March, 1914 



When the time has e\i)iie(l the 

 tent or 'box shmiUl he opened in 

 such a Wiiv that the wind blows 

 ^thcfnii'.es awav from the ojverator, 

 and sht)uld be left to ventilate for 

 Iialf an honr before the stock is 

 loinoved. 



— Covers for Fiimisfatiny;. — 

 Covers should be of a Ivi^'ht, 

 durable material, and compara- 

 tivelv ijas-tiirht, the most suitable 

 probalilv bcini; canvas. Bifyht- 

 onnce American duck canvas is re- 

 commended. 



There arc three types of covers : 

 sheets, tents, and box covers. The 

 sheets are octagonal in form, and 

 can be further enlareed by sewin" 

 on a " skirt " round the 'ed"^e. 

 Th'cse can be easily lifted over 

 small trees. Tent covers take the 

 form of dome-shaped tents, the 

 mouth of which is kept oiien bv a 

 rin<T passed throuEfh canvas loops, 

 and thev can be quickly lifted over 

 and removed. Box covers are 

 made to anv convenient size by 

 coverintr a wooden framework with 

 canvas or calico ; the latter mate- 

 rial should be painted or oiled to 

 make it su'fTicientlv -i-ns-titri^t. Thev 

 are espectallv adapted for small 

 trees and bushes. 



As both the potassium cvaiii<ie 

 and the hydrocyanic acid gr-as are 

 deadlv poisons, the former should 

 be kept in a tin^htlv stoppered bot- 

 tle and labelled Poison, whilst the 

 t^as as srenerated must on no ac- 

 cotmt be breathed. Fmni-otion 

 should not be carried out in a 

 hio-h A^-ind, nor -when the trees are 

 wet, but otherwise it may be 

 done at anv season of the year. 



♦ 



Curing Lemons. 



A icorrespondent in the Queens- 

 land Agricultural Journal, writes : 



I always cut thetn (the lemons) 

 when about 2% in. in diameter, 

 even if they were as green as 

 grass. I then placed them in kero- 

 sene t ns as carefully as if thev 

 were eggs, for a bruised lemon is 

 a spoiled lemon : the slightest 

 abrasion of the skin affords an en- 

 trance for the spores of blue mould. 

 Handle them carefufly, and the loss 

 will be almost nil. 



I " When I had filled the tins, I 

 Book them over to the house and 

 Plentlv placed them in trays hold- 

 ing one laver. The travs were 

 made of the ordinary fruit case 

 split in two. I then stacked 



THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



them on the verandah for a few 

 days to sweat or i>ut them strai 'hi 

 awav as was most convenient, in 

 the cellar. Mv cellar was dug 

 utnler the house, about 6ft. <lee)i, 

 and fitted up with saplini'S as 

 shelves to i)lace the trays upon ; 

 and without any further attention 

 thev cured a beautiful colour with 

 a skin like a piece of kid and full 

 of juioe. Should the market not he 

 "'•ood enough at the time, I si'm])lv 

 kept them until it im])roved, and 

 could do so from three to four 

 n-'.onths. I sent them to market 

 in new cases, stencilled with name, 

 etc., and the prices were always 

 satisfactory. To produce g-ood 

 fruit that is always marketable, 

 the trees need a little care and 

 attention. We cyanided such trees 

 as needed it every year to keep 

 the fruit perfectly clean, for Tn^' 

 experience is that a lemon that 

 needs brushing is not a srood keep- 

 er, and I may say that a dirty 

 tree cannot produce clean, good 

 keeping fruit. 



" I fertilised every year, and the 

 best fertiliser was found to be 

 meatworks manure, with sulphate 

 of potash added to m.ake a com- 

 plete manure. In cuttino- lemons, 

 I always cut the fruit with p Iniv 

 .stalk to the first ioint, and found 

 that the new growth invariabb- 

 liroduced fruit. The lencrth of 

 stalk was cut off before placiu'T 

 the lemons in the tin. I m^-' 

 there is practically no loss of 

 fruit either from blue mould 'or 

 fruit flv. the latter being beaten 

 bv cutting- before the lemon ripens. 



♦ 



Bottling Grapes. 



' ' Bottling, ' ' as the word is here 

 used, means to remove the bunches 

 from the vines so that the latter 

 can rest and keep the grapes in 

 good condition until they are need- 

 ed for use. 



Ordinary three half-pint bottles 

 are suitable so long as thev have 

 a long neck to them. Whatever 

 kind of bottles are used thev must 

 be thoroughly cleaned or sterilized 

 before com ng into use. After this 

 fill them to the bottom of the 

 neck with clean water and push a 

 couple of pieces of charcbal in 

 also, which will help keep it sweet. 

 When filled they should be made 

 to take an oblique position either 

 bv ha vine racks made for them 

 or by a temporary arrangement. 



Cut the bunches with plenty ^f 

 wood. The base end is usually 

 long enough to push into the neck 



of the bo! tie and reach the water. 

 If thev should be too short use the 

 other end, which will answer the 

 same purpose, and see that the 

 l)erries hang clear of the bottle. 

 If the space betwetiU the stem and 

 neck of the bottle is sealed uj) it 

 will sto]) evaporation, otherwise if 

 left anv length of tinve a little 

 water must be added as that in 

 the bottle recedes below the end of 

 the lateral. When doing so take 

 care not to wet the berries. With 

 a right atmosphere very few ber- 

 ries .should go wrong, yet it will 

 be wise to look over them occa- 

 sionally. C.rapes handled so will 

 keep for a lon«- time ; a little fla- 

 vour is unavoidably lost yet thev 

 will always be found palatable. 



CURLEW BRANDY. 



For years i.he UiUv iu,i:i..\ ..^^-^ 

 in the Adelaide riospital. 



Sole Ag«nt» — 



OOWNER & QO. 



Wine and Spirit Merchantf ^nd 

 Aerated Water Manufacturexs.. 



43 WA\n\I01TTH ST., CITY. 



