’ 
1 May, 1898.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 375 
PROPAGATION BY FUNGI. 
The most usual way of propagating the olive is by means of an egg-shaped 
fungus growth, which is found upon its roots. It is about the size and much 
the shape of a turkey’s egg, and grows outside the bark. Not more than two 
of such fungi should be removed from a single tree, or damage will be done to 
it. Indeed, if propagation is attempted on a large scale, it is better to 
sacrifice one tree altogether than to run the risk of injuring a greater number. 
Thus a hundred or more of these fungi can be obtained from a single tree in 
the winter, besides a greater number of slips and grafts in the spring, when 
the treo can be felled and disposed of. The removal of the fungus must be 
done with care. The wood of the root round it must be carefully sawn or 
chipped with a sharp axe. A chisel must then be used to undercut the 
fungus, and finally lift it out of its place. The wood which adheres to it can 
then be cut off with » sharp knife. If the fungus has plenty of eyes, if may be 
cut up like a seed potato, but it is always advisable to ‘make the pieces so large 
that each piece should have three or four “eyes.” If the fungus has made 
any roots, these should be carefully removed. he best time to take them is 
in the winter, before the sap begins to rise, and they can be kept till the 
BpEIDE in dry earth, mixed with chaff to soften it. They should be planted in 
arch. i 
PROPAGATION BY CUTTINGS. 
The only remaining method of propagation is by cuttings. These should 
be about 18 inches long, of which 12 inches should be beneath the surface. 
The thickest or lower end of the cutting should be cut into the shape of 
wedge, and it should be well daubed with cow-dung and covered with garden 
mould. It can then be planted, care being taken in making the holes not to 
twist the rod which makes the hole; otherwise the sides of the holes become 
hard, and the rootlets do not get a sufficient chance of expansion. Cuttings 
with boughs to them are treated in the same way, save that the cutting is laid 
in the ground horizontally, but with the thick end lower than the other and. 
the boughs allowed to protrude above the surface. Ina year’s time the part 
beneath the surface will be furnished with roots and the boughs with leaves. 
The whole thing can then be taken up, each bough separated from the other, 
and the cuttings placed in the nursery. 
GRAFTING. 
The oleaster is grafted in the same way as other fruit trees—namely, 
either by sawing it off and inserting two or three grafts between the bark and 
the trees; or by cutting a slit witha transverse cut in the shape of a T, 
opening up the bark and inserting the graft; or, again, by cutting away the bark 
and a portion. of the wood from the bough and the graft, making a point of 
contact of about haif-an-inch, and then binding them strongly together with 
‘wool, and covering the point with a mixture so as to seal it hermetically. All 
shoots which occur below the graft should be cut off. 
The following is a useful mixture for the purpose of grafting :— 
Per Cent. 
Black Swedish pine. ax om an xe 28 
Burgundy pitch... oan a0 ri es 28 
Yellow wax ... ais, At bre ae + 16 
Lard or tallow ron rs rmx oe ae 14, 
Ashes iP sy a Ab 1 te 14 
Total at an ab YD oe 100 
