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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER.  September  li,  1902. 
killing  frost  sent  shattered  hopes  crumbling  to  the  dust,  and 
the  daily  papers  had  big  headlines  telling  of  the  failure  of 
the  Strawberry  crop.  But  it  did  not  fail,  as  growers  realised 
later  on. 
The  later  fruits  developed  into  heavy  crops,  which  all 
came  in  at  once,  and  every  Strawberry  growing  district 
seemed  to  do  its  utmost  to  glut  the  central  markets.  The 
end  was  accomplished,  because  the  growers  were  powerless 
to  avoid  it,  and  here  a  second  and  greater  disappointment 
presented  itself.  You  cannot  hold  back  ripe  Strawberries 
to  sell  when  the  market  is  eased,  and  they  had  to  go.  Prices 
fell  in  consequence,  and  many  a  luckless  grower  found  him¬ 
self,  after  paying  tne  expenses  of  picking,  transit,  and  com¬ 
mission,  without  a  cent  for  himself.  It  is  easy  enough  to 
prate  about  the  rich  mine  of  profit  offered  in  fruit  culture, 
but  these  instances  teach  one  that  it  is  not  all  honey,  and 
now  the  very  mention  of  Strawberries  brings  a  look  of 
gloom  to  the  faces  of  many  Kentish  growers. 
Gooseberries. 
The  frost  that  spoiled  the  chances  of  early  Strawberries 
was  also  responsible  for  a  severe  thinning  of  the  Goose¬ 
berries.  So  severe,  in  fact,  in  places  that  I  heard  of  some 
growers  bemoaning  the  loss  of  hundreds  of  pounds ;  but 
what  proved  to  be  such  a  calamity  to  some  turned  out  to  be 
a  blessing  in  disguise  to  many  others.  A  portion  of  the  crop 
fell,  but  there  was  plenty  left,  and  Gooseberries  have  not 
sold  better  or  steadier  for  years.  They  have  cost  a  little 
more  to  pick,  but  the  returns  have  more  than  recompensed 
for  this,  and  Gooseberries,  which  of  late  years  have  been 
looked  upon  as  a  poor-paying  crop,  have  saved  their  reputa¬ 
tion.  The  frost  which  lessened  the  supply  also  eased  the 
bushes  of  their  burdens  to  some  extent,  with  the  result  that 
the  fruit  grew  out  larger  than  would  have  been  the  case 
had  the  original  quantity  remained. 
Black  and  Red  Currants. 
In  discussing  fruit  crops  in  the  South,  failure  must  be 
written  opposite  Black  Currants.  This  highly  profitable 
fruit  has  had  a  bad  time  of  it  this  year. 
The  dreaded  budmite  pursues  its  work  of  destruction  and 
baffles  ^11  attempts  at  eradication,  and  then  the  frost  upset 
the  calculations  of  growers  who  were  looking  forward  to 
something  of  a  crop  in  spite  of  the  above  pest.  Between  the 
two  evils  Black  Currants  have  been  very  scarce,  and  those 
growers  who  were  fortunate  enough  to  have  any  have  had 
good  reason  to  congratulate  themselves.  It  is  reported,  by  the 
way,  that  the  new  Black  Currant,  Boskoop  Giant,  is  proof 
against  budmite.  Let  it  be  hoped  that  such  is  the  case,  but 
the  same  was  said  of  Champion  when  it  first  came  out. 
Experience,  however,  has  proved  the  contrary. 
Speaking  of  Red  Currants,  these  are  not  counted  amongst 
the  really  important  fruit  crops,  and  in  spite  of  early  losses 
they  have  borne  well.  I  was  walking  through  a  plantation 
the  other  day  in  which  I  observed  a  number  of  standard 
Currants  growing  round  the  outskirts.  On  the  upper  parts 
of  the  stems  and  on  the  heads  of  these  were  long  bunches  of 
the  finest  Currants  I  have  ever  seen,  and  this  method  com¬ 
mends  itself  to  anyone  who  wishes  to  make  the  most  of 
ground  and  produce  fine  crops  of  fruit. 
Cherries. 
The  time  has  gone  when  pessimistic  heads  were  shaken 
over  the  prospects  of  the  all-important  Cherry  crop.  There 
were  good  reasons  for  the  head-shaking,  for  though  the 
blooming  time  was  promising,  the  same  frost  that  had  so 
much  to  do  with  settling  the  destiny  of  other  fruit  crops 
somewhat  upset  the  calculations  of  the  Cherry  growers.  But 
the  story  of  the  Cherry  crop  is  far  from  being  a  dismal  one. 
The  fruits  were  thinned  everywhere,  and  the  trees  in  some 
orchards  bore  nothing,  but  when  the  auction  sales  were 
held,  prior  to  the  picking,  record  prices  were  made,  and  the 
fruit  in  some  good  orchards  fetched  double  what  it  did  last 
year  when  the  trees  were  far  more  heavily  laden.  And  in 
regard  to  Cherries  the  fruitmen  are  on  good  terms  with 
the  salesmen  because  the  returns  came  back  recording  good 
prices,  which  have  allowed  for  the  extra  cost  of  picking  and 
then  left  a  nice  balance  in  favour  of  the  growers. 
In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  war  is  over  and  work  is  said 
to  be  somewhat  scarce  in  the  country,  the  labour  question 
has  been  a  serious  one,  and  growers  have  had  to  employ  a 
class  of  workers  that  they  would  prefer  to  see  on  the  out¬ 
sides  of  the  plantations  if  good  native  material  had  been 
forthcoming.  One  can  hardly  understand  the  dearth  of 
agricultural  labour  in  Kent,  for  wages  are  fairly  good, 
cottages  are  cheap,  and  apart  from  the  menfolk,  both  women 
and  children  can  earn  continually  from  the  time  fruit  pick¬ 
ing  begins  till  the  Hop  season  is  over.  The  bulk  of  the 
Cherry  traffic  is  now  over  with  the  exception  of  the  Morellos, 
which  in  most  parts  are  only  a  thin  crop  this  year,  and  will 
not  take  much  disposing  of. 
Plums  are  Scarce. 
Last  year  about  this  time  the  common  topic  was  about 
the  glut  of  Plums  and  the  chances  of  disposing  of  them,  but 
now  the  scarcity  of  this  stone  fruit  is  the  theme.  Here  and 
there  you  see  trees  fairly  well  laden,  and  some  of  the  early 
varieties,  such  as  Early  Rivers  and  others,  have  found  their 
way  into  the  market ;  but,  as  a  rule  Plums  and  Damsons 
are  a  thin  crop,  and  some  growers  are  having  to  be  contented 
with  nothing.  This  is  not  surprising  considering  the  way  in 
which  the  trees  have  been  burdened  in  the  past  few  seasons, 
though  one  regrets  these  extremes  and  wishes  that  moderate 
crops  were  more  the  order  of  things.  Though  fruit  is  scarce, 
blight  is  plentiful,  and  to  this  scourge  may  be  traced  to  some 
extent  the  lightness  of  crops.  Insect  pests  seem  to  increase 
in  spite  of  the  many  insecticides  now  on  the  market  and  the 
modem  methods  of  applying  them,  but  then  this  may  be 
traced  to  the  fact  that  for  every  grower  who  attempts  to 
keep  down  the  foes  half  a  dozen  do  not,  and  eradication  is 
impossible  unless  there  be  combined  operation. 
A  Heavy  Nut  Crop. 
Never  for  many  years  have  Kentish  growers  had  such 
good  reasons  for  congratulating  themselves  on  the  nut  crop 
as  this  season.  On  the  stony  hillsides  where  Kent  Cobs  and 
Filberts  are  cultivated,  the  bushes  are  heavily  laden,  and 
some  persons  who  have  had  experience  enough  to  offer  an 
opinion  say  that  the  nut  crop  will  be  a  record  one.  In  a 
measure  they  are  gratified,  but  there  is  also  the  lurking  fear 
that  the  plenty  will  mean  low  prices,  and  that  the  crop  will 
not  be  so  profitable  as  it  would  be  if  it  were  only  half  as 
heavy.  Nuts  do  not  grow  free  from  pests,  and  the  foliage 
in  most  plantations  is  honeycombed  by  the  ravages  of  hungry 
maggots.  Some  growers  make  war  against  them  by  spread¬ 
ing  tamed  sheets  under  the  trees  and  shaking  the  maggots 
on  to  them,  but  so  long  as  they  do  not  destroy  the  precious 
nuts  the  majority  are  content  to  let  the  marauders  have  their 
feed  of  foliage,  irrespective  of  the  damage  done  to  the  trees. 
The  Harvest  of  Apples. 
As  I  write  we  are  on  the  fringe  of  the  Apple  harvest. 
The  early  dessert  varieties,  such  as  Mr.  Gladstone,  Irish 
Peach,  Quarrendens,  and  Juneatings  are  ripe,  and  trade  is 
being  done  amongst  the  Keswdcks,  Suffields,  and  early 
culinary  sorts.  One  can  only  describe  the  Kentish  Apple 
crop  as  being  “patchy.”  By  this  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that 
it  is  poor,  for  it  leans  rather  in  the  other  direction ;  but 
Apples  are  not  plentiful  everywhere.  Here  you  may  see 
orchards  laden,  there  a  moderate  crop,  and  in  another 
instance  very  few  indeed,  but  when  it  comes  to  the  settling 
up,  I  think  Apples  will  come  out  fairly  well. 
There  was  a  grand  promise,  and  everyone  spoke  of  heavy 
crops,  but  they  were  reckoning  without  the  season  and  the 
aphis,  and  the  codlin  moth  and  other  ills  that  Apple  life 
is  heir  to.  Pests  have  played  their  usual  havoc,  and  what 
we  call  “  windfalls,”  but  what  are  really  grub-bored 
specimens,  are  already  plentiful  under  the  trees.  The  codlin 
moth  caterpillar  is  the  bane  of  Apple  growers,  but  it  is  not 
altogether  a  curse,  because  it  does  the  necessary  thinning 
that  growers  cannot  find  it  in  their  hearts  to  do,  and  the 
fruits  which  remain  grow  finer  in  consequence.  Generally 
speaking,  I  think  there  are  enough  late  Apples  to  keep  us 
going  well  into  the  winter,  but  storage,  unfortunately,  is  a 
point  wdiich  many  growers  do  not  consider  much. 
The  great  idea  seems  to  be  to  get  the  Apples  off  the  trees 
and  into  the  market  with  as  little  delay  as  possible,  presum¬ 
ably  in  order  that  the  coast  shall  be  clear  when  .the  time 
comes  for  the  foreign  imports  to  arrive.  You  see  we  .are 
very  considerate  in  the  way  we  treat  our  competitors. 
Pears  are  Scanty. 
I  am  afraid  Pears  will  not  tell  heavily  on  the  profit  side 
of  the  fruit  account  this  year.  “Williams’”  I  hear,  are  not 
generally  plentiful,  and  many  of  these  are  grown  in  Kent. 
Pitmaston  Duchess  is  another  popular  market  variety,  and 
