82 Journal of Agriculture. [lo P'eb., 1910- 



Still another point to be observed is the packing of fruit when quite 

 dry. Wet fruit should never be packed in the cases. If fruit is picked 

 in early morning with the rain or dew still on it, it should be thoroughly 

 air dried before packing. 



Orchard Operations. 



The copious rains of mid-January were very beneficial to plant growth,, 

 and manv varieties of fruit received a great impetus thereby. A few 

 varieties of soft fruits that were ripening at the time of the rainfall,, 

 cracked ; but the benefits to the orchard were far greater than the loss of 

 fruit. Windstorms have been fairly general, and in some places great, 

 damage has occurred. The rains gave a great .stimulus to the trees and. 

 fruit ; and cultivating work was made much easier. 



Cultivation should still be proceeded with, and the soil kept in a con- 

 tinual condition of surface friability. This is especially necessary at this- 

 time of the year. Now that a good supply of rain is in the soil, it should 

 be well conserved, so that the growing period of the trees may be continued 

 until early autumn, when the trees should be allowed to ripen their wood. 



Budding mav be continued ; and if an early start were made, the buds, 

 may be allowed to push their way out into growth, so that this may harden 

 and be ready for pruning in the proper season. Buds that are placed in. 

 in late season, should be left dormant until the springtime. Summer prun- 

 ing also may be continued, and all superfluous terminal lateral growths^ 

 removed, so as to strengthen the remaining buds and also to force out fruit 

 buds for next season. 



Fumigation. 



February is the best month for fumigating evergreen trees, notably 

 trees of the Citrus species that are infested with any variety of scale. The 

 trees should be closely enveloped in a fairly air-impervious sheet or tent, 

 and hydro-cyanic acid gas should be generated inside. The fumes of this 

 gas are extremely dangerous, and the process should be carried out with great 

 care. A fairly .safe charge for an average tree, that is, a tree about 12 feet 

 high and of about 10 feet in diameter, would be 4 ounces of cyanide ot 

 potassium, 4 fluid ounces of sulphuric acid, and 12 ounces of water. An 

 earthenware, wooden, or enamel vessel should be used, and the acid should 

 be measured into this first ; then pour the water on to the acid, and when 

 all is ready, the vessel being insicie the tent, the cyanide should be dropped 

 quicklv into the liquid, and the tent closed down. Approximately, three 

 quarters of an hour is all the time necessary to fumigate the tree. 



Fumigation is a dangerous operation in strong sunshine; the result of 

 fumigating at such a time would be that the tree would probably be killed. 

 Manv growers, for safety sake, prefer to fumigate at night time. If done 

 in the daytime, a cloudy day should be selected. Fumigation is the 

 easiest and the surest method of completely eradicating red scale on Citrus 

 trees ; and it has been performed with great success on both sides of the 

 Dividing Range in Victoria. 



Spraying. 



The cold and wet weather of January has had the effect of somewhat 

 retarding the operations of the second brood of the codlin moth. Very 

 few eggs were observed up to the time of writing, 19th January. With 

 the return of the warmer weather, this pest will be on the wing ; and the 

 whole of the apple and pear trees should be again spraved and kept 

 covered with spray to the end of the season. All fruit infested with larvae 

 should be collected and destroyed, and a more rigorous search than ever 



