I 
September 1, 1904 
‘not be done then, it should be left. until 
the end of August or September. They 
will do better then than if planted in June 
or July, as the ground in those months is 
cold, and the small roots “are likely to 
perish. Deciduous treed do as well planted 
in August as at any time, because they are 
dormant during the winter months. 
Planting time having arrived, the trees 
should, if possible, be got direct from the 
nursery and planted as soon as! possible, as 
they can gain nothing by being out of the 
ground even in the most favorable weather, 
and will lose much when the weather is dry. 
For this reason I would advise that none 
but South Australian grown trees should 
be planted, because those imported fromi 
the other colonies never do well, or, at 
least, it is years before they thoroughly re- 
cover, 7 
Planting should be done when the 
weather is damp, but not when the ground 
is very wet, because ground worked when 
in a very wet state is apt to bake, and the 
growth of the roots willl be much hindered. 
When filling in the hole the soil should, if 
possible, be mixed with some well-rotted 
manure, vegetable or leaf mould, and filled 
nearly to the level of the ground, having 
the centre a little higher than the outside, 
So as to give the roots ai downward ten- 
dency ; the tree may then be placed in posi- 
tion, and the roots laid out round the tree. 
di the roots are laid all on one side it will 
cause the tree to grow to one side, “and will 
be apt to blow over if in an exposed. posi- 
tion. If a mixture of leaf mould and sand 
can be had, a shovelful or two over the 
roots will be of great advantage, as I know 
of nothing that roots will lay hold of 
sooner. The soil may then be levelled in, 
and the work is so far completed; but care 
must be taken that the tree is not lower 
than the ground around it. I cannot close 
without strongly condemning the practice 
of planting down a hole—that is, having 
the ground around the stem. four or six 
inches below the general level, in order to 
catch the water, which soddéns the soil that 
has been moved, and, when dry, bakes and 
becomes impervious. More trees die from 
this cause than. all others put together. 
Trees will be much benefited by a good 
mulching after planting, especially those 
planted in September. — ' 
PEACH-GROWING, 
By Mr. E. M. Sace. 
Where the rainfall is at least 15 in. an- 
nually, the peach does best on a free soil 
with a substratum of limestone rubble, but, 
as far as ascertainable, does not do well on 
either a stiff clay or a deep sand, where 
the apricot does best. It is a great mis- 
take, but a very common one, to dig deep. 
holes for tree-planting. I consider 9 in. 
to 12 in. as deep as needful, buti als large 
a surfaca may be moved as one feels inclin- 
ed todo. Cultivate deeply as early as ‘pos 
sible in the winter, letting in the rain. to 
the subsoil, and in the spring: scarify as 
often as possible, but not more than about 
3 in. deep, and so retain the moisture in 
X 
THE AUSTRALIA 
tree. 
the soil. The best kinds to plant in’ a dry 
climate are those that carry the fruit wood 
nearest to the older wood, as they can be 
pruned shorter. Thus the tree is kept 
more compact, and has not any surplus 
sutface of leaf or limb to suffer from evapo- 
ration. I have had to work over several 
kinds that carried to the fruit buds to- 
wards the ends of the shoots, as they never 
matured properly, but were always dry and 
undersized. I have one tree that I have 
left as an object lesson, both for myself and. 
visitors, and has never borne a good market- 
able sample, whilst the kinds named below 
have always borne quite ag good crops of a 
far better quality. The clingstones do 
not do here at all, being always dry and 
woody. The kinds I would recommend 
are Early Beatrice, Briggs’ Red May, Harly 
Rivers, Early Silver, Foster, Crawford, 
Lady Palmerston, and Salway, ripening in 
the ordex named. Early Beatrice is a small 
peach, very thin skinned, but of first-rate 
flavor, and a very heavy bearer. It does 
not drop the flower buds, as a lot of the 
early peach trees are apt to do, All trees 
carrying a heavy crop should be thinned, as 
quality of fruit should always be considered. 
before numbers, and a. fine, well-grown 
peach is always much! better flavored than 
a half-starved one. I prefer the peach 
worked on the hard-shell almond, either 
the bitter or sweet, but the soft-shell will 
not do at all. The trees may not: grow as 
freely ag on the peach stock, but I have the 
same kind of peach (Early Silver) on both 
stocks side by side, and the trees worked 
on the almondstock beatithe others both for 
quality and quantity of fruit; in fact, one 
dry season the fruit on. the peach. worked 
on peach were very poor in comparison with 
the peach on almond. Very few of my 
peaches are worked on peach, and T have 
more trouble with aphis on the few I have 
on peach than on nearly 200 on almond 
stock. When purchasing trees, get, if 
possible, those only one year from bud, as 
they can be headed low, say, 15 in. to 18 in. 
high, which is better than a high stem, and 
two-year-old trees are generally shaped in 
the nursery to 2 ft. or more, and carefully 
disbudded below the head, so that it is al- 
most impossible to work them _ back. 
Younger trees, too, have smaller roots, and 
so heal over quicker and better where they 
have heen cut, which is a consideration 
where white ants are bad. In pruning, the 
primary object should be to shape and 
stiffen a. young trees regardless of fruiting. 
When planting, prune to a straight stem 
not more than 18 “in. high, amd during 
spring suppress all shoots but four or five 
at the top. Next winter leave, say, three 
of these in best position, pruningithem back 
to about 6 in. or 9 in., and the next year 
leave two on each of these if you can get 
them in a good position for shaping fhe 
IT think six to eight main arms are 
quite sufficient to. have on a peach. at any 
time, so that the third year I only leave 
about one on each of the previous season’s 
arms, and leave a certain amount of fruit- 
ing wood, asa little fruit the third year will] 
not hurt a peach tree. Prune all lateral 
growths by the fruit buds if they are plentr- 
ful and close to the older wood. I prune= 
shorter than if they are scanty and situated 
further out. It must be borne in mind thats 
the peach does not form what may be calle& 
permanent fruit spurs, but bears its fruite 
on last year’s wood, and only once on the» 
same wood. ‘The great object should be 
to get a peach tree as full of vigorous youn 
wood as possible if regular good crops are: 
to be expected. Tam not in favor of much: 
summer pruning, as the growing season here 
is too short, and, if a shoot is pinched back, 
in some cases it does not start again, or, Lf 
iti does, it makes only a few short spindly 
growths which are no good. I only looke 
out for shoots that are growing where they 
are not wanted, and suppress them alto- 
gether as early in the spring as possible. If 
a tree is growing too strong on one side « 
strip of bark taken out of half-way round 
the limb that is running away from the: 
others will check it, and is preferable to- 
pinching back the top. 
ALMOND TREES. 
By J. F. Pascoe. 
“In travelling through different. parts of 
the colony one cannot but notice the dis- 
play of improvidence exhibited as a rule 
by our colonists, and how sadly neglected 
are many of the ‘minor industries’ thaw 
would not only add comfort to people's 
homes, but bring considerable pecuniary 
help, the carrying out of which would not- 
interfere with the ordinary routine of life. 
nor entail more than a little cost or trouble 
after the first outlay and start, and might. 
even be made a source of pleasure to’ all, 
but more especially the younger members 
of families. J think it is John Stuart Milb 
who says, ‘Give a man seven years’ leases 
of a garden without restriction, and he 
will make a desert of it; but give him the 
freehold of a rock, and he will turn it 
into a garden.’ I am sorry to say coloniat 
experience does not tend to prove Mr. 
Mill's assertion, for the bulk of the free— 
holds in many parts of this colony have 
not much of the appearance of gardens, 
and during a portion of the year, except 
for fences, dilapidated huts, and miserable 
sheds that have to answer the purposes of 
stables, barns, and outhouses, the country 
has more the appearance of a desert. In 
some instances this may be to an extent 
excusable, but generally it is most disero- 
ditable to the settlers. Were they a little 
more thrifty, and made good use of some 
of the time that is often worse than wasted. 
or hangs heavily on their hands. then, if 
their wheat crops failed, they might have. 
a little to fall back on, to keep the wolf 
from the door, besides ineculeating habits 
of industry in their children. How often 
do we see a homestead exposed to the fier- 
cest rays of the sun and the blast of the 
north wind, and miles of country with not 
with a ruthless savagery until there is scar- 
even a tree or bush planted for shelter 
either to man or beast—in places, toc, 
where the outlay of a few shillings and a 
little care for a season or two at the most 
would have given plenty. The trees that 
were growing have been exterminated’ 
