PROSPECTS FOR FRUIT CROP

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22317, 3 February 1938, Page 12

PROSPECTS FOR FRUIT CROP

* Excellent Season Predicted EXPECTED INCREASE IN EXPORT FIGURES With the picking and packing of pip fruits for the expoxl market less than a month distant, fruitgrowers are predicting that this season will be an exceptionally good one. The climatic conditions have been especially good for apples and pears in most districts, and from inquiries made yesterday at the Canterbury office of the Horticultural Division of the Department of Agriculture, it seems probable that if the conditions continue favourable until the picking is finished, the export figures for these fruits for the whole Dominion will be record ones. It was reported yesterday by the division that although the weather this season had been favourable for the breeding of pests, most of the crops in the Canterbury district were free of infection. As the' picking season would not start in earnest for at least another fortnight, there was still a chance of infection. Provided the weather remained fine and sunny, however, the fruit should remain free from infection. It was hoped that the total export from Canterbury would be nearly twice as big as last year, when the crop was only a light one. The falls of rain in December, and the fine warm sunny weather since had been practically ideal for the ripening of the fruit. Although it is possible that the picking for export will not begin in earnest till the end of this month, it is possible that some of the earlier varieties, such as Worcester Pcarmain and Cox’s Orange, will be ready before that. Already these varieties are being sold on the local market. Although the wet season has favoured the apple and pear crops, it has had one drawback in the strawberry crop, rotting the first crop of this fruit. Cherries also cracked with the continued wet weather in December, making them useless for marketing and allowing them to be infected with brown rot. Raspberries were also light, as on many farms the plants and fruits were affected by the bud weevil Stone fruits had also proved disappointing and the crops were also light.