FIREBLIGHT AT THAMES

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, Issue 217, 27 August 1927, Page 4

FIREBLIGHT AT THAMES

EFFORTS AT CONTROL DISAPPOINTING.

For the last seven years fireblight has been prevalent in Thames orchards, and much labour and expense has oeen expended to check the spread of the disease. It was found necessary in 1923 to cut all of the I hawthorn hedges growing in the fruit growing area to fence height, in ordci to prevent them from flowering, as the flowers of this plant material!,' assist in the spread of the disease. During the following season fireblight did not cause the amount ol damage it had done previously. Since then the disease has again become prevalent and has caused very heavy losses to the apple and pear growers, despite all efforts to keep it in check. The Government orchard inspector, Mr. P. Everett, was translerred to this district in May, 1926, and immediately made a thorough inspection of all orchards for the purpose of seeing that the diseased portions of all fireblight-infested fruit trees were cut out and burned before the flowering season commenced. The growers naturally expected that the depredations of the disease would be considerably lessened during the following season, but unfortunately the results wert not as satisfactory as was expected, and a great many trees that would have produced thousands of cases of fruit had to be destroyed at the blossoming period. There are approximately 90 commercial orchards, with an aggregate area ol about 200 acres of fruit trees in the area from Kopu in the South to Tararu in the North, and it is thought that further efforts should be made to save the industry of such importance to the district. From the experience of the past season it is considered that the hold-over cankers from which the disease is spread afresh each spring must have been in hawthorn hedges, therefore during the present winter months an effort will be made to have all diseased hawthorn trees destroyed, and where no disease is found then the trimwing of hedges will be insisted upon, so as to prevent flowering. It is undoubtedly the moral duty of all owners of hawthorn hedges to do everything within their power to assist the fruitgrowers in their struggle to cope with this pernicious disease.