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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
April  13,  1899. 
We  have  had  trees  from  Chilwcll  both  (n  the  Paradise  and  Crab 
stock  as  clean  and  as  good  as  we  could  desire  to  plant,  but  in  time  the 
■enemy,  lurking  in  established  trees,  took  its  flight  to  the  new  comers, 
both  in  orchard  and  garden,  those  the  most  exposed  being  the  least 
infested.  Ileasonable  shelter  is  good  for  Apple  and  other  hardy  fruit 
trees,  but  too  much  of  it  is  favourable  to  their  enemies. 
In  the  R.H.S.  gardens  at  Chiswick,  which  are  almost  surrounded 
by  buildings,  insects  would  have  a  happy  hunting  ground  but  for  the 
repressive  measures  frequently  employed.  There  are  many  varieties 
of  Apples  established  on  the  Paradise,  and  several  on  the  Crab, 
which,  if  left  alone,  would  soon  be  white  with  the  aphis  in  question, 
including  the  Duchess  of  Oldenburg,  though  it  may  not  be  so  tempting 
to  the  pests  as  some  others.  Trees  more  or  less  weakened  by  bearing, 
or  v/eak  growers  generally,  seem  to  be  attacked,  as  a  rule,  with  greater 
-determination  there,  or  anywhere,  than  are  the  more  vigorous 
growers. 
It  is  doubtful  if  there  is  an  Apple  tree  at  Chiswick,  no  matter  on 
what  stock  or  of  what  variety,  in  a  bearing  state  that  would  not  fall 
a  prey  to  the  destructive  pest  in  question  if  it  were  allowed  to  run  its 
•course  for  a  couple  of  years.  Or  rather  not  one,  except  one,  and  that 
is  the  Northern  Spy.  This  is  never  attacked.  It  is  a  standard  in  a 
bearing  state  (but  a  shy  bearer).  A  standard  of  a  different  variety 
almost  touching  it  is  attacked  so  persistently  that  it  had  to  he  dressed 
four  or  five  times  last  year,  the  Spy  not  once.  It  needs  no  insecticides, 
•and  receives  none.  It  may  be  added  that  the  American  blight  destroyer 
used  there  is  carbolic  softsoap  dissolved  at  the  rate  of  4  ozs.  to  a 
gallon  of  water. 
IMr.  Pearson  should  see  the  tree  for  himself.  It  affords  better 
evidence  of  its  insect-resisting  power  than  a  “  treacherous”  memory 
convinces  to  the  contrary.  He  admits,  however,  that  his  foreman 
excels  him  in  memory — a  great  compliment  to  the  foreman.  Let  it  be 
said  there  are  Apples  grown  under  the  name  of  Northern  Spy  that  are 
not  true.  We  have  seen  a  few  trees  correct,  and  these  were  glean,  but 
we  have  never  yet  seen  a  tree  bear  what  we  should  call  a  good  half 
crop  of  fruit,  and  we  should  never  plant  the  variety  for  profit. 
We  should  like  our  friend  to  raise  a  few  stocks  from  the  Chiswick 
tree,  and  establish  some  varieties  that  are  “  brutes  for  bug  ”  upon  them. 
If  he  should  find  the  results  equal  to  those  in  New  Zealand,  and  show 
the  way  in  starving  out  the  woolly  aphis,  he  would  be  a  public 
benefactor,  and  immortalise  the  fine  old  nursery  name  he  bears.  The 
whole  subject  of  his  letter  is  important,  and  we  have  given  it  some 
Attention.  What  will  be  the  outcome  of  the  venture  no  one  knows. 
We  can  only  tremblingly  await  results,] 
FAULTS,  FALLACIES,  FAILURES  IN  FRUIT 
CULTURE.. 
During  the  past  seven  years  I  have  delivered  upwards  of  a 
thousand  lectures  in  the  Midlands,  On  three  or  four  occasions  only 
certain  local  secretaries,  fond  of  doing  things  with  a  flourish,  have 
announced  me  on  the  bills  as  “Professor.”  The  mistake  was  so 
trivial,  and  of  such  rare  occurrence,  that  when  it  came  under  notice  it 
was  passed  over  with  a  smile,  as  it  might  well  have  been  by  my  critic. 
As  to  posing  under  that  or  any  designation  to  which  one  has  no  right, 
the  idea  is  too  preposterous  to  be  entertained  for  one  monent,  and  Mr. 
Pearson  has  certainly  strained  a  point  in  saying  that  I  am  so  announced 
in  Derbyshire. 
It  was  no  flight  of  fancy  on  my  part  about  trees  from  the  South 
not  answering  in  the  Midlands.  The  query  has  been  put  to  me  often 
enough,  yet  it  is  quite  possible  that  Mr.  Pearson  has  not  heard  of  the 
doubt — quite  as  possible  as  the  fact  of  his  not  having  heard  of  the  use 
of  100  tons  of  dung  per  acre  before  reading  my  article.  Apart  from 
the  fact  of  that  quantity  having  been  used  by  the  owner  of  one  of  the 
largest  nurseries  in  this  country,  the  important  point  which  I  was 
anxious  to  enforce  is  the  folly  of  planting  trees  in  poor  soil.  By  far  too 
little  attention  is  given  to  this  matter,  and  I  shall  indeed  be  well  repaid 
if  my  article  should  induce  the  avoidance  of  line  and  rule,  taking 
a  more  intelligent  grasp  of  what  goes  to  render  such  work  successful, 
and  the  treatment  of  each  case — soil  and  trees — upon  its  merits. 
The  statement  that  I  rarely  fail  in  my  lectures  to  point  out  that 
trees  from  the  South  are  the  only  ones  worth  having  is  decidedly 
erroneous.  My  advice  after,  or  before,  not  in  lectures,  to  those  who 
require  trees,  is  to  go  to  nurserymen  with  whom  fruit  is  a  speciality. 
I  am  bound  to  do  this,  from  the  abominable  rubbish  so  frequently 
foisted  upon  those  who  are  ignorant  of  what  is  a  healthy  planting 
tree  or  bush.  Mr.  Pearson  may  be  surprised  to  learn  that  I  have 
■s ’nt  customers  to  him  for  fruit  trees;  he  may  be  still  more  surprised 
hear  that  I  have  a  goodly  number  of  trees  from  the  Chilwell 
Nursfries  in  my  hands  at  the  present  time,  many  of  them  are 
pyramids,  and  capital  trees  they  are  too,  well  furnished  with  plenty  of 
stout  bottom  growth,  healthy,  symmetrical,  vigorous,  and  quite  certain 
to  become  _  valuable  fruiting  trees.  These  are  not  in  the  County 
Council  fruit  nlots;,  but  are  u-oder  my  control. — Edward  Ldckhurst, 
ARTIFICIAL  MANURES  IN  THE  GARDEN. 
[By  Mr.  A.  D.  Hall,  and  taken  from  the  .Tournal  of  the  Royal 
Horticultural  Society.] 
The  use  of  artificial  manures  in  gardens  is  rapidly  increasing, 
if  one  may  judge  from  the  number  of  advertisements,  and  the  new 
firms  that  are  taking  to  the  business  ;  and  the  ob'ect  of  the  present 
paper  is  to  discuss  the  principles  that  should  regulate  their  effective 
and  economical  employment.  It  may  of  course  be  argued  that  of  all 
places  artificial  manures  are  least  wanted  in  a  garden,  inasmuch  as 
practically  perfect  fruit  and  vegetables  are  grown  by  good  cultivation 
with  dung  alone.  The  only  question  is  whether  the  same  results 
cannot  be  obtained  more  economically  by  the  assistance  of  artificial 
manures,  which,  again,  can  be  used  to  meet  certain  special  difficulties 
of  soil  and  situation  in  a  manner  that  would  otherwise  be  impossible. 
It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  artificial  manures  are  powerful  tools  by 
which  the  development  of  the  plant  may  be  shaped  by  the  gardener 
along  certain  directions  ;  but,  like  all  powerful  tools,  they  require  to  be 
used  with  knowledge  and  discretion.  Or  they  wall  do  as  much  harm  as 
they  can  be  made  to  do  good. 
Valuation  of  Manures. 
To  learn  the  composition  of  the  simple  manures  the  gardener  should 
refer  to  some  book,  as,  for  example,  to  Mr.  Cousins’  little  book  on  the 
“  Chemistry  of  the  Garden,”  where  also  he  will  find  an  explanation  of 
the  proper  method  of  arriving  at  the  value  of  a  manure.  As  to  the 
latter  an  approximate  way  of  arriving  at  the  value  of  a  ton  of  a  given 
manure  is  to  allow  10s.  or  11s.  for  each  per  cent,  of  nitrogen.  Is.  3d.  or 
Is.  6d.  for  each  per  cent,  of  phosphate,  or  2s.  if  the  phosphate  is  soluble, 
and  4s.  for  each  per  cent,  of  potash.  As  an  example,  a  manure  con¬ 
taining  6’5  per  cent,  of  nitrogen,  22  per  cent,  of  phosphate,  and  4  per 
cent,  of  potash  is  worth  about  £6  a  ton,  made  up  as  follows  :  6‘5  at 
11s.  =  71s.  6d.,  22  at  Is.  6d.  =  33.®.,  4  at  48.  ^  16s.,  total  120.s.  6d.,  to 
which  must  be  added  a  certain  percentage  if  the  manure  is  bought  to 
small  lots.  "With  this  preliminary  knowledge  of  the  nature  and  luice 
of  artificial  manures,  it  remains  to  consider  the  specific  effect  of  the 
three  constituents — nitrogen,  pihosphoric  acid,  and  potash— »which 
singly,  or  in  combination,  are  the  essence  of  every  manure. 
Effects  of  Manures. 
Speaking  generally,  the  nitrogenous  manures  promote  growth  and 
the  vegetative  development  of  the  plant,  leaf,  and  shoot,  rather  than 
flowers  and  fruit.  For  example,  a  fruit  tree  overdressed  with  nitrogen 
will  run  to  wood,  the  leafage  will  be  extensive  and  very  green,  the 
shoots  will  be  long-jointed  and  soft,  the  buds  will  be  wood  and  not 
fruit  buds,  the  development  of  fruit  will  be  displaced  in  favour  of  con¬ 
tinued  growth. 
Of  course  for  some  vegetables  it  may  be  an  advantage  to  promote 
this  excessive  vegetative  development  by  the  use  of  nitrogen,  par¬ 
ticularly  in  early  spring,  when  the  plant  naturally  finds  a  difficulty  in 
obtaining  supplies  of  nitrogen  from  the  soil.  For  early  crops  of 
Cabbages,  Lettuces,  Peas,  See.,  top-dressings  of  nitrate  of  soda  are  a 
great  help  to  rapid  growth  and  its  natural  accompaniment  of  tender¬ 
ness.  Nitrogenous  manures  differ  much  in  their  rapidity  of  action ; 
two  of  U^em,  sulphate  of  ammonia,  and  especially  nitrate  of  soda,  are 
both  extremely  concentrated  and  immediately  active ;  they  should 
only  be  applied  when  the  plant  is  growing,  and  several  times  in  small 
quan'^ities  rather  than  in  one  application.  Of  course  they  are  only 
partial  manures,  supplying  but  one  element  of  jilant  food,  and  must 
not  be  used  unless  the  land  is  well  stocked  from  other  sources  with 
phosphates  and  potash,  or  else  their  continued  application  will  result 
in  the  impoverishment  of  the  soil.  But  in  their  place,  and  used  with 
discretion,  they  are  among  the  most  powerful  agents  the  gardener 
possesses. 
It  is,  however,  among  the  phosphates  that  the  gardener  will  find 
his  most  useful  manures.  Speaking  generally,  a  garden  receives 
lavish  supplies  of  dung,  on  the  whole  a  nitrogenous  manure,  and  is 
somewhat  over-rich  on  this  side,  if  we  may  judge  at  least  from  the 
prevalence  of  wood  and  unfruitful  growth  among  the  fruit  trees  of 
so  many  gardens.  It  is  in  such  places,  the  ordinary  garden  which 
has  long  been  receiving  dung,  that  phosphates  and  little  artificial 
manure  besides,  are  wanted  to  promote  a  better  development  of  flower 
and  fruit. 
Phosphates  are  intimately  connected  with  the  various  phenomena 
of  reproduction,  which  we  may  sum  up  as  the  maturity  ol  the  plant. 
ABove  all  they  are  required  to  balance  and  bring  to  a  term  the  growth 
itdaced  by  free  supplies  of  nitrogen. 
Of  these  bodies  nothing  is  better  for  general  garden  use  than  one 
of  the  bone  phosphates,  bonemeal  (or,  betier  still,  steamed  boneflour, 
as  being  a  finer  and  more  soluble  powder),  or  again  one  of  the  cheap 
phosphatic  guanos. 
Basic  slag  is  a  most  excellent  phosphatic  manure  for  stiff  soils.  It 
is  best  dug  in  at  the  rate  of  6  lbs.  or  8  lbs.  per  square  rod  when  the 
land  is  trenched.  Superphosphate  is  the  most  active  of  the  manures 
