NEW ZEALAND GARDENING. 175 



Parramatta, in New South Wales, are said to yield at least 

 one hundred dozen oranges, the usual wholesale price being 

 6d. per dozen or 2 IDS. per tree, showing a return of ^175 

 per acre ; the only expense being a little well-rotted manure 

 and one man's time attending to them, although some 

 authorities discountenance the use of manure of any kind. 



Diseases. The most fertile of all causes of disease is a 

 cold, wet subsoil. Hundreds of acres of trees have been 

 lost in Australia from this cause, and it will be well to 

 remember that it is only throwing away money to plant 

 orange trees on land having a retentive subsoil. 



Scales. The kinds which infest orange trees most in 

 New Zealand are the black scale, Lecanium oleae, and 

 Hesperidum. The latter is more injurious than the former. 

 The best remedy for these pests is that adopted by the best 

 orange growefs in New South Wales, viz., to brush the 

 infected trees with a hard brush or piece of sacking, and 

 then wash well with Gishurst's compound, which has a 

 beneficial effect on the bark of the trees. Icerya Purchasi 

 or cotton cushion scale is without doubt the most destructive 

 of all the pests which infest orange or lemon groves ; nor 

 are its ravages confined to these trees ; it is said to be 

 omnivorous. Every effort should be made to get rid of this 

 terrible pest, failing which the infected trees should be cut 

 down and burned. 



Borers are also destructive to orange and lemon trees. 

 As soon as the holes are observed, the twig or branch 

 should either be cut out or the holes should be probed 

 with a bit of pliant wire or whalebone, salad oil syringed 

 into the holes, and the holes plugged with wax. 



The Varieties to Plant. This is a difficult point to settle. 

 The best and most prolific oranges in Parramatta (New South 

 Wales) are now known as Parramatta oranges. 



For fuller information on this subject we would direct 

 our readers' attention to a treatise on Orange Culture, by 

 ( ieorge E. Alderton, published by the New Zealand Govern- 

 ment, 1884. 



