464 FRUIT CULTURE IN FOREIG!S T COUNTRIES. 



Australia, tbe Lisbon is the most popular ; but there are several kinds of 

 Lisbons, the best known of whi.^h are the variegated and the thoruless. 

 The common lemon is also cultivated, but the fruit is small and interior, 

 when compared with the Lisbon. Mr. George W. Knight, whose testi- 

 mony was taken by the Royal Commission of Victoria on vegetable 

 products, states that the lemon will not stand the warm, dry climate 

 of the northern part of Victoria and that its leaves do not attain half 

 the ordinary size there. 



The lime (Citrus limetta) is cultivated more or less in various parts 

 of Australia, and will thrive almost anywhere when the thermometer 

 does not fall lower than 20 degrees above zero. The best kinds are the 

 Lemon lime, the Bergamot, the Mela Rose, and the small Naples lime. 

 All these will grow luxuriantly over a large extent of country. They 

 are found on the Blue Mountains and on the table lands of the New 

 England district in New South Wales. They are not partial to a high 

 temperature and especially where the sun is hot enough to scorch them. 

 They like a little frost and what is called a dormant climate. In Queens- 

 land both the orange and lemon trees' have an inclination to form into 

 a crown at the surface and branch out in long luxuriant branches like 

 the bamboo. 



The largest orange and lemon trees in Australasia are to be found in 

 the county of Cumberland, in Mr. S. N. Pye's grove at Rocky Hall, Par- 

 amatta. They are the oldest trees in this part of the world, having 

 been planted nearly a century ago. Some of the trees are over 40 feet 

 in height and have a diameter of 22 inches. They have been mentioned 

 in various reports I have made as yielding as many as 10,000 oranges 

 per tree in a single season. 



SOIL FORMATION. 



The soil in the orange-growing district about Paramatta consists 

 principally of Wianainatta shales overlying sandstone. The soil around 

 Lane Cove, also in the Paramatta district, has been carefully analyzed 

 by Mr. W. A. Dixon, F. I. C., P. C. S., instructor in chemistry, Sydney 

 Technical College, for Mr. Angus McKay, instructor in agriculture at 

 the same college. 



Mr. Dixon remarks with reference to soil analyses : 



It may be sai<l with truth that the greater number by far of the soil analyses which 

 have been published are of little value, for these reasons: (1) Sufficient care has sel- 

 dom been takt-n to obtain uniform samples of the soil for analyses; and (2) the analy- 

 ses have nofc been conducted with sufficient refinement to secure the object in view 

 The former condition can be easily attained, but the latter can only be secured by 

 years of practice, which is often wanting in those to whom the work is relegated. 



I have not been able to obtain analyses of the soils in the different 

 orange-growing parts, but such as I have obtained have been made by 

 Mr. W. A. Dixon, and it is worthy of note to quote his explanation of 

 the manner in which his analyses are made : 



In select ing a sample, it i.s commonly the practice to dig up some soil in one place and 

 mix up ten or twelve pounds of it for a sample. If we consider that the excrement of 

 a bird containing ten grains of nitrogen mixed with a sample so taken would be 



