104 



THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



August, 1913 



the sap is beginning to run strongly 

 as the tree is coming into leaf. 



Theoretically the proper place to 

 make the cut in pruning the vine is 

 through the node or joint above that 

 from which the shoot is to grow, but 

 in ordinary practice the cut is com- 

 monly made anj-where below it 



— Pruning Figs. — 



Beyond shaping the young tree, the 

 only pruning a fig tree requires is to 

 cut away any branches which grow in 

 wrong positions or where they are 

 too close together. In Smyrna, where 

 the best figs are grown, practically no 

 pruning at all is done after the tree 

 has been trained to have a trunk five 

 feet high. All suckers should be cut 

 away whenever they appear. 



— Liming Soil. — 



The nature^ of the soil must be 

 taken into account when using lime. 

 On heavy tenacious soil it may be 

 appled at the rate of up to cwt. 

 per rod. On moderate stiff loams 

 that have been heavily manured up 

 to I cwt., whilst half the quantity 

 should be sufficient for light sandy 

 land. 



— Stunted Trees. — 



In pruning an old stunted apricot, 

 such as one often sees in old, neglect- 

 ed gardens, the first thing to do is 

 to remove altogether any branches 



which crowd the tree, with special 

 care to open up the centre. Having 

 done that it will probably be de- 

 sirable tq shorten back the main arms 

 very considerably, perhaps up to one- 

 third of the length, for the object is 

 to throw the whole vigour of the tree 

 into a portion of the former branch 

 area. This refers, of course, to trees 

 which have been stunted in growth 

 by poor soil, lack of moisture, robber 

 trees, &c., and not to well-grown 

 established trees, which have steadied 

 down, and naturally are now making 

 nmch less growth than in their young- 

 er days. If such stunted trees are 

 cultivated, watered and manured, with 

 a thinning of the fruit when it sets, 

 the result will probably be a good 

 crop of fine apricots, whereas if left 

 as they are the fruit from such trees 

 would be hardly worth picking. 



— Fungicides and Insecticides. — 



The principal fungicides used are 

 Bordeaux Mixture, Lime-Sulphur 

 solution, and Ammonio-carbonate of 

 Copper. The principal insecticides 

 are Arsenate of Lead, an internal poi- 

 son for leaf eating insects. Arsenical 

 Bordeaux, a combined insecticide and 

 fungicide, and Kerosene Emulsion, 

 Resin Wash, Tobacco solution, and 

 Lime-Sulphur are all external contact 

 poisons for scale insects and plant 

 lice. 



— Labels. — 



Where trees are to be labelled so 

 that there will be no doubt in the 

 future as to the name of the variety, 

 pieces of flat galvanized iron, about 

 four inches by one inch, will answer 

 the purpose. Write the name and 

 yearof planting with a black lead pen- 

 cil, then put on a thin coat of white 

 paint; this will prevent washing off, 

 but will allow the writing to be dis- 

 tinctly seen. 



— The Mulberry. — 

 Though the mulberry has been 

 known for centuries, it is still a fruit 

 that should be more extensively 

 grown than 'is the case at present. 

 Commercially it is a difficult fruit to 

 handle, but there is no objection to 

 it for the home garden. The leaves 

 are large and handsome and as useful 

 as vine leaves for decorating dessert 

 dishes, &c. Many people consider the 

 fruit delicious as dessert, and it is 

 certainly useful for tarts, jam, &c. 



— Peaches on Almonds. — 

 Though some growers state that 

 the fruit on almond stock trees 

 colours better, besides being of better 

 flavour, especially where the soil is 

 poor or stony, the general opinion is 

 that under all ordinary conditions the 

 peach seedling is the best stock for 

 the peach. Under some conditions, 

 such as poor stony soil, its hardier, 

 stronger, and more vigorous habit 

 gives it 'a better chance than the 

 weaker peach stock. The influence of 

 the stock on the worJced tree has 

 never been satisfactorily determined 

 by careful experiments, and is there- 

 fore a subject on which very little is 

 definitely known. 



— Decay in Oranges. — 

 The common blue mould is always 

 found associated with decaying 

 oranges. This fungus was formerly 

 considered to attack dead and decay- 

 ing matter only, but experimental in- 

 oculation of sound oranges has, with- 

 out exception, resulted in the charac- 

 teristic decay. Investigation has 

 shown that 'the decay is preceded by 

 mechanical injuries to the skin, most 

 of which injuries are so small as to 

 be invisible to the inexperienced eye. 

 The most common forms of injury 

 are caused by the clippers in cutting 

 the fruit from the tree, stem punc- 

 tures, and scratches and 1)ruises in 

 packing. 



— Draining. — 

 Though it is important to get 



plenty of water to soak in about the 

 roots of trees at this season of the 

 year, it must be remembei^d that 



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WHY BUY WATER? 



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BICKFORD'S 



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"Our Jack" 





ARSENATE OF LEAD 



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ar d . . 



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BORDEAUX 



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is Sold in POWDER Form. 





1 



Use . . 



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SOLUBLE RED OIL 



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for 



WOOLLY PHIS. 





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Manufactured by A. M. BICKFORD & SONS, LTD., 



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Currie Street, Adelaide. 





