ROUND ABOUT HENDERSON.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 261, 3 November 1926, Page 16

ROUND ABOUT HENDERSON.

RICH FRUIT LANDS.

TOUR OF HON. O. J. HAWKEN,

PRODUCERS' PROBLEMS REVIEWED,

Acres of ground planted in fruit trees and grape vines were inspected yesterday by'the Minister of Agriculture (Hon. 0. J. Hawken). who visited Henderson and Oratia. in, company with Messrs. H. G- R. Mason (Eden). \V- J. Jordan (Manukau). and A. Harris (Waitemata) MP.'s, Dr. C- J. Reakes, DirectorGeneral of Horticulture, Mr. J. A. Campbell, director of horticulture for the Auckland district, and others. \

The party spent the morning inspecting orchards, and in meeting the settlers. Mr. Hawken was motored out to a high peak near the Waitakere Hills, and after a stiff climb, he was rewarded with, a magnificent panoramic view, with the sunny Henderson valley stretching for miles in a pleasing series of farmlets and orchards. Away in the distance, the towers and spires of Auckland city rose from the red blur of house tops, and beyond, triple-peaked Rangitoto showed grey above the sheen of the Waitemata. To the right, through a rift in the scrubgrown hills, the blue of the Tasman could be glimpsed. Fifteen Acres of Vineyards. After luncheon at Henderson —the Ministerial party being entertained by fruitgrowers of the district —about an hour was spent in Mr. A. A. Corban's "Mount Lebanon" vineyards, wherein over 15 acres of ground are under vines. That the Henderson district contains land eminently suited for the production of wholesome light natural wines was illustrated to the Minister, who was informed that the vineyards had been created on typical poor gumland, which was obscured by dense growths Of scrub and rugged bush when the present owner first went into occupation. Mr- Hawken was given visible evidence of the fact that vinegrowing is the most outstanding example of intensive cultivation to be found in New Zealand.

Groves of lemon trees were shown to the Minister further down the road, and at a fairly late hour in the afternoon the party arrived at the extensive orchards of Dr. McGill, where a number of ladies served afternoon tea for a gathering numbering about forty- Advantage was taken cf the occasion to place certain aspects of the fruit-growing industry hefore the Minister. Messrs. H. S. Izard, C. M. Spencer, S. W. House and G. A. Green making short speeches. The Government guarantee respecting the export of apples and pears, the possibility of having American and Canadian apples prohibited from importation, the desirability of giving such protection to lemon growers of New Zealand that We no longer will have to compete with tha cheaply-produced Italian lemon, and the question of standardisation for the local market were topics which were dealt with fairly fully. Flat Rate Export Guarantee. "Much-as one would like to press the claims of the section of the community in^ -which one is interested, it would be injudicious of mc to interfere in the matter of Customs duty," said the Minister, in replying. In so far as a flat rate guarantee for apples was concerned, he knew well that there would be enormous advantages to have such a system operating over the whole of New Zealand. A flat-rate guarantee, even if it meant giving only 10/ instead of 10/0, would be of great value, since it would mean that growers would make a genuine effort to keep expenses down. Apparently gome misunderstanding had arisen concerning' the guarantee for pears. At first sight it did appear that a man who grew both pears and apples should, put his returns from both into the same pot- The growers had a different opinion, and the Minister would therefore go into the question, in order to ascertain what the original arrangement was-

_ Speaking with reference to a suggestion that provision be made for an alteration in the Fruit Control Board Act, so that the result of a poll might be decided on the basis of 60 per cent of those who voted, rather than GO per cent of those entitled to vote, the Minister said that few growers wanted to alter all the provisions of the Act. What they wanted was standardisation for the local market. Some districts had a bad habit of passing on their worst fruit to another district. The selling of second-class fruit was going to be a big problem. If the market, cither here or in England, was to be flooded with second-class stuff, prices of first quality fruit would be forced down. The local market was not yet developed f.o its full consumption, and it did seem that standardisation was necessary. The Minister promised to go into the matter with Cabinet and, if possible, he would do his best to bring something forward next year. Our American Competitors. Regarding the importation of American apples, Mr. Hawken said he did not think New Zealand apples that had been in cold store were of much value after December 15. The position was that American apples bore duty of Id per lb, and they came in after October. lt might be possible to so arrange matters that supplies of American apples did not come in till mid-December, thus making it easier for cold-store accumulations in New Zealand to be disposed ' of. The Minister was- inclined to- think that ti could scarcely be expected cf ; New Zealanders that they should have only cold-store apples which had been held a long time. Personally he had never tasted a New Zealand apple that was any good after mid-December j

"I have been assured that next year we shall grow sufficient lemons for the local market throughout New Zealand, and that there will be no necessity for importations," said Mr. Hawken. "One would like to be sure that, the supply would be sufficient, before anything was done to restrict importations. Unless growers can produce a high-quality article they cannot expect the Goveniment to give them protection. And there is another point. Despite all protestations to the contrary, I have never known the price to come down when protection was given. Nearly always it goes up. (Laughter.) While it is difficult to differentiate between one country and another, I hope to see the duty put on so that the industry miy be. helped. . ~ - ;