MS. W. MASON'S PONSON BY NURSERIES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 6063, 23 April 1881, Page 6

MS. W. MASON'S PONSON BY NURSERIES.

The most extensive orchard and nursery grounds in the province — probably in the ; colony—are those of Mr. William Mason .at Ponsouby. They were commenced about fifteen years ago, and as time'has rolled on and business increased he has widened his operations, until at present fully 40 acre 3 are occupied for nursery and orchard purposes, the supervision and.culture of which keeps a dozen men and boys constantly employed (under the foreman, Mr. A. Griffiths), apart from the extra labour required during the fruit sea3on. The property is divided by the Ponsonby Road, 27 acres being on the south side, and 13 acres on the north. The aspect of the northern division is northerly, open to the sea, and very much exposed, as it lies high up the slope trending towards the Watchman, but notwithstanding, the plants look remarkablywell. This division has only been broken up .about live years, while the plantations on the south side have been in process of formation for fifteen year 3. The northern division is fenced with post and rail, inside' of which is a live fence of olearia. In the lower, section of this division are planted a large number of apple, pear,; and plum trees, &c, besides.pines and ornamental shrubs, adjacent to which is a nice bed of frcnella penduJa, also several beds of pines, macrocarpa,' inaignis, and other shelter trees. In roses, Mr. Mason has a great variety of the best sorts, and in one bed we saw abont 5000. There; was a , very good show of bloom, though so late in the autumn. In the upper section there are some very fine beds of mairocarpa, also a large bed T of apples, looking extremely well, and worked on blightproof stocks, a matter to.which Mr. Mason lias paid speciftl attention, and regarding which he has mr.de numerous experiments. Here are also a considerable number of apple, peach, and plum trees, just at the fruiting age. Immediately adjoining are some beds of ornamental shrubs, noticeable amongst them' being the English . holly. and I laurels, lagnnareas, ligustrums, cryptomereas, cedars, cupressuses, and other shrubs, of . which there is a very large variety. We saw some fine beds of apple and pear trees, and a large bed of roses, some 6000 in number, all budded for next season ; also some beds of the Oriental plane and silver poplar. There is on the Ponsonby Road frontage a stretch of Eleagnus japonica hedge, which is thriving well, and will make a very ornamental livo fence. A large area is devoted in this section of the nurseries to strawberries, which in the season are raised by the ton, and the picking of which affords employment to a large number of ,lads.

Under the courteous guidance of the foreman, we proceeded to the northern division of the estate, 'which, as already stated, comprises . about ,27 acres, haying a south-wes-terly aspect, and sloping towards Cox'b Creek. The soil in both divisions is a stiff clay loam, and a team is constantly employed in carting volcanic soil to the nurseries for mixing purposes. Near the residence of Mr. Mason, which is situate in this division, is a fine stooling ground, where camellias, azaleas, magnolias, and a lot of the choicest shrubs are layered. Here are also the seed-beds, where the young stock is raised. Adjacent are aonie beds of African box thorn, a bed of Norfolk Island pines, and another collection of ornamental shrubs. We noticed here several fine beds of rhododendrons and one of thorn-quicks. In the garden are a great number of large fruiting, trees, and from these the scions and buds are taken to work the young plants with. Here we. noticed a fine bed of camellia plants, which' averaged over two feet in height, looking remarkably well, and a number of' them budding for,flower. In the gully there is a large number of orange and lemon trees in full fruit, and several large apple trees of the Blenheim orange variety, which are thriving well. The loquat trees exhibited a magnificent profusion* of fruit. In another section of the ground we saw several beds of apple, peach, and other fruit trees (containiug ceveral thousand iu number), also a numerous assortment of lemon trees, which are thriving splendidly. The varieties chiefly grown are the Lisbon, although other varieties are to be found in the orchard; A bed of grape vines is also doing very well. In this division the orchard is cut up into squares, and belted with shelter trees, in order to afford protection to the standard fruit trees. The ground is thoroughly drained with large surface drains, the pipes ranging up to eighteen inches. Manure is also applied with no stinted hand, and no expense spared to obtain from the land the very best possible result it is capable of yielding. In the propagating house attention is paid to the raising of trees indigenous to the province, a matter which has not always received the attention it deserves. Many of these trees are worthy of notice by those desirous of planting out native trees. A visit to the Ponsonby Nurseries will well repay inspection, as showiuo; what horticultural skill, industry, and enterprise can accomplish.