AN EXOTIC INDUSTRY.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 143, 18 June 1926, Page 9

AN EXOTIC INDUSTRY.

LEMON GROWING IN THE NORTH.

" Say, Mister, what's an exotic industry '!" "asked the old man of a " Star" reporter, as he leaned over the gate of his garden at eventide enjoying his pipe. "According to telegraphed information, a Government official has designated lemon growing as an exotic industry."

" When I went to school, we understood exotic to mean introduced from outside —that is, from a foreign country something that was not native," answered the pressman.

" Now, I had an idea that was about what it meant," replied the old man: " but why class lemon growing as exotic any more than apples, peaches and pears? That fellow did not know much about lemon growing in the Auckland district if he intended to convey the impression it could not be done to pay. I grant you. that the men who grow citrus fruit here want more return than a shilling a day, which is the wage paid the women who look after lemon growing in Italy, but that does not mean we could not grow all the lemons that are likely to be wanted in New Zealand Why. anywhere round Auckland you can see the lemons fruiting splendidly in the gardens, and, as far as having enough to go round, let the growers get fair protection, and I will guarantee that the Hokiansa district, with its warm climate, could easily fill the bill. Then, what about Tauranga? Why, that place can grow lemons as easily as a Chinkie will produce cabbages."