WAERENGA EXPERIMENTAL STATION.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 66, 18 March 1907, Page 7

WAERENGA EXPERIMENTAL STATION.

IgESIT OF ECSPECTIOX.

<a response to invitations issued by Department some hunin the Auckland disSet iDduding a small contingent from •Waitato and up-country stations, paid - \ijt'(last week) to the Government Farm at Waerenga. situ'fSi.soine few miles beyond Mercer on STmain railway line. The party left Auckland by t he morning express and rrired at their destinatlon shortly jffer Do° n - Unfortunately, the day rored showery, and only allowed the SiStors to go" over three parts of the faTm in close, proximity to the headnarters. The vineyards : of which there 1 90 acres, attracted most attention, !L under the leadership of Mr Bragato. ij, c Government viticulturist, the visiters -were shown the vines in all stages ~ti growth and had ..the merits and demerits of the various varietips carefully erDlamed to them. Of the 20 acres demoted to vine-growing, five acres. Planted some seven or eight years ago. are in g ood bearing and are expected 1 'to yield quite 4_tons per acre. Vines on ■i'anotlier 13 acres, planted two years -'aijo are making splendid progress, and : >,%'Bragato expects them to bear in anE ; other two years. The vines on this section Save all been grafted on American ' T j)hrfl(ixera(-resisting stocks, and look "remarkably healthy. Mr Bragato raises fcs'bwn stocks on Waerenga. and in addition to the grafted vines which were -ieqiiired for, the planting of the 13 acres, TfjU have this season 20,000 grafted -.fiies tq dispose of to the public. The parting operations have been very successful 0 on this station, quite 95 per eat of the grafts having taken. At tie commencement Mr Bragato had much trouble in securing the necessary skilled labour for this class of work, and the men bow on the farm have been trained under his own supervision. A consignment of one ton of golden Chasselas grapes, a table variety, had recently ■ teen' sent to the Christchurch Exhibii ■y ol]) ' and'jfceen sold, -with an unsatisfed demand, at 6d per lb. With a yield •of four tons to the acre, selling at 3d per flj, which jUr Bragato says there • Js up difficulty in obtaining, there is a lefam of £ISO p£r acre, which allows a good margin for the expenses of cultivation and up-keep of orchard. In reply to a question from our representative as to the amount of manures applied, the colony's leading expert said that from 2001b to 2401b of bone-dust ami nitrate of soda liad been put on ■-•-per acre, almost every year. The ground between the vines was ploughed ever/ spring, followed by two or three tarns with scarifier, together with a liftle hand-hoeing down the row 3 themselves. Mr Bragato considers that this" colony can more than compete with South Australia in the matter of grapegrowing. On the northern side of the • vineyards the Department has 1200 acres oi land, which are being broken up and planted with fruit-trees, with ultimate intention of leasing same in suitable areas. ; >Trevious to leaving the visitors met in a large marquee that had been Kiected on the ground, and through Mr. ' 17. Johns, late president ofthe Fruit,.growers' Union-, : expressed their, thanks iSt being -permitted to personally inspect the -results of the Department's ■work.' Messrs Xawry, Kidd, and Poole, ' 'M-mL , *, also gave short addresses, congratulating the Department on the splendid work it was doing for the set- ■ "tiers of the country, to which Messrs Duncan, Boucher and Anderson replied. .The last-named speaker, who is manager "of tie farm, in expressing his thanks for the appreciative remarks, drew attention to the good -work done by Mr Barrett, nurseryman in charge, and Mr [Andrews, vineyard assistant.