THE ORCHARD.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XL, Issue 4, 22 April 1930, Page 275

THE ORCHARD.

System in Picking.

Picking and packing for storage or export will still be the main activity in orchards during the coming month. The overlapping of ripening. in some of the main late varieties calls for constant vigilance, so as to arrange the sequence of picking that an even degree of maturity is maintained throughout the crop. The possibility of bad weather delaying operations must be borne in mind, for the injury to trees which have been lightly picked over is likely to be less severe than in the case of fully laden ones. The grower’s anxiety decreases coincidently with the reduction of the weight on the trees, and it is then possible to regard with complacency a fairly heavy gale, knowing that the unavoidable losses will be reduced to a minimum. By commencing to pick as soon as there is a sufficient quantity of fruit with the requisite degree of maturity, and making periodical pickings as the remainder develops, the undersized and backward fruit is given an opportunity previously denied it, when it will often produce the finestflavoured fruit in the crop. For this reason many growers leave a portion of the last picking of Stunners on the trees to fully mature for their household requirements.

Securing Injured Trees.

- Any split trunks or limbs should be braced into position and securely fastened without delay. 1 If left until the winter the bark will have hardened in the contracted position, and interference will cause further injury. With large limbs it may be advantageous to use a wire strainer to draw the portions into close contact before securing with a bolt or wire brace, or both. Close contact is essential to the future-welfare of the tree, for exposed injured surfaces to which rain and air have access are liable to internal decay, which may ultimately destroy the tree. After the injured member has been firmly secured in position the wound should be painted with tar or grafting-wax, and any crevices plugged to aid in the formation of new bark and to reduce the hibernating-places of codlin-moth and other insects. For bracing limbs heavy plain fencing-wire will be found the most, satisfactory. A hole of the same diameter as the wire is bored through the limb to be braced and the one to take the strain ; the wire is threaded through, and the ends bent downwards at right angles to hold the limb, obviating the danger of ring-barking, which may occur if the wire is bent round the limb.

Peach-stones should be sown immediately to provide stocks for next summer’s budding. The stones should be sown thickly, and covered lightly with soil.- Early next spring they will start into- growth, and when about 2 in. -or 3 in. high, or large enough to handle, they should be dibbled into nursery rows, and will be ready for budding the following February or March. Any budding this season should be completed as early as possible. The sap-flow will be decreasing with the cooler weather, and the bark will not lift readily enough to ensure success if the operation is delayed too long.

Miscellaneous Work.

Orchard props should be collected as soon as they can be dispensed with. Each season often seems to find the previous season's props a diminished quantity, entailing further expense in replacements, which could in part be avoided by early collecting and storing in a dry place. The planting of shelter-belts. can be proceeded with as soon as there is sufficient moisture in the ground. A thorough preparation of the site and periodic hoeing until the trees are well established will hasten the production of satisfactory shelter. The kind of tree planted must be governed by requirements and the physical features of the site, but consideration must be given to the probable spread of the limbs and roots, and the detrimental effect on adjacent trees. The time may be opportune for a clean-up in stone-fruit of fungi such as brown-rot, rust, leaf-curl, &c., by the use of bordeaux, 6-4-40. . This in conjunction with ploughing and the destruction of mummified fruit will reduce the. source of infection for next season’s crop. If scale has been troublesome it will be advisable to use lime-sulphur, 1-15, . before leaf-fail.

Citrus-culture.

Preparation of the land for winter should be pushed on as circumstances permit. Owing to the surface-rooting habit of citrus-trees it is not . advisable to plough deeply until there is sufficient moisture in the surface soil to preclude the possibility of the trees ' receiving a set-back Land for planting-should be ploughed and subsoiled as early as possible, and' reduced to planting-condition in frost-free localities where planting can be done in the autumn. Anything approaching a waterlogged condition is fatal to successful citrus-growing, and where natural drainage is lacking ample provision must' be made for the rapid removal of surplus water by artificial drainage. The sites for the rows will need special attention, filling any depressions, a slightly ridged condition being preferable

to a uniformly flat surface. If spring planting is intended the rows should be left as rough and open as possible for sweetening, and the intervening spaces sown in cover-crop for feeding off or ploughing in. A dressing of lime should follow the ploughing. The present is a good time to do any light pruning. The crop will be sufficiently advanced for the unproductive, worn-out wood to be located, and this, together with any crowded growths or soft water-shoots, should be removed, with the object of so shaping the tree that the inside fruit can develop normally and picking be done with the. minimum of discomfort. In anticipation of wet weather and brown-rot attack the lower foliage should be trimmed to a height of. about 18 in. from the ground, followed by a 4-4-40 bordeaux spray. Manuring at this. period with nitrogenous fertilizers is inadvisable, owing to the liability of stimulating soft growth which would be highly susceptible to frost injury. ■ - ■ 'Picking should be done regularly and often. Tree-ripened fruit has the lowest commercial value, poor keeping qualities, and from the retailer’s and consumer’s viewpoints is generally unsatisfactory. The popular demand is for cured fruit which' can be relied upon for its keeping-qualities, and the marketing of fresh-picked fruit is undoubtedly the principal factor governing the sustained demand for imported lemons. “ Tree-ripes ” and “ oversizes ” in a well-regulated orchard may be regarded as an accidental product fit only for factory use. Picking at intervals of two or three weeks as the fruit attains the desired size, and storing it until sufficiently coloured, eliminates the bulk of the culls and provides the desired article.

G. H. McIndoe,

Orchard Instructor, Gisborne.