A LEAN TIME

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21945, 13 February 1946, Page 6

A LEAN TIME

CROP FAILURES

FRUIT AND VEGETABLES

UNSATIABLE DEMAND Havoc is being played among gardens and orchards of the district by the continued dry weather and the yields for summer crops are almost generally far below average, while crops for autumn and winter harvesting are making no growth and it is possible that when rain does come it will be too late. About the time of Chris.tmai and New Year when heavy rain fell considerable planting for autumn and winter purposes was done but with the practically unbroken dry weather since most of these plants —unless the grower has been in the position to water them, which very few have —have died out. Cabbages and cauliflowers were one of the main lines put in here, but these in the great majority of cases have died in their youth. Peas planted germinated successfully, but then shared the fate of other vegetables. Pumpkins and marrows are not sizing up as usual and the crop is expected to be exceptionally light Shortage of Greens

Housewives are finding it difficult to obtain green vegetables at present, ana the usual summer diets of salads and fresh fruits has been hard to maintain.

Lettuces are coming on to the market in very limited supplies and these only from gardeners with their own supplies of water, and the price to the consumer is far above usual. Bean crops have dried up, with the result that the retail price being fetched in Gisborne now has been maintained at an abnormally high level In an average season beans at this time are selling at about Id or 2d per lb., not the Is 4d to Is 6d per lb., according to condition, which is being asked for them and paid for them this year. Peas are virtually unobtainable and what there are also suffer from _ inflated prices due to the utter inability of the supply meeting the demand. Cucumber-virus, coupled with the dry conditions, has led to the cucumber crop being a failure. The flush of the tomato season has passed and this saw only a proportion of the usual yield for this district. Fruit Becoming Scarce Regarding fruit, the position now is little better than for Vegetables, though earlier on the position was easiei. With the exception of the Golden Queen and a few late varieties, the peaches for the season are over. Because of the conditions the quality of the fruit will be poorer than the usual grown in this district and the amount will b e negligible. The nectarine and apricot season is over, as is also the plum season, with the exception of a few late varieties. Apples are still hard .to come by and the position will not be relieved until the last week of the month when Coxs Orange will be coming forward. Pears should be coming on to the market in increasing numbers now, but the yield, both for quality and quantity, will not be comparable with those of the better seasons. , Several plots of water-melons inspected show that there is not enough moisture in the product to give them size. If any of them do reach the market they will be poor in quality. This state of affairs applies equally to rock melons. The position now reached in this district is that unless rain falls in appreciable volume during the next few weeks it is apparent that this district will have to look for outside consignments to eke out the supply. _As most outside growing centres—particularly Hawke’s Bay—are as badly if not worse placed than here, Gisborne households can expect a leaner time for fruit and vegetables than usual.