CITRUS GROWERS OF GISBORNE STRUGGLE FOR DUE RECOGNITION

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22620, 24 April 1948, Page 8

CITRUS GROWERS OF GISBORNE STRUGGLE FOR DUE RECOGNITION

REPORTS of pressure being brought to bear on the Government b> V merchants to allow oranges into this country ii'oin Australia and Palestine are looked upon with some scorn by Gisborne citius growers, who know the potentialities of Gisborne as a swe6t orange producer.

They realise that imports are necessary to supply the demand and imports will have to be continued tor a period before any increased production from Gisborne can go anywhere near tilling tile requirements. For unexplained reasons they realise, too. that they have been lighting an uphill battle to have the Gisborne product recognised officially.

annual meeting of the society, was considered in the best interests of the industry. Something definite, with practical backing on the merits of deep cultivation, shallow cultivation and non:cultivation, irrigation and trials with fresh importations of bud wood ana ivarieties also would be appreciated iu due course. All that work was being left to the interested grower, whereas ! the State had facilities, or could make ’facilities available to inform the growers’. Demands for Bud Mood I Big demands from growers and nurserymen in other districts weie being j made on Gisborne growers with tried trees—trees that had proved tbem!selves as producers of quality oranges jin commercial quantities for supplies of bud wood. It was lelt that it would be desirable lo propagate the stock arid marry-up the choice bua wood with stock within the district. Supplies then could be made available at a reasonable cost to the grower. Trees from nui series foi planting out on n commercial scale were considered too heavy a load on property at pres-ent-day rates. ‘■Although a certain pride in the district may have _ influenced some growers up to a point, care has been taken to obtain the views of disinterested people with some recognised official standing in the industry or closely allied industries and it has been agreed that Gisborne can grow oranges better than elsewere in New Zealand,” one man said. Statements Refuted Officially on one occasion, growers were told that New Zealand was really beyond the citrus belt, and on another that there was not one economically sound orchard in New Zealand consisting entirely of oranges. Both those statements may have an element of truth, but did not agree with the views held in this district. Members of the society had taken a display of Gisborne oranges and other citrus to the Royal Show at Hastings last year and had been besieged with inquiries concerning availability of trees in Gisborne and orders could have been taken for large quantites of fruit of the quality exhibited. The residents of the neighbouring province did not know that Gisborne was capable of growing oranges of that type. A tour of the Gisborne district by members of the New Zealand Fruitgrowers’ Federation and Citrus Council last year, strongly representative of the Auckland and Kerikeri growing areas, awakened further interest in the Gisborne orange potential. The decision of the New Zealand Citrus Council to conduct its annual conference in Gisborne next month gave additional recognition to the fact that Gisborne’s claims were being taken heed of by executive officers of that organisation.

“Gisborne production at. present is confined to a few commercial orchards and hundreds of trees scattered throughout the district at homesteads on the fiats and in the residential area,” said one grower. ‘•The only control exerted on the industry is that affecting price, a ceiling rate being fixed to keep values within bounds. Quality Gisborne oranges find a ready sale, with private orders from Gisborne consumers and fixed orders from people in other parts of the Dominion. The demand far exceeds the supply. "Worst Advertisement’’ “Local oranges on display in some of the retail shops during the season are the worst advertisement that Gisborne could have ’’ another grower said. “They are mostly poor-quality culls or produce from trees of doubtful parentage, largely from back-yard growers. Direct sales from the orchards take care of all the quality fruit available. “It is true that the membership of the Gisborne Citrus Society totals only about 20, but there is a growing awareness in the district that areas on the flats can produce sweet oranges to compare with imported varieties and membership figures will mount in a few years.” To date much has been left to the grower in this district—the grower with the interests of Gisborne at heart —to draw attention to the district potential in citrus, he said. Those growers had learned the hard way and it had taken years to find just what root stock and bud wood, or combination of both, were most suitable for particular areas. Some growers had taken 25 years or more to realise that their \ai ietics were on the wrong stock and many of those trees had been uprooted to give way to fresh stock. Progressive Policy Needed Interested persons had been obliged to experiment with new varieties and it had taken them several years to learn if the new trees were worth orchard space commercially or not. They felt that a progressive policy with a view to the future should have been formulated by the Horticulture Division of the Department of Agriculture many years ago and thus much of tb.c experimenting by amateurs in citrus would have been short circuited. It was not too late now for the department to lend a hand and take a more kindly interest. The establishment of a citrus nursery in Gisborne by the Government, as the result of an agitation resumed this week at the