6i6 Journal of Agriculture. [8 Oct., 1907. 



THE ORCHARD. 



James Lang, Harcourt. 

 The weather has been unusually dry for this time of the year, and 

 so as to push on with the ploughing of the orchard advantage will need 

 to be taken of any rain that may fall ; once it is well ploughed it is an 

 easy matter to keep a good tilth with the scarifier throughout the summer. 

 Those who have no means of irrigating their orchards during the summer 

 should keep the surface of the ground loose and friable, and so conserve 

 all the moisture possible. By doing this, trees will have a much better 

 chance of maturing their crops than if the ground is allowed to become 

 hard and weedy. From present appearances we are likely to have a very 

 drv summer, with very drying winds. The latter soon dry up the moisture 

 unless a loose surface is kept up throughout the summer. 



Woolly aphis will now be showing in spots here and there on the trees 

 that were missed at the winter dressing. The trees should again be gone 

 over with the potash and sulphur remedy and all spots showing should 

 be touched with the brush ; this may seem a slow process but it is effective, 

 and it is astonishing how quickly by continuous effort one can get over the 

 trees. If this is done now, and again in a few weeks, the aphis will 

 give very little trouble for some time. Trees that have been sprayed with 

 red oil should also be gone over with the potash mixture, and any aphis 

 showing brushed off. 



Spraying for codlin moth should be attended to durmg the month ; 

 the first spraying should be given just when the petals fall from the 

 calvx, and before this closes up. Repeat at intervals of not more than 

 a fortnight ; the first few sprayings are the most important and should 

 not by any means be neglected. One grub of the first brood destroyed 

 is the means of preventing many hundreds later on ; orchardists should 



therefore see the necessity of making the first sprayings thoroughly 

 effective. The arsenite of lead has been the most successful spray used 

 in the Bendigo and Harcourt districts during the past two seasons, and 

 it is not so liable to burn the foliage as many of the other arsenical 

 sprays. It is made as follows: — take x lb. white arsenic, 2 lbs. of 

 washing .soda, and one gallon of water ; boil for half an hour, then take 



7 lbs. of acetate of lead and dissolve in 2 gallons warm water. When 



using take i quart of the arsenic solution, and 2 quarts of the lead solution, 



pour these into a bucket, and a thick creamlike liquid will be the result ; 



(his should be put in the spray cask with 80 gallons of water and will 



then be ready for use. 



Spraying apple and pear trees with Bordeaux mixture for black spot 



.'-hould be carried out. It should be done just before the bloom opens. 



The standard formula for making Bordeaux is 6.4.40 (bluestone, 6 lbs. ; 



lime, 4 lbs. ; water, 40 gallons), but in the drier districts 50 gallons 



should be used. 



Peach trees will need looking after for the curl in the leaf and black 



aphis ; spray with Bordeaux mixture for the former and tobacco wash or 



kerosene emulsion for the aphis. 



Young grafts should be carefully inspected, the ties loosened, and 



the scions properly secured to stakes to prevent them being blown off 



with the wind. 



Strawberry plantations should be well hoed and scarified to destroy 



weeds ; a mulching of clean straw will keep the fruit clean and free from 



sand and grit. 



