THE FRUIT INDUSTRY.

Bush Advocate, Volume XXI, Issue 294, 16 June 1909, Page 4

THE FRUIT INDUSTRY.

A VISIT TO FRIMLEY. It is, we believe, universally admitted that the man who can cause two blades of grass to grow where only one grew before, is entitled to the commendation of his fellowmen, and precisely the same kind of approbation should 'follow* Mr J. N. Williams, who, in connection with the Frimley orchards, has in more senses than one, achieved wonders in the way of increasing the fruits of the earth. Seven years ago these orchards were unknown, but to-day they stand as a household word wherever fruit is concerned, and great as their ! success has been, marvellous as has been their development; we venture to think that, they have not as yet at-, tamed anything approaching the zenith of their productiveness, or the pride of their usefulness. - Situated just on the fringe ' of the town of Hastings, these orchards cover an area of some 200 acres of rich loamy land, in which have been planted many thousands of trees of the kinds most suitable for market purposes. The orchard statistics are both /formidable and interesting. For example, there are 10 acres at Havelock devoted solely* 1 to the production of apricots; there; are 40 acres growing apples, plums, and pears; there, are 90 acres bearing 6000 pear, orange, and peach trees; there are 3000 gooseberry trees on six acres; 1000 red currant trees, and several acres devoted to the growing of vegetables, suitable 'for preserving, such as tomatoes, peas, and French beans. . A casual glance at these figures will serve to convince even the most casual thinker that under careful management- the product of these orchards must be considerable, and °™* ot " tn6 first problems which Mr Williams had to solve hefore he planted his trees, was how to deal with the fruit when it had been grown. A visit to the fruit-growing districts of California convinced him of the potentialities of Frimley, and- there ho also found the practical answer to his problem. He inspected one of the largest canning factories on the Pacific slope, the output of which was 200,000 cases per. annum, and where 250 men and hoys and 750 women and girls were employed. This was only one of several similar factories, and Mr Williams felt convinced that what the fruit industry had done for California, could be successfully emulated m New Zealand-. Accordingly upon his return he gave instructions to have the Frimley orchards - planted, and in due course it became necessary to provide the means by which the product of the trees could be turned into a marketable commodity. A modest little factory was built, to the charge of which Mr Basil- Jones was anointed. In this choice of manager Mr Williams, was: exceedingly fortunate, for bringing .as he did to his task a wide experience of the special business, gained in Engl^nd,^Australia, and New Zealand, Mr Basil - Jones was exceptionally well qualified for the post, and ranch of the success which has attended the fruit canning industry .at Frimley must be attributed to the excellence of his management. From the modest few rooms in which th* canning operations were commenced in 1903, tlie factory, like the orchard, has grown with amazing rapidity, until now it covers an area of four acres, and the ramifications of its v-anous departments are as wide as they are interesting. The primary rorce m every factory is of course the power which propels the machinery and^at Frimley, this is provided by a 40 h.p. gas engino, which is. driven by a gas producer plant. To enumerate the machines which receive their impetus from this** point would be impossible, but the march of progressive ideas is just as noticeable in tiie up-to-dateness of the plant as in every other direction, for here and there one sees a discarded machine winch has been thrown out to make room for one capable of doing more and better work. The purpose and mechanism of these machines are most interesting, and if the visitor to the factory is fortunate in securing the services of. Mr Basil -Jones or his son as a guide through the labyrinth of revolving shafts, whirring wheels,- and animated, steel and iron generally, we can promise him that he is in for a most instructive time. At least such good:" fortune befel our representative on the occasion of a -recent visit to the factory, and we shall here endeavor to give our readers some faint conception of what he saw, always, however, bearing in mind that any written description, be it never so graphic mast fail m interest compared with a sight of the factory itself.: The business of can making has now reached a very high degree of perfection, and is almost entirely mechanical, machines having been devised which do the work with only the most nominal guidance from man. Thus, an operator feeds a sheet of tin into a rotary guillotine, and instantly the. plate is cut into strips of the -requisite width for . the side of the particular tin intended to be made. . These are then passed <m to another operator who likewise feeds them into a machine which folds them, crimps them, and solders the joint. all in one operation. The body of "the tin is thus made, and by'an atctomatic process it then passes into another machine which fits on the tops and bottoms in a most marvellous way. The tin in this semiTComplete state then goes into another machine, and as it rolls along one side the bottom is soldered on, and as it passes up the other side the top is likewise made a fixture. From here the can passes into a testing machine where under an air pressure it is tested for leaks. Faultycans are easily detected, for after a high pressure of air has been pumped into them they revolve through a trough of water and the leak is discovered in. precisely the same way as a puncture in a bicycle tyre. This machine 1* '. the capacity of putting through q^te 10,000 cans per day. " In some instances tho Max Ains pro-

cess is used, in which the top of the can is attached by a thin solution of rubber, and solder is dispensed with. Having now made and tested the can, it becomes necessary to say something of what it is proposed to put into it. If it be peas, there is a pea-shelling machine, which can put through 500 bushels— or the work of 200 girls— m one day ; if it be French beans, there is a machine for cleaning and cutting them up ; if it be peaches there are machines for peeling and stoning them, and so on through every class of vegetable, or fruit that is handled. The process'of stoning the peaches is simple, though ingenious. After being peeled the peaches are run into a shoot, and as they pass along a circular saw cuts them in two, the halfstone being then extracted with the greatest ease by a bevy of expert girls. In the same way apples are <sut into quarters, by being pressed * down upon knives wliich form the segments of a circle, and to prevent the flesh of. the. fruit becoming black as ;a result of "its contact with the cold steel it receives a dash through a bath of salt water, which, without tainting the fruit, has the chemical effect of keeping it white. The fruit having now been prepared, it is filled with the syrup into the cans, which have been carefully sterilised in the meantime, and the cap is soldered on to the top by soldering irons which are .heated .by a combination of gas and air. In this, cap there is a pin hole left, as a vent through which the air is exhausted from the can as it passes, through- a bath of hot water. . When it emerges from the bath this vent is soldered up, and the fruit is then hermetically sealed in the can. The cooking of the fruit is the next process, and this is done, sometimes .in a steam. retort, and sometimes iv a bath of water heated by steam derived from two large boilers used ■exclusively for heating purposes. The time required for cooking is regulated by a large electrical clock, which rings, a powerful alarm bell at various times to which it is set, and so ensures the ahsolute certainty that no batch of cans will be over or under .done. After the fruit has been cooked the tins are then stacked away • in an adjoining building, and allowecL ■to remain there for three months. If there are any faulty cans a process: of fermentation sets in during this . time, and they discover themselves by bulging up, thus destroying the nni.formiiy of the stack from which they .are at once removed and destroyed. Assuming that a can has proved it- . self .perfect, it is then cleaned and put through a machine which at--taches the label to it, and turns it out fit for the market. Bo far we have only dealt -with the perfect f ruit, for it is a rigid rule that only the speckless specimens are used for canning. But it is reason- . able to suppose that where such huge ■quantities are dealt with, there will . always be a proportion which is either too ripe or for some other reason will not turn out pleasing to the eye. This residuum is dealt with in quite another way, for it is reduced to pulp and stored' away in tins and barrels to await the coming of the winter. Then when the flush of the season is -aver, and whole fruit -has practically < •ceased to como in, the hands find eni- ■- ployment in turning this pulp into toothsome jam, of which 1 cwt can be made every ten minutes, 7000 tins being the; days' output. At present the factory has something like 300 * tons of pulp stored away_ in 700 bar- . rels, and innumerable tins, .all of which will be worked up during the ■coming winter, 1 so that there is not much fear of the district, the dominion, running* short of these delicious preserves. In all the. operations of the factory the utmost cleanliness, is observed. The,' fruit is most carefully graded, washed, and brushed before it is put into the cans. The girl employees aro made -to wear' uniform caps and aprons and the xaeo white jackets, smoking is strictly prohibited, and every precaution _ is taken to turn out the finished article ■ sweet and pure, and the universal der mand which has sprung up for Frimley fruit testifies to the success which has attended these efforts. But it is not alone in the completeness of their factory that those who are responsible for the creation of Frimley are to be commended; for they evidently display a measure of for their employees which is mono too common.: Excellent accommodation is provided for them in several cottages, built close to the factory, in this accommodation being included a large boarding "house for the girls. Close to the factory is a largo dining room and social nail, the latter room being devoted to amusements of the order acceptable to young people. Another valuable feature of the institution is the provident fund which all employees must join. Two and a half per cent, is deducted from their weekly, wage, and no matter how short a time an employee may have been "engaged, if "he should meet with an accident, he is kept on full pay until he is able j to resume work. From the facts' thus briefly stated some idea of the magnitude of the industry may be obtained, hut more has yet to. be told, for the canning factory alone gives employment to some 50 hands in winter time, and 200 in summer, the yearly wages sheet amounting to £8000, and altogether a capital sum ' of £37,000 has been sunk in the enterprise. Correspondingly the value i of land in the neighborhood has risen, I and everyone has become richer because success has followed where it is deserved. Obviously the' industry which has grown so rapidly has not yet reached its limit, and incalculable as has been its benefit to .Hawke's - Bay generally, its usefulness is only beginning to be felt, but just as real merit must assert itself, so in the course of time "Frimley fruit" will become a household word throughout the dominion, and wise people will reject everything alleged to be "just as good" and insist upon the Frimley label as tho hall mark — "the very best."

Sheeting : . Standard qualities, including Horrock's and Finlay's, from 9d to Is 6d for single beds; double » beds Is to 2s lid; towels, colored linen mixtures, lOd is, Is 3d, Is 6d, white Turkish lOd, Is, Is 3d, Is 6d; flannelette, all qualities, from 4d, 6d, 7d, Bd, 9d *, Horrock's flannelette, -splendid l}ne, 8d per yard. McDowell Power. , . , ■ r