8 Feb., 1908.] 



Farm Reports. 



125 



to rust out. Owing to the exceptionally dry winter there will be a falling 

 off in the number of cuttings for the coming season. 



Wahgunyah Nursery, 



About 10 acres have been trenched, laid out and utilized as a nursery 

 for the growth of the grafted cuttings. It would have been much better 

 if we could have had the land cleared earlier as planting nursery stock 

 immediately after the removal of green timber, before the ground has time 

 to sweeten, has its drawbacks. A considerable amount of work has been 

 undertaken at the nursery during the quarter, and represents our concen- 

 trated efforts for some time. Owing to its distance — some 12 miles — it is 

 somewhat difficult to work in connexion with the head station. The tele- 

 phone win minimise this difficulty. A cottage for the officer-in-charge, and 

 " barracks " to accommodate a dozen boys and their supervisors, have been 

 erected. The lads sent over to assist in the planting out of the grafts^ 

 rendered valuable help. 



PLANTING THE CALLUSED GRAFTS. 



During the whole time of planting the weather was exceptionally un- 

 favorable. No rain of any consequence fell for months. It was one of the 

 driest and most trying seasons on record in this respect. To add to climatic 

 difficulties, we had to remove most of the grafts from the College frames. 

 Every care was taken to keep them from drying, by packing in moss, &c., 

 \et their removal, the necessary handling, and inevitable exposure, though 

 reduced to a minimum, were not conducive to the best results. 



As soon as the grafts began to show above ground we were mifortunate 

 enough to lose a large number of the successful grafts by " cutworms " 

 which have been exceptionally prevalent this year. These ipests ate through 

 the young shoots. As they carried on their destructive work below the 

 surface, it was impracticable to destrov them with poisoned baits as is suc- 

 cfessfully done when thev come above ground to feed. 



No sooner had we got rid of the cutworms than we had a serious visita- 

 tion of locusts. Not only ourselves but several vignerons suffered severely 

 from the depredations of these invaders. Everything green in their line of 

 flight disappeared. We were congratulating ourselves that the vines would 



