MONEY IN FRUIT.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 180, 25 April 1908, Page 3

MONEY IN FRUIT.

.. ' THE PLACE WHERE THEY ARE ' •> making ; it. ••;/•;•:;• N SOMETHING ABOUT FRIMLEY '■i ,' METHODS; ■ 'f ■' V ' ' f (There* the present ;timo .a great do-; mand for fruit-growing land in Bay district near Hastings (writes our. arana :corrcsnondcnt), but owners arc naturally relnctaijt- to sell ; their properties ony ing .to tho ■ fact that- the areas :have-!been; found so:, profitable. There a're'. jiofesibly.: 1000 acres of' land under' fruit cultivation ;i'n' the Hastings-district, and/all the, growers' aro reported.-to 'be doing; well.'' It,is,'com-; mon to/-make from 15s;'to- 30s.> a .tree''from' these gardens/ and one! owner, who.-has. been., making . between .£3OO. and £400 from : five; acres, on Jeasein perpetuity .planted . with apples,..nears, .plums, and peaches,,has 'sold' his goodwill for :£l2oo cash. -This, property! lies about a mile and/a half from'Hastings-.' Another grower with' an- orchard. 'ten' years, old: in pears 'is' receiving a return 'of £100 .per acre.; One man paid £68, per acre;for.:a' peach .orchard, and:cleared £100 an acre in tho,.first-twelve . months; 'This. .was'. an, ex-' ceptiorial return,''the -net gain in' peach orchards -being-msually £50 to £60 an acre. ;These returns/are-not; general every.-year,''but-they'• have \Beem':so;'iii .the 1 past .season, which was- favourable, and was aided by big: prices'.. " Still;" said" a: Hastings man, " if;New';Zealand."had adopteda.; preferential' tariff' with Australia, wo,' should" all have been .partly, ruined;''' The-Frimley Canning Factory, can absorb.: not only 1 ' all that is grown: locally, but as much'again. Frimley is the 'safety-'-.valve of;.the 'fruit;: business,in Hawko!s:Bay; arid there>is attremeridous demand for canned .fruits. " The /possibilities of, Hawke's Bay ;; as wealth-producing district' Of fruit-growers are-enormous,: and; maysomeday.'dwarf 'the woolv ahd'r,sneop ■-returns .. into ; insignificance.. V. " It is .no .use -imagining that orchards .-will' take care of- themselves," said Mr. Jones,the manager lof ' the" Frimley Canning ; Fac■tory, to< our correspondent. l . " The ; ,trees 1 must. bo,,attended.aiid;nurseQ;tb: retain.-their, gdod h"ealHr,;, ; TnoV ground . must . be; . regularly: turned; over; ■ the '-trees; must, be sprayed,'., and: unremitting attentioji'/is','^necessary,:., so-that. .;diseas'es: and ipests 'afetswept'right .out.'!'.-/; / ' There is no doubt' th'at, alf'Hastings- orchar"dists ;do 'not ''follow : these rules, .hut. a; glance oyer •tho;;prbfcssj6hal ; men's nurseries in the district" show-follb how,; orchards' 'should 'bo ( kept/„. As, in ..South ; Austi;alia, iwhere. fruit-' growing, has,be'come.'ah.art,^-'no. tVace, of gra'Ss is, found.-'in 1, these *brchards. ' The earth is'l brown'arid- soft;;and the. tilled toil is spado dtep at any' spot.••''! Keep turning'over your: .ledger,-- and you'll grasp your - business',"i says the . successful merchant. " Keen'turning' over' your soil,-, and youare getting' a grasp, of ydur industry," remarked the professional . / nurseryman. ■ The. soft' - lightly .turned. Soil■ is kissed.' by-the; dews, but resists 1 the),'frosts,- - because ; it.-.is .a '-bad cpnductbr.' I ,On ; the - other :,hand,'- the ,' s6il. which is ~ never I touched becomes''hard, and .a splendid Con- 1 1 ductor. for-'the; cold'and-frost. -