THE GARDEJN AND FIELD. 



April, 1914 



Watering. 



There have been various sug'o^es- 

 tions made for the purpose of irri- 

 Pfatine fruit trees on a small scale, 

 some of which, no doubt, talking 

 into consideration local conditions, 

 etc.. have proved satisfactory, and 

 some have not. 



The use of drain pipes, etc., sunk 

 uprit^ht into the soil, wnthin the 

 radius of the tree tops may not 

 trive eood results, as the earth 

 above the bottom end of the pipe 

 remains comnarativelv dry and 

 {rets verv little of the water pour- 

 ed into the pipe ; also is apt to 

 become cloir?ed, and will finallv re. 

 tain water for davs. The onlv re- 

 medv is to take out pipes and sink 

 in a fresh place or replace the 

 cloo-<i^ed soil, biit as this irives 

 trouble and expense and injures 

 the roots, it is frequently neglect- 

 ed. 



■ Pipes that are provided with 

 holes throusfhout their circumfer- 

 ence, so that water is distributed 

 evenlv, are more practical, but 

 here the cost is too great, and pre- 

 vents an extensive use, besides 

 which the roots clog the holes, 

 and there is the same trouble as 

 in the former case. In the follow- 

 inp- arrangement the principle of 

 irrieating throuo-h sieve-like tubes 

 is explained, so that anvone is able 

 without great expense or trouble 

 to do the work himself. 



After excavating the "reqiiircd 

 number of holes aroimd the tree 



you take a piece of stove-piping 

 and set it upright in the centre 

 of hole, fill up pipe for about 6 

 or 8 inches with stones, that are 

 easilv procurable in every garden, 

 then place outside pipe cuttings cf 

 bushes, garden refuse, manure, etc., 

 which will serve the purpose of 

 preventing the earth from clotr?in'j 

 the centre, after ramming the 

 outside layer tight up to level of 

 inside filling, withdraw the stove, 

 piping as far as it is filled and 

 continue filling in like manner to 

 the surface. After the pipe has 

 been withdrawn it is only neces- 

 sary to keep the top free from soil, 

 bv covering with small stones or 

 gravel to prevent closTging-. A fur- 

 ther advantaee is that the roots 

 find nourishment in the surround- 

 ing layer of refuse matter. 



Another plan is to begin when a 

 tree is being planted with bundles of 

 primings, and place one in each 

 corner of the hole. Then the tree 

 is planted in the ordinary way, 

 and a few stones or mulch placed 

 on top of the faggots to keep the 

 loose soil from clotrging the drain. 

 The water can easilv be applied at 

 each corner, and will at once find 

 its way riofht down into the soil. 



These methods mav -nvove very 

 useful in drv nlaces, where every 

 drop of water is valuable, and may 

 enable one or two trees to be 

 erown with the aid of ■ the waste 

 house water, but not where there 

 are old fig, pear, plum, almond, 

 elm, eum, or pepper trees, for thev 

 will form a sponge of roots round 

 .the drains. 



Preservative Measures 

 Against Wireworms. 



A recent German publication 

 gives an account of some experi- 

 ments carried out in order to test 

 the measures usually recommend- 

 ed for combating the attacks of 

 wireworms. A number of field - 

 trials were first undertaken. From 

 these it was concluded that roll- 

 ing, which is often recommended as 

 hindering the movements ol the 

 wireworm, '^r^iduces little or no 

 useful effect. Kainit also met with 

 ho success, but, owing to the 

 weather beine very drv, the experi- 

 ment was hardly conclusive. For 

 gardens and small pieces of ground 

 the use of t)ieces of potato as 

 traps was lound to be the most 

 effective measure for ridding the 

 land of both wireworms and milli- 

 nedes. Five or six pieces of po- 

 tato were distributed over each 

 s^'uar^ T'ard of ground, and re- 

 placed by fresh every two days. In 

 this way about 10,000 to 12,000 

 wireworms, and 6,000 to 8jOOo mil- 

 lipedes, were caught per acre. 



With the wireworms caught 

 some laboratory experiments were 

 carried out, the conclusions arrived 

 at being as follows : — 



Cotton seed meal is not in anv 

 way harmful to wireworms. 



Carbon bisulphide is too expen- 

 sive for general use, as consider- 

 able quantities are required. 



Kainit has practically no effect, 

 as the wireworms soon become ac- 

 customed to it. 



A very damp soil is distasteful 

 to them. 



The best general preventive mea- 

 sure is to adopt cultural methods 

 which will promote a ouiick, strong 

 development of the plants, while 

 for small areas of Pfround potato 

 trails are of great use. 



^ 



Rod or Spur Pruning Vines 



For some vines rod-pruning is 

 necessary, and, therefore, the bet. 

 ter : but wherever spur-pruning an- 

 swers the purpose, rod-pruning is 

 not neces.sary. The question of 

 rod or spur pruning depends on 

 the bearing habit of the vine. All 

 'grapes are borne on the current 

 year's .shoots. Some vines bear on 

 nearlv all shoots that grow, and 

 such vines arp smir-pruned for con- 

 venience. Others only bear, or 

 bear best, on the shoots growing 

 from the fifth, sixth, to the eighth 

 or tenth bud. These vines must 

 be rod-pruned to get good crops. 



FRUIT TREES. 



By far the Largest Stock in Australia. 



200 Acres -Clean, Healthy, Well-Grown, and free from 



Insect Pests. 



IINSPECTIOIN INVITED. 

 Gatalogu&s Pree by Rost. 



C. A. NOBELIUS 



Qembrook INurseries, 



Emerald (Vic), Australia. 



