10 Aug., 1918.] Apple Culture in Victoria. 459 



These loose soils, no matter in what part of the State they occur, are 

 almost invariably unfavorable for apple culture, but, if fairly rich in 

 plant food, they may, according to their physical construction and local 

 situation, be utilized for the production of citrus fruits, peaches, pears, 

 passion fruit and berries. Oranges, lemons, and peaches thrive well 

 under irrigation on the sandy rises at Mooroopna, Cobram, and other 

 parts of the north. Pears may, with careful management, be profit- 

 ably cultivated on the sandy loams of Burwood, Brighton, and Chelten- 

 ham; while the red, loose soils of South Gippsland, Wandin, &c., are 

 suitable for the cultivation of cherries, passion fruit and berries. 



These open soils respond freely to scientific irrigation. When they 

 are being irrigated, the water, as it escapes from the delivery pipe, 

 instead of being carried the full length of the furrow as illustrated in 

 Fig. 1, disappears a short distance from the pipe as shown in Fig. 3 {a). 

 The length of the stream is regulated according to the looseness of the 

 soil. The water descends as shown by the arrows and drains away. 

 leaving the portion of land between {a) and (h) unwatered. 



In order to overcome these difficulties and insure equitable and 

 economic distribution, the method of applying the water shown in Fig. 

 4 may be practised. In this case the furrow is lined with strips of old 

 canvas or other suitable material, over which the water flows freely to 

 the point where it is required for distribution. One strip lines the 

 furrow between the delivery pipe and (a), and overlaps by a few inches 

 the strip to (6), and two strips are similarly placed between (h) and {d). 

 When the water reaches the point (c) the lining between it and {d)^ is 

 removed, and the soil is watered as indicated by the arrows passing 

 through the heavily shaded portion of earth. The part between {h) and 

 (c) is next treated, and so on till the watering of the whole section is 

 completed. The terraced formation described by the two horizo'utal 

 rows of arrow-heads running from the stratum to the left denotes the 

 portion of soil affected when the water is scieiitifically applied, but fur- 

 ther penetration takes place later. It is not suggested that the water- 

 ing in every instance can be accomplished with such unerring precision 

 as the illustration would seem to indicate, but, as the supply of water is 

 usually limited, this should, nevertheless, be the operator's objective. 

 Fig. 5 is a cross-section of Fig. 4, showing the canvas lining containing 

 the water in the furrow. 



The better, although a more expensive mode of watering raspberries, 

 loganberries, gooseberries, and other shallow-rooting plants when culti- 

 vated on loose soil, is by the employment of a system of overhead 

 sprinklers connected by 1-inch iron piping with the outlet supply pipe. 

 Not alone is an even, economical and more natural distribution of the 

 water afforded by this means, but the spriaikling banishes thrip, which 

 badly infests the flowers of these plants during the early part, particu- 

 larly, of dry, warm seasons. 



It has already been stated that the roots are most active when there is 

 just the (proper amount of moisture present in the soil. The proper 

 amount may be defined as the quantity of water necessary to moisten all 

 the soil particles, but not enough to cause saturation by excluding the air 

 from the soil's interspaces. This essentially healthy environment is set 

 up when all the free water has been carried away ; good drainage hastens 

 its creation and maintains this condition. The trees draw their supply 



