An elegant solution

摘要

Shortage of planting space, birds stealing and destroying fruit sound familiar? John and Margaret Poole, members of the South Australian Rare Fruit Society, faced those problems and overcame them. There are many excellent photos on the web site. We commenced planting out fruit tree orchard in the early eighties. Diligently we spaced a variety of trees a recommended 17 feet apart. The trees grew very well, with a little help from a friend's chicken manure, and it was not very long before we were picking our first fruit. It soon became appar ent that the birds were enjoying the fresh fruit more than Margaret and I Not a problem, we can simply throw a net over the trees. We soon discovered that one has to be in a good mood before attempting this feat,because one certainly wasn't by the time one had finished. Removing the nets, tearing holes and stitching them together again is another story.