14 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
February 1, 1908 
thick whitewash to-protect them from the 
sun, The trees should be, of course, well 
supplied with moisture during the opera- 
tion, which may be performed at any 
time during the summer while the sap is 
actively flowing. Of the two methods 
grafting would probably yield the best 
results, as many of the lomon trees have 
been originally budded on seedling orange 
stocks. and by thus grafting low down the 
naval crange tissues would find a closer 
relationship botanically, which is always 
desirable in these operations. 
Pruning Citrus Trees. 
. Tae Ornance—lf the orange makes a 
good growth in the nursery its pruning 
should be commenced there, as it should 
be topped at a height of from 2 feet to 30 
inches, which will cause branches to be 
thrown out, of whieh three evenly balanced 
round the stem should be chosen to form 
the future head—the rest being removed, 
Previous to transplanting, these three 
branches should also be pinched back, so 
as to harden them off as much as possible, 
in order that the young tree may be better 
able to stand the shock of transplantiug. 
Should, however, the tree not have made 
good growth in the nursery, its cuttiny 
back should be deferred until it is planted 
out, when it should be cut back and 
treated in a similar manner to that of the 
stronger tree in nursery, just described. 
Do not remove the leaves from the main 
stem of the young tree when planting 
out, unless a shelter of bark or other 
material is provided, as they tend to 
protect the bark from sunburn until such 
time as the top shades its own trunk. 
Having given the young tree the necessary 
shape for a start, the subsequent pruning 
is very simple, and consists in the romoval 
of water sprouts and other superfluous 
branches and a shortening in of excessive 
or straggling growths—taking care, at the 
same time, to keep the head moderately 
open, bnt not so open as to allow the sun 
to shine directly on the trunk or main 
branches of the tree. All branches grow- 
ing from the under side of the main limbs 
which would have a tendency to grow to 
H. Berriman & Co 
Tailors ana 
Shirtmakers, 
CITIZENS’ BUILDINGS, 
(OPPOSITE TOWN HALL), 
ADELAIDE, 
A Complete Range of Seasonable Goods. 
or near the grouad should be cut off— 
but beyond that and the necessary pruning 
just mentioned, the less the knife is used 
on an orange-tree the better. It is never 
advisable to prune a citrus tree during 
the winter, as it exposes it to the cold 
winds and sometimes frosts, both of which 
are very injurious to its growth and tend 
to stunt it. Always try to prune just 
before a growth, and if any rough cuts 
are made, trim them off smoothly with 
the chisel and paint with Stockholm tar 
—apply with a brush. The pruning of 
older trees consists mainly in the removal 
of dead, broken, or superfluous branches, 
and keeping the head well thinned out, 
By this means the trees will be kept in’ 
good health, and will produce a fair amount 
of new wood annually. on which the suc- 
ceeding season’s crop of fruit will be 
borne, as the orange bears its fruit on 
_ one-year wood only. 
Tur Lemon.—The pruning of the lemon 
in nursery, and also when first planted 
out, is similar to that of the orange, just 
described, But as the lemon is often a 
very rank and straggling grower, it is 
necessary to cut back all straggling and 
excessivs growths in order to keep the 
tree symmetrical, and to prevent its 
breaking apart from the weight vf its 
fruit. Jf unpruned, the bulk of the fruit 
is borne on the extremities of the branches. 
whereas if the straggling growths are 
checked they will throw out laterals, and 
the fruit will be borne more in the centre 
of the tree. Straggling growths growing 
on to or near the ground should also be 
removed, as the fruit growing on them is 
of little value, and they give the tree a 
very untidy appearance. When removing 
a large limb always be careful to make a 
clean cut, and to trim the edges with a 
sharp knife, covering the whole of ihe 
cut with grafting-wax, rubber paint, or 
Stockholm tar. If this is neglected, the 
wound is very apt to sour and produce 
the much dreaded-bark or collar rot, 
which, if unattended to, will in a short 
time destroy the tree. 
Tare Manparin.—The pruning of the 
different kinds of mandarins is at first 
similar to that of the orange, and in the 
case of the Emperor and Canton varieties, 
the subsequent treatment is very similar ; 
but in that of the thorny mandarin it 1s 
necessary to prune much more extensively, 
as the tree is naturally such a compact 
grower that, in order to produce annual 
crops of good fruit, it requires a vigorous 
system of thinning out. so as to produce 
the necessary new wood on which to grow 
the succeeding season’s crop of fruit, As 
a general rule. the thorny mandarin only 
bears a crop of fruit every other year, 
and then it overbears, the trees in many 
cases being literally covered with fruit, 
generally of a small size, ‘Vhe following 
season there is no crop, as the production 
of this heavy crop has exhausted the 
energy of the tree, and no new wood has 
been produced—so that it takes the trees 
a year to recuperate and grow new wood 
for the next crops. If, however, the troos 
are thoroughly pruned, instead of having 
a very heavy crop of undersized fruit one 
year and none the next, regular crops of 
larger fruit will be grown, which will 
more than pay for the extra trouble and 
expense of thorough and careful pruning. 
eS eR 
A Remepy For Sna:us anp Worms, — 
Thoroughly mix one peck of wheat bran 
with one tablespoonful of Paris Green, 
then add a quart of strong molasses. Rub 
all the ingredients together thoroughly 
until the mass becomes of the same con- 
sistency throughout and crumbles easily, 
Scatter lightly among the plants where 
the worms are feeding and you will have 
no further trouble there. This remedy 
also destroys snails, bugs, etc.; it never 
fails and is the simplest remedy we have 
ever tried for this class of insects. We 
pity the man who stays upnights to pick 
these insects by hand. 
AnotHEeR Recorp Broken.—It is: not 
long since that Mr. G. Burton was con- 
sidered to have brought in the heaviest 
load of wheat delivered in Jamesto +n, 
when he brought in 50 bags which con- 
tained 232 bushels 16 Lb. (says the ‘ Agri- 
culturist and Review.’) Soon after this, 
however, Mr. W. Pollard delivered a 
splendid sample of ‘ Federation’ wheat 
that weighed 171} bushels for 37 bags, 
sold to Mr. McNaughton, Jas, Bell & Cos 
local representative. But on Thursday 
last Mr. W. Williams delivered to Mr. W. 
H. Sandland (local buyer for Dalgety and 
Co, Ltd ) a load of 60 bags that weighed 
251 bushels 33 lbs. Needless to say the 
sample was a very fine one, and when it 
is understood that eaeh bag had to average 
302 lbs. it is pardonable to feel thankful 
that there are other means of livelihood 
than staygering under the weight of some 
seventh-of-a-ton of golden grain, 
Gladioli) 2 worxs 
A 
ND FINEST and IM- 
Sweet PROVED GIANT 
VARIETIES, 
Peas 9 
L. H. Howell 
Gladioli Specialist, 
MOUNT VICTORIA, 
NEW SOUTH WALES. 
NOW READY TO SEND OUT. 
Catalogue Post Free: 
