July 1, 1905 
SS ens SERS AES RAE IEA 2 I 
Tue Surrace Form APPROPRIATE TO TEE 
Som AND Position. 
Our first concern is therefore to improve 
the levels as far as possible, so as to ensure 
the necessary soil movement. Admit that 
water passing through soil ‘causes it to 
move and mix, and open drains or ditches 
are seen to be of great advantage. 
Wherever drainage is bad or soil flat, the 
head drains or ditches should be most fre- 
quent. And in making ditches one makes 
soil, since the material taken out can be 
employed in enriching weak spots or in 
filling bad hollows and soaks. 
PrLorrine For Irrigating Lucerne. 
To come to particulars, different crops 
eall for different methods of plotting, irri- 
gating, and draining. This article shall 
be confined to the wants of lucerne, or- 
chard, and vine land. 
None of these should be flooded, or, at 
most, it should be limited to lucerne pad- 
docks formed on loose, elevated sand, or 
where the under drainage is so perfect as to 
leave the surface free from water and a 
caking silt. By irrigating the flat, un- 
broken, surface, as at present, the soil is 
being robbed, compressed, stratified, and. 
hardened to the extent that drainage and 
the food supply becomes feebler from year 
to year. The soil is, in fact, hotter in 
summer through its increasing hardness, 
and colder in winter through its holding 
up water on its surface, or on a “pan” 
which is formed by infiltration. 
To improve existing lucerne land, it 
should be closely furrowed ; the stiffer the 
soil and worse the under drainage, the 
closer the furrows should run, thus they 
may be no more than six, though they may 
extend to twenty, feet apart. 
To ensure effective surface drainage and 
aeration by these furrows, ditches should - 
be opened on the lowest boundary lines, 
and, in the event of the paddock being 
large, one or more ditches should be made 
through it, It should be borne in mind 
that much more air is needed in irrigated 
soils than in those which go unirrigated, 
and that air can usually penetrate soil as 
far as the furrows and ditches descend into 
the earth; that is, if they are placed at 
close intervals. Silt, soil, and humic 
matter will always accumulate in the fur- . 
rows and ditches to such an extent as to 
break up or “weather” a great deal of the 
hard material below and about their lines. 
This material should be ploughed out an- 
nually, thus deepening the furrows and 
securing a top dressing for the crop. 
Complaints are common of lucerne 
dying out through the “boiling” it is sub- 
jected to by summer irrigation. This would - 
not be the case if the land were first laid 
out in’ a series of bold ridges and furrows, 
aided by the necessary ditches. In the stif- 
fer and worst drained lands of the ,Goul- 
burn Valley water will soak up through 
soil faster than it will soak into it; by 
which we may discern that we should pre- 
pare for the water to run in channels 
bounded by bold ridges, into which! the 
water can soak without overloading the 
soil or swamping the plant in any way. 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
Anothcr point of very great value arises 
here: the ridged surface is the coolest in 
_summer and warmest in winter. It is only 
during the middle of the day that the 
whole of the surface comes under the in- 
fluence of the sun’s rays; the air is cool 
and lees harsh when blowing over the ridg- 
ed land; no dust escapes compared with 
that which is swept from flat and exposed 
surfaces, since what is blown from the face 
of a ridge drops into the hollow beyond. 
In winter the bulk of the ground stands 
high and dry enough to promote growth, 
not only in abundance, but of a sweeter 
and more nutritive character than comes 
from flat land. View it as we will, we are 
always able to find fault with and see waste 
and increased cost of production when 
dealing with flat land. 
To Improve OrcHARD AND VINE LAND. 
In existing orchards nearly all defects 
in trees and fruits, as well as the unequal 
appearance of crops, may be traced to the ~ 
flatness of the land, and the defects 1t 
brings in its train. Certain difficulties 
exist, it is true, but so far as the present 
writer has seen, they are not insurmount- 
able. The most stubborn defect is found 
in the low levels of the service channels, 
which prevent water travelling at suffh- 
cient speed over loose soils, or its being 
taken by tributary channels to the sides of 
orchard blocks, where it may be made to 
supply all ordinary wants without delug- 
ing. any parts, as often obtains by the pre- 
sent method. 
Outfalls for drainage are almost equally 
faulty. Heavy ditching leading to dams 
or ‘borrow pits’ should be employed to 
draw off surplus water, and when these are 
provided the land should be persistently 
ploughed to form ridges—the trees occupy- 
ing the crowns and the furrows between 
serving as courses for irrigation water and 
drainage channels at all seasons. In par- 
ticularly hard soils, or where trees are 
badly in need of water, cross-furrowing 
may be necessary that the water may pene- 
trate the soil on all sides or the furrows 
may be reversed from year to year, or every 
second or third year, first taking them up 
and down, then across, or perhaps diagon- 
ally. This implies that the water should be 
entirely under control, which, of course, it 
should. The water must be tipped and 
turned hither and thither at will, or there 
- can be no such thing as controlling the. 
growth and value of trees. 
Making due allowance for the unsuitable 
character of much of the land now under 
fruit trees, there is nevertheless the oppor- 
tunity to vastly improve their condition 
and value. It may be said that the trees 
are suffering through the dead and stifling 
nature of the flat surface, and that the 
only work worth considering consists in 
- ridging as far as possible every particle of 
matter which can be shifted by the plough 
and the scoop. ; 
Make the headland low, putting any 
material obtained into low hollows or at 
the base of needy trees. If a hollow ab- 
sorbs water freely and will not grow trees, 
accept it gladly as a drainage basin, and 
plan the surface accordingly. 
Know the levels, depth, and character 
of soil on every part; know where water 
can. be got on and got off. Know every 
item and influence which can possibly 
affect your land, and then proceed to make 
a surface plan. Don’t sacrifice the needs 
of the trees to a particular plough or cul- 
tivator, or for the escaping day’s hand 
labor. ~Put the trees first, and last, and 
always. A ten-acre block may call for 
watering from half a dozen points and in 
half a dozen ways, and your task is to know 
why, and then do it.: 
Don’t think the.land can be over-ridged. 
It can never be ridged enough. Half a 
dozen ploughings in one direction, will not 
see it as many inches higher above the 
trunks after the lapse of as many months. 
Some trees and some soils, of course, need 
ridging more than others, but taking the 
Valley as a whole, all its fruit land should 
ba as boldly ridged as possible for the rea- 
sons which have here been set out. As 
many will say, “What about cultivating ?” 
the answer is—You need not! “Or getting 
under the trees?” and again you need not! 
You are neglecting the kernel for the shell. 
In support of this article, one will soon 
be contributed on “The Soil Maker.” 
—Sgricultural Journal of Victoria. 
THE APPLE. 
By W. J. Auten, 
To the man who devotes the whole of 
his energies to the production of fruit, and 
to the farmer who desires to have a planta- 
tion of fruit trees which can be depended 
upon to return a good profit for all the 
labor he can bestow upon them as a sub- 
sidiary line, there are certain varieties of 
the apple worthy of consideration. 
Throughout the tablelands, in certain 
sections of the coastal districts, and nearly 
everywhere on the western slopes, there 
are to be found soils and situations favor-. 
able to the perfect growth of apples, for 
which there is not only great local de- 
mand, but excellent opportunities in the 
export trade. 
In Tasmania the apple industry stands 
relatively in the same position as wool- 
growing does in New South Wales. Not 
only does the Tasmanian apple-grower 
compete in a large way against all other 
countries in the British markets, but al- 
most commands the apple trade of the 
capitals of the States of the whole Com- 
monwealth. The Victorian and South 
Australian apple-growers also have during 
the last few years been able to secure a 
footing in the British markets. It can be 
safely said that in none of the three States 
mentioned are the conditions of soil or cli- 
mate in any way more favorable for the 
production of high quality, long keeping, 
and good carrying apples than numerous 
districts of New South Wales. 
