THIRD DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVII, Issue 107, 8 May 1896, Page 3

THIRD DAY.

(bT telegraph.—own correspondent),

Wellington, Thursday.

CITRCS FRUITS,

The Conference resumed its proceedings hat night, ab 7 o'clock. A paper on the cultivation of citros fruits, with notes on He varieties introduced, by Mr L. G. Corrie of Queensland, waa read by that Ltleman. The paper briefly described described the rise of citrus culture id (wen-land: Soma of the treea 35 or 40 rears of age were still healthy and fruitful. \t one time citrua were raised on' lemon stocks, failure reaulted, and ib waa bhoughb .hat seedlings would only bo successful t wa . however, discovered thab curus t-hflfi grafted upon stocks of such seedlings ;■ preff best in the respective districts : lew well. The writer also dealt at some considerable length and in detail with the npcessary requirements for'successful ci.rus calt-'-e. The washing from heavy rains, L advised, should bo guarded against by cultivation, and on volcanic soils mulching vac necessary. He advocated the planting «f the thornlesa species. MrW. J.Palmer, Governmenb Pomologisb i in Auckland, followed with a paper on "The Cultivation of Citrua Fruits in W 6 ff Zealand." Citrus cultivation, he eaid had not received the attention it deserved, and past failures wero attributed to the choice of unsuitable soil and -it-atioD, a„d the use of indifferent stocks. The mosb suitable soil was a loose one, wibh no stagnant water near the surface, and a situation high aod woll drained was the best. The ground should bo worked for at leasb bwo feot, leaving tbo subsoil ab the bottom. Ho had advocated the use of wood ashes as manure. It'was essential that the fruib should be thinned, aB overcropping and overbearing fl ro the chief causes of trees dying. Treas should be pruned early in aubumn. CCTLTORB AND CURING OF LEMONS. Mr Jamea Wilson (Victoria) road a paper by Mr W. S, Williams (Victoria) on the culture and curing of lemons. The writer contended that the best soil for lemons ia a fine deep loam, nob necessarily rich, bub' with a clay aub-aoil. The trees should nob ba planted in low situations, aa they are. liable to froab. To produce the besb qualiby of fruit, trees should be planted in poaitions sheltered from heavy wind. When the leavea had a sickly appearance the soil lacked iron, which should bo applied by crushed sulphate of iron. In the discussiou that followed, Mr Hanlon (Whangarei) axpressad the opinion tbab the papers had been of a practical nature. • Mr Brabanb (Tauranga), expatiated on tbe profitableness of lemon culture.

AUCKLAND ORANGES.

Mr Gubbß (Porb Albert) contested Mr Palmer's ns.ertion thab Auckland oranges could never compete with Island oranges, and pointed oub thab Auckland oranges wore allowed to ripen on the trees, whilsb Island oranges wero plucked in an unripe condition. Ho was ably supported by Mr Corrie (Matakana), who said thab tho Governmenb should send Mr Palmer to Auckland, and request him to report on the commercial cultivation of the orange thero, which would surprise moat New ZealandersIn no parb of Australia did bhe orange grow ho luxuriantly as in the norbh of Auckland.

Mr Boucher, Governmenb .fruit dryer, eaid in California the best) stock for citrons had been found to ba bitter orange.

Mr Palmor. in replying, said he believed j orange trees would grow in New Zealand, ; bub the cli__ato was too humid and cold to convert the acid of the orange into sugar excepting very lato in the season. Mosb New Zealand oranges were thick skinned. Ha had seen a few thin skinned ones. Tho best New Zealand oranges he had seen were grown in Tauranga on the east coasb of the North Island. As to the successful cultivation of the orange in the North', he mentioned that he had bought Whangarei oranges ab 4d per dozon when Tahiti oranges were fetching from 13 3d to Is 6d per dozen. Votes of thanks to the writers of the papers wero passed. Mr Corrie complimented Mr Palmer on bis paper. VINE CULTIVATION. The cultivation of the vine in New Zealand by Mr W. J. Palmer was tho subject of the next paper. The writer dwelt principally with tho culture of vines under glass. lie believed in open-roofed buildings running from the north to the vine growing. New Zealand was nob suitablo for the production of strongly alcoholic wines, and the writer advised New Zealand wine makers nob bo give their wines the same names as celebrated European vintages. He went fully into the details of vine culture, bub hia paper was too long, and exercised tho patience of the delegates considerably.

Mr Beotham (Masterton) gave a abort address on the same subject, in tho course of which he expressed tho opinion that there were choice spots in New Zealand where vines could be raised equal to those raised in the vineyards of France.

Votes of thanks were accorded to the authors ot the respective papers. No discussion whatever ensued, though Mr Lowcssy, who has had much experience in vine growing in South Africa, was presenb with the intention of speaking.

Ab ten o'clock the Conference adjourned till ten thia morning.