566 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER . 
[ Doc rn'ier 31, 1311. 
darts upon its victims from hiding places, lurking under the leaves 
of plants or loose fragments of the soil. One who has often 
watched these sand-wasps in a garden says that he, or, rather, she, 
pursues the chase with a fury, quickness, and eagerness, hunting 
about here and there, beatmg the ground carefully over as a 
pointer beats a field. The spider, when caught, seems unable to 
act on the defensive. It is, as soon as seized, pierced by the 
wasp’s sting in the centre of the thorax, and rapidly borne off to 
a cavity prepared for its reception. Having thrust the body into 
the hole, the insect lays upon it one or more eggs, afterwards filling 
-the hole up with earth, and levelling the surface so that it may 
not present any unusual appearance. All the time it is at work 
■the sand-wasp makes a shrill piping noise. 
Another of these wasps, which is minus an English name, is 
called Mellinus arvensis. It is about half an inch in length, black, 
banded with yellow, and is common in gardens, haunting particu¬ 
larly any spot where manure has been recently deposited in search 
of the flies likely to hover about. This insect makes a chamber in 
the earth, which it stores with flies for the food of its young. 
Being a somewhat clumsy flyer itself this wasp has to try stratagem, 
and when it sees one of its objects at rest it goes towards the spot 
and passes to and fro in an indifferent manner, gradually coming 
nearer till it pounces suddenly on the fly and carries it off. 
Some of the solitary wasps form burrows in wood that is 
beginning to decay. They are partial to the sprays of the Bramble, 
and in gardens they visit the stems of the Rose. An abundant 
species is Trypoxylon alternatum. Its nests are small and very 
curious. We have reason to suspect the existence of one when we 
see a little round hole in a Rose branch. If it be the fact that this 
species stores up aphides for its progeny we must pardon it for 
attacking the Rose, especially as it does not meddle with wood quite 
sound. Amongst the family of the Philanthi are several that are 
familiar to the eye as being lovers of flowers, being often noticed 
basking upon Umbelliferous plants. Some of these wasps bore into 
wood, some into banks, and capture a variety of insects, such as 
caterpillars and flies. One species has been found to destroy 
quantities of bluebottles. Another species hunts up weevils, and 
•actually hides in its burrows ; amongst others, that well known 
enemy the grooved weevil, Otiorhynchus sulcatus. Some surprise 
has been expressed that the young wasp should be able to feed upon 
such a hard-cased insect, but it appears that the weevils are buried 
some time before they have to furnish food, and by this means they 
become softened, so that the jaws of the grub can penetrate them. 
The common social wasp is often to be seen flying about flower 
beds ; it is then seeking to make prey of various insects that are 
■attracted to the flowers.— Entomologist. 
PROFITABLE FRUIT GROWING. 
[A paper by Mr. S. T. Wright, Glewston Court Gardens, Ross.] 
So much has been written and spoken of late years on the subject o 
fruit growing, that any addition thereto would seem to be useless. Somi 
of our teachers, however, are men who are so evidently without experi 
cnce that intending fruit growers are liable at the outset to be led int< 
serious errors, which are almost certain to result in failure. I hopi 
therefore you will pardon me if I have founded this paper on my owi 
practical experience in a modern fruit field, containing some 600( 
dwarf trees (Apples, Pears, and Plums), which was planted shortly befon 
the present fruit growing craze came to the front. The locality is abou 
two and a half miles from Boss, in Herefordshire, above the fog line o 
the Eiver Wye. The position is admirable, being about 180 feet abovi 
sea level. The soil is a warm-looking loam, on the old red sandstone 
and in some places rather shallow ; the rainfall moderate. 
- , T ?l e . fi 1 rsfc P lantin S was ma . de in the autumn of 1883. The plantatioi 
is, 1 think, unique, there being no standard trees in it A few tree 
were planted experimentally at a distance of 6 feet, the main body a 
8 feet apart. Guided by our experience, when planting more trees tw> 
years ago, every other of the 6 feet trees was removed, and the nev 
ones planted at 9 feet. I do not wish to speak too decidedly, but nr 
impression is that this is not far out. For the first year or two w 
planted Potatoes between the rows of trees, but after that the networl 
of roots ran across the intermediate spaces, and I think it is a mistak 
to allow anything to interfere with them. I confess to seeing n 
advantage in planting standard trees. Dwarf or bush trees require n 
staking when planted, and they come into bearing at once. I may her 
say that we have picked 23 lbs. of Apples from trees planted two year 
ago, which could not happen with standards for some years later. A1 
^. 0 f. (P rumn g and gathering fruit) is done from the ground, which is ; 
dis met economy The fruit is not so much exposed to high winds, am 
there.is less risk of its being bruised in falling. Planting standards i 
planting for posterity, which is in direct opposition to the spirit of th 
age, which demands quick returns. 
To listen to all that is said or written it might be supposed that it i 
only necessary to plant a fruit tree in order to gather a crop of Bank o 
England notes. Let me try to dispel the illusion. Probably no callin; 
or profession has so many difficulties to contend with as that of the fruit 
grower. Success depends not alone on the competency of the grower, 
but on a favourable combination of circumstances, any one of which 
being wanting may imperil the success of the whole. For a full measure 
of success we require suitable varieties of fruit for the district, a 
favourable climate and position not too much exposed, good soil, where 
necessary well drained, intelligent management, and careful and 
honest packing. Over these matters we may have some control, but 
there are other elements not under our command. A season too wet or 
too dry, late frosts, an insufficiency of sun to mature the w ood and buds 
for the next season, gales of wind, insect and bird pests, reasonable rail¬ 
way rates, fair prices, and an honest salesman. 
When naming pests, I w-ould wish to express my regret that I am 
deterred ifrom speaking as decidedly as I could wish to do on some 
points. In 1887 our plantation was attacked by the caterpillar of the 
winter moth, and owing to our ignorance of its habits, &c., a year was 
lost before we could take effectual steps to combat it. We applied 
grease bands in the autumn of that year, and although I am a great 
believer in their efficacy, they can only be satisfactorily applied to 
standard trees, ow T ing to the short stems of dwarf trees. I may also say 
that very great care is necessary that the grease should not come into 
contact with the bark—especially of young trees—otherwise the result 
will be disastrous. The caterpillar attack was so severe, that in the 
month of June, 1888, there was hardly any sign of vegetation left on 
the trees. The next season, 1889, the attack being again severe we set 
to work with Paris green, and as the hatching of the caterpillar goes on 
for three months we were compelled to syringe all the trees ten times. 
Some injury was done, but on the whole there was not much to com¬ 
plain cf, and the treatment proved so successful that we were only 
obliged to syringe twice in 1890, and once this season, and the trees are 
all in splendid condition. But the result was that we lost three crops. 
Many gardeners who have suffered little or nothing from caterpillar 
attack are somewhat incredulous as to the value ol Paris green, and 
hesitate to use so deadly a poison. I have, however, no reason to doubt 
its efficacy, as I have found quantities of dead caterpillars on the leaves, 
and as to the risk it practically amounts to nothing if carefully handled. 
There is another enormous benefit resulting from the use of Paris green, 
and that is the utter destruction of the codlin moth, the grub of 
which causes such wholesale falling of our Apples. We have not seen 
anything of it this season. We have now an apparatus, specially made 
for us by Messrs. Boulton & Paul of Norwich, and fitted with that 
capital little invention, Stott’s sprayer, which enables us to go over 
2000 to 3000 trees a day with a minimum consumption of water. In 
saying anything about our bird pests, I feel that I tread on dangerous 
ground. It would be foolish to deny that all of them do some good, but 
there are some birds whose evil doings exceed the good, and which 
should be destroyed as far as possible. These are the sparrows, 
blackbird and tits ; all others, except perhaps the robin, should be 
encouraged. 
To revert to my more immediate subject. It will readily be under¬ 
stood that there is no more a royal road to fruit growing than to learn¬ 
ing ; the path is beset by many a thorn. I need hardly insist upon the 
absolute necessity of careful selection of the site for a fruit plantation. 
Nor ought there to be more need to urge the nature of soil. As well 
put an Orchid in clay as expect good results from inferior and unsuit¬ 
able soil and climate. Not that I would insist that fruit cannot be 
grown on any but first-class soils. I merely wish to urge upon you that 
really first-class results can only be attained through first-class sur¬ 
roundings. Drainage is essential with a retentive subsoil. The next 
point is the choice of trees to plant. By preference I should plant 
Apples ; the crop is not so risky as either Pears or Plums, and there is 
less liability to damage on the way to market. Plums must be sold on 
arrival ; but Apples, in case of a glut, can be held a day or two. We 
come now to the general management, and it must be clearly under¬ 
stood that I am laying down no hard and fast laws for other growers, 
but simply giving my system in my own soil and climate. The trees 
having been planted, and having come into bearing, I advocate summer 
pruning, as I think the removal of all useless young growths tends to 
throw vigour into the wood and buds of the next season, and thus pro¬ 
motes the ripening of the same. I think more pains should be given to 
intelligent pruning ; but no doubt gardeners will (as they always do 
sooner or later) rise to the necessities of the case. 
In my somewhat light soil and porous subsoil, I find it of advantage 
to turn over the surface to a depth of 2 or 3 inches each spring; the 
moisture is better retained, and the warmth of the atmosphere acts 
more rapidly on the roots. I do not find root-pruning at all needful, 
the crop of fruit should render it unnecessary. Still, doubtless it may 
be of value in some cases. Under this head manuring fairly comes. 
Dung of a fair quality is admitted to be a perfect manure, but when it 
comes to buying, carting some miles, and barrowing and spreading 
between the trees, it must be acknowledged that it is very costly. Not 
only so, but dung differs largely in the nature of its constituents, 
according to the feeding of the dung-producing animals, and therefore 
the grower is working in the dark. Many people are prejudiced against 
the use of artificial manures. And I would here warn my brother 
gardeners against indulging in any prejudices—they are a bar to progress 
—I am not allowed to indulge in any. There is this to be said, many 
experiments must be made and much time lost before anything 
approaching certainty can be arrived at. But so far as my experience 
goes, as good fruit can be grown with artificial manures as with dung, 
only at present we must act yvith caution. I look to the day when 
