FRUIT AND FROST.
Gardeners, anxious for their fruit, have had some curious surprises. Nearly all hoped and thought that the frosts were early enough not to have hurt the apple blossom which was in tight bud, but one never knows. In my garden the only apples in flower or nearly in flower at the time of the frost were the codlins ; and now the petals are wide open one can see that pistil and stamen are quite undamaged. So far, so good. Codlins are a godsend : early, juicy, and free-bearing. But what of other more enduring sorts ? The Bramleys, much later in opening and indeed still in bud, were nevertheless very severely handled. Opening the petals one sees within a mass of shrivelled anthers. Why should these late flowers suffer when the earlier codlins are untouched ? What is the secret of resistance to frost ?
W. BEACH THOMAS.
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