November, 1911.] 



419 



Edible Products. 



than those taken from fruit which ripen 

 earlier. They may be sown during 

 September in pots, boxes, or in drills, 

 and covered with 1 in. of soil. The 

 seeds may be sown thickly'; and, when 

 the plaucs are about 2 in. high, the 

 weaker ones may be thinned out so as to 

 leave a space ot about 3 in. betweeu 

 the remaining plants. Growers who 

 determine on extending their blocks 

 rarely find it necessary to sow seed in 

 order to obtain the plants required; a 

 sufficient number invariably grows 

 amongst the old vines as a result of 

 the falling of ripe fruit. The seed bed 

 should be kept well watered during dry 

 weather. 



Planting Out. 

 The young vines are generally planted 

 out when one or two years old, and 

 usually towards the end of September 

 or early in October, when the frosts 

 have disappeared. 



Post and wire trellises, from 5 ft. to 



7 ft. high, are erect6d to support the 

 plants. The posts are made of rough 

 split timber, ranging from 6 in. x 6 in. 



8 in. x 8 in., with four or five wires, 

 ordinary or galvanized, and from 8 to 10 

 gauge. The posts are usually put 3 ft. 

 in the ground. 



The distances of the trellises apart, 

 also the distances between the posts, 

 are regulated by the method intended 

 to be adopted when planting out. 

 There is a great diversity of opinion 

 among growers as to most suitable dis- 

 tances between the rows and between 

 the vines in the rows. Those mostly 

 adopted by the Wandin growers are 

 12 ft. xl6ft„ 12 ft. xl8ft., or 12 ft. x20ft. 

 Others plant 9 ft. x 12 ft. or 9 ft. xl4ft., 

 but these are too close and do not 

 admit of sufficient light and air, parti- 

 cularly when the trellises are over 5 ft. 

 high. Last season a young grower plant- 

 ed 16 ft. x 16 ft., but this method is 

 regarded by the more experienced 

 growers as a waste of ground. 



The Trellis. 

 After giving due consideration to 

 the various methods of planting out, I 

 would recommend 12 ft. x 18 ft., i.e., 12ft. 

 between the rows or trellises and 18 ft. 

 between the plants in the rows. The 

 accompanying rough sketch* will serve 

 to illustrate the kind of trellis which is 

 recommended to be used in conduction 

 with this method of planting. No 

 attempt has been made to draw to scale, 

 not to draw the plants beyond giving a 

 rough idea of the position taken up by 

 the leaders. 



* Not reproduced, 



The trellis illustrated is 6 ft. high with 

 6 in. x 6 in. posts 18 ft. apart. The end 

 posts are 8 in. x 8 in. The post marked 

 1 is an extra one and is 8 ft. from the 

 end post. It supports the stay (2.) The 

 crosspiece (3.) is nailed to it and the end 

 post. When erecting the latter, some 

 growers put it in at angle, as at 4, but 

 this is unnecessary if the trellis be pro- 

 perly erected. In this trellis five galvan- 

 ized No. 10 gauge wires are shown. A 

 few growers use four wres of No. 8 

 gauge. Although this makes a good 

 trellis I prefer that illustrated. 



Trellis for Passion Fruit Plants. 



Occasionally, growers plant the young 

 vines one or two years before erecting 

 the trellis and allow them to lie on the 

 ground all that time as at (a). This 

 method is to be deprecated, as too many 

 light and useless leaders are produced, 

 and they must be afterwards cut away 

 when the plant is being put on the 

 wires. 



But if the young plant one year old 

 {b) is sown at the end of September, 

 when the frosts are over, a fair growth 

 is produced by the following February 

 (c.) The plant may then be put up. The 

 natural habit of the passion is for its 

 leaders to take hold with their tendrils 

 and climb ; by placing them on the 

 wires Nature is assisted. A plant two 

 or three years old is shown at (d). Its 

 leaders are few, but are healthy and 

 strong as ccraipared with (a) and its 

 greater number of weak leaders on the 

 ground. 



Prior to putting the plants on the 

 wires, saplings about fin. in diameter at 

 the butts should be woven about 18 in. 

 apart, one against the other, into the 

 wires, on the principle of wicker work 

 (6). The butt ends should be kept up- 

 permost ; if put in butt downwards, the 

 vibration of the wires would cause them 

 to drop. The saplings make the trellis 

 firm and afford the plants a support on 

 which to climb from wire to wire. 



Cultivation and Manuring. 

 The soil around the young plants, 

 after planting out, should be kept well 

 worked so as to destroy weeds and 

 conserve moisture. They should be 

 copiously watered as often as required 

 during dry weather. 



A little stable manure should be dug 

 in around the young plants ; and provid- 

 ing the soil be kept well worked, an 

 occasioual sparkling of bonedust and 

 superphosphate will be all that is neces- 

 sary to maintain vigorous growth. 



To obtain heavy crops from plants in 

 bearing, intense culture, with a fair 



