82 



GARDENERS' MA GAZINE. 



February 5, X }A 



Hardy Peach Culture. 



I QUITE agree with Mr. Cook (page 51) that an erroneous idea exists 

 regarding the necessity of glass or other copings on walls to obtain 

 successful results in outdoor peach culture. Many failures might be traced 

 to errors in culture. It is but a few years ago since I was asked to look at 

 some peach trees belonging to a gentleman in this neighbourhood which 

 were not satisfactory, although they had been growing there many years. 

 Readers generally will not be surprised when I tell them that the trees 

 were regularly covered and protected every autumn with sheep hurdles 

 and bracken to ward off frost, as though they were tender plants. It is 

 not a difficult matter to sum up half-a-dozen reasons of failure, and, for 

 the benefit of those who may have committed some of them, and have 

 not earned success, I will briefly allude to them. 



Perhaps the greatest mistake made is that of neglecting the spread of 

 insect pests early in spring. The one which checks the growth of the 

 tree, and renders it permanent injury, is black fly ; indeed, the whole of 

 the aphis family are troublesome, and often the cause of failure. Black 

 fly is, perhaps, more difficult to eradicate than the ordinary green form ; 

 if allowed to go on unmolested for even a few days after becoming 

 established the leaves curl up, rendering the application of remedies the 

 more difficult. No shoot on a peach or nectarine tree can make progress 

 when hampered with this pest. Syringing the trees with an insecticide 

 of some kind the moment the first fly is seen should be an imperative 

 order. In extreme cases dipping the affected parts in a strong solution 

 of tobacco water is a sure remedy. The same remarks as to cure apply 

 with equal force to the ordinary green aphis. Red spider is an insidious 

 pest, and calculated to weaken the trees if allowed to make progress It 

 is not in the early days of growth, though, that this insect is troublesome, 

 but generally in August, September, or October, when the weather is 

 warm and the rainfall scanty, for the trees are too often neglected after 

 the crop is gathered. It is then that red spider makes its presence felt 

 all too keenly. If steps are not taken to arrest the spread of this pest 

 the energy of the tree is reduced, and the wood and buds cannot be so 

 perfect as otherwise. All practical cultivators of fruit trees will agree 

 with me that maturation is essential to fruitfulness 



Another source of failure is pruning at the wrong period. Too many 

 trees are not pruned unt.l spring, many just before the buds burst into 



5?™' am ^ otne even afte L r tha < Period. Directly the fruit is gathered is 

 the corre. t tune to prune the trees, according to my notion of the cultural 

 requirements of peaches. Judiciously remove surplus growth at the 

 period named, for when the leaves are upon the tfees abetter idea is 



E £Lt\ hm.TSf t0 , e occup . ied J >y future * rowth than when p runin * 



is deferred unt.l the trees are leafless. Overcrowding the branches is 

 another source of failure to secure the finest specimens. While over- 

 uowd.ng 1S not absolutely detrimental to a heavy crop of fruit as fa^ as 

 numbers are concerned, it certainly is when high qLali y is required 



e Ln o S^fS K** in P eaches « ^ rich colour, and wha is 

 even of more importance, fine flavour. This latter attribute cannot be 

 obtained when the fruit is deprived of sunli K ht and air. If this doctdne is 

 accepted as be.ng correct, the merest tyro in fruit culture will readilv 

 xrasp the advantage gained by judicious early pruning. Y 



f uulT ? manUr t dug in about the roots is Mother source of 

 oh n'tv ,'. Ue ari> ' Ue i hat a Stron *> r > porous is the best, and to 



obtain > thk they stimulate the trees into violent action by the apn icadon 



uimenJ^r?' , 1 he "S* of su <* injudicious tre^mem^s gross 



SSS^J^So^Ai 1 ? b,e 10 gU *?' d ° n0t set their b,oom buds 

 thlZ o y u 0f th,s desc "Ption do not show a profusion of buds 



InsLaTnf n d±- m ° rC addicted t0 the Production oMateraTgrowth i 

 trr»»*<f h digging -in manure about the roots, it is better to assist the 



n e nl, e ", neC f Sar r When carr y in & a heavy crop of fru t Ty liauid 



o f\ r SSI 3 d SUrfaCC d i e ^ n *» of half-decayed manure, and the addition 

 of art.fical manure discriminate^ chosen and properly applied Too 



oSSTta tol 2C ° f mu,chi »«. fruit trees, bu P t there" cantt be Two 

 I t m S encouraging surface root action. Mistakes 



2£hS mthJ n a umn^and' Z £ * that ° f ^ tS 



2 C rT K ,nflUen , C t ° f the sun du *»« the spring andtri? untef 

 from fnU h* ° f the trces are much too deep to recei* ^ any benefit 



* Awards a' Z^T^T ? deep P ,anti «K a "d continued "digging 

 h?e ?r*?k. a soil with the roots as near to the surface as 00s - 

 1 «S i ?r J that favour success. In my case the sml wifhin 



^ £1«^»,^ ^^ S ^^T»« ^ not been dt 

 vprv irnn 1 ten years, and I have no cause to complain of results It is 1 



roots 



of a fibreless nature. 



E. Molyneux. 



wonder and mterest to WcuhuriaS ^ * SOUrce ° f 



these curious specimens nM^ \^[P^ h ? Sewrally been considered that 



and general dwarfing. A contemw^v Tr 2 ? ° f "Wfi?^ ****** 

 the modus <yVW/ *Take ^ is assured that the following £ 



remove the pulp with a spST^H Z l£ ^ the size of a 4 



S» and charcoal, chopped fine i^^Stffe^^" 111 ^^* W"? ° f c ^™^ « 

 acorn, or seed, or kernel ofany tr ™vo U 5 * I'u loftm ' Put in *™ 



peel 1 in a vase or tumbler, after the mZnT f then pIaCe ^e orange, 



window. Water it occasi^nai ^ ^ » a cup, and stand it in a 



up its item and the roots will comTth u h ? le * I* due llme thc ^ will push 

 flush with the peel, reLTin^ ° Ufih the Thc V ™* then be cut £ff 



half, when you^e J^Sft SSS ^.S* * ^ 4 ^ -d ? 



When the root, are cut for th "te time ^h^ 1 " a PP«^. »ke an old tree. 



does not rot f must be pamted black i^h^K^t Wh '?' Stmngc to 



<>f dwarf plants i, due to a <t S.? l71^ the ^~Jn 



M 



AND SlLK-WOR 



,N Australia 



For many years past the advantages possessed by New South W i 

 for the successful practice of sericulture have been fully recognised K 

 so far the industry does not appear to have progressed much be'vn2 

 its experimental stages. When the notice of the colonists was fi 

 directed to the possibilities of sericulture, mistakes were made in obt 

 ing eggs prior to making provision for the subsistence of the worms all 

 consequent failures dashed the hopes of the inexperienced enthusiast 

 who so unpreparedly essayed the culture of silk. In some of the otW 

 colonies sericulture has been attempted with varying success and ho ^ 

 are entertained that cocoons may yet become articles of export the idea 

 of manufacturing silk locally being impossible, by reason of the absence 

 of the necessary experienced skilled labour and complex appliances rf 

 modern weaving machinery. It has been pointed out to Australian 



farmers that the first practical step towards acclimatising the product 

 of silk is the placing under cultivation to the white mulberry, suffio 

 land to grow the only food for the worms which makes systematic sen- 

 culture possible. The caterpillars, called " silk- worms," will live on tr 

 leaves of various kinds of trees, but it is only when they are nourish, 

 on the leaf of the white mulberry tree that they will form cocoons of a 

 marketable value, capable of furnishing silk suitable for the looms of the 

 manufacturer. There are several varieties of white mulberry adapted to 

 the demands of the cultivator anxious for immediate results, the young 

 trees of which supply an abundant crop of leaves of good quality, usef 

 during the early life of the silk-worm, though not the best for the com- 

 pletion of the process of silk culture. 



If colonial farmers would, in addition to their other crops, cultivate 

 about two acres of white mulberry trees, they could in the third year of 

 growth from seed, begin experimenting in earnest upon the rearing of 

 worms. With a unit of force, comprising a half-grown family of abort 

 eighty silk-worms, the appropriate unit of cultivation would represent a 

 plantation of about two acres of white mulberries, bearing some ; ooo 

 trees. After removal and thinning out, the silk farmer should have, in 

 their third year of growth, 2,500 trees, which, if they have thriven, should 

 yield from a pound to two pounds of leaves each, or, altogether, from a 

 ton to two tons. The cultivator is then in possession of enough rai 

 material, in the form of mulberry leaves, to produce from one cwt 

 to two cwt. of cocoons, which, if of good quality, would be wortk 

 £4 or more per cwt. Arrangements for housing silk-worms need not 

 be very elaborate. Walls of wattle-and-dab, smoothed and whitewashed 

 inside, with a roof of thatch, constitute an ideal silk-worm house. Should 

 the producer desire to limit the area under mulberries to two acres, he 

 will find that his annual yield will be a fairly steady crop of from five to 

 seven cwt. of cocoons. According to authorities, the yield of leaf pfl 

 acre in France and Italy, from well-grown trees on fair land, is estimated 

 at from 7,000 to 8,000 lb. 



The first step in sericulture, viz., the formation of white mulberry-tree 

 plantations, is one the results of which have to be waited for ; and this is 

 why so promising an industry has not obtained a better foothold in 

 Australia. Of course, people have endeavoured, and continue in their 

 endeavours, to rear silk-worms without first growing proper food fa 

 them ; but every such attempt at silk production has failed, and is. a 

 fact, foredoomed to failure. Recently the attention of the colonists has 

 been more strongly directed to the possibilities of sericulture by tk 

 labours of the New South Wales Agricultural Department, soffle 

 thousands of trees and cuttings having been planted during 1894. 

 Hooral, in the Newcastle district, the Colonial Government has rented* 

 white mulberry plantation, extending over seven acres, with a view i 

 testing the practicability of developing a profitable sericultural industry 

 On the expiration of the lease at Booral it is intended to continue m 



Collect 



bed 



in which locality a large number of white mulberry trees have 

 planted for future use. 



Parliament voted* 



During the year 1894 the New South Wales 

 op^cial grant of ^200 in aid of the Women's Co-operative SUK-gw^ 

 and Industrial Association ; but it is in the extension of the plantaJJ 

 ot white mulberry trees that the colonists must look for the real grj" 

 ot the sericultural industry. A convincing effort in this direction has J«- 

 made by the settlers of New Italy, near the Richmond River. 



P k°Vi e con ?P rise a number of Italian families, who came out in • 8 f'2 

 the Marquis de Ray to settle on the island of New Ireland, in Poly** 

 and who, on the failure of their leader's scheme of colonization, 0£ 

 their way to New South Wales. These immigrants have planted sw 

 ully a considerable area with white mulberry trees, and have imtwj 

 the industry of silk production in the region of the northern nvers,«JJ 

 air prospects of its future profitable development. The silk is spajj 

 the caterpillars of the genus Phalaena, of which the PhaLvoa *J 

 produces the greatest quantity; but the Phakena bombyx ■$»£ 

 commonly employed for this purpose in Europe. The best silk-*°JJ 

 are obtained from Japan and Italy, the former being prefers 2 

 procurable. There can be no question that practical ser.culttfj 

 possessing the requisite amount of capital, would find in N c **3 

 wales an extensive and remunerative field for the exercise of energy 



enterprise. 

 Sydney. 



Birds and Fruit Trees. 



John Plum*** 



ban near Brisbane there were loud complaints concerning the destruction ct 

 nuds, and that the laws protecting them have been long a dead letter- 



fr;t'T a ?u Sai - d that fruit fibers were in danger of being deprived of J** ¥ 

 ( "^f^ ^insectivorous birds- " 1 " ~" J ~ A ^ AtA m J 



im««~.i 1 j. . . ^^jjy^j Department should be ^ 



finches especially. The meeting 

 lcultural Department should be written 

 :vent the trapping and shooting of b,rd *u,jjfji0 



