16 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
DECEMBER I, 1902. 
se [he Orchard. x 
or 
Operations for December. 
The question of conservation of moisture 
is a very important one in a season like 
- the present. Where soil is well enriched 
with humic matter the sun and winds have 
far less power to rob it of moisture, but 
where it is light and dry the little moisture 
it may possess is soon licked up, and the 
surface is swept away in clouds of dust. 
No time should be: lost in mulching the 
trees where it has not been done. The 
wise grower will have provided himself 
with material for that purpose. He has 
had the whole year in which to collect it. 
In the absence of a manure or littery 
mulch there’ must be an early mulch. 
The soil must, be continually loosen- 
ed to keep down robbing weeds, to pre- 
vent evaporation, and to break up the cap- 
illary tubes by which moisture escapes. 
The soil around citrus trees must also 
have caught attention. The subsoil must 
be kept moist to encourage a deep root 
system and to enable them to grow freely 
throughout the summer. The fibrous sorts 
only should occupy the surface soil. In 
irrigating these trees the water should 
penetrate to the subsoil and give it a 
thorough soaking. Hoe the surface well, 
and then mulch with well spent manure or 
lawn mowing; avoid any manure in an 
active state of fermentation. : 
Sickly citrus trees ard helped and 
strengthened by, an application of super- 
phosphate or bonedust. The trees will re- 
quire light pruning. Thin out the weak 
fruiting twigs, remove crouching shoots 
and all growth that threatens to fill up the 
central space and exclude light and air 
from the tree. Thinning is seasonable 
work in all departments of the orchard. 
Thin out the crops of apricots, peaches, 
apples, and pears so as not to put the tree 
to the expense of ripening too large a crop, 
and also to increase the size and flavor of 
the fruit that is to remain. Remove all 
badly placed and superfluous shoots. Select 
the best placed growth where it is desired 
to extend the shape of the tree. Thin the 
leading shoots of all trees to prevent them 
from forming a hood and shutting out light 
and air from the tree, and also monopolis- 
ing the sap at the expense of the lower 
portions. It is still too early to prune 
to promote weak fruiting wood. Allow the 
frees thorough soakings of water occasion- 
ally to swell the fruit, but do not overdo it 
to the extent of making them watery and 
flavorless. Thin out gooseberry crops at 
an early stage. Remove the crowding and 
central shoots from currants and goose- 
berries, that the bushes may be sufficiently 
open. Remove the weak and superfluous 
canes from raspberries, and mulch with a 
rich manure. 
- Give water and liquid manure to straw- 
berries after the effort of fruiting. They 
should previously have been mulched, and 
remove the runners, otherwise they will 
weaken the parent plant. 
Continue to spray trees that are infested 
with insects. Weak Bordeaux mixture 
will be found a pretty general remedy at 
this season. Place bandages round apple 
trees now to trap the codlin moth larva as 
it makes its descent from the fruit. 
Thin out the superfluous shoots on vines, 
allowing just sufficienti to remain to furnish 
next year’s crop, and to act as a partial 
shade. Stop the fruit bearing shoots at 
the second or third joint beyond each 
bunch. Thin out the bunches and the ber- 
ries. Thus the ripening will be hastened, 
and. better sized quality ensured. In the 
case of trellis and house trained vines, see 
that the wall is covered with useful wood 
for present and future use. Remove 
shoots that have a tendency to cross and 
overlap others. Towards the end of the 
month give the vines liquid manure or 
dressings 
well rotted dung or spent cow manure as a 
mulch. Keep the soil around them clean, 
sweet, well aerated, and free from weeds. 
Destroy all caterpillars, either picking 
them off by hand or by spraying with an 
arsenic mixture. 
SSteesece oor 
Pure Grape Juice. 
There will be thousands of tons of grapes 
all over the country ripening this year, 
that with great profit might be turned 
into grape juice and kept on the farms 
where the grapes are grown. On this sub- 
ject H. E. Van Deman says: Fresh grapes 
are very nice, and every one enjoys them, 
in season, but they do ‘ot ‘last long 
enough. We should try to prolong their 
season by every practical method, such as 
cool storage in our fruit cellars, but there 
are many months when the pure juice free 
from all fermentation and drugs will be 
very acceptable. Nor is it difficult or ex- 
pensive to make. 
The old way, and the one that we follow- 
ed at our house for many -years, was to 
take the grapes off the stems and heat 
them before pressing. This made a dark 
and murky juice, which we made; still more 
unpalatable by adding sugar to it. We 
heated it to the boiling point, bottled it, 
and thought it a delicious drink ; and so it 
was. But we have found an easier and 
cheaper way to make a better article. 
The new way is to put thd fresh clusters, 
‘after all bad berries are taken off, into a 
cider press, with a coarse cloth next the 
cage, and press out a part of the juice very 
lightly. As soon as it begins to get dark 
red the pressure should stop and all the 
juice so expressed be kept by itself and 
put on to heat. Test it by a thermometer, 
and when it reaches 175 deg. bottle it at 
once, without any sugar or other thing in 
it. If itis brought to the boiling point it 
will lose the delicate grape flavor and have 
a cooked taste. The bottles should be kept 
hot in boiling water and the corks, toe, se 
of bonemeal, old mortar, and 
that there will be no lurking germs of fer- 
ment left. Their tops should be dipped in 
melted wax to make them still more secure 
from the air. 
The darker juice may be pressed out as 
long as any of consequence remains in the 
pulp, but this should be heated and bot- 
tled by itself. It will not have the mild 
flavor of that first extracted, but some may 
like it better, and I have found this to be 
the case occasionally. 
Grape juice made in this way needs no 
sugar at any time nor any dilution when 
the bottles are opened. It is mild and en- 
tirely harmless. There is no beverage that 
is better for the sick or well. Every gra> 
grower can have it at little cost. It 
essence of the grapes without the bothe.- 
some and useless seeds and skins. 
BESCSeS SESE LS 
Ringing the Currant Vine. 
TO THE EDITOR 
Sir—I notice that the advocates of this sys- 
tem are modifying their views. At first it was to 
increase the crop; but being of an inferior 
quality, they now advise narrow ringing to 
improve the setting. As an old, experienced 
gardener, I will give my views, and try to 
explain a few points that appear to me to be 
wrong in the system of ringing so strongly 
advocated. The champions of the system of 
ringing admit that it injures the vine by 
robbing the roots of their share of sap, to 
make extended root action, thereby diminish- 
ing the supply for later on in the season, 
when the vine needs it. But to avoid much 
damage they recommend a narrow ringing 
that will close up in a few weeks. What 
for? They say to induce setting. This is a 
fatal mistake. ‘The setting all depends on 
the weather. In a vineyard, when the vines 
are in flower, all the air possible 1s given, and 
the atmosphere kept dry, for pollen to blow 
about and fertilize. |The same thing applies 
outside. Another assertion that is wrong, 
re stopping of vines is to make them set. — It 
is really to induce the flow of the sap to 
the berries, instead of it all going to growth, 
and not one stopping, but continuous. The 
first rush of sap will always go to growth, 
and the more growth the more the same is 
demanding and neglecting the berries if not 
stopped. Another old dodge which acts 
similarly to ringing is to twist a bit of copper 
wire around the stem of fruit trees, espe- 
cially pears, to make them set fruit buds 
instead of the sap all going togrowth. The 
same could be tried with vines, and remove 
the wire when the desired result is 
obtained. 
It is admitted that you get an inferior 
article by ringing. For goodness sake let 
Australia get a good name for quality of its 
product. I go further, and say the fruit is 
not fit for consumption. It will give chil- 
dren pains and diarrhoea and. set them 
against currants in any kind of food. Both 
cakes and puddings have an_ unpleasant 
acid when made with these artificially pro- 
duced currants. Mothers, if wise, would 
not have them at a gift. The reason these 
currants are injurious is that the circulation 
