1872. ] 
OUR HARDY FRUIT CROPS. 
231 
Remove all crops of whatever kind that have done bearing, and clear, manure,, 
and dig, trench, or throw up the ground into ridges to receive the benefits derived 
from exposure to sun, air, and frost. The frequent heavy rains have made it very 
difficult to keep down weeds ; keep the hoe constantly going in dry weather, and 
dig and dress all borders. Sweep and roll walks, and endeavour to keep up a 
neat appearance.—M. Saul, Stourton. 
OUR HARDY FRUIT CROPS. 
S HE year 1872 will not easily be forgotten by gardeners, from its having 
dealt a severe blow at our Fruit crops. One cause of failure was the mild- 
f ness of the winter and the early part of the succeeding spring, which 
brought on vegetation prematurely, subjecting it at a later period to the 
destroying influence of cold, drenching rain, and occasionally severe frost. We 
had not to complain of a deficiency of blossom, but the blossom was, to a con¬ 
siderable extent, feeble, without much substance, and with the fructifying organs 
often absent. Such results may be anticipated in 1873, owing to the immatured 
state of the wood. Still a little margin is left which will do something for us 
by way of redemption, should we have a considerable amount of atmospheric 
aridity, and even a moderate degree of solar heat, during the latter part of 
September and the two first weeks in October. But however favourable, we 
must not expect autumn to make up for the drawbacks of the summer, for, as 
a rule, the intensifying of the young wood ought to accompany the different 
progressive deposits of the tissue. 
Our Peach trees were unprotected, and as a consequence the crop failed, and 
what was more serious, many of our trees were severely injured. One disaster is 
generally succeeded by another, for no sooner had they escaped the biting cold, 
than they were attacked by a legion of black aphis, which would have soon 
destroyed every leaf had they not been hunted up almost daily, and the trees 
syringed with Gishurst compound—a cheap and most effectual remedy. When¬ 
ever we find an assemblage of ants we may be certain that these black pests are 
lurking somewhere. I do not suppose that ants do any great damage to the 
trees, but they industriously carry their black friends from place to place, and so 
assist in their distribution. Apricots, like our peaches, were a complete failure, 
although protected by a glass coping 22 in. wide, and covered by three plies of 
small-mesh netting suspended at two feet from the wall. 
Apples, too, are nearly, if not a complete failure. We have not only to 
lament the loss of our crop, but in many cases the trees have suffered severely, the 
foliage having the appearance of being scorched. In a three-acre orchard our 
crop will not exceed four or five bushels, confined to the following varieties: 
—Keswick Codlin , a full crop; ManJcs Codlin and Alfriston , half a crop, 
small and much spotted, scarcely of any use; Cellini , a heavy crop, full-sized, 
clean-skinned, excellent; Reinette du Canada and King of the Pippins , a moderate 
crop. Dessert varieties are a complete failure. 
