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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
April  5,  1900 
old  friends,  though  they  have  been  serviceable  in  their  day  and 
generation,  but  we  do  so  to  invigorate,  or  renew  by  the  surgical  art  of 
grafting. 
We  uproot  and  utterly  destroy  ancient  colonies,  and  consume  them 
with  fire,  in  order  that  new  life  and  vigour  may  arise  from  their  ashes, 
and  wholesome  food-producing  successors  flourish.  We  combat  the 
enemies  of  these  ruthlessly,  and  drench,  poison,  smoke,  or  stifle  them 
without  compunction.  We  are,  in  fact,  ever  engaged  in  combat;  yet 
ours  is  not  a  war  of  ■waste — the  sacrifice  of  human  lile  and  all  that  may 
conduce  to  its  happiness — but  a  campaign  of  peace  and  productiveness. 
There  is  the  great  fundamental  difference.  Do  all  who  are  engaged 
in  our  peaceful,  beautiful  life-cheering  and  health-giving  art,  always 
act  prudently  and — yes,  the  word  must  come — mercifully  ?  We 
shall,  perhaps,  see  its  applicability  before  the  season’s  activities,  now 
commenced,  are  over. 
What  is  the  necessary  personal  equipment  of  those  who  shall  take 
a  creditable  part  in  our  campaign  ?  It  can  only  be  regarded  as  in  any 
sense  complete  by  the  combination  of  a  variety  of  acquirements.  In 
addition  to  a  good  general  education  and  technical  knowledge, 
professional  gardeners  need  to  possess  active  powers  of  observation, 
with  keen  reflective  faculties  for  the  clear  appreciation  of  cause  and 
effect.  They  must  cultivate  the  habit  of  watchfulness  and  the 
invaluable  attribute  of  foresight  ;  then,  when  imbued  with  a  spirit  of 
devotion  to  duty  and  prornptitude  in  action,  as  occasion  demantis,  they 
will  not  often  be  taken  by  surprise  by  the  various  “  happenings  ”  that 
are  incidental  to  their  vocation,  and  which,  when  not  provided  for, 
often  have  such  prejudicial  effects. 
Take  the  case  of  supply  and  demand ;  no  matter  in  what  depart¬ 
ment,  the  fully  eqnijrped  intellect  of  man  will  formulate  a  plan  <  f 
operations  by  which  the  object  in  view  will  be  achieved,  because  he 
will  anticipate  obstacles  and  jrovide  lor  them,  so  as  to  minimise,  if 
not  nullify,  their  effeels.  He  will  neither  rush  into  action 
precipitately  with  one  thing,  nor  lag  behind  with  another,  thus 
incurring  failure  with  both,  but  take  carelul  stock  of  the  means  at 
disposal,  and  of  prospective  contingencies,  will  shape  his  course  on  the 
only  safe  lines  that  can  be  relied  on  to  attain  the  end  desired.  A  man 
thus  equipped  obtains  what  is  required  in  the  best  form  producible 
under  the  circum^tances,  and  at  the  time  it  is  needed ;  and  why  ? 
Because  he  is  a  good  general. 
The  trained,  thoughtful,  watchful  gardener,  be  he  amateur  or 
professional,  is  quick  to  perceive  what  may  be  termed  the  tendency  of 
symptoms.  When  this  tendency,  though  apparently  small  in  itseh, 
is  seen  to  be  in  the  direction  of  a  prejudicial  issue,  he  at  once  resorts 
to  measures  for  checking  developments  that  might  otherwise  culminate 
in  misfortune.  The  prompt  righting  of  small  wrongs  prevents  great 
evils.  ^  It  this  principle  were  acted  on  in  the  management  of  fruit 
trees  in  their  youthful  state,  how  much  of  after  surgery,  or  rather 
fruitless  butchery,  would  be  prevented.  The  same  principle  hoi  s 
good  in  all  gardening  affairs,  and  not  least  in  that  important  duty  of 
combating  the  natural  enemies  of  those  plants  and  crops  we  are  seeking 
to  produce.  “  Blunders  in  the  field  ”  is  a  phrase  that  runs  glibly 
from  the  pens  of  armchair  critics,  who  rest  in  security  far  beyond  the 
zone  of  danger  to  themselves.  There  are  blunders  in  the  garden — 
real  blunders — known  to  most  men  who  have  long  been  engaged  in  it, 
and  not  unknown  to  the  present  writer,  for,  truth  to  tell,  he  has  been 
both  a  culprit  and  a  victim.  One  of  the  greatest  of  these,  and  most 
common,  as  well  as  the  most  senseless,  ruinous,  merciless,  costly,  and 
even  cruel,  is  the  deep  rooted,  stupid,  not  to  say  lazy,  habit  of  appa¬ 
rently  watching-  the  steady  aggregation  of  insect  scouts.  Few  at  first, 
they  are  not  thought  worth  troubling  about.  In  far  too  many 
instances  they  are  regarded  with  impunity  till  they  become  a  formid¬ 
able  army  of  many  legions  before  any  serious  attempt  is  made  in 
subjugation.  Destructive  work  has  then  been  done  by  the  horde  of 
invaders,  which  are  themselves  then  most  difficult  to  destroy.  Think 
of  it  all,  and  then  surely  condemnation  must  follow  such  miserable 
tactics. 
Think  of  the  fllthy  stunted  plants — of  the  crippled  growths  of 
fruit  trees,  \  ines,  and  Roses  injured  beyond  restoration.  Look  at 
them  and  shudder.  Grieve  over  them  and  pity  their  sad  state.  Then 
see  these  “  ropes  of  bug,”  tho.^e  “swarms  of  spider,”  those  “colonies 
of  thrips,”  those  “  piles  on  } iles  of  lice” — aphides.  If  you  travel  far 
or  into  many  gardens  you  will  not  have  long  to  wait  and  be  disgusted. 
Think  agaiii  of  the  anxiety,  the  disappointment,  the  loss  incurred,  ann 
of  the  frantic  efforts  made  at  last  to  conquer  and  to  cure,  but  made 
alas  !  too  late. 
Once  more,  thick  of  the  waste  of  time  and  materials—- money — in 
the  great  slaughter,  of  the  life  encouraged  to  be  (wffioj  can  say  pain¬ 
lessly)  changed,  through  writhing  and  horrible  contortions,  into  death. 
It  is  positively  cruel,  and  the  more  so 'because  needless,  but  not 
cruelly  intended,  for  truth  lurks  in  the  old  couplet — 
“Evil  is  wrought  by  lack  of  thought. 
More  than  by  want  of  heart.” 
That  such  evils  in  all  their  enormity  as  above  described  are 
preventive  by  early  rational  action  is  known  to  very  many  readers 
of  these  lines  besides — An  Old  Campaigner. 
- <»♦♦>  - 
An  Australian  Arcadia. 
One  of  the  most  beautiful  portions  of  Npw  South  Wales,  if  not 
of  Australia,  is  that  watered  by  the  Clarence,  so  called  after  the 
duke  of  that  name,  in  the  northern  part  of  the  colony.  “  The  Lovely 
Clarence,”  as  the  settlers  along  the  banks  of  the  magnificent  stream 
are  proud  to  call  it,  is  the  noblest  stream  of  a  noble  family.  Itfis 
the  highway  of  traffic  for  an  immense  tract  of  remarkably  productive 
country,  and  the  principal  avenue  of  commerce  in  the  most  important 
sugar-growing  district  in  the  colony.  Communication  with  Sydney  is- 
chiefly  by  coastal  steamer,  a  tri-weekly  service  between  Sydney  and 
Grafton,  and  the  towns  which  dot  the  river  bank,  being  maintained  all 
the  year  round. 
From  the  heads,  forming  the  entrance  to  the  Clarence,  to  Grafton 
is  a  pleasant  run  of  about  forty  miles  through  scenery  of  the  most 
entertaining  character.  The  broad  expanse  of  the  Clarence,  here 
running  out  into  an  arm  eight  or  nine  miles  wide,  and  a  little 
further  on  narrowing  down  to  a  mile,  fully  justifies  the  pride  the 
farmers  take  in  their  magnificent  stream.  The  rich  alluvial  flats, 
with  their  waving  flelds  of  Sugar  Cane  running  down  to  the  water’s 
edge,  the  homes  of  the  farmers  all  along  the  banks,  the  sugar  mills 
with  their  huge  chimney  stacks,  the  islands,  clothed  in  the  most  luxu¬ 
riant  semi-tropical  foliage,  which  dot  the  stream  all  along  its  course, 
forms  one  of  the  prettiest  and  most  satisfying  pictures  that  could  be 
imagined,  the  scene  being  completed  by  the  graceful  undulating  hills, 
with  their  virgin  forests,  which  skirt  the  fruitful  plains  on  the  river 
banks.  Here  the  cruel  hand  of  the  drought  fiend  never  retards  the 
work  of  the  producer;  and  the  rising  of  the  flood  waters  over  the 
smiling  crops  of  Sugar  Cane  does  little  harm  beyond  causing  some 
inconvenience  to  those  who  have  to  seek  higher  ground  for  the  time 
being,  while  the  inundation  brings  down  a  fresh  supply  of  Nature’s 
fertiliser  fronj  the  hills,  and  restores  to  the  land  what  has  been  taken 
from  it  by  a  series  of  bountiful  harvests.  The  rainfall  is  plentiful, 
averaging  about  100  inches  in  the  course  of  a  twelvemonth,  while,  save 
for  about  four  months  in  the  year — two  at  the  height  of  summer  and 
two  at  the  depth  of  winter — the  climate  is  spring-like,  and  v^egetation 
of  all  kinds  thrives  the  year  round. 
The  farmers’  homes  are  the  embodiment  of  comfort.  One  never 
sees  the  bark  humpy  on  the  Clarence,  and  there  are  no  tumble-down 
cowsheds  or  dilapidated  barns.  The  houses  themselves  are  rather 
pretentious  and  ambitious.  Mostly  of  weatherboard,  with  iron  roof, 
the  farmer  takes  a  pride  in  his  house,  just  as  he  does  in  the  river, 
which  he  considers  his  own ;  the  plot  of  garden  is  well  kept  and  paled 
off,  the  house  is  painted,  for  the  double  purpose  of  preserving  it  and 
adding  to  its  air  of  comfort  ;  and  if  there  are  any  barns  or  cowsheds 
which  may  in  course  of  time  become  eyesores,  by  reason  of  their 
state  of  disrepair,  they  are  judiciously  out  of  the  range  of  vision  from 
the  front  verandah. 
Grafton  is  a  city  that  one  would,  expect  to  find  in  a  picture  book, 
and  one  that  is  seldom  come  across  in  real  life.  It  lies  right  down  on 
the  northern  bank  of  the  river,  and  spreads  across  the  river  under  the 
name  of  South  Grafton,  Its  streets  are  all  avenues,  mostly  two  chains 
wide,  with  a  grove  of  trees  on  either  side,  leaving  a  clear  drive  of 
about  a  chain  in  the  middle  of  the  street,  and  of  12  feet  to  14  feet 
between  each  kerb  and  the  trees.  There  is  an  air  of  prosperity  in 
every  business  house  in  the  town.  Empty  shops  are  the  exception, 
while  some  imposing  establishments  grace  the  main  thoroughfare. 
For  years  the  cultivation  of  Sugar  and  Maize  formed  the  staple 
industries,  but  the  richness  of  the  natural  grasses  and  other  favourable 
circumstances  led  to  the  introduction  of  dairy  farming,  which  has 
proved  an  immense  success,  some  of  the  finest  butter  and  other  dairy 
produce  in  Australia  being  furnished  by  the  Clarence  River  district. 
Numerous  agricultural  crops  are  raised,  and  in  the  back  country  large 
numbers  of  cattle  and  sheep  are  depastured.  Tropical  and  semi- 
tropical  vegetation  luxuriates  in  the  fertile  river  flats.  Oranges,, 
Lemons,  Bananas,  Pine  Apples,  and  Passion  fruit  all  grow  in  abundance., 
but  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  turn  these  fruits  to  commercial  ends 
on  a  large  scale.  The  whole  yield  of  the  orchards  is  consumed  locally. 
Sorghum,  Imphee,  and  Lucerne  are  cultivated,  and  yield  abundantly,, 
and,  in  fact,  the  climate  and  soil  are  congenial  for  the  production  of ' 
almost  anything.  Yet,  strangely  enough,  the  Clarence  River  district, 
the  Australian  Arcadia,  is  the  one  least  known,  not  only  to  visitors  to 
the  Antipodes,  but  also  to  the  great  majority  of  colonists  themselves., — 
J.  Plummer,  Sydney,  N.S.W. 
