264 QUEENSLAND AURICULTURAL souRNAL. [1 Apnrti, 1899. 
Pig-sties may be arranged jn many ways, bub one great desideratum is— 
perfect drainage. Those farmers who are able to do so, should pay a visit to 
the Queensland Agricultural College at Gatton, to get a true idea of what is 
the proper housing for pigs. We do not say that they should go to the same 
expense im building the pens, but the principle can be adopted. We gave in 
the February number of the Journal, 1898, page 112, a description and figuration 
of very excellent pig-yards which we erected at a minimum cost of timber 
ready at hand on the farm. If farmers will study those yards, they cannot 
but be impressed with their value. Everything is arranged with a view to 
cleanliness and convenience. ‘These are important factors as in the matter of 
thrift. Given clean, warm (or cool as the case may be), comfortable quarters, 
and the pig is a gentleman who more than pays the rent. 
Now there is another matter which the pig-breeder for profit should not 
lose sight of. Pigs are subject to indigestion, fever, &c. When a human 
being suffers from indigestion he changes his diet. What is known as 
“heartburn”? in the latter, is much the same complaint in the pig. The 
remedy for this is charcoal, or even decayed wood. The digestion being 
assisted, the food being assimilated, the health of the pig is maintained, and 
he puts on flesh rapidly, and so becomes a source of profit to his breeder. 
Here is another hint. It does not pay to keep pigs too long. As soon as 
they have attained a weight suitable to the market—sell. To keep on feedin 
pigs, with the exception of the breeding sows, after they have attained the 
weight required for “baconers,”’ is simply to throw away money. To sum up. 
Never keep anything but a good strain. House the animals properly, pro- 
tecting them from sun and rain. Feed them judiciously with a variety of 
food, keeping at the same time to the staple food which builds up the body. 
Get them into condition as quickly as possible, and then sell. 
The Orchard. 
ERUIT CULTURE IN QUEENSLAND. 
By ALBERT H. BENSON. 
THE DESTRUCTION OF FRUIT PESTS. 
As there is probably nothing that causes more loss and annoyance to fruit- 
growers throughout the colony than the ravages committed by the many insect 
and fungus pests attacking fruit and fruit trees, I purpose dealing with this 
_ very important question in the present number of this Journal; and 1 trust 
that the information given may be of benefit. to many fruit-growers, as it is 
based on actual experience and is not mere theory. The illustrations accom- 
panying the article are also original, and are reproduced from instantaneous 
photographs of the actual operations of spraying and cyaniding taken by Mr. 
F.C. Wills, the artist to this Department. 
SPRAYING. 
Shortly after my arrival in this colony, | wrote a brief bulletin on spraying ; 
and, as a good deal of the matter contained therein is applicable to the present 
article, I purpose quoting largely from it. The question of the best methods of 
destroying fruit pests of various kinds is one that has occupied the attention 
of gardeners and orchardists for generations, but it is ouly within comparatively 
recent years that the various diseases have been made an especial study by 
scientific men in different parts of the world, especially in the United States of 
