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graft, if thicker the ordinary cleft graft is generally used and 

 gives good results. It will be found that should the buds or grafts, 

 as the case may be, take well ; that they will throw out a heavy 

 growth of wood ; this growth must be kept well headed back from 

 the time it is, say, 9 inches long, as ehould it not be carefully 

 watched the first heavy wind will remove entire branches of the 

 new head. At the end of the growing season there should be a 

 well-formed and strong head to the tree, and after another season's 

 growth such trees should have caught up to the remainder of the 

 orchard. If the job is well done in trees up to five years of age 

 no time is lost except in the matter of peaches, where a year is 

 lost. Please well understand what we mean by no time being 

 lost, we mean that the planter of the orchard will get a crop from 

 the worked over trees as soon as from the rest of his orchard. 

 In older trees of course more time will be lost, but seldom more 

 than two years. So it can be seen the importance of utilizing the 

 unsatisfactory bearers instead of grubbing them out. 



There is another class of tree which comes under this head ; this 

 is where the root is totally unadapted for the soil ; it is a simple 

 matter to tell this at a glance, as the tree from the time of planting 

 has an unhappy and uncomfortable appearance in this case. When 

 the planter has made up his mind that a mistake really has been 

 made, the only thing to do is to dig them out and throw the trees 

 away at once, and replant the holes with another sort which is 

 growing satisfactorily. 



ORCHARD IRRIGATION. 



The use and abuse of water is one of the chief facters in 

 orcharding in South Africa. We get so many inquiries on this point 

 that we think it may interest planters to have our views at some 

 length. No hard or fast rule about irrigation of fruit trees can be 

 laid down, the only circumstances under which euch a rule would 

 be sound policy, would be if one had an orchard of the whole of 

 which is the same character of soil and the annual rainfall and 

 temperature exactly alike, year in year out This favoured spot 

 we have not yet located ; when found it can be irrigated alike 

 each year. The African grower is faced with a different problem 

 not only in each district, but often in the same orchard, therefore 

 we think a few remarks as to sound principles of irrigation will 

 be useful. 



A tree needs enough water to keep itself in a thoroughly healthy 

 state and to ripen its fruit ; if it does not receive this it suffers, 

 and if the tree suffers the fruit either falls or is imperfect of its 

 kind, and in either instance there is no money in it. 



There are undoubtedly many places in the Eastern and 

 Western Province where fruit can be grown without irrigation. 



