INDUCED DORMANCY IN ROSES AND FRUIT TREES,
.[To the Editor of THE Stre,Iii, Northern India where, the roses make . excessive vegetative growth during the inonsoon it is, as Sir. William Beach Thomas notes in your issue of July 12th, customary to induce a .short dormancy by opening up their roots and exposing. them for a few days, until thoroughly dried. The roots. are then immured, covered in and the plant drastically cut back. This method ensures the production of a good crop of bloom during the cold weather.
The question of induced dormancy has, .however, a wider application than the flowering of roses.. In many sub-tropical parts of theBmpire the successful establishment of commercial orchards of such temperate fruits -EIS aPPies and peara is seriously. hampered by the difficulty of inducing the, trees to rest sufficiently to produce a sizeable .crop. .The. Imperial. Bureau of .Fruit Production. situated at the East Mailing' Research Station, ,Kent„ is at the moment engaged. in collecting such information as is • available on this subject. of . artificial wintering. and would welcome
correspondence. . • • • •
In the fruit-growing districts of Bangalore it is confidently affirmed that the success of apple, cultivation is entirely due to an axtilicially induced dormancy ,in which exposure of the roots again ploys an important part. Briefly, in the months of October-November and April-May, when t here is no risk of rain, • the .soil around. the.. ire .1. is careful I y re lito veil to a distance of from .'two to, four feet froiii tlw stein until the main lateral roots are exposed, . 'llicse roots are left uncovered, all water being withheld. The leaves wilt and are removed by handstripping. One to two weeks later a compost a well-powdered sheep dung (or artificial manures) and red loam in equal proportions is packed into the excavation above the roots. If there is no rain the trees are subsequently well irrigated about twice a week. Blossom appears in a fortnight and the fruit is ripe in five months. Four weeks after the harvest the treatment is repeated for the next crop. The usual life of a tree under this treatment is under twelve years but two crops of apples arc obtained every year or Imperial Bureau of Fruit Production, Director.
East Mailing Research Station, East Mailing, Kent.
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