126 Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. [10 Feb., 1916. 



ORCHARD AND GARDEN NOTES. 



E. E. Pescott, F.L.S., Frinclpal, School of Horticulture, Burnley. 



The Orchard. 



Orchardists will be busy during Februar}?- with the gathering and 

 marketing of early and export fruit. In gathering fruit every care 

 should be taken to see that it is not in any way bruised or crushed. 

 This is often the cause of fruit decaying so rapidly and of the deteriora- 

 tion of fruit in the fruit room. All fruit should be handled as lightly 

 as possible. 



Another point to be ob&erved is the necessity for grading fruit for 

 the market. Grading pays, and it pays handsomely. A buyer will 

 never offer a good price for mixed grades, more especially as he will 

 probably require to grade it if he wishes to resell it. A good price 

 will always be obtained for first-grade fruit, while the low price offered 

 for mixed grades can generally be secured for the lowest grades as well. 

 The more exact the grading, the more profit for the fruit-grower ; the 

 more care in packing, the more returns for the producer; and so the 

 greater care and exactness, the better it pays to grow fruit. 



A final spraying for codlin moth will be necessaxy this month. The 

 fallen fruit should all be collected and boiled, and all crevices and 

 hiding places searched for larvse. The season has been favorable to 

 the development of bryobia mite and woolly aphis, and, as soon as the 

 fruit has been picked from the trees attacked by these insects, a good 

 spraying of strong tobacco water should be given. This will minimize 

 to a great extent the winter work. Cultivation should still be pro- 

 ceeded with, and the soil kept in a continual condition of surface fria- 

 bility. This is especially necessary at this time of the year. With a 

 good supply of moisture 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 may be continued, and if an early start were made the 

 buds may be allowed to push their way out into growth, so that they 

 may harden and be ready for pruning in the proper season. Buds 

 that are placed in late season should be left dormant until the spring- 

 time. Summer pruning may also 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. 

 Evergreen trees, including those of the citrus family, that are in- 

 fested with scale, should now be sprayed or fumigated to rid the trees 

 of this pest. For spraying, a weak red oil emulsion, lime and sulphur 

 spray, or resin wash will be found useful for the purpose. The most 

 successful method, however, of dealing with the scale pest is by fumiga- 

 tion. The trees should be closely enveloped in an airtight sheet or 

 tent, and hydrocyanic gas should be generated inside. The chemicals 

 for generating the gas, as well as the fumes of the gas itself, are ex- 



