FRUIT INDUSTRY.

Auckland Star, Volume XLV, Issue 167, 15 July 1914, Page 8

FRUIT INDUSTRY.

RECENT BIG DEVELOPMENT. ! SIAIE ASSISTANCE FOF, COLD j • ; STOKAGt- i ■' * I i ißy Telegraph.—rarliamcßtorj r.erortcr .- | WELLINGTON. Tuesday. Hopeful views of the future of the nuit industry of V-w Zealand were expressed in tlie House to-night, when tho i'rimc Minister moved the second reading ul tlie Fruit ii.nerving Industry Bill, lie stated that since the passing -..t the Act he had cum.: into contact-with representative fruit preservers, who expressed appreciation ot the measure, hut ' pointed out that tin- maximum amount .available under it for cold storage place, was insufficient. In Nelson, probably tlnbest fruit growing district in Xew Zealand, he vvas told that it would be much better to put a big cool storage plant at the port rather tnan have a number of smaller places in up-country di=trict;. | The same thing had been expressed in j Otago and North Auckland. Consequently he vvas extending the limit ot the. advances from £:S.UUO to £0.000. The annual-limit would remain at £2-j.UOG. The House would probably realise that the fruit growing industry was making progress by leaps and bounds. Most of the development was in connect ion with apple planting. In 1!)J2 the export of apples from New Zealand totalled 1 t.l'.S'J eases, the market ut. the time being principally in England. Now the huge cities of South America veve taking large quantities, and in l'Jlo the export was .i.-l.Oiii.) ea.-es. Thi- year, although the ' ligures hud not been made right up to the end of the export year, the total had reached 85,000 ca-es." and the increase 1 was still going on. It was no exaggera- • tion to say that laud was being planted

• bv'thousands of acre-. Tlie area in fruit iii 1013 was returned at .'15.707 acres. This year the Department of Agriculture believed the area would exceed 41,640 acres, an increase of iI.OOO acres. Personally, from what he had scon at Moutore and elsewhere, he believed tbe increase would be found to Ik- much greater than this, liecause the sianie thing was going on in Central Otago. though a difficulty there | was tlie scarcity of water. .'. tremendous demand was setting in for land for fruit ' growing in North Auckland, and he had just ascertained that there had been 120 applications for areas of gum lands for small fruit farms under the. provisions of .an Acl of lute years enabling tlie holder I to take up front .2.. to 100 acres of poor ! land In. of rent fur live years. j I'ni.lT INDUSTRY'S THIN. lv times past.the dairying industry hud received assistance, now it was the turn of the fruit industry, and ho believed that the cxpendiluic vvuiild have good results. Cordial support for lh. bill came from ' ss,,- Joseph Ward, vv bo -.aid that when be was in he was glau to be re- | minded that it was the guarantee of a. definite net return upon exported fruit •which the Ward Government bud made that gave the 'ruit export industry a great Impetus. When the lirst proposal was made to hold butter and cheese in cold .storage free uf charge it vvas opposed, but iv a few years the industry was able to become independent of the. subside owing to its success. One thing which required to be guaranteed against was the speculative pm chase of lands for fruit "rowing by men who did not attempt to settle ou them. It was evident that in native land as well as in the case of Crown lands a mandatory residential clause would have to be introduced. Cheese and butter appeared likely to beat frozen meat as our principal export lines, and he believed fruit was going to conic fourth. . Mr. Almore suggested that the Prime Minister.- statement regarding >-'son men going to North Auckland to start I av »ple avowing, was likely to mislead. iThese were taking up land for speculative purposes, not because it was superior to Nelson lands for fruit prowin.*, lie believed t'.n- climate ot North Auckland was too hot for apples. Mr. Witty advocated applying the provisions of th- bill to concerns which were already providing cold storage. Ho quoted a case in which highly valuable experience had been gained for the industry iv- a w-iotc lay a nuin who had to finance his enterprise at high rates. Mr. lltin-i- (YVaiU'inatiO contested the Uu—cistion that Auckland fruit lambs i were interior to tlictee of Nelson. The j supposedly poor lands of North Auck- ' land would in time become one huge I orchard. Mr. <i. \Y. Russell asked the Government if it was not becoming necessary :to keep an eye on the development oi ; tlie fruit industry. There was likely Ito be a boom in laud for this purpose, ! and he thought it would be quite a proper thing to provide official protection ! against area* being .sold by speculators I for apple growing which were not -vi:--(able, or which were planted with the i wrong varieties. At any rate tihe Govi eminent could increase the number of ' its experts, --o that those who went '', into the industry would be well advised. 1 An extension of the experimental tree ! planting at Ruakura was urged by Mr. , <i. M. Thomson., who advocated the | growing of soft-wood trees for the pur- . ' pose of providing timber suitable for ! fruit eases. He .-aid that portions of i I the Canterbury plains wore eminently i suited for this purpose, and strongly | I urged sonic more systematic methods I being introduced into the Forestry Department, with a view to developing ! plantations of soft, quick-growing trece. Mr. Vernon Reed urged the vioverni nient to 'immediately seek out markets i • lor fruit, as the prospective output of ! I the areas now planter; was sixteen mil- - lion cases per annum. j The Prime "Minister spoke apprrcia--1 ; tively at'- the bill's reception, lie was 1 ' trying to arrange that fruitgrowci*. going upon the poor North Auckland 1 : lands shall get advances from the State Lending Department, lit- had not comj plcted the scheme, and -was not ready I<o put it forward. The fruit areas stih- ! divided in Auckland district and taken lup by settlers had not turned out well. because it was found necessary to take out the varieties originally planted. . i ThU mistake would probably .-,.-! , j £1000, but the (lov eminent was going ~ !to do justice to t'iic settlers, aud loot , 'the bill, lie had arranged to have some lof the Central Otago hind tested for , | artesian water.