AUCKLAND FRUITGROWERS UNION CONFERENCE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVIII, Issue 275, 26 November 1897, Page 4

AUCKLAND FRUITGROWERS UNION CONFERENCE.

The Conference of the Auckland fni'f growers was continued yesterday ivr J. J. Dickey, the President, T ' e .Jj and there ws.s a good attendance K» delegates. A number of papers wittenK members of the Union were read. Mrp H. Grapes read an article on "The "A tralassian Fruit Case,:: in which he a**' the reasons of the Intercolonial (O ference in selecting the case which tli have adopted as a standard. c? Mr A. Tooraan contributed a uanpr J titled " The fruit Industry from, aJ)£it tors Pointof View." Hesaidhe had visits most of the districts, and, though the fnrif crop would be light, the acreage of yon?' trees coming into bearing wouldpreventan scarcity, and payable prices would rail throughout. The requirements of the iam trade would be large, the manufacturer! having to report a large output since last' season. Regarding the disposal of fruit the union had the best means obtainable where fruit could be sent to auction and definitely sold at once, and it was the dnb of every grower to protect that system The private selling of fruit was deprecated The idea that some people had, that by scattering their fruit in small lots they would do better, was a great mistake and in the grading and gathering of 'fruit some growers were not careful enough The bulk of the local grown fruit wasitli that could be desired, and was a credit tc the growers and packers, and a great hn. prpvement on the old fashioned style. A number of questions were asked Mr Tooman and it was resolved to have his paper printed and distributed to all members of the Union. . A short essay on " Orchard Management " was read By Mr W. J. Palmer. A paper en ''Vine, growing in Open Vineyards/ was read by Captain C. R. C. Smith. Captain Bnrai exhibited a number of the pests attacking vines and the specifics for them. Captain Broun read a paper on 'the eradication of phylloxera, dealing with the appearance of the diseased vines, the conditions of the diseased roots, the winged phylloxera, the natural enemies, th& resuits of treatment with bi-sulphide of carbon and the satisfactory results achieved | by careful uprooting and burning. Cap- * tain Broun stated that phylloxera spread ' through the materials of glass houses being. '■ sold and transported to other districts, but' $ they should remember that the winged*''' phylloxera was unknown here and that the other did not forsake the roots. CONFERENCE AT BIRKENHEAD

The Standard Fruit Case Adopted— Before luncheon at Northcote Hotel on Thursday, the Conference discussed the standard fruit case proposed by the Brisbane Conference, and ifc was unanimously resolved to adopt it for

shipping, the Conference reserving for the Executive Committee the power to arrange for a more convenient ease for soft fruits for local markets. It is expected that if Southern fruitgrowers also adopt the case, the Government will in. time be asked to accept the case as a recognised bushel, with the half and quarter (outside measurements), as the half and quarter bushels. { The Capabilities of the BirkenheaH ' Orchards.—The afternoon was spent iff orchards and vineries at Northcote and Birkenhead. and at a subsequent sitting Mr Blackmore, in acceding to a request to contrast the resources of the district with those of the other young districts with which he was acquainted, said that he would give the settlers credit for having j done an enormous amount of work in a short time. Their land was within easy access to Auckland, but the soil was not. of good quality. It needed a great amount of I labour, but if that were given it, iairlr j good crops of fruit would be obtained. ;*& more friable soil would Tite preferable if it could be found at an equally convenient 1 distance from the city. Their soil required j to be thoroughly worked and underj drained, and it would then produce first- | class plums and good apples, but he did I not think it was very well suited for citrus i fruits, especially the orange. Government Experimental Shipments qf j Apples.—At the evening sitting at Birkeni head, following on a strawberry tea in the fruitgrowers' meeting room, Mr Blackmore read a telegram from Mr Ritchie, asking whether the Auckland Union would like the Government to undertake a trial shipment of apples from Auckland to England I on the same conditions as had been prac{tically arranged with the Canterbury Fruitgrower's Association. The Government had accepted proposals from that Association, and would • ship from Christchurch about the first week in March about 5,000 cases of apples, contributed in large or small lots by the growers, guaranteeing them a penny per lb clear. Mr Blackj more said that if the Conference approved of the suggestion the Government would make all the arrangements to get the fruit I carefully shipped at Auckland in cold chambers, and placed upon the home markets uuder prpper supervision and in the; best condition possible. As the •consignments would doubtless be made up ot a . large number of different sorts of .apples, he thought the experiment would be a very valuable one indeed, showing as it would the relative exporting qualities, and the different values in English'".markets.' The question aroused considerable interest, especially among the large body of local fruitgrowers who were allowed to take part in the discussion, and it was unanimously resolved to accept the proposal. Mr Blackmore undertook to wire to the Department to this effect. Experimental Fruitgrowing and Agricul-. tural Stations.—The idea of inducing the. Government to ■ establish and maintain local experimental farms for fruitgrowing' j and agriculture alluded to in the annual. I report of the Union, was well received. The President (Mr Johns) said that the. Agricultural Association had shown a desire to co-operate with the fruitgrowers in this matter, and as the two branches of farming could be well worked together he thought it would be both I courteous and advantageous to combine them in any resolution which might, be passed. Mr "Blackmore said that at Momahawke there was a small experimental station, which was doing good work in a quiet way. It possessed a col-, lection of vines, probably as good as could be found anywhere, and they were intro-. during all those kinds of 'fruits which; seemed likely to be valuable to the industry. But in order to make fall. use of these imported fruits it was necifc; sary that experimental stations shoum be established at suitable centres through- • out the colony. It had already been decided to establish one such station" in Otago, a district with a dry climate ana long season, which Signor Bragato had reported to be specially suited to vinegrowing. The step was the result of pressure brought to bear upon the Government by the Dunedin Association, ana about 300 acres of land had been taken up for the purpose. There a system of artificial ii-rigation was necessary owing to the rainfall not being more than about three or four inches. The question of taking similar steps for th( Auckland district was already before the Department, by whom it was favourably regarded, but "it was advisable that the initiative should come from the fruitgrowers themselves. He believed it would be well to have two stations—one .neat Auckland and one near Whangarei, for fruits suited to its more sub-tropical climate. But it would be better to have only one than none at all. He be*' lieved these stations would have the, effect of opening up a good livelihood for , large numbers on the 'land. Mr Ritchie I had wired to him that several sites had

item offered, and he was instructed ° inject them. One of these 1 S near Otahulm. He felt that if Nations were established, the one at • W that nearer Auckland jointly horSSaland agricultural They should S.conducted on entirely up-to-date mm ercial lines and free from fads. Sparrish, a local grower, urged the Union to press on the matter. He said r t m anY of them had been growing fruit Zl studying its growth for many years, it they found they had more to learn •erv year. ancl tlie^ would never iinisn lflrnin 01 Ifcwas a<l uestion °* tnegreatest •mbortance to them. They needed to know Tat treatments best suited the diflert fruits, which of the sorts were en ijj growing at all, and much other fimation which they could never pttle thoroughly for themselves. Ihese tations also should be the means of letting fruit uniformly true to name. Mr ftanlon said that Whangarei would heartily support any scheme in the direction indited Indeed he was inclined to think the Department must be tired of hearing heir reiterated demands for the last 10 years, and this seemed to be apparent in Mr Ritchie's last letter to them, in which j e "thanked them for the interest tJiey h^ ahvays taken in this jnatter." in other colonies it seemed to be the custom of fruitgrowers to subscribe tnd present the Government with suitable land for the work, but unfortunately the reverse obtained in New Zealand for the Government generally were asked an exorbitant price for any land they might ffish to buy. He believed that at Whangarei* there was Government land suitable. Mr Kay moved that the Conference urge the Department of Agriculture to establish agricultural and horticultural experimental stations in the Auckland dis'rict, and that local members lie asked to ase their influence to get provision made in :]ie estimates this session to meet the jxpense. Mr Holden seconded, and the potion was unanimously adopted. The Codlin Moth.—Mr Kay moved that the Conference confirm its resolution passed at the 1896 sitting, petitioning the Government that till a specific was discovered which would satisfactorily check codlin moth and apple scab, it was premature to enforce the Orchard and Gardens Pests Act, except for phylloxera. Jlr Blackmore spoke with some enthusiasm on behalf of arsenical spraying. Mr Holden believed in the possible efhcacy of the method, but said he did not feel himself competent to carry it out, owing to the intricate questions involved in the operation. He thought success could only be obtained, if at all, by a Government man doing all the spraying. Mr Morrison and several other delegates spoke in favour of the motion. Sir Hoey, of Whangarei, said that about three years ago he could find sixty grubs under one bandage. He sprayed every year with arsenic, and also used the bandages, and now he did not find 200 grubs in all his orchard of several hundred trees. Mr Blackmore admitted that owing to the numerous broods during a season, the arsenical spraying alone did not kill enough larvte to stamp out the pest. But if the spraying were combined with bandaging and were done in an intelligent manner, then juccess would follow. He had been offered an isolated orchard of over 30 acres to deal with for this and next season—to cultivate and treat in such a way as to give a practical test to the merits of combined spraying and bandaging. The motion Avas carried. Mr Hoey alone voting against it. The Importing of New Pests.—Mr E. Morrison drew attention to the facilities which existed for the importation of some oi the most dreaded pests from other colonies, and moved that the Department i Agriculture be urged to take additionsftj stringent measures to guard against the Sanger. Mr Morrison named several of such-pests which he said might at any rime come into the colony with shipments of fruit and fruit trees, and suggested that the Government should prohibit the importation of any medium of infection from colonies where the pests me known to exist. He remarked that while at Brisbane he counted no less than four different pests on one citrus fruit. Mr Biddell'said that some time ago a boat tailed at Chelsea, which had on board a hundred cases of pine apples from Fiji, ; consigned to Wellington. He bought some of . the fruit, and when lie •jeached home he noticed that it was :overed with mealy bug. He immediately Earned the fruit. Mr Hanlon said he bad ionnd the same on pineapples sent to Whangarei. Mr D. Morrison said this ■ was a very serious matter. Mr Blackaiore promised to see that the subject reseived all the attention it deserved. It iras resolved to instruct the Executive Committee to communicate with the Department.

New Proposals for the Year.—lt was decided that provided sufficient support could te secured from the associations in the province, and especially from the secretaries, monthly bulletins showing the local prospects would be circulated by the Union. The Secretary stated that the Auckland Horticultural Society intended to purchase a twenty-guinea challenge cap for'the best collection of fruit exhibited by associations affiliated with the Union, the cup to be held lor one, year. It was decided on the motion of Mr E. Morrison, seconded by Mr Thompson, to aold the next Conference at Auckland. Papers on the cultivation of orchards J'ere read during the evening by the President and Mr Blackmore, but several others, «» want of time, were taken as re-ad, and •landed on for publication in the local newspapers. The Conference broke up at ten o'clock.