CORRESPONDENCE

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 23, 27 July 1933, Page 19

CORRESPONDENCE

BEGONIAS. E.ISf.A. —Begonia haegeana is a Mexican variety, and consequently would require warm conditions. AYe have had over a month of practically sunless weather, which is not helpful to the flowers. As soon as'1 conditions improve" you should have no trouble in getting the flowers to open. B. Glorie de Lorraine is said to be quite good for hanging baskets, but its habit of growth is somewhat upright. Maria Lintz and Marie Bouchet are claimed to be better varieties for this purpose. WOODLICE. A.M. —Woodlice are troublesome pests to get rid of. They live and breed among dead wood, under stones and rubbish generally. I doubt whether kerosene, emulsion would be any good. Hot water is quite good, but you intimate that there arc so many that you cannot get.enough hot water. What about heating the copper and applying the water through a watering-can? Commercial borax powdered and sprinkled about is claimed to be a oertain cure, and would be convenient for use in the house. Paris green is also recommended, but as this is a poison care must be taken in its use. Make a paste with damp bran and Paris green, one part of the latter to thirty of bran, and place about their haunts. This could be put down on pieces of paper or cardboard at night (woodlice are nocturnal) and removed for safety during the day. Like all insect pests, woodlico increase rapidly, so it will be necessary to persist in your efforts to exterminate them, remembering that every one destroyed means whole families less later. PEAR TREE NOT BEARING. A.L.—A question practically the same as yours was answered by the Department of Agriculture as follows: — "Special pruning- methods aro necessary to bring pear trees into bearing at an early age; they do not, as a rule, fruit so early as do apples.' You give no indication as to what growth the trees have made, or of the pruning done. It frequently happens that trees that make heavy growth may blossom, but fnil to set fruit, because the strong growth made diverts sap from the flowering .portions of the tree and the blossoms are weakened. If the trees arc making strong growth, do no pruning for a year or two. This will cause the cessation of strong growth and promote the development of fruit buds. ..." Another authority says: "Boot pruning is often advocated to check the excessive growth of a tree, and in some cases where the tree does not produce fruit it will enable thfi tree to produce flowers and fruit. If the tree sets flowers and does not produce fruit, it may be from another cause; root pruning is not an antidote in all cases. Tor instance, some of the present-day varieties bear flowers which are selfsterile on their own pollen,. and consequently the fruit will not set. If attempted,' root pruning must be thoroughly well, done, and considering the amount of work entailed in most cases, it is better to cut the tree down." I should advise you to seek the advice of the Department of Agriculture, who would, no doubt, send someone to see the tree and instruct vdu as to the best course to pursue.