12 
adapted for general cultivation. The ques- 
ion then arises, will they pay to grow, 
and, further, will they pay to cultivate? 
In southern Europe they are cultivated in 
immense quantities, and attend to as care- 
fully as a peach orchard or an orangery. 
“fhere, in many instances, almond planta- 
tions have proved most valuable invest- 
auents, and 1 know of no yalid reason why 
they should not be just as remunerative 
there. Of all the Australian Colonies this 
as undoubtedly the one in which the al- 
auond succeeds best. All the others draw 
on us for a portion of their supplies, and 
swould take more if we could spare them, 
With most fruits the extent of the crop 
~wery materially affects the price, but not 
so with the almond. The practicability of 
shipping almonds to England has often been 
discussed, but, excepting the Brandis and 
Jordan, that market is entirely closed to 
ais—not that it makes any difference, for 
we do not want it, nor shall we for the 
mext, twenty years. The highest price, as 
Sar as I know, that the Brandis realised 
“there was 10d. per Ib., but that price is 
exceptional, and scarcely ‘covers risk, ex- 
spenses, and duty. McCulloch says al- 
anonds are among the most grossly over- 
taxed articles of the British tariff, and con- 
siders that if they were made reasonably 
low the eonsumption would increase five- 
fold. What is the commercial value of an 
almond-tree in this colony cannot easily 
‘be determined, for, although we have been 
growing almonds for so many years, very 
few persons take the trouble to calculate 
the profit or loss on them; but there is 
2 very current opinion circulated by the 
majority of growers that ‘they do not pay. 
Wow this is a very vague expression, and 
those who use it have very hazy notions 
of its meaning. Asa matter of fact, I scar- 
} ely ever knew of a horticultural or agri- 
cultural product that from the producer s 
wiew did pay. I have several times tried 
to estimate the average crops of almond- 
4trees grown. under fair ordinary conditions, 
but my success has not been very marked, 
_ -as so few are grown but which are heavily 
-Jhandicapped——planted as hedges for break- 
winds, or purposes of shelter at ten feet 
apart, the average yield in the neighbor- 
hood of Adelaide appears to be, for soft- 
shell (especially the Brandis) about 10 Ib. 
per tree, and less or more as the distances 
between the trees are diminished or in- 
‘creased; but as a rule they are entirely 
neglected, and often have a road on one 
side... I am informed on good authority 
that the yicld is much higher in some of 
the northern districts, but think 10 Ib. 
quite sufficient to base our calculations 
~ upon. Cultivated trees, or trees grown on 
cultivated ground near the metropolis, are 
so rare that we cannot take them into con- 
sideration; but on the plains and sunny 
slopes between this and the Burra, when 
trees are in healthy condition, and have 
some little attention paid to them, about 
20 |b. is reckoned a fair ayerage yield, and 
that is ahout the quantity suburban grow- 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER, 
ers used to expect. Instances of extraor- 
dinary yields by individual trees are not 
uncommon, often 80, occasionally 100, and 
in a few instances about 112 Ib. are said 
to have been produced by single trees in 
one year. Hardshell trees are more proli- 
fic than the soft, and yield from 30 to 50 
per cent. more in weight per tree. The 
almond is not a large growing tree, and in 
ordinary plantations should be 16 to 18 
ft. apart—16 might do for the Brandis, but 
I would prefer 18, or 134 tothe acre. The 
fruit is produced on the young wood of the 
previous year’s growth, and on spurs of 
from two to four years’ growth. The best 
trees to plant are those from one to two 
years old. About the third year after 
being planted they will begin to produce 
a little fruit, and annually increase the 
quantity until they arrive to about ten 
years of age, when they ought to be almost 
full-grown, and producing with ordinary 
care average crops of 20 lb. of soft-shell, 
or 25 to 30 Ib. of hard-shell; but I am fully 
convinced these quantities may be consid- 
erably increased with extra, or what is 
called high, cultivation—that is, properly 
pruning, manuring, mulching, &c. If 
trained to standards of about two to two 
and a half feet from the ground, the plan- 
tations would make admirable runs for 
fowls, ducks, and geese, and, for certain 
portions of the year, for pigs and sheep. In 
America it is often found most advanta- 
geous to occasionally turn sheep and pigs 
into orchards and fruit gardens; and no 
one will deny the great good done by 
poultry among fruit trees in this colony. 
Taking the above figures as correct—and 
-I am quite satisfied the estimate is not 
too high—it will be an easy matter to cal- 
culate the value of the produce of an acre 
of almond trees. One hundred and thirty- 
four trees, at 20 lb. each, gives us 2,680 Ib. 
If the Brandis variety is grown, they will 
realise 6d. per lb., or 67; but taking the 
quantity at the very low estimate of 15 lb. 
per tree, it will give us 2,010 Ib., or £50 5/. 
Hard-shells would not show so favorably. 
One hundred and thirty-four trees, at 30 
Ib. each, 4,020 Ib.; these, at 14/ per cwt., 
would realise £25 2/6; or, if broken, and 
the kernels sold, 4,020 Ib. of nuts would 
produce about 1,200 lb. of kernels, which, 
at 9d. per Ib., would amount to £45; but 
from that amount we must deduct 2d. per 
Ib. for shelling, amounting to £10, leaving 
a balance of £35. This even is not a bad 
return. The harvesting and drying takes 
place in the latter part of February, and 
during March and April. Several acres 
of Brandis could be easily managed by or- 
dinary families with very little extraneous 
help, as at that time farmers are not very 
busily engaged. Drying almonds in this 
climate is a simple process. After a few 
days they may be put in bags and stored 
away, * to be husked and prepared for mar- 
ket at leisure. It may be asked what guar- 
anteo is there that the above prices will be 
maintained? — IT can only say that during 
the last twelve years they have increased 
in price gradually about 50 per cent. 
Septewber 1, 1904 
SAGO TREES. 
Sago is produced from a variety of plants. 
It may be made from the Australian Macro- 
zamia spiralis and the Cycas media. China, 
Japan, and the West Indies furnish plants 
from which a kind of meal or starch, 
which is converted into a kind of sago, 
is obtained. Commercial sago, how- 
ever, is obtained from the trunks of 
two distinct palms—the Metroxylon 
sagu and the Arenga saccharifera. ~The 
first-named palm seldom lasts more than 
from 15 to 20 years, when the tree flowers 
and dies. An enormous number of flowers 
are produced, but comparatively few fruits 
are formed, and a still less number of seeds 
are perfected. The quantity of commei- 
cial sago obtainable from one tree of this. 
species is enormous, averaging up to 500 Ib. 
or 600 Ib., and it is recorded that as much 
as 800 lb. have been obtained from a single 
tree. It has been further estimated that 
three sago palms, of average size, will yield 
more food than an acre of wheat and six 
trees more than an, acre of potatoes. Ta. 
obtain the sago-meal the trunk is cut down 
and split up into longitudinal segments, the 
cellular or pith-like centre is scraped 
out and carefully washed; the water in 
settling deposits the starch, which is moist- 
ened into a pasty-like mass, amd pressed 
through sieves of different meshes, thus pro- 
ducing the granules so familiar to us as 
commercial sago. The granules are dried 
and. packed for export. The importance 
of sago-meal as food has been exemplified 
by the statement that 24 1b. of bread made 
of this meal is sufficient for a day’s susten- 
ance for a healthy man employed on hard 
work. Several of the sago palms are found 
growing in the Melbourne Botanic Gar-. 
dens, but the climate is much too cold for: 
the cultivation of the more valuable kinds. 
Vegetable Garden. 
oO 
OPERATIONS FOR SEPTEMBER 
PRACTICAL VEGETABLE 
GROWING. 
By W. S. Campsetu. 
The month is a busy time for those gar-. 
deners who have not looked ahead suffi- 
ciently far enough to be prepared for the 
early sowing and planting of summer, or 
tender vegetables. Possibly the early 
half of the month will be cold and frosty 
generally, consequently much care wil be 
necessary if plants as tender as tomatoes, 
cucumbers, capsicums, egg-plants, &er 
have been planted out. At nights such 
plants need to be protected, but the protec- 
tion can be removed in the mornings and 
the plants encouraged to grow strong and 
hardy. 
Heavy -vains generally fall some time 
about the middle or the end of July, giving 
the land a thorough soaking. This year 
we are, at time of writing, in the midst of 
a general downpour, with probably more 
rain to follow. This good soaking will 
prove extremely beneficial for some time to 
come, and give a favorable start to spring — 
vegetables. 
