SEPTEMBER I, 1902. 
used, as no amount of the latter with 
‘bluestone solution will produce a _ Bor- 
eaux mixture. It is certain that much 
- mon-success in spraying is due to the use 
-of air-slaked lime, which is largely chalk. 
When a milk made from this is mixed 
with a bluestone solution, a  pre- 
cipitate almost entirely chalk, rapidly 
‘settles to the bottom, leaving a clear 
blue solution of Copper-sulphate, occupy- 
ing about nine-tenths of the vessel. 
When good fresh lime is not easily ob- 
tainable it will be found more satisfactory 
to use the Copper-Soda Mixture instead. 
Stock SoLurrons. 
There are doubtless some who, to 
‘simplify the process of manufacture, would 
prefer to use stock solutions. A con- 
‘venient method is to dissolve 100 lb. of 
‘bluestone in a 50-gallon cask; after filling 
ithe barrel with water every gallon would 
‘hold 2 Ib. of bluestone. Similarly 100 lb. 
of lime could be slaked in another cask 
and made into a paste, perhaps reaching 
to a‘mark corresponding to 25. gallons. 
‘Then to make up the 6.4.50 formula, take 
‘3 gallons of stock bluestone and put into 
cone barrel, making up to 25 gallons with 
‘cold water, and 1 gallon of lime paste, 
after thorough stirring, should be placed 
in the second barrel and diluted to 25 
gallons. The after procedure would be 
the same as previously described. If 
lime paste is to be kept for a few days, 
then it should be covered with about 6 in. 
-of water. 
BLUESTONE AND Sort Soap. 
A simple solution of bluestone, 2 1b. in 
50 gallons of water, with 4 lb. of soft soap 
in addition, is a cheap and valuable fungi- 
cide for use in comparatively dry districts. 
Owing, however, to its strongly acid 
nature, it is liable to cause considerable 
scorching of the leaves if applied after the 
buds burst, hence it is advised for use only 
betore the blossoming. 
WHEN TO SPRAY. 
When Bordeaux mixture was originally 
introduced, much stress was laid upon the 
necessity for winter spraying. Consider- 
able misapprehension seems to have 
arisen from the use of this term, as many 
growers have done the work in midwinter 
and afterwards found no great benefit. It 
may be taken for granted that every one 
wishes to get the best possible results from 
one spraying alone, there being no desire 
to repeat the operation if it can be 
avoided. It will be found more satisfac- 
tory not to commence till the buds are 
on the point of bursting. Trees which 
bloom before any appearance of green can, 
with safety, be treated up to the time when 
the first few flowers have expanded, and 
the rule is that the nearer the spraying 
to the opening of the flowers the more 
efficacious will it prove. In other trees 
such as apples, where the flowers are borne 
in clusters encased in leaf-like organs, it is 
best to wait till these latter are partially 
open. No appreciable damage will occur 
even from spraying when apples are in 
full bloom if properly prepared Bordeaux 
mixture is employed. In the case of 
- 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
Copper-Soda, such late spraying should be 
done cautiously, and not less than 9 lb. 
of washing soda used to every 6 lb. of blue- 
stone in the 50 gallons of water. 
To enable ali to appreciate the advice 
just given as to the time, of spraying, it 
may be said that the object of the treat- 
ment is to kill the spores of the fungus 
which are entangled in the bud scales, and 
_ this is more easily done when they are 
commencing to germinate. The spore it- 
self has a tough coat and is much less 
readily destroyed by contact with poisons 
when in a state of complete rest, as in mid- 
winter, than when germinating or about 
to germinate in the early spring. 
Researches by J. F. Clarke have shown 
that a germinating spore has a certain 
solvent action upon dried deposits of cop- - 
per compounds with which it may be in 
contact, and, in fact, the process of ger- 
mination itself sets free the poison which 
kills the spore. Thus it is seen that by 
spraying too early, when the tree is quite 
dormant, we are applying the fungicide 
long before it is wanted, and, in addition, 
subjecting it to the influence of rain and 
other agencies likely to wash it off or 
destroy its usefulness. 
How To Spray. 
It is well to note that good results can 
only be insured by the use of properly 
prepared mixtures applied with good 
machines. <A first-class pump, easily 
worked and not liable to get out of order, 
is an absolute essential. With Copper- 
Soda or Bluestone a very fine nozzle can 
be employed, as there is no grit to cause 
stoppages. In using Bordeaux a nozzle 
easily’ cleaned is very desirable, though 
thorough straining will be found to 
greatly reduce the possibility of choking. 
A. fine spray, lightly coating the whole of 
the tree and particularly the growing 
shoots and the fruit buds, is what should 
be aimed at. The tree should not be 
drenched so that the mixture runs off in 
quantity, for it is found that in such cases 
a lesser quantity adheres, and this is why 
it is sometimes recommended to give two 
light sprayings at intervals of a few hours. 
If the instructions given in this article 
regarding the manufacture of Bordeaux 
mixture, the time and method of applica- 
tion, are carefully followed, it is safe to say 
that no serious losses are likely to be sus- 
tained from the attacks of our more com- 
mon. fungus parasites. 
Selecting Orchard Trees. 
By CG. Bogus LurrMann. 
To the average purchaser a tree is sim- 
ply a tree. If he wants one thing more 
than. another it is plenty for his money, 
but whether in length or breadth, he does 
not care. The way in which the tree has 
been fashioned, the combination which 
has been made with regard to scion and 
stock, the soil and. climate in which it 
has grown, and their effect on its final de- 
velopment, are subtleties of which he is 
innocent. wige 
> tem. 
TOs 
But, as all depends on trees having a 
fair start, consider the essentials of a good 
tree at the time it leaves the nursery. 
1. It must be worked on, a stock appro- 
priate to its own nature, and the soil and 
climate in which it 1s to grow. 
2. The stock must be young, shapely in 
every way, free from heavy wounds and 
disease. i 
3. The peach, apricot, nectarine, cherry, 
apple, plum, pear, orange, and lemon 
must be raised from budded stocks, and 
worked low in order to insure strong, 
straight trunks, such as are desired in hard . 
hot climates. Strong varieties of pears, 
if to be planted in rich cool soils, will 
grow large enough and mateure early if 
raised from grafts and worked high on 
the stock. Top-grafted young trees are 
practically useless in a hot climate. 
4, The scion and stock must be about 
the same size, and the callus at the. point 
of union must be perfect. This is es- 
pecially necessary in stone and citrus 
fruits. : 
5. The roots must spread out in all 
directions and make a circle at the base 
of the stem. Not all heavy or all fibrous, 
but a regular arrangements of roots of dif- 
ferent sizes characterise a healthy root sys- 
A kind of crutch-stick root growth 
is a serious defect in any tree. It is in- 
variably due to slovenly and hasty plant 
ing. 
6. The roots of a young fruit tree should 
Oa no account be allowed to get dry; 
hence damp packing material is indis- 
pensable—especially in this country of 
big distances and high temperatures—and 
no intelligent man would expose the roots 
of trees to the drying and perishing in- 
fluences of the air, and then send them 
out in dry wrappings. 
7. The stem may be long or short, stout 
or light, according to the strength, na- 
ture, and habit of the tree. In all cases 
the stem must be stout enough to sup- 
port a good sized and profitable head. The 
stem must show signs of being made in 
one season. No weakly tree should have 
its trunk built up in two or more years, 
as no value can come of such weaklings. 
8. A. yearling tree should be a strong, 
straight shoot, destitute of branches below 
the line where it is desired to work the 
head. A yearling should not have been 
pinched in summer. or interfered with in 
any way. ‘ ; 
9. A two-year-old tree should be com- 
posed of a straight well-ripened and 
mellow barked stem, surmounted by three 
or four evenly disposed and more or less 
equally robust branches. These branches 
should not have been pinched or inter- 
fered with in any way during their growth, 
and they must be perfectly ripe, and their 
leaves experience a natural fall. Should 
any portion of the stem or branches be 
unripe when the leaves fall no useful 
growth may be expected from. it. 
10. Sun-scald, bad digging up, and in- 
jury to roots, drying out cf roots, barking 
of trunks, are common misfortunes which 
act seriously against young trees. 
