1 Junz, 1900.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 491. 
The Orchard. i 
FRUIT CULTURE IN QUEENSLAND. 
By ALBERT H. BENSON. 
CITRUS CULTURE.—Parr II. 
Havrne selected a suitable soil and a favourable situation for the citrus orchard, 
the next thing is to set about the preparation of the land so as to get it into a 
suitable condition for laying out and Penne, These general operations, which 
are applicable to the growing of all kinds of fruit, have already been fully 
described by me in Part IT., Vol. I., of the Queensland Agricultural Journal, 
but, as some of my readers may not have had an opportunity of reading what 1 
then wrote, I will give a brief résumé. There is an old adage to the effect 
that if it does not pay to do a thing well it certainly will not pay if done badly ; 
that is especially applicable to the preparation of the land for citrus culture, as 
it is practically impossible to prepare the land too well. The future success 
of the trees largely depends on their getting a good start, and nothing is more 
conducive to a good start than having the land in the right condition for 
planting. It is much better to get the land ready first and to plant afterwards 
than to plant the trees as soon as the land is cleared and then prepare the 
soil. The land should be well cleared and well stumped, so as to leave as few 
roots in the soil as possible ; as when large roots are left in the soil there 
is always the danger that, whilst they are decaying, root fungus will be conveyed. 
by them to the roots of any citrus trees that may come in contact with them. 
Tf the right soil has been chosen as described in the first.part of this 
article, and the clearing has been well done, the breaking-up of the soil is 
not a difficult matter, and subsoiling will not be necessary. On _ the 
other hand, if the subsoil is of a hard or tenacious nature, subsoiling 
must be carefully carried out so as to render it sweet and friable, provide 
good drainage, and permit the roots of the trees to permeate it freely. 
Lands that require subsoiling should, as a rule, be avoided for citrus 
culture, as they are not the most suitable for the growth of these 
fruits.. The method to be adopted in breaking up the land depends on its 
condition, as, if covered with a heavy sod of couch, blady, or other grasses, it is 
not advisable to plough too deeply at first, but to just go below the sod. The 
land thus broken should be well harrowed with a heavy breaking harrow, so as 
to get all the roots of the grass to the surface, where they will soon be killed 
if the weather is favourable. The land should then be cross-ploughed as deeply 
ag you can, and left rough, so that it may become thoroughly sweetened and 
erated. When this has taken place, the land should be well harrowed and 
again cross-ploughed, this third ploughing being deeper than the second. The 
object of this third ploughing is to get the land as deeply worked as possible, 
so as to have a large quantity of soil in a state of fine tilth. If there is no 
surface grass or sod, then the first ploughing can be deeper, but the subsequent 
treatment of the land should be similar. ‘The greater depth of soil you can 
reduce to the state of fine tilth, the better for the trees and the better the soil 
will retain moisture during a dry spell. A thorough preparation of the soil 
also tends to develop those micro-organisms which haye the power of converting 
the insoluble nitrogen and ammonia in the soil into soluble nitrates that are 
easily assimilated by the plant or tree grown therein. This power of producing 
soluble nitrates in the soil, which is known as nitrification, is often somewhat 
deficient in raw virgin land, but is increased by the sweetening of the land 
and by the decay of the vegetable matter that is contained in it, and which the 
ploughings and harrowings have thoroughly mixed with the soil. ct 
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