476 Agricultural Journal of Victoria. 



hard to make a good job. Tlie gieat want in nearly all oar northern 

 district orchaids is a plentiful supply of humus or decaying vegetable 

 matter, a want which can only be supplied economically by the 

 growth of winter cover crops. Cape barley has so far given the best 

 results in practice, so far as weight of green stuff to turn down is 

 concerned, but leguminous crops have the advantage that they enrich 

 the soil by means of the nitrogen they obtain from the air. Unfortu- 

 nately peas are not adapted to the average soil and climate of the 

 northern districts, hence the importance of securing some winter 

 growing leguminous plant suited to existing conditions. Further 

 experiments with the sour clover will be watched with considerable 

 interest. 



Copper-soda for Peach Leaf-curl- 



The difficulty of procuring really good, fresh lime in some of our 

 fruit-giowing districts has led, as was expected, to the use of the 

 copper-soda mixture for the control of fungus diseases. Mr. H. A. 

 Melhuisli, of Ardmona, last season, used tliis pieparation exclusively 

 in his orchard for peach leaf-curl with the most satisfactory results. 

 The formula employed was 6 lbs. bluestone, 9 lbs. washing-soda, and 

 oO gallons water. One application only was given just prior to the 

 opening of the blossoms. On the sprayed peaches and nectarines 

 hardly any curl-leaf .showed, but odd trees left without spraying, were 

 seriously affected. Two nectarines of the same variety were chosen 

 for a special comparative test, one sprayed and one not sprayed, and 

 \yhile on the sj)rayed tree hardly a single leaf showed the disease^ 

 on the one not sprayed almost every leaf was badly curled. Mr. 

 Melhui.sh is quite enthusiastic over the results, and intends always 

 using this mixture in place of the Bordeaux. Tliough in wet districts, 

 and especially in ap[)le-growing centivs where black spot is j)revalenb, 

 the Bordeaux is more efficient than the copper-soda, yet in our drier 

 inland paits the advantages of the latter in ease of manufacture and 

 cleanliness in using, more than make up for any siiglit possible 

 difference in efficiency. In fact it has yet to be proved whether in 

 dry districts the Bordeaux lias any advantage at all over copper-soda. 

 It is woj'th noting that no injury of any kind was observed on the 

 leaves of the sprayed trees, and that, the setting of the fruit was 

 exceptionally good. 



Checking Bush Fires. 



Mr. Young, forester at Barmah, vouches for the following as a 

 practical method of checking tires, in a memorandum to the Director 

 of Agriculture : — "I tied a number of old .sacks to the axle of a water- 

 cart, and let the tap play on same. The weight of the wet bags laid 

 the grass flat. We lit a tire to meet the bu.sh tire, and although it was 

 an exceptionally hot day, and the grass as dry as tinder, in no case did 

 the tire cross the track of wet bags. Where no water cart is handy, a 

 dray with a few ca.sks can be treated in the same manner, or a 

 winnowing-sheet (usually made of bags) can be made wet and dragged 

 by a horse with good results." 



