LOCAL EXPERIENCES.

Otago Witness, Issue 1652, 21 July 1883, Page 6

LOCAL EXPERIENCES.

[Contributions detailing experiences in farm, and station management are heartily welcome for publication under this heading. Letters should be forwarded in time to reach our offl.ee by Monday night's mail.]

Fruit Growing-.

The writer of " Notes for the Week " in the Garden column of the Witness, advises the planting of fruit trees, as a profitable investment, and states fruit to be one of the best paying crops that can be grown. It may be so in the case of a professional gardener, who can get a piece of good land in a suitable locality and go in for fruit growing on a large scale, being able to give his whole time and attention to the business. With farmers, however, I think, as rule it will be found anything but a rumunerativespec, growing fruit for the market. They had better confine themselves to two or throe dozen trees of good sorts for the use of the household. About 13 years ago I planted out about 200 fruit trees, mostly apple trees, with a few pears, plums, cherrieß, and peaches. The site of the orchard was sheltered and lay well to the sun, the soil being good, with a free sandy subsoil, on which no water ever lay. Large holes were dug and plenty of manure put therein. The trees did passably well for the first half dozen years, then the American blight set in. To cure the blight I painted the trees with castor oil ; this waß a work of considerable labour, a couple of trees occupying a man for a day. The oil cured the blight for one year, afterwards it took possession as badly as ever. I then exposed the apple tree roots to the frost and air for a couple of months during midwinter, and applied a quantity of lime to the roots of each tree before covering in again. The trees seemed to thrive well after thiß treatment, and so also did the blight. I was told after this that plenty of manure was the best cure, and on the strength of this statement, carted 60 loads into the orchard, which was laid round the roots. The only effect of this was, that the scale blight— as well as the American— took hold of the unfortunate tree 3, and now it is the worstof the two by far. From present appearances it bids fair to kill the trees altogether shortly, and if you can suggest in your Garden column any remedy that it will pay to apply, I will feel obliged. As the matter stands at present, my apple trees are rotten with blight and bear very few apples ; my pear trees do not bear at all, peaches do not ripen, and the cherries are all consumed by the birds when half ripe. The only thing in the fruit growing live I have had any satisfaction with are three or four plum trees, they bear well, the birds do not meddle with them, and they do not take blight. lam certain that had I paid away 3d per pound for all the apples useS i Q

the household— instead of growing them— l would be the gainer considerably. Perhaps this may be owing to my own ignorance as to the proper mode of treatment. Some farmer who has been successful in fruit growing might give his experience in the Witness, from which I may learn where I have failed to grow fruit profitably. .Farmer. Clutha. [We trust that the subject thus opened by, " Farmer " will not be allowed to drop by those interested, and that some valuable hints may be given to the public by those who have attained a degree of success in fruit culture. That there are such cases is amply demonstrated by the magnificent provincial grown fruit offered for sale in Dunedin fruiters' shops during the season — especially noticeable being apples and pears from Tuapeka and the Peninsula and stone fruit and grapes from the Teviot, Dunstan, &c. There can be no doubt that fruit culture in the latter districts is in a measure free from many of the difficulties that environ it in the lower districts, but we believe success will crown growers' efforts even in the lower lying districts if comparatively high ground with a northern aspect is picked upon as the site for the orchard. Many orchards are ruined through the selection of a site with a damp subsoil. The trees while small make vigorous growth, but as soen as their roots get down into the subsoil, growth is checked, the leaves assume an unhealthy aspect, the trees afford an easy prey to aphis and scale in consequence of their being in a sickly state (exactly in the same manner as animals when in a low condition have to suffer torment from the attacks of vermin, which in a healthy state they can in a measure resist), and applying manures and remedies is comparatively a waste of time, for the former lies unused in the ground, and the latter, although they afford relief for the time being, do not strengthen the tree by removing the original cause of the trouble. Given a suitable site, apply periodical doses of liquid manure, and have the pruning judiciously attended to every year, and we have no fear of the result. Injudicious pruning has often a great deal to do with the unproductiveness of the orchard. The work is utterly neglected for a year or two, and then, thinking to make amends for past neglect, the grower takes his saw, chisel, and mallet, and does not leave the orchard until every bit of bearing wood -is out from his trees, and great gaping wounds are left to bleed and weaken the tree during the ensuing season, with the result that there is no fruit that year nor the next. The sweepings from the fowl house or the cleanings of the piggery, if put into a hogshead with water, make the best of liquid manure. It can stand for any length of time, and when a alack day comes it is a very easy matter to dilute the liquid with water and give each tree a couple of bucketsful. This really saves labour in the end, for there is no occasion to break up the sod and dig in the manure, a process which always more or less interferes with the fruitbearing roots. Trobably our garden contributor may have a word to say on the subject in his next article. — Ed. O.W.]