SMALL PRODUCERS

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 32, 15 October 1912, Page 3

SMALL PRODUCERS

HAVELOCK FRUIT-GROWING MONEY IN TABLE GRAPES UP-TO-DATE POULTRY FARMING. A recent' visit to the' Government's experimental farm at Arataki, near Havelock, enabled a representative of the Evening Post to gather some interesting particulars of the testing work dona there in the way of grape-growing, general orcharding, etc. In these days the prices of land call mote and move for intensive farming, and Mr. T. West, the manager at Arataki, is producing practical data which should be of tho utmost value to the fruit-grower not only in this fertile portion of Hawkes Bay but in other developing "districts. A large part of the activity, of. Arataki is directed to the 'raising --of phyllOxeraproof stocks and the testing; on them of various varieties of grape. Twelve different varieties of phylloxera-proof stock are being experimented with in the testing block, and not only are they tried with different varieties of grape but in different soils, for Nature has provided the Government's 65-acre block at Arataki with a convenient strip, of heavy soil, contrasting with the light. The department /Jells varieties grafted on to guaranteed phylloxera-proof stocks at the low price' of £1 per 100, and thus provides the viticulturist w^th cheap vines as well as free education. Rows of phylloxera-proof cuttings (2500 in a row) are awaiting the next grafting season (October). Mr. West claims » world's record in successful grafting— r 95 per cent, of "takes" in 25,000 grafts (in situ). TOBACCO EXPERIMENT. An interesting side-line is tobaccotesting, for which purpose an area of two- acres is being prepared. To provide sufficient leaf to successfully carry oat the sweating process, a two-acre plantation is needed; but, if this proves successful, it does not follow that every farmer who takes up tobacco-growing as a side-line need cultivate two acres, for one small grower can buy the crops of others, attaining the same result as the department* hopes to gain with its two acres. -The result of this experiment may be of much value. The tobacco expert is Mr. Usher. Potato-testing is directed to ascertaining ( the values . of manures, blight specifics, etc. A margin of ground is left at the end of each 1 "row, -to allow room for the planting of cuttings. These are taken from the foliage of the potato when it is about a foot long; and the cuttings root themselves' in- twenty-four hours. So far as experiments in this direction have gone, they indicate that a cutting produces about 31b of potatoes, of about half the crap ...of the parent tuber plant ; and in one instance at least it Was found that while the tuber plants developed blight, the cuttings' did not. This is a possibility worth further testing; and, apart from that, 'extension of his crop by means of cuttings may be profitable to a small man dealing with high-priced aeed, to whom the cost factor is material. The cuttings, Mr. West *dds, soon catch up in. growth on the parent tuber plant, and the cropping power of the latter is not weakened by the removal of the cutting. The experimental orchard ' contain 1300 varieties of apples, pears, plums (Japanese and English), peaches, apricote, nectarines, and cherries. The invading Japanese, with its huge crops and inferior flavour (particularly if not thinned out), has cheapened plums bo much that many orchardiste are cutting them out, but growers that fiold on to good varieties of English plums should reap the advantage of the backwash. The English plum is like the English manufacturer, a stayer.; but the Japanese (really in AmWica," through the genius of Burbank) is meteoric. 'Some time .ago a prune industry was born in Taradale, and though little is heard of it, there may be possibilities .in this direction. The large Sale of imported dried apricots suggests t .development in *hia direction, but the Hawkea Bay climate, it seems, tenet. sufficiently adapted to aun-drying. Tp return 'to the Arataki orchard, testing is being carried on nbt only with regard to coils, manures, and ipecifics, but in a number of. other directions of prime practical importance to the orchardist. ThLnnihg-out is not the least of theee. How often the' neglect of it causes the fruit to grade second-class ! An interesting experiment is being made in dwarfing, to test its advantages in the. Way of convenience of spraying and picking and comparative immunity from wind-effecte. Not far from Arataki U a private orchard of the same age, but a conspicuous example of the art of how not to do it. This contrast in orcharding methods is an, education in itself. Lack of cultivation is one of the main causes of the difference. The old idea' of » grassgrowa orchard has, like many, others, passed. THE WINE INDUSTRY. The gtovrer of table grape* is free from- two danger* that threaten the vigaeron—firstly, Prohibition; 'secondly, reciprocity with wine-exporting countries like South Afrka and Australia. Neat the Arataki farm is Mr. , Cbambers's 35-acre vineyard- and 1 wine-making' plant and cellars, representing a large capital outlays The huge casks in the cellars coet JCSO each, and the whole investment is a courageous one, for Prohibition'would render thie buildings and plant and the wine grapes' iru the vino yard practically valueless, and the casks would only bring second-hand value. I'm owner states that the undertaking has now, after seventeen years, just reached the turning point financially. He from other growers besides handling his own vintage, and has also been a big buyer of phylloxera-proof stocks from the Government. In the cellars are stocked over 50,000 gallons 'of wine op to five years old; Mr. ' Chamber* states that the New Zealand grower has to spend more in cultivation and in wire for training purposes than- sk Australian grower would expend. The latfour he employs is all adult. "" '' •' A POULTRYMAN'S CRITICISMS. An orchardist or grape-grower may thrive on any area from twenty ddwn to two or three acres, according "to circumstances. A poultry farmer may work on a still smaller scale, and a visit to Mr. W. C. Davis's model poultry farm, on the outskirts of Napier, is a revelation of what may be accomplished within a limited scope. The feeding arrangements along the whole row of well stocked pens are operated by a lever; which releases from elevated hoppers the required amount of feed for the birds below. These hoppers only, need to be filled once a month, and as a labour-sav-ihg device the arrangement speaks for, itself. The incubatoro .are so arranged that the chick fresh from the shell, Tollowing its young instinct, makes for the light rays, and in doing so negotiates a fairly stiff passage, which finds out any weak points in its constitution ; literally, the process is one of survival of the fittest. It is Mr. Davis's boast that, out of a recent parcel of 52 day-old chicks sent^to Sydney, only one died of troubles properly incidental to the journey. It is one of his complaints against the Government that day-old chicks cannot be sent by post, as well as by rail or steamer. Another grievance is that the trial shipment of 500,000 eggs recently sent to Vancouver was put inthe. cheese room of the etsaoaer, and Mr. Davis declares

that eggs so carried cannot be landed in proper condition. He feels the more strongly on this point, because the poultrymen who 3ent eggs did not ask the Government for a guaranteed price, as did the 'appte exporters. Tho small primary producer is very necessary to J*ew Zealand, in order that the most may be made out of the land ; and he is developing at a rate which may glut the local markets. This remark ap. plies both to fruit-growing and poultryfarming. It is therefore of vital importance that oversea markets for these products should be developed. The safety of the small primary producer, like that of the sheep and dairy farmers, lies ultimately in exports.