グラニースミスの主幹が虫食いになっていることに、去年の秋に気付きましたが、見て見ぬふり。今日になって重い腰を上げて支柱を外してみたら、樹皮がボソボソになっているのが2箇所。まずは中間台のすぐ上、グラニースミス本体です（便宜上、A）。木質部が見えています。虫が入り込んでいる穴が見つかればスポイトを使ってでも消毒液を注入したいほどでしたが、どうやら表面的な被害で済んだようです。
I noticed in autumn last year that the trunk of Granny Smith had been damaged by some bugs, but I did nothing since the damage had been done. Today, I removed the tree prop and found that there were two spots where the bark had been eaten away. First, the part just above the grafting point (call it A). Both of my apple trees are grafted twice - the part below the knob in the photo is the scion of a dwarf stock, which was grafted onto the root stock, and the part above the knob is Granny Smith. On checking the damage, I could not find any bug holes, so it seems that just the bark was damaged.
こちらはもう一箇所の被害で、苗の少し上のほう（B）。
This is another damaged part (B), which is situated above the first one.
石灰硫黄合剤を10倍くらいに薄めてハケで塗りました。今ある石灰硫黄合材は、それまでの500mlが廃止になり、18リットル単位での販売になってから買ったものなので、もう何年も経っています。石灰部分が一部、分離・結晶しているので、実際に使う液体は硫黄の比率が多いと思います。有効期限があるのかどうかも分かりませんが、臭いは相変わらずキツイです。なので、塗り終わったら頭から足まで身に着けているもの全てを洗濯機に放り込んで、シャワー・シャンプー。
I diluted the lime-sulphur solution by 10 times and painted both trees twice, to make sure that they were thoroughly drenched. They used to sell the solution in 500ml bottles, which was very handy for amateur gardeners like me. But the regulation was changed so that the minimum quantity available would be 18 liters. Unless you are a commercial farmer, how can you use up such a quantity in lifetime? So, my current stock of solution has been locked away since many years ago. It has such a horrible smell that I have to throw everything on me into the washing machine after finishing the task and have a thorough bath.手前がグラニースミス、向こうの鉢が「紅の夢」。まだ枝数が少ないので、丁寧に２度塗りしました。これで、いつ春が来ても大丈夫です。ついでに２階バルコニーに置いてある、枝数の少ない「皇帝」棗にも塗っておきました。
The tree in front is Granny Smith, and the one in the back is a red-flesh variety called 'Kurenai-no-yume'. Since they do not have many branches yet, I painted them twice to be thorough. Now I can look forward to the arrival of spring any time.
最近、ハクビシンが屋根の上を駆け回る音がした翌朝、ラズベリーのルビービューティが引っこ抜かれているようになりました。これで３回目。単に引っこ抜くだけでなく、枝が噛み千切られているので更に腹が立ちます。野良猫がこんなことをするとは思えないし、アライグマはもう何年も前に姿を消したはずなので、思い当たるのはハクビシンだけです。今度は他の場所に植え直しましたが、消滅してしまうかも。
Recently, I noticed that after hearing a civet running over my roof during night, the Ruby Beauty raspberry plant was uprooted in the morning. I have not caught the creature red-handed, but I cannot imagine a cat or a wild bird doing this at night. Moreover, some stems are bitten off. This is the third time, and I am really worried that the plant may not live come spring. Anyway, I replanted it somewhere else just to be safe.
私が庭仕事をするとき、いつもはタイガが玄関前で座っていますが、今日は石灰硫黄合材を塗る作業だったので、居間に閉じ込めておきました。ホットカーペットの上でお気楽に昼寝です。
Normally, when I do gardening, Taiga sits in front of the porch. However, today I was using the lime-sulphur solution which cannot be good for anyone's health, so I locked her up in the living room where she had a nap on the electric carpet.
近づくと、ギロッ。
As I sneaked up, she gave me a look.
