntide, must, if continued, go far to 
make amends for bygone cold and adverse influences. While 
on the one hand all vegetation has been, even taking the back¬ 
wardness of several past seasons into consideration, unusually 
late, on the other hand one is disposed to think that there has 
been less check from frost or east winds as yet, and that therefore, 
in this district at least, the vast bulk of fruit trees blooming are 
still safe, and their promise at this moment is undoubtedly superb. 
I am speaking mostly of Pears, Apples, and Cherries. Apricots, 
Peaches, and Plums, however young and apparently vigorous the 
trees have been, seem unable to regain the vitality which for 
several seasons has been so severely tried by intense cold as well 
as by sudden changes of temperature.—A. M. N., Mid-Lincoln. 
It is, of course, early to predict the crop for the coming season, 
but as far as appearances go Apples are blooming far better than 
for many years, and the flowering time has been favourable 
hitherto. The orchards are perfectly lovely; some trees are so 
full of bloom as to appear like garlands or rods of blossom, the 
large-flowering varieties making a grand show. It is to be hoped 
that this important crop may be a good one. 
Pears are very uneven and much of the blossom is weakly, but 
a larger crop than last season may be expected. 
Plums and Damsons have never perhaps borne less blossom, 
and it is only here and there that a tree full can be seen. This 
is owing to the gale of April 29th, 1882, which, being followed by 
a severe aphis blight, has so weakened the trees that it was as much 
as Nature could do to lay up a store of foliage. In many places 
it is probable that the trees must perish, and the want of a 
yield of these important jam fruits will be a loss to the Kent 
growers, who send very large quantities of Damsons to London. 
They may, however, find some compensation in the fact that 
their soft fruit (Currants and Gooseberries) will in all probability 
return a better price. 
Cherries have blossomed grandly, but the severe frosts and 
cold easterly - winds may have been injurious to their tender 
organs. A few weeks will now determine the possible crop. 
The genial, if cold, rains have done wonders for the Raspberries 
and Strawberries, and they both promise well, though the latter 
felt the only severe frost of the winter very much, and some 
recently planted beds were thinned. 
Gooseberries are fast swelling and promise well; but the birds 
