HORTICULTURAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3101, 20 August 1913, Page 12

HORTICULTURAL NOTES.

Br J. Gebbii.

At the National Fruit and Cider Institute. Long Ashton, near Bristol, Professor Barker has made a most important discovery relating to the damage of fruit blossoms in spring. It appears that a great deal of the damage usually attributed to frost is "flue to a bacillus which causes the flowers to blacken arid fall off. 'Phis bacillus. the name of which is not yet available, has been isolated in the laboratory, and is found to increase very rapidly. Professor Houston, writing in the Garden a few months ago, stated that a good deal of the damage to apple blossom usually attributed to spring frost was flue to the attacks of t lie applc-eucker. of psylla. MILDEW ON ROSES.

Some 300 or 400 different species of fungi arc- recorded in books as attacking the roses of different species, but fortunately only a few of them give any trouble to the rose-grower. Mildew is* the most serious one we have to contend with, and it has been very prevalent during the past season. The powdery appearance of the mildewed leaves, buds, and stems is due to the presence of myriads of spores, each capable of reproducing I lie fungus in a fresh centre. The fungus is on the outside of the plant, and may be kilhd by suitable applications. A plentiful dusting with flowers of sulphur while the leaves are damp with dew. or spraying with sulphide of potassium at the iato of 1 07. to three gallons of water, will have the dr sired effect. Mildew is always most virulent when the roses have received a check as by drought or cold winds or a water-logged condition of the soil. No varieties are perfectly immune, but sonic are less liable to attack, or suffer lei-e from it when it comes than others. REPOTTING PALMS AND ASPIDISTRAS.

The end of September and October is the best time for repotting those house plants. The new leaves of the aspidistra will then bo pushing up from the base and the palms will be coming into active growth, so that the new roots which arc formed quickly take hold of the new soil, and the plant receives the least check. Frequently amateurs repot these plants when such a. course is not necessary. Sometimes a topdressing of good new potting soil would be sufficient and more beneficial. Aspidistras may remain in the same pot for many years, providing they are supplied with liquid manure, or a. top-dressing already referred to is provided. The Ix-st soil mixture for palms and aspidistras is composed of partially decayed loam two parts, thoroughly decayed manure and coarse sand half a part each, with a bandful of bonemeal added.- The pia.lt to bo repotted should be turned out- of the old pot. and th» drainage and as much of the old loose soil as possible removed, taking care not to injure the roots in doing so. Place the

plant in a new or clean pot, and carefully ram the new soil all round it with a blunt stick, so that when finished the plant will be about half an inch lower in the soil than it was before. HISTORY OF THE APPLE.

Of all the fruits cultivated by man the apple is the most useful, and is brought to a high degree of perfection with less trouble than any other. The cultivated apple is supposed to have originated from the wild crab that grows everywhere in Europe, and must have been known to the natives of Great Britain. The cultivated apple was in all probability introduced by the Romans, and Pliny, the Roman historian, mentions 20 varieties. It has proved the most susceptible of all fruits to varia. tions and improvement under the eye and hand of man, as well as spontaneously in the case of chance seedlings from highlydeveloped stocks. No other fruit has its keeping qualities. It has in different varieties “all seasons for its own,” and its culinary uses could scarcely bo enumerated, while either raw or cooked it is always wholesome and delicious. In very warm or very cold climates the apple deteriorates, tending to become soft and insipid in the former and hard and acrid in the latter. Although it can accommodate itself to all soils, situations, and climates, it is the pre-eminent fruit of the temperate zone. From time immemorial the art of grafting ami budding has boon practised to a greater extent on the apple than on any other fiuit tree for the purpose of perpetuating and propagating choice varieties, and for securing better coloured and finer quality of fruits. Pruning and training also receive a good deal of attention from those who desire to have the best results from then trees. Light and air must be admitted to the interior of the top, and pruning must be resorted to with this object in view and 10 check too exuberant growth and thus promote heavier bearing. The earlier American orchards wore grown mainly from seeds, us space in the small sailing vessels of 300 vears ago could scarcely be afforded for bulky packages, and trees, even in a dormant condition, would have had dimonitv in surviving in mouldy holds for euch lengthy voyages. Like many other fiuxts, there arc far too many varieties in cultivation. In a work on the fruits and fruit trees of America I noticed that OU years ago more than ICOO distinct kinds of apples were in cultivation in the Lmted States. At one time the ambition of the fruit-grower was in the direction of the greatest number of varieties that his acreage could accommodate rather than in the superiority in quality- and productiveness of the yield, whereas at the present day these two attributes are the principal considerations. and have resulted in very close restriction to a comparatively few popular and profitable sorts—that is, in commercial orchards; for the home orchard a great variety is permissible. CROPPING YOUNG TREES.

It is a mistake to crop a tree in the first season after planting. The temptation to do so is certainly strong, but a.stunted growth will bo the result, and consequent failure to build up a tree that will bear profitably for many years. Anv fruits that may appear should bo removed ; it will be to their ultimate benefit to do so. A fruit tree cannot properly establish itself and develop crops at the’ same time, and the former is the particular object for the first season or two; afterwards the fruit will come.