ORANGES AND LEMONS IN AUSTRALASIA. 471 



this method was used by the orange growers in Spain to propagate their 

 trees. Mr. James Pye, in connection with this matter, said : 



I have uo objection to one cross witli the common lemon ; but if you go on crossing 

 year after year, it deteriorates the quality of tlie fruit (more particularly the keeping 

 quality) as well as increases the red scale. There is no tree so subject to the red scale as 

 the lemon tree, and there is none of the orange family so free from it as the bitter 

 orange. 



lEEIGATION. 



Irrigation, for fruit-raising, has not been sufficiently tested in Aus- 

 tralia to enable an opinion to be giveu as to its effect by any well-de- 

 iined results so far as orangeries are concerned. The tru(;h is, irrigation 

 is not practiced systematically in New South Wales. In Victoria, and 

 South Australia, where irrigation colonies have been started, the trees 

 are too young to bear fruit ; but their healthy condition is an evidence 

 of what may be expected in the near future. It is very generally un- 

 derstood by farmers that no other class of fruits require irrigation so 

 much as those of the Citrus family. Crops can not be depended upon 

 during seasons of dry weather unless supplied with water by artificial 

 means. The trees are always in an active state of growth and require 

 a great deal of moisture ; therefore this moisture must be supplied from 

 some source or otherwise roOt-actiou is interfered with more or less and 

 the trees will suffer. Mr. D. A. Crichton points with pride to what has 

 been done by the irrigationists in Victoria. He does not, however, 

 propose any precise rules to be followed other than not to allow the trees 

 to flag through lack of moisture at the roots. Care must also be taken 

 not to supply water too freely, as that will make the fruit coarse, want- 

 ing in flavor, and too tender for packing and keeping. The best land 

 is drained and trenched, and by the time the trees come into bearing, 

 the expenses have often amounted to considerably over £100 ($487) per 

 acre. The fertilization at Paramatta consists principally in the use of 

 nitrogenous substances. 



PRUNING. 



Many growers recommend great care to be taken in pruning, from the 

 fact that it is often productive of more harm than good. No more cut- 

 ting ought to be done than circumstances render necessary. In the 

 case of trees which have arrived at full bearing age little is required iu 

 the way of pruning. The removal of rank shoots, dead or diseased wood, 

 and the thinning out of branches when overcrowded, so to allow the air 

 to circulate freely, are about all that is necessary. The case is different 

 with young trees, for there the object of the cultivator is the develop- 

 ment of a strong growth of wood in a particular direction. The knife 

 in that case must be used pretty freely. Young trees should have suffi- 

 cient lateral shoots left to balance the plants in each direction and form 

 the heads. Shoots not required for the development of the tree should 

 be cut away. It is better, however, to leave a few more shoots thau 

 those which will be ultimately required to form the trees, iu order to 

 156a 6 



