fi44 



THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



July, 1913 



Zante Currants. 



Of the many industries followed 

 in South Australia that of currant 

 {jrow-inj;- has proved one of the 

 most profita])le during recent 

 years. The climate .suits the /.ante 

 currant vine, which nourishes in 

 every part of the State, even in the 

 drier districts where irri<ration has 

 to be resorted to. The natural 

 atmosphere evidentlv provides con- 

 ditions similar to those of Greece, 

 of which the vine is a native, for, 



NATURAL GUANO 



From Indian Ocean now landing ex 

 " Hebe." Analysis Nitrogen ) per 

 cent ; Citrate soluble Phosphate of 

 Lime 13.11 per cent.; Insoluble Phos- 

 phate of Lime 50.25 per cent. Price 

 70/- per ton delivered to rail, or f i ee 

 on board at Port Adelaide. 

 Samples on application. 



ARTHUR H. HASELL, 



Lipson Street, 

 PORT ADELAIDE. 



except in abnormal seasons, the 

 fruit ripens reg^ularlv and during 

 our best dryinjj period of the year. 

 The currant will grow on any kind 

 of .soil, l)Ut a good loam with a 

 clav bottom is to be recommend- 

 ed. In some cases this vine grows 

 well in limestone soil, but vnM not 

 live so long as on the former class of 

 land. Where a good deep subsoil 

 is available there is no reason to 

 doubt that the currant vine, in 

 spite of the cincturing process, 

 which is said to .shorten the life of 

 the plant, should live to a consider- 

 able age. After selecting the soil, 

 break it up to a good depth and 

 then proceed to lay off the rows. 

 On good land currant vines should 

 be planted with not less than 13ft. 

 1>etween the plants and loft. be- 

 tween the rows ; that is, where 

 onl)' one stem or cordon is used. 

 On extra good soil, and where irri- 

 gation can be resorted to, 20ft. is 

 a good distance. The writer fa- 

 vours the digging of holes iSins. 

 scjuare down to the clay. After 

 planting, cut the young vine back to 

 two eyes ; cultivate the soil well, 

 and the siibsequent .season the lead- 

 er should be cut back to a length 

 of 9in. or a foot. With the thir.l 

 pruning the leader should be taken 

 up to the wire and bent for a 

 foot or so along it. The growth 

 made during the previous season 

 will regulate this. The fourth year 

 the laterals can b^ cut back to two 

 or three buds, and these can be al- 

 lowed to fruit. The main limb 

 along the wire should now be 5ft. 

 or 6ft. long, and from now on 

 should be encouraged to make 

 good growth, which must be cut 

 back every year into good 

 solid wood. The whole length of 

 20ft. .should be reached by the sixth 

 or seventh year. The first wire 

 sliould be 2ft. from the ground and 

 the top wire ift. gm. above that. 

 T do not favour ringing until after 

 the fifth year from planting. Up 

 to that age the vines should grow 

 as much as possible. A check caus- 

 ed bv too early ringing can do no 

 good. The writer has tried three 

 methods of ringing. When this sys- 

 tem, was first introduced it was re- 

 commended that a piece of bark a 

 sixteenth of an inch in diameter 

 .should be cut out. This plan was 

 followed for years, but I found, af- 

 ter length\- experience, that such, a 

 wide cut caused the formation of 

 too manv " bucks," or overgrown 

 fruit, and the fruit did not ripen so 

 evenlv as when a very slight cut is 

 made. Some sea.sons the bunches 

 would ripen on one side, leaving 

 the other side quite green. For 

 several sea.sons past a different me- 

 thod has been adopted. A large 

 Sa\Tior pruning knife is run right 



round the vine stem and is pushed 

 into the green bark \vith slight 

 pressure. Only one ring is made. 

 This plan gives best results, as the 

 sap is only slightly checked. Two 

 years ago the single cut, being 

 made spirally round the vine stem 

 for a length of a foot or so, was 

 tried ; but this plan showed no im- 

 provement over the last, and 

 meant more work. — From an ad- 

 dress by r. ,1. €urnow, Wirrabara 

 Branch Agricultural Bureau. 



The San Jose Scale. 



This orchard pest is far more 

 general and destructive in the 

 United States than it is in Aus- 

 tralia. In parts of that country 

 it is said to do an extraordinary 

 amount of damage, and is consid- 

 ered to be the greatest insect pest 

 of modern times. Its life history 

 is, says a writer in The Garden 

 Magazine, most interesting. 



Commencing in June for a period 

 of approximately six weeks the 

 females continue to produce young, 

 each averaging about four hun- 

 dred, or from nine to ten every 

 twenty-four hours. 



The new. born wanders forth in 

 search of a favorable place to es- 

 tablish it.self, and within relatively 

 few hours (on an average a little 

 over twenty-seven) settles at some 

 convenient point and works its 

 slender, hair-like beak through the 

 bark. If it be a female, it never 

 moves from this spot, and soon 

 loses legs, antennae and ej'es and 

 becomes Virtually an animated 

 pump drawing the vital fluids from 

 the tree. 



The female scale insect requires 

 about thirty days to attain ma- 

 turity, and the male from twenty- 

 four to twenty-six ; thus the round 

 of life may be completed in from 

 thirtv-'three to forty days. Detail- 

 ed studies made ^t Washington 

 show that four entire generations 

 are normally developed in a year. 

 The fecundity of the insect, in con- 

 nection with its ability to produce 

 a number of generations annually, 

 results in an enormous increase. 



The San Jose Scale has been re- 

 corded upon a large numiber of food 

 plants, but is very injurious to 

 com. para tively few. The fruit trees 

 — peach, pear, plum, cherry and ap- 

 ple — are preferred in about the 

 order named. Currant bushes are 

 Very subject to injury and among 

 ornamentals none are worse affect- 

 ed than .Tapanese quince. Lilacs, 

 snowberry, willows and .some other 

 ornamentals are also liable to seri- 

 ous injur3\ 



