SMALLER AREAS OF BERRY FRUITS

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28660, 9 August 1958, Page 11

SMALLER AREAS OF BERRY FRUITS

Although the acreage of berry fruits planted in-New Zealand has continued to decrease, the production for each unit has continued to increase in keeping with the trend of the last five years, according to the report of the Department of Agriculture. Interest in strawberry production was being maintained as the introduction of higher-pro-ducing varieties continued. The apparent reduction of 100 acres in the total area of berry fruits, now recorded as 830 acres, was due in part to the fact that gardens of less than half an acre are not now included in statisti-. cal returns. Because of the pulling out of gardens in Hawke’s Bay, Motueka and Waimate, raspberry areas were reduced to 430 acres.

The closer planting system adopted in Auckland, the main strawberry growing district, caused a reduction of 37 to 238 acres of strawberry plantings. Compared with the former plantings of between 17,000 and 20,000 plants to*the acre, 30,000 plants to the acre were \now frequently planted fn that district. Black currant gardens were not being replaced as they became unproductive, the report said, and the present area of 68 acres was nine acres less than in the previous year. Commercial gooseberry growing was now confined largely to the Wairarapa, where 70 per cent, of the total of 78 acres is found. There were now only 28 acres of boysenberries in the country, a garden of more than 20 acres having been pulled Out in Hawke’s Bay.