ORCHARD RESEARCH

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXV, Issue 159, 21 June 1935, Page 6

ORCHARD RESEARCH

Association’s Plan Adopted DECISION TO LEASE AREA, Experimental Work Proposed A unanimous decision to lease for a period of five years a sixacre orchard for use as an experimental area was made at a meeting of the Hawke’s Bay Fruitgrowers’ Association last evening. The meeting was attended by 36 members, and was presided over by Mr Ralph Paynter. The property is situated on the Havelock-Napier road, and was until recently owned by Mr Hantier, it was further resolved to recommend the commitmittee to seek to obtain a right of renewal of the lease for five years.

Since Arataki had been closed down, said Mr Paynter, experimental work had been going on under difficulties. Mr N. J. Adamson, Orchard Inspector, and officers of the Plant Research Station, had done experimental work over a jperiod of years, but they had had •onsiderable obstacles to overcome. Until recently, said Mr Paynter, no suitable property’had .been available, a sixacre;property* at{Havelock',North had hSsn-offered for lease. Dr'Cunningham considered it a very suitable place, and its ( aequirement had been discussed with the doctor and with the Commissioner •f Crown Lands. The proposal was to lease the property for five years, and the average rental would be £65 a year. The first year it would be £lO, rising to a maximum of £B5. The house needed painting and papering, and the department was prepared to spend up to £lOO on putting it and the shed in order. The orchard was piped.

The committee estimated that the •eheme would eost an average of £5OO a year to run, with a. minimum of £155 in the first year. There should be £450 worth of fruit a year after the first year, and it was considered that there would be an annual loss of £5O. However, the association considered that it would be able to obtain some remission, say up to £lOO, from the extra orchard tax levied for research work. The association members paid £l7O in the last year under that extra tax. Mr Paynter proposed that Mr J. H. Milne, Mr Adamson and himself, should be appointed for the first year as a management committee in connection with the scheme. In answer to Mr King, Mr Paynter said that the department would carry out the spraying experiments. The association would do the spraying on the sections not used for the experimental purposes. Several speakers aj'ged the advisability of obtaining a right of renewal of the lease. The orchard would be considerably improved when the time came for handing it back. Mr Paynter said that the rent would amount to three per cent, on the cost of the property. Also, the Government was spending a considerable amount of money on it. Mr A. M. Robertson warmly upheld the proposal, and said he would like to see an even bigger scheme adopted. However, he thought it would be wise to adopt the proposals. He believed that the scheme would be of great value. It would concentrate experimental work, and he believed that the results would open the eyes of growers. Mr Robertson proposed the holding of a field day before the experiments are begun so that members would see afterwards what difference the experiments make.