6 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
June 1, 1907 
Roses 5 All the leading varieties, half-standards, 1s. each 
Ey oun st i wPwees 3 Orange, Lemon, Peach, Apple, Pear, ]?lum, ete 
HARDY SHRUBS, Trees, Climbers, etc. 
BULBS, Hyacinth, Daffodil, Anemone, Tuberose, 
Gliadiolus. 
& ES » => p BD) = 3 Vegetable and Flower. Agricultural, Horticultural Sundries in great variety. 
E. & W. HACKETT, 
Seedsmen, Nurserymen, Sc., 
73 Rundle Street, Adelaide. 
a 
The Orchard. 
(By W. J. AtiEn). 
Planting Young Orchards. — Where 
young orchards are to be planted this 
season the work of preparing the ground 
should be pushed on as rapidly as pos- 
sible ; that is. the land should be cleared, 
well fenced, ploughed, and subsoiled, and 
wherever irrigation is to be practised the 
land should be graded so as to facilitate 
the running of the water. - 
Wherever it is necessary to enclose the 
orchard with wire netting, and I am sorry 
to say that this precaution is necessary in 
a good many parts of the State, it is best 
to use a good wide netting with small 
mesh at the bottom, as it is wonderful 
through what a small mesh a young rabbit 
will get as well as how high a fence he 
will scale; therefore, if the orchardist 
wishes to preserve his trees from the 
onslaught of these pests he must see that 
the orchord is properly enclosed. : 
Lay out the orchard properly, giving 
the trees plenty of room so that there 
will be a sufficient area from which they 
can draw moisture to keep them in good 
growing condition during dry years. 
At time of planting cut all apple and 
pear trees down to within a foot of the 
ground, and other fruit-trees to within 
15 inches. There is nothing like a good 
low-headed tree which lends itself natur- 
-ally to the arts of the pruner, sprayer, 
Picker, etc,, nor does it suffer so severely 
as the higher trees from the effects of - 
high winds, the trunks do not sun-scald, 
and it is in every way a most desirable 
tree to have. 
Refilling Old Orchards.—Refills in de- © 
ciduous orchards should be planted as 
early as possible. 
Citrus Orchards.—The orange crops 
this year are exceptionally good, and a 
number of our growers are talking of 
Telephone 350 
testing the European markets. I think 
Canadian and American markets might 
be tried also, as fruit was commanding 
very high prices during my visit last year, 
and. prices are good again this year; but 
there would be no use in sending anything 
there but absolutely clean fruit. Both 
lemons and oranges are in good demand 
there during the months of July, August, 
and S: ptember. 
Nursery Stock.— The wraps on all 
budded nursery stock may be removed 
any time now. 
Passion-fruit.—Keep the fruit picked 
up as it falls, as it is then in its best con 
dition: grade it nicely, and pack it in 
rows in the boxes. If growers are export- 
ing any other fruits it would be a good 
plan to send a few cases of passion-fruit 
along, in order to test their carrying 
quality, as if once we can successfully 
land this fruit in the markets of the Old 
World and get it well introduced there, 
there should be an unlimited market for 
it. With proper attention, it produces 
heavy crops of fruit annually. 
Choosing Varieties of Fruits to Plant.— 
Ascertain the varieties of fruits which 
find most favor in the markets, then 
select such kinds as will thrive best in 
your soil and climate. After planting, 
work, manure, and prune these in the 
most up-to-date manuer, and when they 
come into bearing, grade the fruit care- 
fully, pack it neatly—in a word, do every 
part of the work thoroughly, and you 
will not be disappointed when you make 
up your yearly balance. 
ERLE RE EN a NO Ee 
(CSE SINE AND ORWAMEN- 
TAL PRINTING of every descrip- 
tion in first-class style and on shortest 
notice, at the ‘“ Australian Gardener ’”’ 
Office, corner of Pirie and Wyatt streets. 
Subscription to “ Australian Gardener?’ 
is 3s. 6d. per annum, post free to any 
address in the Commonwealth. 
“ Take-all” in Wheat, 
It would seem that one of the forms of 
“Take-all”? in wheat, as seen in the 
Cowra and other districts of New South 
Wales, is due to a stem-fungus parasite 
fully described in a recent number of the 
“ Victorian Agricultural Journal.” The 
immediate cause is the fungus known as. 
** Ophiobolus graminis‘” resulting in the 
so-called Foot-rot, Black-Leg, or Take-all, 
Where the roots die, eel-worms will com- 
monly find their way into the tissues. 
This has been observed in numbers of 
cases: They will not bea cause, but their 
invasion is an after effect, , 
Here, again, the only method of treat- 
ment is preventive. Selection of hardy 
suitable varieties and careful attention to 
the details of cultivation will minimise 
the trouble. Rotation is strongly advised. 
Oats, not being attacked, would make a 
useful change, 
In all these cases of fungus attacks the 
parasitic organism makes provision for 
tiding over the off-season period by means 
which enable it to take up its parasitic 
residence again on opportunities present- 
ing themselves, Fallowing will not kill 
them, the period not being sufficiently 
long to starve them to death. Moreover, 
side host-plants, in the shape of certain 
grasses, and possibly other plants for a 
time, will help to keep them alive when 
handy cereals are not present. 
There seems to be little hope of getting 
rid of the cause. Our energies must be 
devoted therefore to breeding of hardy 
varieties, resistant to disease for the time 
being. It would appear that we must 
look forward to this as likely to be always 
required, for it seems the only way to 
shake off excessive loss. Hardy and. re- 
sistant forms do not retain these qualities 
for ever; and so it is likely that the 
plant-breeder is going to be a much more 
important factor in agriculture than he 
has been in the past, 
