NEARING AN END

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20241, 8 May 1940, Page 6

NEARING AN END

SMALL APPLE SEASON MARKETING IN GISBORNE OVER 7000 CASES SOLD CROP OF 30,000 CASES The apple picking season in Gisborne is nearing an end, and stores and packing sheds are full, despite the steady sales and the fact that the crop is considerably smaller than usual. Absence of the usual export market has caused the piling up of supplies in Gisborne and other parts of the Dominion, but the consumption is regarded as satisfactory. Already 25 per cent of the district’s crop has gone into consumption, for more than 7000 cases of fruit have been sold through the local packing depot. The total crop in the district for the season was 30,000 cases. Following the damage by hail on Boxing Day. the quality of the apples generally was not up to the usual standard, but much of it was of the best grade, and there has been a good demand for all classes. Although this season's crop has been much smaller than the average, larger quantities than usual should be available next year. -The Government orchard instructor in Gisborne, Mr. J. D. Kennedy, made this estimate to-day when he said that the trees in the badly-damaged orchards that had produced practically no crop this year would have had such a long rest that they should be in good order to provide large quantities next season. Quality in Lemons Mr. Kennedy also stated that the lemon crop this year was much smaller than usual, although the production was higher than last season. The trees had ,not yet recovered from the extremely wet winter of 1938 and the following droughty summer, while the dry conditions last summer did not tend to help in the recovery. Lemon quality this year, however, was of the best, and the district had maintained its reputation against other lemon-growing districts, for in a recent test made in Auckland Gisborne lemons were proved to have a better keeping capacity than any others grown in the Dominion. The climatic conditions in the Gisborne district were regarded as being responsible for that advantage.