574 Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. [11 Sept., 1916. 



It is very urgent that the lime should be thoroughly fresh and quick, 

 otherwise the spray mixture will give very inferior results. A second 

 necessary point is that the copper sprays should be used as soon as they 

 are made. Where the grower does not wish to make his own spray, there 

 are quite a number of ready-made Bordeaux pastes and Bordeaux mix- 

 tures already on the market, which can be used with satisfactory re- 

 sults. In fact, the use of these has become fairly general, and it is 

 not now the practice for growers to make their own sprays. 



Geneeal. 



It is most important that ploughing should be completed as early 

 as possible. In the past, it has very frequently happened that, owing 

 to delaying the ploughing, the orchard and the fruit crop have both 

 suffered very considerably. It is absolutely necessary to cultivate the 

 surface early, to take advantage of the moist surface and consequent 

 easy ploughing; and also to conserve as large an amount of moisture in 

 the soil as possible. The longer the ploughing is delayed, the less 

 amount of moisture is retained in the soil for summer use. Deferred 

 ploughing certainly means dry soil, enfeebled trees, and diminished re- 

 sults. Early ploughing gives exactly opposite results; the earlier the 

 ploughing, the more soil water is conserved. 



When the ploughing is completed, the clods should be crushed, and 

 the land harrowed, so that a fine earth mulch may be obtained. The 

 orchard surface should be kept as level as possible, and no irregular 

 ridging or furrows should be allowed. 



All cover crops planted to supply humus to the soil should now be 

 ploughed in. If the plants are of a leguminous nature, the best time 

 to plough these in is when they are in full flower. If the growth has 

 been at all excessive or rank, the crop may be rolled before ploughing; 

 or it may be cut or mowed with a mowing machine. Every care should 

 be taken that the plants should be distributed evenly over the ground, 

 and large quantities in a mass should not be ploughed under. Artificial 

 and stable manures may also be given to the trees at this time. These 

 should be applied before ploughing. 



Grafting. 

 The work of grafting should be completed early in the month. The 

 most useful method of reworking old trees is to cut the head right off, 

 leaving only the stump. Then grafts can be put in according to the 

 fancy of the grower. The old method of clef,t grafting has been super- 

 seded by the bark or crown graft. The latter method does not cause 

 any damage to the wood and thus, with care, no rotting can take place. 

 The best method of bark grafting is the saddle graft; that is, the graft 

 is inserted in the bark and a strip of bark is carried right across the 

 trunk and inserted in the bark on the opposite side. This method is 

 much slower than the ordinary bark graft, but it insures a much quicker 

 healing over the old stump. 



Vegetable Garden. 



The vegetable plots should be cleaned from all weeds, having the 

 light weeds dug in and the stronger ones pulled out and rotted in the 

 compost heap. The surface should be worked up to a very fine tilth 

 after digging; it must be kept constantly loose with the hoe to keep the 



