Te a 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
19 
The Ox¢hard. 
Notes for the Month. 
— Prepare for Planting. — 
Those who intend planting fruit trees 
next month should now be making a 
thorough preparation of the soil. It is 
important to get this done before the 
heavy autumn rains render the soil heavy 
and unworkable. Thoroughly trench the 
soil and break it up to subsoil, and enrich 
with heavy dressings of manure and lime. 
The latter is most valuable property in 
winter, keeping the soil clean, sweet, and 
warm, It is especially necessary to stone 
fruits. In the absence of lime, powdered 
mortar and wood ashes should be supplied. 
— A Useful Tip. — 
Where an old tree has been grubbed out 
and its place is to be taken by a young: 
tree the hole should remain open for. a 
time to allow it to become sweetened by 
exposure to the weather. The debris at 
the bottom of the hole should be destroy- 
ed by fire, which will also help to purify 
the spot, and the ashes that remain will 
be very beneficial. The hole can be filled 
up with new and well-prepared soil at 
planting. 
— Root Pruning. — . 
Root pruning is not a common necessity 
in this country, but it is occasionally advis- 
able in the case of coarse, overgrown trees 
in a deep rich soil where they are contin- 
ually growing and wood forming at the 
expense of fruit failures. Pear, plum, and 
lemon trees are the subjects that require — 
it most. It can be done by digging a 
trench 3 cr 4 ft. from the trunk and to a. 
depth of about 2 ft. This should expose 
the main roots, which can be shortened 
back. The tap root must then be searched 
and removed. Fill up the trench with 
fresh soil. The first growth of a tree is the 
strongest, so that where the roots are 
pruned in this way the resulting growth 
will be of much lighter character. In 
the case of young trees, lifting and replant- 
ing will often impose the necessary check. 
— Pruning. — ; 
Bush fruiis can be pruned when the 
leaves have fallen. 
The gooseberry bears its fruit on last 
season’s shoots and young healthy spurs. 
The pruning consists in shortening shoots, 
thinning out spurs, and removing suckers 
and dead wood. The branches should be 
well spaced, and not allowed to crowd. 
The red and white currant bear on light 
wood of any age. The pruning consist® 
in keeping the bushes clean and healthy 
and getting rid of all crewded wood and 
weak stuff. 
Tho black currant bears its fruit on last 
season's growth. We have to leave the 
wood of longer growth than with the 
other varieties. 
Peaches may still have some of their 
‘light superfluous wood removed to enable 
the successional shoots to become tho- 
roughly ripened. Old bearing growths, 
weakly, crowded, ill-placed shoots can 
also be removed. $e 
— Spraying. — 
Red spider is always active and des- 
tructive at this season. A moist atmos. 
phere and spraying with water will hold 
it in check. There are many advantages 
in spraying fruit trees at this season. A’ 
stronger spray can be used now in th 
spring, when the leaves are tender, and 
there is also more time for the work. 
Shothole, rust, black spot, scale, and black 
aphis and wooly aphis are all more or less 
calling for treatment now according to 
to the nature of the season. 
— The Vines. — 
The principal work in connection with 
vines at present is to remove damaged 
and useless branches of grapes, and to 
keep the soil about them clean by.remov- 
jng decaying fruit, leaves, and other lit- 
ter that would soon choke and sour it 
and spread disease. 
Faking Blood Oranges. 
The ‘Presse Médicale’ says that blood 
oranges are often faked in Northern climes,. 
where they command a higher price than 
the ordinary orange. 
In order to transform the latter into- 
blood oranges. certain ‘manufacturer’ 
inject to the orange, through the rind,. 
with the aid of a syringe provided with a 
fine needle, a solution of red aniline dye, 
mixed with a saccharine solution Now 
recently, in St. Petersburg, a lady bought 
from a fruit-merchant a dozen of these 
pseudo tlood oranges. She gave one to 
her daughter, who was at once attacked 
on putting the first piece into her mouth 
by a sharp pain in the pharynx, and spat 
blood. A doctor was called in, and he 
diagnosed the pain and the hemorrhage 
as having been caused by a fragment of a 
needle which had lodged in the mucous 
membrane. When this fragment was 
extracted, it proved to be the point of a 
Pravaz needle, in the eye of which wag 
found as mall remaining portion of pilin 
dye. 
On returning to the orange dealer, he 
revealed that the ‘dodge’ is often resorted. 
‘to in manufacturing blood oranges. 
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