December i, 1882.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



505 



PREPAItING PEACH STONES. 



Several have asketl how to prepare peach stones for 

 planting. They are probably aware, that whou the stones 

 are kept dry all winter and theix pUutetl in spring, vury 

 few, if any, will germiuatu. In nurseries, the stones are 

 not allowed to get very dry, but they are stratified or 

 bedded just before winter sets in. The usual manner is 

 to mark out the limits of the bed and spread the stones 

 over it to the depth of two or three inches ; the stones 

 are then spaded in as if turning under a cbessing of man- 

 ure. By this operation they are distributed through and 

 well mixed with the soil, where they are left to freeze 

 and thaw all winter. This treatment causes the halves of 

 the stone to separate and the pressure within of the swell- 

 ing seed can push them apart. This may be effected by 

 other methods than that of spading in. The stones are 

 sometimes spread upon the ground and covered ^vith spent 

 tan-bark or sawdust to the depth of tln:ee to five inches, 

 and thus exposed to the weather. In spring, when the 

 ground is ready to pUint, the stones that have been spaded 

 in are separated by throwing the soil of the bed upon a 

 riddle, such as is used by masons ; the earth falls through 

 while the stones are left upon the riddle. Those that 

 have been under tan or sawdust are more easily recovered 

 at planting time. It is to be assumed that those who at 

 this time ask what is to be done " to prepare peach stones 

 for planting,"' have as yet done nothing with them, and 

 that they are still clry. Such should at once be mixed 

 with sand, or sandy earth, in a box, and placed where 

 they will be exposed to all the changes of the weather. 

 This will place them in a condition similar to those that 

 have been spaded in, but having been dried for some months, 

 it is likely that a share of them \vill remain unaltered, 

 and that in spring the halves will remain firmly together. 

 Such stones must be carefully cracked, holding them be- 

 tween the thumb and fimger upon a block and striking 

 the edge with a hammer ; the kernels being thus removed, 

 are to be mixed with earth or damp moss, and kept in 

 a warm place until they germinate. The stones that have 

 been bedded or otherwise exposed to the action of frost, 

 and are still unchanged, are not planted with the others, 

 but are separated from those that have begun to germin- 

 ate, and cracked before they are planted. — American A gri' 

 cidturist. 



SUGAK PLANTING IN QUEENSLAND. 



The Wide Bay News gives us rather a startfing item 

 of intelligence. It says that the last new idea (among 

 planters we presume) is to introduce large numbers of 

 Chinese into Hong Kong from China proper; to have them 

 naturaUsed there as British subjects, and then to bring 

 them here. By this means the £10 poll tax would be 

 evaded; and it is quite possible that in this way a solution 

 may be found for the vexed labour question. For our part, 

 we would far rather see coohes brought here for plantation 

 work, than hordes of Chinamen. 



The Maryhorouah Chronicle estimates'this season's crop 

 of sugar on the Mary at 3,000 tons, and a like amount for 

 Bundaberg. This will be a still further falling-olf in the 

 crop of the IMaryborough district, which was 4,157 tons 

 in 1881, and 3,570 tons this year. On tlie other hand it 

 represents a large increase for Bundaberg, which turned 

 out 619 tons in ISSl, and 579 tons in 1882. Much damage 

 has been done by the exceptionally bad frosts of last month, 

 which affected the cane everywhere in the southern parts 

 of the colony. Much of the young cane has been run 

 through the rollers akeady, and the ground replanted, 

 which will tend to increase the crop of 1884. 



Bundaberg is progressing rapidly, and until the recent 

 frosts the cane looked splendid. The damage done is more 

 serious than it would otherwise be, owing to the absence 

 of adequate machinery for dealing quickly with the frosted 

 cane. A good many mill plants are in course of erection, 

 or on order, and another year will find the planters better 

 prepared for emergencies. Notwithstanding frosts and other 

 draw-backs, we predict a briglit future fortius district. 



Mackay seems destined withal to maintain supremacy 

 as the sugar metropolis. JIauy foreign capitalists have 

 invc-^ted here, and the cry is "still they come." About 

 2".0iln acres were selected at the last land Court, and the 

 demand seems to be iucreasiug rather than dimiuislung. 



New machinery is going np in all directions, and the total 

 acreage under crop, will in two years be perfectly astonish- 

 ing. The greatest activity is observable at Homebush, 

 Victoria, and Farleigh plantations. Timber is in great 

 demand, and exceedingly scarce. Draught horses too are 

 not to be had for money, and several of the newer selections 

 are yet at a standstill for want of them. 



As an instance of the curiosities of modern colonization^ 

 and the many sides it j^rcsents, we refer to the successful 

 enterprise and ability exhibited by tlie Hop "W'ah Company 

 of Chinese sugar planters at Cairns. Wo sometime since 

 had occasion to notice some excellent cane sent to our 

 office from that plantation, which was grown on forest 

 soil. We now hear that crushing is being carried on most 

 successfully there with first-class results, as much as three 

 and a half tons being obtained per acre. The principal 

 managers on this plantation are Chinese gentlemen of good 

 social standing in their own nation, while the sugar boiler 

 is a German. "We may safely assume, however, that before 

 long even that important position will be held by a China- 

 man. — Planter and Farmer, 



OR^VNGE TREE CULTIVATION. 



The following facts as to orange cultivation at the Azores, 

 commuuicated in a letter to an Australian contemporary, 

 will throw some light on the causes of decadence in the 

 tree and the means of preventing it : — 



Until 1835 the orange trees budded, blossomed, and 

 fruited with unvarying regidarity. The grower would as 

 soon have suspected the sun of variation from his diurnal 

 course as the orangeries from their yearly round of duty. 

 They were handed from father to son, and lasting as they 

 did from generation to generation, it is not surprising 

 that they became a symbol of permanence. These trees 

 cost the growers no care, no attention, no labour, save 

 the labour of picking and packing, so far as we can un- 

 derstand. The people might dance and drink the year 

 round, and the orange would blossom and frxiit the year 

 round, without trenching, without manuring, without drain- 

 ing — it may be without pruning The plant was neither 

 fickle nor fastidious, and the islanders rejoiced in their 

 orange trees. Suddenly, however, there came a change. 

 This bright picture of the gi'owiug, greenleaved, self-con- 

 tained tree, surrounded by a joyful, sun-loving, dancing 

 people, dissolves away, and gives place to a pale-leaved 

 and sickly tree, surrounded by a carefaced and inquiring 

 population. Their first proceedings were those of the panic- 

 stricken ; they were carried to extremes. From absolute 

 indolence they rushed into alarming activity ; but it was 

 the blundering activity of ignorance. HaHng had little 

 need to inquire into the physiology of the plant, or the 

 relations subsisting between the soil and the plant, they 

 adopted measures to set things rights which outraged both, 

 and only made things worse; but gradually, by the aid 

 of the suggestions of science and a teachable disposition, 

 a middle course was liit upon, and restorative processes 

 were prescribed with an intelligent knowledge of the pa- 

 tients' requirements. 



At first the trees were overloaded with manure and 

 stifled with shelter, aud a great deal more was done to 

 them than they could well bear. Now they perceive that 

 thorough drainage is at the foundation of successful orange 

 growing; that next to this, trenching to a gi'eat depth 

 is essentia!; and thirdly, that manure must be applied- 

 hut with discretion. It is true the trees are more fickle 

 than they were, and die more frequently, and the fruit 

 will not keep so long. But growers can again count with 

 tolerable certainty upon their crop. The disease of the 

 orange was first discovered in the Azores in 183G, when 

 it was found that the oldest and best trees — as much as 

 200 and 300 years old, and producing each 6,000 to 20,0(. 

 oranges — were disappearing. It was observed that all the 

 trees atfected produced a very heavy crop the very year 

 that the disease manifested itself, that the leaves became 

 yellow and fell otf in great quantities, and on the trunks 

 or stems near, and sometimes beneath the ground, the bark 

 opened, and drops of a kind of yellow gum exuded. The 

 drops resembled tears {layrimas^ in Portuguese), and there- 

 fore the disease was named lagrima. 



Jlauy orangeries were quite detitroyed, and a remedy 

 was eagerly sought. Opiuioiis as to tkii cause ol Uie disease 



