i Ava., 1899.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 171 
Mr. F. W. Peex (Loganholme) : I can testify as to the utter impossibility of 
our farmers coping with nut-grass ; but I understand there are two kinds, and, 
possibly, the gentleman who ploughed it out had the smaller kind, which only 
roots about 4 or5 inches deep. That kind of nut-grass can easily be got rid of, 
but on the Logan there are cases where the floods have washed 3 and 4 feet of 
sand over the original soil, and yet the nuts are still there. It is the pest of 
every farmer, but perhaps we may be able to find a drench that will kill it. I 
know Mr. Palk’s farm, and I believe he finds vetches and nut-grass make a 
good cow feed. 
Mr. C. I. M. Fiscuer (Zillmere) : As for the impossibility of getting rid of 
nut-grass, I do not think there are many things that are impossible, and I believe 
we could get rid of nut-grass, bad as it is; but the question that always comes 
to the top is, will it pay to get itout? T believe it can be got rid of just when 
it starts, and I am quite sure that had 1 known the dangerous nature of the 
nut-grass when | first brought out a lot of rubbish to my place, I would not 
have been cursed with it as I have been for years. 1 have heard of means of 
eradication, and I do not think there are any better than those mentioned by 
Mr. McLean and Mr. Gibson. If we can smother and keep the air out of it 
for a number of years, we shall at any rate kill it, and if you could only cover it 
with galvanised iron | believe it would eventually die. 1 would advise those 
who meet it for the first time to make every effort to get rid of it, for as long as 
there is a root left you will still be troubled with it. It is nearly as bad as a 
cat for lives. I have heard of a nut growing inside a potato, the potato being 
boiled; the nut was taken out, it was planted, and it grew. 
FIFTH SESSION, 
Turspay, 270H Junr, 1899, 7°30 p.m. 
Business was commenced by Mr. G. Wirttams, of Runcorn, near Brisbane, 
‘reading the following essay on— 
THE CULTIVATION OF CITRUS FRUITS. 
THE CITRUS. 
History anp CHARAcTERISTICcs. 
In the genus Citrus are included several varieties of more or less useful fruits, but 
it is to the lime, lemon, and orange that principal interest is attached, more particularly 
to the latter, The orange is said to have been found by the Portuguese upon the east 
-coast of Africa, but it is not known whether it was indigenous there or had been 
disseminated by the Arabs. When the Portuguese visited India, they found the orange 
there, and also in China, which was visited for the first time by sea in the early part of 
the 16th century; but in whatever way oranges were first introduced into those parts 
of the world of which they are native, they are now very widely diffused, and are 
-esteemed as being among the most ornamental of trees and delightful of fruits. The 
“species and varieties have also been greatly multiplied,-and it is a significant fact that 
several varieties of the highest order have been added locally since their first 
introduction to Queensland. 
The tree, when full grown, attains the height of about 30 feet, and is graceful in all 
its parts, the leaves being moderately large, beautifully shaped, and of a fine healthy 
reen colour, shining on the upper sides. The flowers in the sweet orange are of a 
Hibitate white, and in the more acid varieties of the family lightly marked with pink. 
Some plants have more powerful odour than others, and are for the moment more 
richly scented, but there is a freshness in the aroma of an orange grove that never 
offends nor clogs. 
One great recommendation of the orange is that it may be had fresh in almost 
-every region of the globe, and at almost every season of the year. The toughness of 
the rind and the aromatic oil with which it is filled, protect.it from both extremes of 
temperature, and when cut from the tree before becoming quite ripe, the fruit will 
keep for a long time ; indeed the greater portion of the oranges imported into England 
are cut from the tree when quite green. It is stated that the trees from which the 
fruit is gathered green, bear pee UY every year, while those upon which the fruit is 
=suffered to ripen afford abundant crops only in alternate years. 
