32 THE FRUIT GROWER'S GUIDE. 



Old walls are great harbourers of insect pests and predatory vermin. "Wash such walls 

 well with bisulphide of calcium, using it at double or treble the strength advised for 

 destroying mildew, brushing it well into every hole and crevice. It destroys insects, 

 fungoid germs, and moss. Avoid salt brine, as it renders the walls damp. Lime wash is 

 excellent for filling up cracks in walls, smothering insects, and destroying fungi and moss, 

 but its colour is objectionable. If used for brick walls, mix sufficient Venetian red with 

 the lime wash to bring it to a soft brick red, mixing enough at once to cover the whole 

 surface to insure its being of one colour. This imparts a new appearance, care being taken 

 to have the wash thin, rubbing it well into the brickwork. For stone walls add sufficient 

 brown umber to render the limewash a stone colour. Eschew gas-tar ; its fumes are injurious 

 to vegetation, and it is dismal in appearance. 



OECHARDS. 



Although fruit is rarely forthcoming from orchard trees of the same size and quality 

 as from gardens, yet where these are not of sufficient size for affording the requisite 

 supply of fruit, an addition is desirable, or a separate orchard. A situation similar to 

 that of a garden, and the same preparatory operations, are necessary for an orchard. The 

 site is best near the garden if a suitable one offers, but in any case it should be open to 

 the morning, midday, and afternoon sun. The whole should be effectually screened from 

 the prevailing winds by trees, referred to under " Shelter," at a sufficient distance to pre- 

 vent their shading the orchard trees, or robbing the soil with their roots. Orchard trees, 

 however, have, as a rule, to bear greater exposure than those in gardens ; therefore, only 

 varieties of proved hardiness should be selected. Standards are alone admissible in 

 orchards where cattle are allowed, the farm orchard being best laid down in grass ; not 

 that this is the most eligible form of growing hardy fruit, but because the subsequent 

 management is less costly than if the land were kept tilled. Orchards are, moreover, 

 useful adjuncts to a farm through being handy for turning in young stock, or such 

 animals as require to be kept separate from others, and under the immediate care of 

 the farmer or shepherd. Home orchards are also of great value to the poultry fancier. 

 There is really no objection to these combinations. The farmer should be careful to keep 

 the grass short, and to feed sheep on oilcake, as these, also calves kept on nourishing 

 diet, enrich the soil, whilst the tread of the animals makes quick work of moss. Then 

 nothing causes the larvae of insects to disappear sooner than do fowls, and the need of 

 changing ground for them insures the whole of the orchard being kept in an enriched 



