( 106 ; 



L.), or young leaves of " Shuro " ( Trachycarpus excelca, 

 WendL) or with fine zinc or copper wires. 



Bagging is mainly practised on peaches, pears and apples, 

 while early varieties and those with hard flesh and less sugary 

 contents are always grown uncovered. Recently, the vine 

 growers of Kawachi and Kai have begun to adopt this method 

 as a preventive against the so-called Oidium fungus. In this 

 case, long bottomless bags covered inside with light sulphur 

 paste are used. 



The results have been fairly good but the superiority of 

 spraying with Bordeaux mixture is also known. 



Trials made with the Kaki fruits have proved that bagging 

 is effective against premature .dropping of the fruits due 

 to insects and fungi. Morever as stated above, thin skin, 

 smoothness, large size and unifoi mity of quality can be secur- 

 ed. 



IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE. 



Our damp clin:>ate greatly reduces the neccessity of 

 irrigation in summer. Though abundant water is one of the 

 essential conditions for rice plants in their growing stage, there 

 is very little need of it for orchards. The extensive irrigation 

 system of the orchards of such a region as California, is a 

 wonder for our home growers and is beyond their imagination. 



Only those pear orchards which are located on sandy 

 soils in river beds and seashores require some irrigation in 

 midsummer. Even plantations on steep hillsides do not require 

 much of a water supply in summer, while a light mulch is seldom 

 necessary in this case. Cultivation and light mulch answer 

 well in this case. Heavy mulch often injures the plants, the 

 exclusion of the heat and light only favoring the work of fungi 

 and vermin. Covering the ground to protect them from drying, 

 such as is done in America is wholly unnecessary in our coun- 

 try. The essential point is to keep orchards clean and bare 

 in most seasons, except during some short periods of severe 



