-DEVASTATING FROST.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 951, 19 October 1910, Page 7

DEVASTATING FROST.

AT HASTINCS. DAMAGE ESTIMATED AT £20,000 FRUIT CROPS WIPED OUT. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) Auckland, October 18. The A-ackland; "Star's" correspondent at Hastings telegraphs ihah there waa nine degrees of frost there last night, which swept tha peach crop completely out of existen<e. Iα Hastings alone the'ripe poach, crop is worth £10,000, every penny of which has vanished as completely as if a fire had swept the district. On the great Karapo orchard, whero stone fruits are grown v almost exclusively, the crop would have been worth £30U0. The manager remarked this morning that be would gwe £5 for every case of peaches likely to ripen there, tlnms in the district, usually worth about £3000, are probably mostly destroyed. The manager ,of the Kaipoi orchards estimates his loss at 300,000 cases, valued at £4000. ' ' A later message states that early reports of the damage to the fruit crops by last night's unprecedented frost are in no way -exaggerated, and authorities • now estimate it jut less than £20,000. The famous Frimley and Kaipoi orchards will be practically fruitless this year, and the loss there alone is estimated at ,£IO,OOO. Mr. Thomas Hon ton estimates his nursery loss at £4000. It is twenty-two year? since a severe frost was experienced here at this season of the year. The orchards on the Havolock Hills are not seriously affected, although some on the lower slopes suifeied severely. OPINIONS OF ORCHARDIST • ' WORST EVER EXPERIENCED. (By Telegraph—Special Ecporter.) Hastings, October 18. Hastings was visited last night by a midwinter frost, and orchardists of long experience sta.te that it was the worst that they have ever experienced',' in Hastings at this season. At iiour o'clock this morning there was II , 'do? greos of frost, which left disaster in its train, stripping the trees, not only of peaches and plums, but of every class of fruit—apples, pears, persimmons, ete., besides tomatoes aud' potatoes. So thorough was the destruction that there is absolutely nothing to be done in many cases but to dismiss the employees, >aud turn sheep < into the orcnards until pruning timo comes round. The dibheaitened growers estimate the 'loss to the district!' at about £10,000—all done during last night. The nurserymen' have siiso sutfered extensively, and it is scarcely probable that their tender stock has been saved. In one instance a lot off tomatoes were placed under canVae and, although there were two "lies," the frost found the plants, and withered them up. » - !i /A local orchardist told- one of the fruit delegates this morning that ,the loss during last night was £10,000, iind' the delegate ,smiled, saying:-/'Oh, Jfou, jellows are surely crying out more than you're hurt." The orchardist wagered him that, on the 150 acres which torn- - ed his orchard, he could not collect one case, of peaches. He added -fc'aat there was,no guessing about it—it was an absolute fact. , • [ ■ I, " Arduous Night With Fires Coins. Before the Conference of the Dominion! fruitgrowers opened this morning the chairman (Mr. Smith) stated that ho had to make a very sorry announce.ment, and he knew the,,yjsiting dela-.-j gates would extend their'sympathy to'_ .their hosts. The frost just experienced was the severest recorded hero at this time of tho year for the last,twenty < years. Wheri he left tho conference on the previous evening he went straight to his orchard, where he found Tiis manager with tho men ahead of him. ( and they were all'prepared. They set to work , at the fires, and ho remained with them until four o'clock in the morning, when there was 11 degrees of frost. The, smoke from tho fires was so dense that one could not see from fire to fire, and the men "■ were cough--ing and could scarcely breathe, but it was , all no good.' ' There was not a case left in the Eaipoi orchard, and he was afraid that all the orchardists on the fiats had sustained similar losses. He was almost certain that the apple and pear bios-, soms were destroyed, and tho stone fruit was completely annihilated. , , • Vote of Condolence. ||

Mr. C. .Lowe (Motueka). moved a vote of condolence with the Hastings orohardists. The delegates weib j all growers, "and sympathised with ttam. 1 Mr. Hanlon OYhang&rei). in S[kond-' ing the resolution, said that h<s Lad boon round some-of the orchardii that s morning, and,, as a grower,' he silmost wept at the night of the trees, blackened, frost stricken', and destroyed, t' In speaking to the motion, Mr. Fred Sisson (Wangnnui) remarked that'growers had to put up with many adversities, and, if a man was not gifteel with . a big heart and the spirit of self-reli-ance, it would be better for him .jx>' get out of Tthe fruit-growing business. ■ He hoped that the local growers /would . stand | up to the situation. - , i l , '' < The motion was carried unanimously, and Mr. Foraeau returned thanks; - -

, Question of Trying Heaters, Mr. J. A. Wilson mentioned" that he had had twenty-seven years' experience as a-fruit-grower, and ho had seel this" happen betoro. question ' was: Were'they provided with all the knowledge available on the subject? " They had heard what Mr. Smith had \ said, viz., that the smoke'had been ineffective. He mentioned that, in America, orchard-heaters woro used, and he quoted an advertisement from an American fruit journal, announcing the success of these heaters. The Government should get all ths information possible on the subject, because they had opportunities which private growers had not. As far " as he could judge, these heaters 'could ,i be had for £5, this sum not including tho heating material. According to the...advertisement, the apparatus could raise the temperature of the orchard from 10 to ,15 degrees, which was, sufficient. ■* , \ Mr. Frank Sisson stated that -Iconi-. plaints had been made yesterday, that fruit-growors did not visit tho experimental farms. Well, the reason was that, when they went there, they would seo nothing to thoir advantage. If tho Government farms experimented * with tho heater-they would be something useful, and 'the Government' might be tho means of saving tlio district thousands of pounds. ■'" On tho motion of Mr. Wilson] sooonded by Mr. F. Sisson, it was resolve? ' that the Government bo asked to , pro- " ride the experiment farms with different heaters for- frost prevention'"and to supply information regarding tho cost of material for same, and tho cost of frost alarm thermometers. i