1 Ave., 1899.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL, 175 
Benson and Voller in the district, who did a great amount of good among the 
orange orchards. At Melrose, a lot of cyaniding was done, and I am told it has 
been a great success, the scale, thanks to the fumigation, haying seemingly all 
perished. Mr. Benson tells us that the cost of this fumigation is about 1s. 6d. 
per tree, with an extra 3d. per tree to go as a sinking fund towards the 
tents, &c.; and I believe a good many in my district will avail themseves of the 
cyaniding process if they can get it done at that price. The difficulty, however, 
arises in connection with the procuring of the necessary fumigating plant. Such 
a plant would cost from £70 to £80, and few orange-growers would be prepared 
to pay that amount. What has been suggested is that, as the Department has 
already the appliances all ready to use, it should lend them out to growers, who, 
I think, would be only too pleased to pay a price for their use and. avail 
themselves of an opportunity to rid their orchards of the plague altogether. As 
an alternative, it has been suggested that if the Government were good enough 
to assist the orange-grower to something like the same extent as the 
canegrower, by subsidising £1 for £1 his efforts at scale destruction, growers 
would combine and go in for a plant. Seeing, however, that the Government 
has already a plant, I think the former suggestion would be preferable. 
Mr. W. Torr (Rockhampton): There is one point in the seedlings v, erafts 
discussion that struck me, and that is the number of years a seedling takes 
before it bears fruit. I would be glad to know if anyone has ever experimented 
in the direction of taking the young seedlings out of the ground during the first 
few years of their growth, and giving them a thorough root pruning in order to 
make the trees bear earlier. From 8 to 16 years is a long time to wait, and. 
I think excessive root-pruning might have the effect of making them fruit: 
earlier. 
Mr. C. J. Booker (Woolooga), in reply to a question, said that on the 
Burnett River, at Walla Station, there were 40-year-old orange-trees still in 
regular bearing. f 
Mr. T. Ripury: Ihave had seedling oranges bear from the sixth and seventh 
year,,and at the eighth they generally give a good crop. As for the cyaniding 
process, Mr. Benson was at my place about 4 months ago and treated a number 
of trees. The fruit was small at the time, and the orange-trees were covered 
with white and wax scale. The fruit is now ripe, and I must say the cyaniding 
process cleaned the trees thoroughly. I do not think any scale was left 
alive. I find now, however, the scale is coming back, but I suppose other trees, 
mangoes especially, gave it to them, and altogether I think the cyaniding process 
would have to be carried out every 6 months. I:think 1s. 6d. a tree must be 
for the material alone that is used in the cyaniding, for I think, if we want an 
outfit and the 5 men it takes to work it, that it cannot be done at that price. 
The process is certainly very efficacious, but there is the question whether it 
will pay or not. 
: Ahr. J. E. Noakes (Maryborough): I was down a short time ago at Mr. 
Smith's orchard at the Burrum, and he bore testimony to the efficacy of the 
cyanide treatment. On the trees which were not fumigated the fruit is black, 
but on the treated trees the oranges are perfectly green and clean. Mr. Smith 
is so pleased with the results so far that he intends to get a plant and do his 
own cyaniding, and he calculates the cost: at 5s. a tree. All his trees are 
seedlings, and he is about the largest grower in the district. I expect he will 
have about 2,500 cases this season. 
Mr. W. Tuompson (Childers) : I grow a few oranges for amusement, and 
although I am told the Isis Scrub is too dry to grow any fruit at all, yet I think 
I have some of the finest orange-trees in Queensland. I blunder along with 
them; but, anyhow, they have come to perfection, and this season I have had 
to use a ladder to get at the fruit—and splendid fruit it is. Coming up on the 
8.8. “ Barcoo,” one of the stewards gave me an orange. I asked him where he 
got it from, and he told me Bowen. Well, it was a fearful watery thing, 
without any flavour; and the oranges from the Burrum are the same. I con. 
sider there is no flavour in either the Bowen or Burrum orange; and if a man 
