HARBOUR ENQUIRY

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, Issue 210, 19 August 1927, Page 5

HARBOUR ENQUIRY

TO-DAY'S PROCEEDINGS. HAWKES BAY FRUIT EXPORT. SHIPPING NEEDS OF THE INDUSTRY. The Commission inquiring into the affaire of the Napier harbour, port charges and reclamation continued its sittings at Napier this morning. Mr. J. S. Barton, S.M., of Wanganui, presided. Associated with him were Messrs. A. C. McKenzie, harbour engineer, of Melbourne, and J. B, Waters, merchant, of Dunedin. Mr. A. Gray, K.C., of Wellington, and Mr. M. R- Grant appeared for the Napier Harbour Board, while the Marine Department was represented by Mr. H. B. Lusk. The first witness called was Mr. A. M. Robertson, whose evidence was taken regarding the prospect of fruit trade export from Napier. Mr. Robertson stated that, on behalf of the nrincipals of the Hawke's Bay Fruitgrowers’ Association, he had been requested to make a statement to the Commission. On the New Zealand Export Fruit Control Board he was a member representing Hawke’s Bay, Wairarapa and Gisborne. The prospects of the fruit industry in New Zealand were never brighter, the whole of the export trade being controlled by one board Fruit was undoubtedly the best managed or controlled of any primary product of New Zealand- The movement to buy Empire goods had already been felt by the Hawke’s Bay 'ruigrowers, but the Continental harkets were as yet untouched. GROWTH OF LOCAL FRUIT TRADE. Hawke’s Bav was playing no mean part in the Dominion’s fruit trade In 1923, 9,000 bushels were exported and in 1926 the number was increased to 123.000 bushels. Next year it was anticipated that the number would reach 150,000, while it was expected that the trade would stead ily increase until in 1935 a total of 500,000 bushels would be reached. The suitability of Hawke’s Bay’s soil for fruitgrowing was unquestioned, it being the finest in New Zealand. Within a radius of 15 miles of the port were thousands of acres which would grow the finest fruit in New Zealand. THE DRAWBACK OF RAILAGE. A decided drawback to the trade, laid the witness, was the railing of ill export fruit to Wellington. It rat quite a common occurrence to ee fruit for export, which has been ailed from Hastings, in a condition ikened to having come out of a ’urkish bath after arriving in Welington. The chances of congestion ra the Wellington wharves would also *e a serious menace to fruit. It ras essential in the interests of the rade that the fruit should be able o be carted direct to the port where t could be loaded straight into the hip thus saving very considerable iandling. The Napier Harbour Board ras losing a wharfage of £572 10/n Hawke's Bay's present export rade, which amount would be greatiy ncreased as time went on. No exeriment had been tried at Napier n lightering fruit, but such was ried at Nelson resulting in it being 1 failure. Once the temperature was owered and raised again before being rat in the ships' cool stores deteriortion immediately set in- The Nelson eople with their experience refused o continue lightering their fruit. Mr. Waters* You were dealing with poles and pears only?—Yes. is there any prospects for presrving works in Hawke’s Bay?—Yes, 'e are hopeful that something of he kind will eventuate. What are your shipping months?— February, March and April. We could possibly cool store here and ship in May and June to secure a market to advantage. COOL STORES. If you had cool stores here you could extend your shipping period? That is so. Do you think that it would be preferable for the Board to have a cool store or for- the growers to have it?—l think that the Board should have a store of their own. Is Hastings central to all the orcharge ?—Yes, the orchards growing export fruit would not be more than eight miles distant. There are about 3000 acres in fruit, 2000 of which are in pip fruit, There are about 500 acres just coming into bearing. Are the fruit-growing lands capble of being extended?—Yes, we ?uld do a good deal more than quad.iple the present area. Does fruit-growing here pay for xport?—The man who goes in for it roperly can make it pay. There ave been a number of failures, but lilures are to expected in everything, he advent of hydro-electricity is oing to play an important part in he industry. It will be the means i reducing labour, while at the same me greatly speeding up the work. What is the average size of the rchards?—Ten acres. What would be an average nett sturn for ten acres?—About £5OO. ome growers are more successful nd make £lOOO. It all depends upon he varieties of fruit grown. Some ave all export varieties, while others ave a number of varieties quite unstable for export. VALUE OF FRUIT LAND. What is the value of land suitable w fruitgrowing?—£loo per acre. And when planted?—£2oo per acre ithout buildings How would the fruit be taken to ae port—by rail or by motor lorry? think most of it would be carted by lotor lorry in order to save ngHow long does it take to get to Veilington?—lt is supposed to leave ere at 3,30 in the afternoon and 1 rrive at 6 o’clock next morning, but ometimes it doesn’t arrive until the ifternoon. You can’t depend upon 'he railwav at all. It has taken two days, which is no good to any fruit. Do you consider present prices remunerative?—Yes, this year they have been very good. Mr. Barton: Can you give an average return of a 401 b. case?—Last year the Government had tp make up the guarantee, while this season the gross returns have averaged over 15/- ner case. * What price per lb would pay the grower?—A p . " - tires would nay. |

Have you any more difficulty in keeping the trees clean than they have in Nelson?—l think that we have less difficulty in fighting diseases because of the vigorous growth. Mr. Barton: Wnat would it cost to erect a suitable cool store at the wharf?—The cost of erecting cool stores is steadily coming down owing to machinery being simplified. A store to hold 20,000 bushels would cost about £lOOO. Such a store would probably meet the requirements for some time. What would such a store return ?— There is one at Hastings with a capacity of 25,000 bushels, and at 2/- per'case for nine months was returning £7OO. Could the store be used for other purposes?—Yes The same machinery could be used to store butter.

So butter would share the cost of the store?—Yes, although separate cooling rooms would have to be erected.

What does the 6d per case cover ?— For a fortnight or even for a day. The same space could be used many times over.

How do your seasons compare with butter?—They overlap somewhat, as the butter goes on until April and fruit starts in February. Mr Waters: Unless the fruit was being held the stores would b'e empty for several months?—That is so, but arrangements could be made with growers to store fruit there. ORCHARD PRODUCTION. Witness pointed out that cool store fruit must be sent in refrigerated trucks and other fruits in ventilated trucks/ a difficulty often being experienced in securing either class of trucks- in support of the productivity of the land witness stated that a 15-acre orchard under ten years old was producing over 10,060 bushels. Witness said that they were looking forward to being able to export large quantities of pears. Hawke’s Bay stood out as the pre. mier pear-growing district in New Zealand, Owing to its heavy rich soil. Recent sales of pears in England had been most remunerative. MR. R. W. HOLMES AGAIN.

At this stage Mr. R. W. Holmes resumed his evidence stating that in 1881 Mr. Goodall replied to Beh and Scott’s criticisms acknowledging the justness of same and the fact that they practically confirmed his re--commendations. In 1892 a commission of five master mariners recommended the extension of the Breakwater to Auckland rock, which entrance would have been at right angles to that proposed by Cullen & Keele. In December, 1892, Mr Carr, reporting on the commission’s report, stated that the 40,000yds of rock would be unprofitable when used as either portion of the Breakwater or the mole- An estimate was given by Mr. Carr of the cost of completing the Breakwater and the Western mole to the point recommended by the Commissioners, the total amounting to £150,000. This estimate was far too low for the purpose and could only be accounted for by Mr. Carr’s lack of experience of marine construction. In 1894 the Breakwater suffered serious damage and Napier Bell and J. P. Maxwell furnished a report. They were asked to report upon the present condition of the works, means to prevent further damage, advise as to future construction, and what was the most important of all. to report on the best method of spending the money in hand to make the works as complete as possible. They showed that the blocks forming the lower portion of the Breakwater were rocking on their foundations, the reason apparently being that the mass of the Breakwater was not sufficient to resist the heavy stroke of the waves, the seaward side of the structure then being vertical- The effect of a wave stroke might he visualised when it was known that measurements had been taken by means of pressure gauges on the coast of England when pressures up to four tons per square foot had been recorded. SHOCK OF 60 TONSIf they considered half that pressure and if the Breakwater was 30 ft in height it would be seen that for every lineal foot there would be a shock of 60 tons. It was this shock that the original structure was not able to stand up to as before explained being deficient in mass and through the lower blocks being independent of each other and further, through the material used to form the foundation of the Breakwater not being of sufficient strength to resist fracture and to subsequently withstand the rocking,of the blocks. Bell and Scott recommended that the foundation should be increased in width, also that the limestone available was of good quality and could be obtained in blocks up to 40 tons. Witness commented on Bell and Maxwell not giving their own opinion as to obtaining stone in such large blocks. The possibility of doing so had not yet been realised. There was one remark in which they stated that the rubble wall was faced with rubble blocks. This did not accord with witness’s previous statement that the face of the Breakwater was vertical during the storm of 1891. The next important remark was that they were assured that there was plenty of limestone in large pieces obtainable. In framing their present estimates witness stated that quarry owners in Napier were interviewed, prices being obtained for supplying stone in various sizes. Thev were unable to get prices for stone of size sufficient to withstand the stroke of the sea. The next remark was that it was also necessary to lay some heavy blocks against the wall on *ne harbour side to prevent the sea which fell over the wall from disturbing the foundations. Experience at Napier and New Flymouth had shown since that such protection was not necessary as the quantities of sand thrown over the Breakwater afforded sufficient protection. TO SECURE BEST SHELTER. To secure the best shelter is all w’eathers, witness said it was essen tial that the north mole be constructed, and in answer to the last “query put by the board they considered that the best method of spending the money in hand so as to make the works as complete as possible, was to extend the Breakwater to Auckland rock Witness said that in making such recommendation they did not appear to give Consideration fo the spending of the money on an alternative harbour. The engineers, said witness remarked that in the course of years the shingle and sand might be expected to pass round the end of the Breakwater, It would thus bo seen that Bi ll and Maxwell did not realise that th“ shingle would be destroyed.

There was a remark m their report regarding the height of waves which was given as 29ft from top to crest. This, witness thought, meant from trough to crest, and only applied to waves after they- had ceased to be waves of oscillation and assumed the appearance of a breaking wave on the foreshore. Messrs Bell and Maxwell estimated the construction of the work recommended at £182,000, this low figure being arrived at through assuming that large blocks of limestone could be obtained at 6/6 and 4/6 per cubic yard, even at the time of their report, which was not a justified assumption. MR BELL’S REPORT. The next report was by Mr Napier Bell on dreugiug in ths Inner Harbour, when he uoscribed the Ahurir' laguuu, mentioning the volume ol dischargb and the veoicity of the current between which lie in emphatic language, stated that it was 6 knots, but in spring tides leached 8 knots, »ucn velocities only occurring one hour before and after the middle period between high and low water the velocities of tue ether periods gradually diminishing to nothing. Mr Bell recommended a pump dredge powerful enough to discharge tue ! dredging to a distance of 3999 ft and • to a height of 6ft above high waler, ’ Mr Bed made no mention or recoin- | mendatoin regarding the use of or dis- I posal of the dredge materials. Ho recommended that the channel should be dredged out to the 19ft line of soundings. He also drew attention to the encroachment of the sea ou the west side of the entrance. This had occurred in a marked degree and fair ly substantial protection had to be provided along the beach. in February. 13W. Mr'Bell renlied to criticism's on his report, there being nothing in the report, said witness, calling for special mention Mr Bell, in October of the same -ear. again reported on the same subject in which he dealt with the reclamation of the two ponds, recommending the employment of secondary or booster pumps. This recommendation was in anticipation of Cullen and Keele’s recommendation. Mr Bell made use o-f a peculiar expression. namely, “1 am told that -ump dredges can be obtained for a certain sum of money.” It was apparent that Mr Bell did not investigate the matter himself. The next report was by Mr F. W. Marchant, of July. 1906, in which he dealt with both the Spit Harbour and the Breakwater. He stated that the works necessary at the Spit for the service of large vessels consisted of a Breakwater to terminate in a depth of 27 feet at low water. Secondly, to dredge under the lee of the Breakwater to 27 feet and width of 100 feet, to excavate a- ’ wharf a tide basin having a depth of 30 feet, and having absolutely calm water. Witness, in drawing attention 'o the last three words said the Breakwater would have been a mile in length and would have been fatal to the working of the Inner Harbour os it would have placed the. entrance beyond the shelter area afforded bv the existing Breakwater It would also produce a narrow channel which would have offered greater difficulties to navigation than that prepared bv Cullen and Keele. It would also probably have caused the denosition of silt from the Tutaekuri throughout the whole of the area in the same way that shoaling took nlace at Durban before the lee mole there was built and also at Westport. Most likelv the navigable channel would have meandered amongst the shoal. In his summary Mr Marchant remarked that given suucient monev there was no doubt that a useful harbour could have been constructed, but it was too late in the day to contemplate the establishment of works there. Mr Marchant’s estimate for the works he then nroposed totalled £325,900. [The report of yesterday afternoon’s proceedings will be found on page 8-] 1