10 April, 1918.] Apple Culture in Victoria. 207 



In both these circumstances, when autumn ploughing, the soil should 

 be drawn towards the trees on both sides, and the furrows created in the 

 centres of the lands serve as the surface drains. When ploughing 

 undulations, the furroAvs should be at right angles to the ridges, except 

 where the slopes are abrupt and the soil likely to wash away; then the 

 ploughing should be at such an angle to the ridge as would prevent this 

 undesirable happening. 



Sub-drainage. 



Orchard land may become saturated and the trees water-logged 

 through springs or " spewy " subsoil, by water accumulated from seep- 

 age, or by the settling of rain residual water on the orchard area. The 

 last-mentioned condition is of the commonest ocCuri'ence, and to prevent 

 or remedy this sub-drainage is mostly resorted to. 



The officers of the Orchard Supervision Branch of the Department 

 of Agriculture have for a long series of years persistently advocated sub- 

 draining, and their efforts have been so successful that, at the present 

 time, almost all the orchardists of the State realize that its practice is 

 essential in those orchards whose subsoils do not offer free natural 

 drainage. 



The favorable soil conditions accruing from sub-drainage, by offer- 

 ing better facilities for winter spraying, pruning, and early spring culti- 

 vation, &c., as Avell as the splendid results in fruit, which are being 

 obtained from the extensive areas now sub-drained, most convincingly 

 demonstrate the desirability of this practice. 



The matter of draining orchard areas when brought under irrigation, 

 whether channel or dam system, should receive careful and prompt 

 attention. Surplus irrigation water lodging on impervious clay subsoils 

 creates unpleasant conditions for the trees, although the results are 

 generally much less injurious than those produced by winter and early 

 spring lodgment. 



The subsoils of the pine ridge portions, especially, of the northern 

 irrigation areas mostly offer free drainage, but the conditions for ti-ees 

 growing on those parts with retentive clay subsoils are considerably 

 improved by sub-drainage. 



The best and most convenient time to drain an orchard is during 

 winter, when the subsoil has become sufficiently moist to make it amen- 

 able to ditch excaA^ation, and labour is at that time more easily obtained. 

 Tile drains, as a result of experience gained during recent years, are now 

 almost exclusively employed. To thoroughly drain an orchard it is 

 generally conceded that a drain should be placed between every two 

 rows of trees. Pipes 2 or 3 inches in diameter, according to the length of 

 the drains, and the extent and nature of the area to be treated, are used 

 for the lateral drains, which a^e constructed so as to discharge into an 

 open ditch or joined into a main drain constructed of 4-inch pipes. 



The best results ai*e obtained when the drains are placed from 2i to 

 3 feet deep in the ground, according to the depth of surface soil ; if made 

 shallower the water table, practically created in the soil by the working 

 of the drains during the early spring, is usually at too high a level to 

 afford maximum feeding facilities for large trees when their roots have 

 penetrated well into the subsoil. If the drains are dug too deep, the 



