348 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
April  16,  1903. 
freely  originated  so  as  to  avoid  crowding.  Some  spurs  will  be 
naturally  produced.  A  good  selection  of  shoots  which  are  likely 
to  be  utilised  should  be  retained.  Bare  spaces  between  the  main 
branches  may  be  usefully  filled  with  suitable  shoots  of  the  current 
season.  Such,  if  -well  ripened  may  bear  the  first  season,  but  if 
this  does  not  happen  they  should  produce  the  following  year. 
In  the  case  of  young  trees  disbudding  may  be  freely  practised 
in  order  to  properly  regulate  the  i>rincipal  branches. — East  Kent. 
Frnit  Forcing. 
PEACHES  AND  NECTARINES:  EARLIEST  HOUSE.^ 
The  stoning  process  being  over  with  the  earliest  varieties  they 
may  be  given  a  temperature  of  70deg  to  75deg  by  artificial  means, 
allowing  it  to  fall  to  65deg  or  even  GOdeg  on  cold  nights,  keeping 
through  the  day  at  SOdeg  to  Sfideg  from  sun  heat,  ventilating 
by  the  top  at  75deg,  and  opening  the  front  at  SOdeg,  so  as  to 
ensure  a  circulation  of  air,  admitting  a  little  constantly.  Close 
the  house  (subject  to  a  “  crack  ”  of  air  at  the  upper  part)  at 
SOdeg  sufficiently  early  to  allow  of  an  advance  to  85deg  or  OOdeg 
from  sun  heat,  the  trees  being  well  syringed  and  good  atmo¬ 
spheric  moisture  secured,  but  the  fruit  and  foliage  must  becmne 
fairly  dry  before  night.  Draw  aside  or  remove  the  leaves  over 
or  in  front  of  the  fruit,  and  turn  this  up  to  the  light  by  thin 
laths  placed  across  the  trellis.  Syringing  should  cease  when  the 
fruit  commences  ripening,  but  a  genial  condition  of  the  atmo¬ 
sphere  must  be  maintained  for  the  benefit  of  the  foliage  by  damp¬ 
ing  the  paths  and  borders  twice  a  day  or  as  necessary.  Unless 
the  fruit  is  required  by  a  given  time,  or  as  early  as  practicable, 
it  is  advisable  to  proceed  more  gradually,  not  keeping  the  tem¬ 
perature  more  than  GOdeg  to  Godeg  at  night,  and  70deg  to  75deg 
by  day  with  gleams  of  sun,  and  Sdeg  to  lOdeg  advance  on  bright 
days  until  the  stoning  is  completed,  or  even  during  the  last 
swelling  of  the  fruit. 
HOUSES  STARTED  AT  THE  NEW  YEAR.— If  the  trees  are 
of  the  very  early  varieties  of  Peaches,  Alexander,  Waterloo,  and 
Early  Louise,  with  the  Nectarines  Advance  and  Cardinal,  they 
will  be  in  the  condition  of  trees  of  the  midseason  varieties  started 
a  month  earlier,  and  referred  to  in  the  preceding  paragraph. 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  of  the  second  early  and  midseason 
varieties  usually  forced,  they  will  not  be  so  far  advanced,  though 
the  fruit  is  more  forward  than  usual,  due  to  the  mildness  of  the 
weather,  and  attention  will  be  required  in  disbudding,  heeling 
in  of  the  shoots,  and  thinning  the  fruit,  these  matters  having 
been  previously  attended  to.  Allow  no  more  growths  to  remain 
than  are  necessary  for  next  year’s  fruiting  or  for  the  extension 
of  the  trees.  Stop  gross  growths  or  remove  them,  as  it  is  highly 
important  the  sap  be  equally  distributed.  Pinch  laterals  fit  the 
first  joint,  and  shoots  retained  to  attract  the  sap  to  the  fruit 
should  only  be  allowed  moderate  extension,  stopping  them  in 
the  first  instance  at  three  or  four  joints  of  growth.  Endeavour 
to  provide  an  even  distribution  of  foliage  that  will  shade  and 
protect  the  wood  from  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun  as  the  season 
advances.  Ventilate  early,  freely  but  carefully.  As  the  fruits 
are  swelling  fast  thin  them,  as  with  the  trees  in  good  health  the 
fruit  is  more  likely  to  stone  well  than  when  they  ai'e  over¬ 
burdened.  W'ater  the  inside  border  copiously  when  supplies  are 
required,  and  mulch  with  a  little  sweet  rather  lumpy  manure. 
LATE  HOUSES. — The  trees  in  these  are  unus-ually  forryard; 
indeed,  trees  against  walls  are  in  full  bloom.  Tliis  is  a.^great 
disadvantage  under  glass  where  they  are  provided  with  jneans 
for  excluding  frost,  as  the  ripening  can  be  retarded  by  free 
ventilation  through  the  summer.  Ventilate  freely,  but  keep 
safe  from  frost.  During  the  flowering  and  afterwards  a  tem¬ 
perature  of  50deg  should  be  maintained  by  day,  keeping  it  at 
that  with  a  gentle  circulation  of  air,  turning  off  the  heat  early 
in  the  afternoon  so  as  to  allow  the  pipes  to  cool  before  night, 
and  the  temperature  falling  to  its  right  minimum  of  40deg  to 
45deg,  which  is  quite  safe,  and  ought  to  be  secured  with  a  little 
air  to  prevent  the  deposition  of  moisture  through  the  night  on 
the  flowers.  Artificial  fertilisation  should  be  resorted  to,  but 
the  best  security  for  setting  are  perfectly  developed  blossoms 
and  a  genial  well-aerated  atmosphere. — St.  Albans. 
A  History  Tree. 
The  age  of  a  tree  is  determined  by  the  number  of  rings  of 
wood  its  trunk  contains.  The  woody  fibre  is  slower  in  growing 
in  winter  than  in  summer,  and  consequently  distinct  rings  are 
formed,  each  representing  a  year.  By  means  of  these  rings  the 
gigantic  cross-section  of  a  Californian  tree,  1,341  years  old,  is 
used  at  the  New  York  Museum  of  Natural  History  as  a  history 
chart,  and  as  such  it  shows  in  a  novel  way  the  sequence  of 
events  in  the  last  thousand  years.  In  the  Science  and  Art 
Museum  at  South  Kensington,  London,  there  is  a  similar  cross- 
sectiori,  nearly.  6ft  in  diameter,  and  the  dates  of  great  events 
are  printed  in  white  across  the  wood. 
*  All  correspondence  relating  to  editorial  matters  should  be  directed 
to  “  The  Editor,”  12,  Mitre  Court  Chambers,  Fleet  Street, 
London,  E  C.  It  is  requested  that  no  one  will  write  privately 
to  any  of  our  correspondents,  seeking  information  on  matters 
discussed  in  this  Journal,  as  doing  so  subjects  them  to  unjustifiable 
trouble  and  expense. 
TO  CORRESPONDENTS. — A  number  of  replies  are  this 
week  left  unanswered,  but  they  will  receive  attention  in  our 
next. 
BOOKS:  “MUSHROOMS  FOR  THE  MILLION”  (W.).— 
This  book  is  out  of  print,  and  we  have  only  one  or  two  soiled 
copies  remaining.  We  believe  a  new  edition  will  be  put  upon 
the  market.  (G.  H.). — There  is  no  foundation  in  the  rumour 
that  a  book  on  table  decorations  is  being  prepared  by  the 
gentleman  you  name. 
CATERPILLAR  DESTROYING  TOMATO  PLANTS  (R.  L.). 
— The  caterpillar  is  that  of  the  small  or  garden  Swift  Moth 
(Hepialus  lupulinus),  which  is  very  destructive  to  the  roots  and 
root-stems  of  a  large  variety  of  plants,  amongst  garden  crops, 
on  Lettuce,  winter  Spinach,  Strawberry  plants  during  winter, 
and  in  spring  on  Potato,  Parsnip,  and  other  plants  with  stout 
root-stems,  and  also  on  Tomato  I’OiOt-stems.  The  caterpillar  is 
to  be  found  in  autumn  and  winter  as  well  as  spring,  and  when 
full  fed,  usually  in  April  or  early  in  May,  turns  to  pupa,  from 
which  the  moth  comes  out  in  about  a  month.  The  caterpillar 
is  somewhat  difficult  to  deal  w'ith,  but  the  attack  usually  com¬ 
mences  at  or  first  below  the  ground  level,  so  that  hand  picking 
is  the  best  remedy,  the  soil  about  the  stem  of  the  plant  being 
removed  with  a  blunt  knife  or  pointed  bit  of  wood,  and  the 
caterpillar  turned  out  with  the  knife  or  stick  and  placed  in  a 
vessel  containing  a  little  paraffin  oil.  This  is  certainly  a  tedious 
but  a  sure  way  of  getting  rid  of  the  caterpillars.  Of  course, 
when  the  caterpillar  is  in  the  stem  it  must  be  removed.  Possibly 
the  caterpillars  in  your  case  have  been  introduced  in  the  soil,  in 
which  case  it  would  be  well  to  disinfect  it  before  use,  preferably 
by  heating  it  to  a  temperature  of  135deg,  or  even  with  hot 
water,  so  as  to  heat  the  soil  to  llOdeg  to  115deg,  which  is  fatal 
to  caterpillars  and  even  to  wireworms. 
PEACH  SHOOTS  AND  LEAVES  SUFFERING  (Constant 
Reader). — The  brown  spots  on  the  leaves  are  caused  by  the  shot- 
hole  fungus  (Cercospora  circumscissa),  which  has  long  been 
known  to  infest  the  leaves  of  Almond,  Apricot,  Cherry,  Nectarine 
and  Peach  trees.  The  young  branches,  and  even  the  fruit  of 
the  Peach,  are  sometimes  attacked.  The  disease  often  spreads 
quickly,  usually  attacking  the  leaves  when  the  shoots  are  three 
or  four  inches  in  length,  and  when  the  brown  spots  appear  on 
the  leave.s  these  sometimes  commence  to  fall  off,  this  being  niucli 
more  p>ronounced  in  the  case  of  trees  under  glass  than  in  the 
open  air,  and  often  the  majority  of  the  leaves  are  oast.  This 
seriously  impairs  the  health  of  the  tree  and  the  formation  of 
wood  for  the  next  season’s  fruit  bearing,  and  though  the  affected 
shoots  may  commence  growing  again  they  are  affected  like  the 
first  and  immature  wood  as  the  consequence,  meaning  a  poor 
or  not  any  crop  the  following  season.  The  attack  on  the  young 
wood  usually  results  in  collapse  of  the  shoot  affected,  but  the 
disease  is  mainly  confined  to  the  leaves.  On  these  small  pale 
spots  first  appear,  and  ultimately  form  small  circular  brown 
patches  which  become  dry,  contract  and  drop  away,  leaving  a 
hole  in  the  leaf,  and  as  numerous  .such  holes  are  often  present 
on  single  leaf  it  has  the  appearance  of  being  riddled  w'ith  .shot. 
The  dropped-out  portions  of  the  leaves  bear  the  conidia  of  the 
fungus,  and  these  germinate  on  the  .soil,  and  even  produce 
conidia  or  spores  from  the  mycelium  that  re-infest  the  leafage. 
Thus  it  is  considered  that  the  conditions  under  glass  favour  the 
fungus,  as  the  atmosphere  is  much  closer  and  moi.ster  than  out¬ 
side,  and  one  of  the  best  safeguards  is  free  ventilation  accom¬ 
panied  with  gentle  fire  heat  to  maintain  a  circulation  of  air  and^ 
prevent  the  atmosphere  from  becoming  stagnant.  It,  however, 
occurs  outdoors,  but  mostly  during  .spells  of  dull,  damp  weather. 
Your  experience  of  spraying  with  Bordeaux  mixture,  both  before 
starting  and  after  the  fimit  has  set,  having  no'  effect  on  the 
disease,  accords  with  our  experience,  only,  we  find  that  even 
dilute  solutions  of  the  Bordeaux  mixture  are  injurious  to  the 
leaves  and  even  young  shoots  of  the  Peach  and  Nwitarine,  and 
should  not  be  used.  Spraying  with  ammoniacal  carbonate  -of 
'  copper  solution  is  advi.sed  in  preference,  the  fir.st  time  just  when 
the  leaves  are  expanding,  and  repeating  at  intervals,  but  the 
main  thing  is  free  ventilation  and  not  keeping  the  surface  of 
i  the  border  in  a  constantly  wet  condition. 
