1002 Agricultural Journal of Victoria. 



THE ORCHARD. 



]>y Jas. Lang. 



Cultivation. 



A great variety of work requires attending to duiviiig this nioutb, 

 and ploughing, harrowing and scarifying will occupy a good deal of 

 time in order to get the laud into good condition and free from 

 weeds. This work should not be delayed, as the ground soon sets 

 hard, and makes it almost impossible to do a good job. This is all 

 the more necessary where young orchards have been planted, as 

 keeping the ground constantly stirred and free from weeds con- 

 tributes more than any other operation to the successful growth of 

 the young trees. Look carefully over the young trees and remove all 

 unnecessary shoots, leaving only those required to form the tree. 



Spraying. 



Spraying for the l)lack spot on the a})ple and pear with Bordeaux 

 mixture requires early attention, the strength 6 — 4 — 40 is recom- 

 mended by the Pathologist's branch to be used. 



In the moist districts to the east of Melbourne, extra vigilance 

 will have to be given to the matter, the jjast summer being unusually 

 moist develo])ed the disease to an abnormal extent. The first 

 spraying should be given when the bloom buds are just bursting and 

 another when the young fruit has grown about the size of small 

 walnuts ; should the season prove moist further sprayings will be 

 required at intervals of about a fortnight or three weeks.* Instruc- 

 tions as to the best method of mixing the Bordeaux have been given 

 in previous numbers of this Journal. Some orchardists who have a 

 difficulty in procuring fresh lime will be glad to know that lime in 

 air-tight tins will keep fresh for several months. The plan adopted 

 by the writer last year was to fill kerosene tins with the fresh lumps 

 of lime and close down by pasting brown paper over the aperture, and 

 when a tin w^as opened later on the lime was as fresh as when put in 

 the tin. Apricots also will require spraying with Bordeaux for shot- 

 hole and scab ; a good time to spray is when the trees have just 

 gone off the bloom, and another spraying about three weeks later. 



Spraying for the codlin moth will also have to be attended to, 

 the first spraying should be giveii when the petals have dropped 

 from the blossoms, and before the calyx closes up. Another spraying 

 should be given in about four weeks time, and afterwards at fort- 

 nightly intervals right through the summer. The moth generally 

 makes its appearance about the early part of October, and it takes 

 about three months before the first brood are all hatched out. Trees 

 should also be bandaged, and looked over at intervals of ten or 

 fourteen days throughout the summer, this hel])s t(» keep down the 

 numbers of the second brood very considerably. 



Look over all trees newly grafted and in the case of old trees the 

 scions will have to be secured to a stay to prevent the wind blowing 

 them off. 



*In Bulletin 17 just issued, the Vef^etable Pathologist recommends only two sprayings at the most, the 

 first as the buds are bursting and the second just as the fruit has set. [Kd. Journal.] 



