376 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 May, 1898. 
NURSERY. 
Much need not be said about the nursery, as this part of the subject is 
influenced by local conditions which are known on the spot, and may perhaps 
differ materially from conditions prevailing in Europe. It will be useful to 
mention that the ground in the nursery should not be too rich, because, if it is, 
the young plants form far fewer roots to feed themselves with than will 
maintain them in a poorer soil, and hence they get a serious check when they 
are moved to their permanent home where the soil will naturally be poorer than 
that of thenursery. If, on the other hand, they have been grown in com- 
paratively poor soil they will have made more roots, and will move much better. 
In whatever way the trees are propagated, they should remain eight years in 
the nursery before going to their permanent home. In the case of plants 
grown from the egg-like fungus, a certain amount of careful cultivation is 
necessary. About six weeks after they are planted, shoots like asparagus heads 
will appear. In order to give these every chance, the ground above them must 
be kept loose, and if it has become dry and caked it must be watered. From 
each piece planted some half-dozen shoots will rise. Of these only the vigorous 
straight ones should be preserved; the rest should be carefully pinched off 
below the surface with the finger and thumb, care being taken not to move the 
plant, which by this time will have made tender rootlets. 
PRUNING 
Not more than two shoots should be left, and these should be trained to 
sticks. Later on the less vigorous of these should also be removed. The training 
of all shoots, whether from cuttings, fungus, or any other means of propaga- 
tion, is most necessary. At first, they can be trained to canes or small sticks, 
but when they begin to make a top it will be necessary to support them with a 
stout stick, and to continue this support till they have thoroughly taken root 
in. their ultimate home. On hot dry soils, such as will generally prevail in 
Australia, it is desirable to keep the trunks short. Hence in gralting they 
should be sawn off from 3 to 4 feet above the ground level. In fertile goils in 
Italy, the height is left at as much as 5 feet, but in arid soils the rule is “the 
shorter the better.” The fewer boughs left on the stem the better. Some 
growers cut them all off, but the effect of this is to delay the fruiting of the 
tree by a year or so. Whether it answers in the long run is a point much 
disputed, and not very easily capable of proof, 
PLANTING 
Olive-trees should be planted not less than 20 feet apart in ordinary 
soil, but where the soil is good this will not be sufficient, and 40 feet is a safer 
distance. The holes should be 8 feet deep and 38 feet over, and where the 
soil allows of it they, should be dug two or three months before they are 
wanted, as exposure to the sun and air is found to fertilise the soil taken out 
of the holes. It is desirable to put stones or dry rubbish in the bottom of the 
holes for drainage, and if the land is damp it will be necessary to drain it; 
consequently ground with a good fall should always be selected. ‘The best 
manure consists of the scrapings and fragments of horny substances and 
ground bones. Deep planting is not recommended, and the trees should be set 
about 6 inches deeper than they were in the nursery. ‘The shoots should be 
pruned in order to stimulate the roots, and a trench or cup left round the tree 
to collect rainwater. Jf the following season should be a dry one, it will be 
necessary to water the plants copiously. All shoots that appear on the trunks 
should be taken off at once, unless they are so situated as to eventually form part 
of the top of the tree. The best way to take them off is to rub the tree down 
with a piece of canvas. This not only removes the tender shoots, but prevents 
the trunks from accumulating lichens and mosses. All plants do not sprout 
in their first year ; it is therefore important to make sure that any plant is dead 
before taking it up. For three or four years the plant should be left quite 
alone, after which the weaker boughs should be cut away, care being taken that 
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