CHAPTER XXXI. 



SOME COMPARISONS OF ENGLISH AND AUSTRALIAN FRUIT GROWING. 



By Staff Sergeant-Major P. Val. Kerr, F.R.H.S. 



(Former student at the Hawkesbury Agricultural College, at Eichmond, New South Wales, and 



Assistant in its fruit pollination trials.) 



The following observations are made by 

 an Australian fruitgrower during a few 

 months' stay in England. It is hoped that 

 they may enlighten English growers as to 

 some of the differences in fruit culture exist- 

 ing in the two countries. At the same time, 

 our experiences may be helpful to our frieads 

 on this side of the world. 



At the outset, it is necessary to compare 

 the acreage of the orchards in both couotriex. 

 In Australia, the land on which fruit is grown 

 is all freehold, and the average plantation 

 varies from 15 to 25 acres. These properties 

 are usually cultivated l^ the owner with the 

 help of employed labour, the former taking 

 an active part in the work. In this country 

 the plantations are considerably larger, and 

 the owner seldom does any work, apart from 

 superintending the various orchard operations. 

 I should say that the foreman or bailiff in 

 English orchards occupies a somewhat similar 

 position to the owner of an Australian pro- 

 perty, as far as labour is concerned. 



Systems of Planting. 



In Australia all trees planted for commer- 

 cial purposes are propagated on free stocks, 

 no dwarf trees being used for this object. 

 Nearly all fruit trees are budded, grafting 

 being but little practised. The orchard trees 

 are usually planted in virgin soil on the 

 square system, 20ft. by 20ft., and no orchard 

 fillers are utilised. For the first two, or 

 possibly three years, vegetables or nursery 

 stock are sometimes grown between the rows 

 of trees. After that time, the whole of the 

 ground is made available for the fruit trees. 

 No berry fruits are grown between the 

 orchard trees. By this method, one man can 

 do al the necessary work on 10 acres of 

 bearing orchard, a small amount of labour 

 being employed during the fruit season. 



In England the permanent orchard trees 

 are generally interplanted with fillers (usually 



dwarfs), whilst between the main trees and 

 the fillers, berry or bush fruits are grown. 

 This method of planting entails a great 

 amount of labour. With the present high 

 cost of labour, it is questionable whether this 

 system will be a payable one when the price 

 of fruit becomes normal again. 



Cultivation. 



During the whole of the summer in Aus- 

 tralia, the orchard must be cultivated in order 

 to keep down weeds and conserve moisture. 

 The ground is plowed up to the trees in 

 autumn, leaving the water furrows midway 

 between the rows of trees. This allows all 

 surplus moisture to drain away during the 

 winter months. No cultivation is then done 

 until the spring, when the plantation is again 

 plowed. This time the land is plowed away 

 from the trees, and the ground is left level 

 for the summer, so that as small a surface as 

 possible is exposed for the evaporation of 

 moisture. The soilrequires frequent harrow- 

 ing or scarifying during the hot weather, 

 especially after a shower of rain. 



Practically all the cultivation is done with 

 horses. Now in this respect our methods are 

 very different to those in vogue in this 

 country. In English orchards where horae 

 cultivation is practised, the ground is only 

 plowed as near to the trees as the horses can 

 work without interfering with the spreading 

 branches. So far so good, but extension 

 implements are apparently unknown in 

 England, and, in many cases, quite a good 

 portion of the ground is dug by hand. These 

 extension implements make it possible for 

 the soil to be cultivated right up to the trunks 

 of the trees, so that practically no hand work 

 is necessary, whilst the horses do not damage 

 the spreading limbs of the trees. I have a 

 case in mind in which all the digging required 

 f>n a 10-acre block was done by one man in 

 less than 8 hours ! With the present high 



