Horticulture. 



338 



[April, 1910. 



capillary tubes and minimising evapor- 

 ation, thoroughly mixing and distribut- 

 ing any manure and fertilisers that may 

 have been applied, and also for bringing 

 the soil into a thoroughly mechanical 

 state. It will also keep down all weeds 

 if the " duck feet" attachments are put 

 on. This machine has only to be worked 

 for a short time to be fully appreciated. 

 It is cheap and light of draught, and a 

 pair of ordinary bulls could work it 

 easily. It is not meant for turning up 

 unploughed soil, but once the land 

 has been ploughed or turned up, 

 this " multum-in-parvo " will keep the 

 orangery thoroughly cultivated to any 

 depth necessary, and also keep down 

 the weeds at very little cost. I am not 

 theorising in these matters but speak 

 from personal experience; I grew oranges 

 and other fruit trees on 



AN ORCHARD OP 20 ACRES IN AUSTRALIA 



where the average rainfall was 14 

 inches, and we had to entirely depend 

 on irrigation, the water being pumped 

 from the river Murray at an enormous 

 cost. Some idea of the cost can be 

 gauged when it is known that it cost 

 £10,000 for firewood alone for one year 

 to irrigate the 25,000 acres of irrigable 

 land on the river, each land holder 

 having to pay £1 per acre for water per 

 year. Owing to the great cost, and the 

 water having to be distributed over this 

 vast area, each land holder only got his 

 supply at stated periods, amounting to 

 about three irrigations a year. This 

 limited supply of water we found 

 sufficient, because we carried out the 

 form of intense culture. The whole of 

 the Summer cultivation was done by 

 myself, by means of a single light 

 draught horse, and one single horse 

 "Planet Junior Cultivator." The place 

 was kept in a thorough state of cultiva- 

 tion and without a single weed. I 

 imported one of these implements into 

 Ceylon about eight years ago for the 

 special purpose of working a citrus 

 grove that I planted on an estate I was 

 supervising, and I found that an 

 ordinary pair of cart bulls could work it 

 easily, and it did excellent work. After 

 every shower of rain during the dry 

 months, when the land is dry enough 

 for cultivation, that is to say, not sticky 

 and will not form lumps, but breakup 

 fine, it should be cultivated, as the rain 

 has undone what the cultivator has 

 been doing all the time, that is of break- 

 ing up the surface capillary tubes and 

 keeping them broken. The rain has 

 made the loose soil compact again, and 

 so reformed the capillary tubes which 

 must be broken up again and kept 

 broken, It is not only after rain that 



the cultivator must be put on, but 

 whenever the soil gets compact. Even 

 during the long dry months it will be 

 noticed that the soil forms a sort of 

 surface crust. It means that you are 

 losing a valuable lot of soil moisture 

 just at the time your trees require it 

 most. Some might say that all this 

 reads very fine on paper — that it is a lot 

 of scientific theory, and what might 

 have answered in Australia will not 

 answer here, and so on. But I would 

 ask the most sceptical to try a small 

 experiment for himself in his flower or 

 vegetable garden. Let him, if he is 

 planting out, trench his soil to a depth 

 of 18 inches beforehand and mix up the 

 usual quantity of manure with the soil. 

 When the plants have gone beyond the 

 nursery stage let him water the plants 

 once in four or five days, giving the soil a 

 good drenching, and when the soil is dry 

 enough for cultivation let him use a 

 pronged hoe, or even a mamotie, and 

 cultivate the soil to a depth that would 

 not injure the roots, finishing off with a 

 garden rake. If he does this in an un- 

 prejudiced and thorough manner, he will 

 find that he will have better flowers, or 

 better and more vegetables from his 

 garden, watering lightly— daily does 

 more harm than good. Cultivation in- 

 creases the yield, 



VARIETIES. 



The procuring of the best varieties is 

 absolutely important as they always 

 command the best price. Producing and 

 cultivating a seedling orange tree is like 

 drawing from a lucky bag, as you never 

 know what you will get until you have 

 got it. You never know, by planting 

 orange seeds, what you have, as the 

 plants may turn out oranges, or limes 

 or any other member of the citrus 

 family. Even if you have an orange 

 tree you never know whether the fruit 

 will turn out good, bad or indifferent. 

 So, it is obvious that it is more than 

 advisable to plant wisked trees ; budding 

 them yourself, or procuring them from 

 a reliable source. I planted Australian 

 budded Orange and Lemon trees in this 

 district with every success. 



The best imported variety is the 

 Washington Navei which is practically 

 seedless and the trees have hardly any 

 thorns. They do not grow up to any 

 great size, but growth is rapid and they 

 bear in quick time ; producing one of the 

 finest, if not the finest, oranges in 

 the world. The fruit is large, solid and 

 heavy ; skin, smooth and of fine texture, 

 very juicy and highly flavoured, and has 

 at the end a navel-like scar where the 

 flower had been, 



