September. 1913 



1&9 



is (Ksiiod this scisoii, ilio cirlicr 

 it is (lono, tiivdor snitahlc con- 

 ditions, the better. ' 



iThis is, a yood time to take in 

 hid any old trees which are be- 

 Sninp exhanstcd. l)i<j in a 

 >eral ammount of stable tnianure 

 id in addition, jjive each tree, 

 isay, five pounds of super])hosphatc 

 and one pound of sulphate of pot- 

 ^h. Scrape off all rou.<fh bark 

 and cut out all dead and super- 

 fluiQUS ^ood. 



— Red Spider. — 



Red spider is a very i>ersistent 

 enemv, it beirins earlv and works 

 long hours. If von find young al- 

 'mond trees or older ones, for that 

 matter, showing a frost-bitten mv 

 pearance, the trouble is probably 

 -due to this cause. You may be 

 quite sure of this if the trees show 

 a slightlv reddish tinge, which will 

 ;be caused by myriads of insects, 

 which are too small to be seen 

 indi\idnally, except by the strong- 

 est sight. The red is not of course 

 Ssjifficientlv pronounced to infuriate 

 a bull, but it is sometimes unmis- 

 takeablv present. Kerosene emul- 

 sion or other contact insecticide 

 will make an end of them. 



— Spravs and Bees. — 



Though it mav not be an easy 

 matter to bring direct proof that 

 spraying whilst a tree is in bloom 

 is particularly harmful, either to 

 the tree itself or to the bees 

 which visit it, writes an Am.erilan 

 horticultural paper, there is no 

 doubt that the general opinion is 

 against the practice, and for the 



V following seasons. In the first 

 place, spraying during blossioming 

 time is unwise, because instead of 

 -doing good to the trees it is harm- 

 fill, as it prevents fertilizarion of 



. the blossom-s, and thus spoils a 

 good harvest. In any case it is 

 useless, because while in blossom, 



UNLEY PARK PRESERVED 

 FRUITS & JAMS 



(GHAS. TEBFY, Manufacturer). 

 M»de from locally grown fruit ol 

 best selected quality. 



Every tin guaranteed. Pure and 

 unadulterated. 



Storekeepers supplied direct from the 

 FACTOR'V, UNLEY PARK, or from 

 B. P. DEANS, distributing Agent, 

 Waymouth Street, Adelaide. 



'IT WILL PAY FRUIT GROWERS TO 

 THY UNLEY PARK WHEN 

 SELLING. 



the petals of the flowers form a 

 screen and practically prevent the 

 wash from n-^iching the parts to be. 

 protectwl. It is tlverefoTe a loss 

 of time to si)rav at this time. 

 Lastly, it is, to be ab.solutcly con- 

 demned, a.s it Doisons the bees and 

 prevents their fertili/.ing the 

 (lowers. This is a very import- 

 ant matter for the bee-kepper, 

 whose interests are closely allied 

 with those of the fruitgrower. 



• 



Trees by the Roadside. 



One reads a good deal of the 

 extent to which fruit trees of 

 various kinds are I'ised for shade 

 and decoration in the public high- 

 ways of continental Europe. In 

 Germany in particular this attrac- 

 tive and beautiful practice is very 

 com.mon. It appears that 'there 

 is little difficulty experienced either 

 in the maintenance of the trees or 

 the protection or disposal of the 

 fruit. Sometimes such plantings 

 are in the public ownership, some- 

 times in that of private indivi- 

 duals. Possiblv the German small 

 bov, not to mention his elder 

 brother, is built on different lines i 

 to our Australian variety, but we 

 should certainly prefer any fruit 

 trees in which we were interested 

 to be on the inside of a wire fence, 

 well barbed. Such conditions 

 would, we imagine, be healthier for 

 the crop. There are, however, se- 

 veral other reasons why the imi- 

 tation of this theoretically — and it 

 must be admitted, practically suc- 

 cessful custom — ^is not in this coun- 

 try very feasible. For instance, 

 climatic conditions will ha\'e an 

 important bearing-, not only upon 

 the life of road-.S'ide fruit trees, but 

 upon the practical question of their 

 appearance. In many parts of the 

 country the intense heat of a few 

 weeks of summer will at once con- 

 demn the general run of frtiit 

 trees (under ropdf^ide conditions) 

 for ornamental purpo.ses, because it 

 burns up their beauty, and their 

 leaves will dry out and, fall long 

 before the trees of the bush show 

 any signs of troiible. Another rea- 

 son is that it would be more or 

 le.ss imoracticable to give road- 

 side fruit trees the cultivation and 

 care necessary to best results. On 

 the other hand the blossom-inir and 

 fn'iiting periods of fruit trees along 

 the roadside would be attractive 

 beyond expression, but these 

 periods are of comnarati'>''e short 

 duration and would hardly com- 

 pensate for months of expression- 

 less existence. 



Shall we Give the Birds a 

 Chance or not. 



There are many i)eoi)le who lie- 

 lieve that reckless and uncontrolled 

 bird slaughter is otie of the chief 

 causes of the enormous losses suf- 

 fered every year through insect 

 ravages and the overwhelming 

 spread of weed ])ests. De Mon- 

 taigne, over three hundred years 

 years ago, said, " I/Ct us a little 

 permit Nature to take her own 

 way *; she better understands her 

 own affairs than We." In the 

 wanton destruction of birds and 

 small wild animals, the laying 

 waste of forests and other inter- 

 ferences that modify and obstruct 

 the operations of Nature, thought- 

 ful observers hava long discerned 

 the presaire of evil days to come. 

 These apprehensions are no longer 

 limited to n few but are becoming 

 widespread. 



At the same time it must be 

 confessed that the commercial or- 

 chardist may well be excused if he 

 fails to recognize the beauty or, at 

 all events, the equity of Nature's 

 adjustments. The philosophic calm 

 . of byeone centuries is somewhat 

 out of place perhaps in these 

 bi'istling days. The whole system 

 of fruitgrowing is now more or 

 less artificial and the one touch of 

 Natiire which bird lovers advocate 

 does not in practice appear to be 

 a very workable proposition. It 

 is not everyone who can regard the 

 bird versus fruit .situation \vith the 

 same cheerful tolerance that a 

 Hills cherry grower expressed, 

 who, when on finding his trees half 

 stripped, merely remarked, " It's 

 all rip^ht, the^- keep the fri'iit down 

 but the prices up." 



It is of course different with the 

 suburban fruit crrower, and in this 

 case- most people's sympathies will 

 be with the birds. The man who 

 grows a few cases for family use, 

 does not as a rule spray, and is in 

 himself something of a pest to his 

 neighbours, so as long as the 

 birds do the work, or some of it, 

 which he leaves imdone, he has 

 very little cause to grumble. In 

 any case he can always protect his 

 fruit and often does. He is not 

 usually as broad minded, as an 

 English amateur fruit grower, who 

 wrote to " The Crarden," as fol- 

 lows : — " The correspondence re- 

 specting sparrows is an illustca- 

 tion of the curious disposition 

 people exhibit of desiring to inter- 

 fere with the ordinary course of 

 Natrire. I live on the side of a 

 river and grow fruit. I live in an 



