THE HOME ORCHARD

Te Ao Hou, June 1961, Page 58

THE HOME ORCHARD If the home gardener is to harvest reasonable crops of fruit it is most essential that the trees at this time of the year should be kept free of blight, scale, curly leaf, brown rot and anything likely to affect the vitality of the tree, therefore this is the time to apply what is known as the base foundation spray. When the buds are swelling and almost breaking, the first application of bordeaux must be made. It is also a good plan to cover the orchard with a winter oil spray. This can be applied earlier or a summer oil spray can be used in conjunction with the bordeaux application. Both materials are compatible so are safe to use as a combined spray. Strawberries planted earlier can now be given a liberal dressing of a complete fertiliser. If the home gardener intends to mix his own, a good method is to thoroughly mix three parts of blood and bone, two parts superphosphates, one part bone dust and one part of sulphate of potash. A further application as a side dressing can be applied during August and September. Passionfruit vines should now be attended to by cutting all lateral growth back to two buds from the main leaders, remembering that the vines produce the crops only on new growth.