April 2, 1900. J THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
659 
ORANGES : HOW I MANAGE TO HAVE 
RIPE ONES. 
The following communication was eect to the 
Director of Public Gardeus, who kindly forwarded it 
to us as likely to be of interest :—" All through the 
year this is the way I did it. I had an orange tree 
in my kitchen garden last year in full bearing, and 
when the fruits were about the size of a pigeon's 
esg I went to work and took cff all leaving cO, I 
then dug a irench 18 inches, deep around the tree 
just under the .outer leaves where the rain fails and 
had the trench filled with pen manure, and then 
covered up, thus forming a ridge about a foot high 
around the tree, and shortly after the tree be^an to 
blossom on one side only, and put orrt 38 oranges 
on one branch. Shortly after I saw more blossoms 
appear on the next branch to the young fruits, and 
21 move came out. Since then the tree has been 
constantly blossoming and fruiting out young oranges, 
one course after another right around the tree, I 
was however careless in noting what mouth it was 
last year when I started the work, all I know is, 
the first 30 oranges were ripe in December the 38 
were ripe at the end of March, and th« 21 I am 
eating now ; and I am able to show any man to- 
day four different sizes of fruit, and blossoms on 
the tree also. I don't know if this is <m exceptional 
case, being the first tree I have tried, but I think 
its worth mentioning and also worth trying. — E.A.K, 
Little London, P.O." — Journal of the Jamaica Api. 
cultural Society. 
WATTLE CULTIVATION. 
A Neglected Queensland Industry. 
There are many portions of the aaountainous parts 
of Queensland of which it is often remarked that the 
land is apparently fit for nothing — that it will not 
feed the proverbial goat ; that the undergrowth of 
voung gums and wattles will not even allow a d»g's bark 
to travel. From a purely agricultural point of visw, 
such country is undoubtedly useless as farming land ; 
bat there are few ''bad lands" in the colony, pr»- 
vided they do not consist of sandy, swampy " wallum " 
country, on which something of value will not grow. 
Take the gravelly ridges so frequently met with on 
the coast. They are unsuitable for maize, which will 
ptodnce on good lands from £6 to £8 per aere, but 
they are the ideal home of the Sisal hemp, and of the 
mauritius hemp, which will pro.-luce £40 per acre. In 
like manner, the ridges and guUies of the Main Range 
are a favourite habitat of the wattle tree, which will 
yield from £2,5 to £30 per acre. During the winter 
season, the eye of the traveller amongst the ranges 
is delighted with the beautiful, feathery, yellow bloom 
of countless wettle-trees of different varieties. 
Three varieties have been planted for the purpose 
of obtaining tan bark, but these only two are of 
commercial value. The third was an unfortunate in- 
troduction, and in New Zealand formed a large part 
of the earlier-laid-out plantations. It is compara- 
tively worthless. This is the Acacia dealhata. 
The second best is the Golden Wattle {Acacia 
pycnantha), the bark of which yields a large per 
cent, of tannin. But this does not form a large- 
sized tree, and from its habit of giiowth, throwing out 
•many stems, more like an immense bush than a 
tree, it is more troublesome, and consequently more 
expensive to strip than the Black Wattle (Acacia de- 
currens), which grows to a respectable size and forma 
a good straight barrel. Wattle-bark is extensively 
exported from Tasmania and New Zealand. The price 
has fallen to £5 15s. per ton, whilst formerly the bark 
in bundles fetched £12 per ton. But it will pay at 
the lower price, once a plantation is established. Ifc 
takes about nine years before a full return can be 
obtained 
, The wattle, whilst doing well on poor soils, has 
no objection to a richer one, provided it be well 
ilrained. Hence on the naturally drained slopes and 
valleys of the ranges, plantations may be formed 
with almost a certainty of success. Bush fires will 
naturally do much damage, but the effects of these 
may be minimised by judiciously planting— leaving 
breaks between the blocks. 
Inspector Clifton, of Auckland, New Zenland, des- 
cribes the wattle plantations at Wairangi. He says 
the usurJ procedure in forming a wattle plantation 
is to fell and clear the scrub, plough, and work 
down roughly with disc harrows, aud sow during 
the month of October.* Scald the seed, oud sovv' at 
the rate of 1 lb. per acre. A great advance on this 
is to drill in J-lb. of seed with 1 cwt. of bonedust. 
Trees so treated are, at two years, equal to those 
of four years' growth sown without manure. 
The cost of vvittle-planting may be estimated as 
follows : — 
£ s. d.<' 
Clearing and burning, per acre... 0 7 6 
Ploughing .. .. 0 7 (5 
Dies harrowing, one stroke , ;'. , 0 1 3. 
Sowing .. .. .. 0 0 9 
Seed, 1 lb. ... .. ... 0 2 0 
Harrowing ... .. ..010 
Total .. £10 0 
T« this, with advantage, may be added — 
s. d. 
Second ploughing, at 6s. per acre. . .. 6 0 
Bones, 15 cwt., at £5 10s. per ton 8 8,. 
Total.. ..14 3 
The returns may be estimated at — 
£. a. d. £. 8. d. 
Per acre — 10 tons of green bark= 
5 tons dry, at £6 15s. per ton. . 28 15 0 
Expenses — 
Shipping 10 toBS, at £1 per ton 10 0 0 
Weighing, carting, and strong 10 tons 
at 2s. 6d. .. .. ..150 
Railage, about 5s. on 5 tons . . 15 0 
12 10 0 
£16 5 0 
From this has to be deducted rent, interest, Ac. 
Wattle-growing in New Zealand for the production 
of tannin bark occupies an area of ajbout 4,500 
acres in the Auckland district. The black Wattle 
{Acacia decutrens) is the only variety planted. 
Wattle plantations do not increa,se greatly, mainly 
owing to the lengtii of time which elapses before a 
full return can be obtained. -There are, however, 
many settlers in Queensland, who have from 5 to 
500 acres of poor open land, where scarcely any 
clearing is needed, and on which they might in 
spare moments put in a few hundred trees which 
would come in to benefit some members, of the 
family. We know of farmers who have occupied their 
land now for nearly forty years, and the portion of 
hungry, waste, untouched laud lies hungry and waste 
to this day. Had this been planted ever so roughly 
with wattle-trees of the right kind, they would have 
been enjoying an income of at least £10 per acre 
for thirty years, and at the old prices that income 
would have reached £30 per acre. 
At Luoindale (S.A.), Mr. Newman recently read 
a paper on Wattle Cultivation before tiiat branch 
of the Bureau of Agriculture. He. said had great 
confidence that this could be made one of the most 
profitable industries of this district, as the .■soil, cli- 
mate, and the facilities for delivering the bark at a 
seaport are rJl that can be desired. He saw part of 
a plantation east of Adelaide stripped ; the yield 
being 4 tons per acre, and enough small wattles 
being left to make another good yield in two or 
three year's time. The price obtained for the bark 
* The scrub here alluded to is not the dense viae 
scrub with which we are familiar in Queensland. 
Ed, Q.A.J. 
