September 1, 1905 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
3r 
Orchards Gardens, Orangeries, &c. 
x 
We have a Splendid Selection of Really Good Payable Properties, some with Grand Kiver 
Frontages and Irrigation Plants, 
Also Good Lucerne and Dairy Properties. 
‘Also a number of Choice City and Subur 
ban Residences, some of the latter with few acres 
attached 
Clients driven to inspect, free of charge. 
ZSso Pirie St.. 
Nar aes 
ST & JAMES. 
LAND AGENTS, 
Kaeliaide. 
TELEPHONE 1817. 
per acre upwards. The cost of prepara: 
tory tillage, trees, planting, and fencing 
against domestic animals and vermin, 
would range from £8 to L10 per acre. 
Further north across the Murray 
River, in the ranges which arise near 
Cape Jervis, and pass behind Adelaide to 
Gumeracha—a stretch of about 100 miles 
in length--abundance of fine land most 
suitable for fruit-growing is located. This 
country is favored with » rainfall which 
varies in different parts from 25in. to 
35in. per annum. In consequence, the 
land is usually heavily timbered, and 
although the purchase-money may be as 
- low as L3 per acre in jlaces, the expense 
-of clearing and preparing the land 
usually brings the cost of constituting an 
orchard up to L20 to L380 per acre. 
Against this, however, must be set off the 
greater variety of fruits which may be 
grown, the advantages afforded by the 
close proximity to Adelaide markets and 
the central depot of railway distribution 
throughout the state. as well as the near- 
ness to the port of shipment by steamers 
trading with European and other oversea 
- countries. 
On the plains which lie between these 
ranges: and the shores of St. _Vincent’s 
- Gulf a new zone of production 1s encoun- 
tered. Here, with an annual rainfall of 
alittle over 20 in,, and a much higher. 
_ summer temperature, the table grape, fig, 
peach, apricot, and pear reach a very high 
degree of perfection, possessing a flavor 
seldom met with in any part of the 
world, The olive and almond are also 
gr>wn here with much success. On the 
alluvial soils which have been formed by. 
the 
the overflowing and shifting of 
Torrens, Para-Para, and other streams 
which emerge from the Mount Lofty and 
Barossa Ranges, the orange, lemon, and 
other citrus fruits attain the highest 
degree of excellence, both in quality and 
quantity. The rich, deep orange-red 
color of the oranges grown on these lands 
is seldom reached, and never eclipsed, in 
other citrus-growing countries. To 
produce such results, artificial watering 
is called to the assistance of the orchard- 
ist On these plains the growers chiefly 
resort to pumping water from wells—in 
which abundant supplies are almost 
invariably found at depths varying from 
20ft. to 60ft. from the surface. Besides 
these supplies, these districts are largely 
reticulated with water mains from the 
Government reservoirs, and, although at 
present the price of water is too high for 
profitable fruit culture, the presence of 
these supplies is an insurance against 
drought or injury from the sudden failure 
of growers’ private supplies Land for 
grape, fig, peach, and apricot growing 
may be obtained even within five or six 
miles of Adelaide, at from |410 an acre 
upwards; but the rich alluvial lands 
suited for citrus trees range from L59 an 
acre upwards. If evidences of prosperity: 
are reliable data, even at this rate the 
fortunate owners of such soils are to be 
envied. 
A little further north the Barossa 
district is located in a range which runs 
almost continuously from the Mount 
Lofty Range. Here, around the town- 
ships of Angaston, Keyneton, Nuriootpa 
and Tanunda, large orchards are estab- 
lished. The raisin and currant grapes, 
the peach, apricot, pear, apple, plum, and 
fig, meet with ideal conditions in these 
localities, A rainfall of from 20in. to 
30in., according to the elevation reached, 
supplies—when aided by judicious tillage 
—the necessary moisture. A well- 
balanced season of summer heat fayors 
the development of rich saccharine 
flavors in the soft fruits, and firm, good 
keeping and carrying qualities in the 
apples, while at the same time it provides 
the necessary heat to produce a well- 
colored highly-finished product in the 
form of evaporated fruits. In this district 
land values vary “irom L5 to L20 per 
acre, wh'le the cost of preparation and 
subsequent tillage is cheap. ; 
About 70 miles north-west of Adelaide 
the ranges of the Stanley district begin 
at Saddleworth and run northwards for 
about 35 miles through some of the finest 
