214 STATE BOARD OF HORTICULTURE. 



they are tall, well-grown trees of, say, an inch in diameter, and 

 are then grafted or budded. Sometimes this is done in the 

 nursery, and sometimes the saplings are set out in their per- 

 manent position first. In either case the bud or graft is made 

 about four feet from the ground. The methods followed are 

 in no important point different from those followed here. The 

 most frequent practice is to use the shield-bud method in 

 early summer, and when this fails, to bud again in autumn, 

 and allow the bud to remain dormant until spring. 



The land for the lemon grove is well prepared, and in the 

 hot months of July and August the "formelle," or holes for 

 planting, are dug about three feet deep, and in the late autumn, 

 or early spring, the saplings are removed from the nursery 

 and set out. Before planting, the trees are often made to 

 undergo a peculiar treatment, called the " Ordeal of Darkness.'' 

 They are dug ujd from the nursery and put in wicker baskets 

 filled with loam and conveyed to a dark room, where they are 

 kept away from the light for about fifteen days. They are then 

 exposed to half-light for five days, and then placed in an ex- 

 posed, but shad}' spot, for a month. Should a tree show signs of 

 sickness it is again conveyed to the dark room for eight or ten 

 days more. It is said that trees subjected to this ordeal seldom, 

 if ever, fail to take speedy root and thrive. The trees are 

 planted at from twelve to fifteen feet apart, and the rows are 

 placed as nearly north and south as can be managed. 



How Trees Are Trained. — The system of training the trees 

 with a high, straight stem, and planting closely together, ren- 

 ders it necessary to prune trees much more than is done in 

 South Australia. The trees meet overhead, but one can walk 

 upright under the main branches. Sunlight and a free circu- 

 lation of air are essential to the lemon, therefore the trees are 

 kept open by systematic pruning and trimming, so that in an 

 old grove there is an even distribution of fruit over the whole 

 area. 



Annual Crops Between Trees.— It is the custom to grow 

 cereals, vegetables, peas, beans, lupins, and other crops 

 between the trees for some years. Quite frequently, too, vines 

 or cotton plants are grown in the young lemon groves. Of 

 course, such groves receive much hand cultivation, regular 

 manuring, and liberal cultivation. When the development of 



