FRUIT CULTURE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7759, 4 October 1886, Page 6

FRUIT CULTURE.

[WRITTEN FOR THE AUCKLAND WEEKLY NEWS,] No. VI. MARKETS; To convince people that fruit farming would be one of the most profitable industries that could be undertaken in this }untry is no doubt a hopeless task. Nevertheless, I have the temerity to assert that it will yet be one of the largest and most important industries in the colony, and that men will make fortunes at it where they would only " exist" at farming. New industries in a new country are of extremely slow growth, because there are so few men of sufficient nerve to go in and make the trial, and so many to deory it and prophesy failure.

When the Government issued my handbook on " Orange Culture," all sorts of arguments were brought forward tc show the impossibility of orange culture succeeding here. It was said that there was too much rain and not enough warmth ; but these were the arguments of people who had not investigated the subject, and simply advanced their views as a matter of privilege. How far they were wrong was best demonstrated by the very fine flavoured oranges sent into Auckland from the North. Sir George Grey, amongst others, told me since my return that he was this season agreeably surprised with the fine quality of the oranges grown at Kawau. Mr. Dobbie, too, at Wbangarei, who has the largest orangery iu the colony, tells me that his most panguine expectations have been exceeded in regard to the flavour of the fruit. 1 mention this parenthetically to show how people are wont to discourage new departures, for even now I hear all sorts of objections raised against fruit-farming, ;r-" arguments advanced with a view of show the impossibility of its succeeding here, is said, "There is no comparison betwcn this country and America, with its 50,000,000 people and ample markets." And it is asked, " Where could we get a market for our fruit." In reply to the first, it may be said that it is only fair and reasonable to assume that whatever is the population of America, only a certain proportion is engaged in fruitgrowing ; and no matter how small oui population is, there is no reason to suppose that any greater proportion will engage in fruit culture here than in America ? On the contrary, in a country like America, where fruit culture is so well understood, a greater proportion of the population would engage in it than here; and, if under those circumstances, it is a success there why should it not be a success here? "Because we have no markets,", would be the reply. To that I would say that if the Californian can afford to ship his fruit east to Chicago at a cost for freight of Id per pound, or roughly £9 a ton, we can afford to pay as much to ship to any colonial port, Liverpool, or London, etc.

That fruit can be shipped to London successfully has been clearly demonstrated, and since fruit shipped from this hemisphere reaches the northern when there is none there, it realises the highest price. Of course it would be absurd to calculate on the prices obtained at the Exhibition for colonial fruit, but it would not be too much to reckon on the fruit retailing at 4d to 6d a pound, or averaging sd, which would still leave the grower a handsome profit, after allowing one half of the selling price for freight, storage, and middleman's .profit. So long as the grower could get 2£d a lb for his fruit, it would pay well; and as there is a population of 35,000,000 at home, all that the Australian colonies would be likely to do could not glut the home market. But leaving England out of the question altogether, we have plenty of markets around us if we would only take the trouble to find them. We in the North have our fruit ripe before the Southerners, and could ship to all their ports and take in the season : we could ship to Sydney. Then, when the price of " green" fruit drops below a satisfactory figure, we can put it through the evaporator. In this form it costs little for freight, nothing for boxing (it is sent to the packers in bags), and all the fruit—windfalls and even apples rendered otherwise valueless by the codlin moth— made marketable. In America the following products are evaporated :Apples, peaches, pears, quinces, apricots, prunes, raisins, pumpkins, cherries, berries, potatoes, plums, beans, squashes, parsnips, peas, and currants; and all of these are largely exported to Europe.

Apropos of the value of the evaporator in fruit farming, the following by an American writer will be of interest :—" The magnitude of the evaporating business cannot be estimated. Beginning on the Delaware Peninsula, it has extended all over the fruit belt, from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast. It has enlarged the fruit belt by several degrees, and is destined to still further enlarge it. The reason is obvious; it is more satisfactory than any other method of preserving fruit. It is not concealed. It tells the eye just what it is, and it makes ordinary fruit entirely satisfactory for family use. For occasional change the canned goods work in admirably, but for a stand-by there is no equal to first quality evaporated fruit. The great want of every fruit farm of any pretensions is an evaporator— an oven or kiln, but an evaporator, built on scientific principles, by which either first-class fruit or the small and unmarketable articles can be preserved from decay and turned into profit. The method of drying in the sun is well known. Kiln or oven drying is better than sun drying, as the operation is more rapid. The fruit is also kept from the action of flies, so numerous during the fruit season, and muoh Jess liable to be infested with worms. Many dryers are only large ovens or kilns usfj. to deprive the fruit of moisture by the action of heat. By this method the surface is first driednearly charred, while the inner portion of the fruit is soft. When pressed together the moisture from within is absorbed by the charred surface, and when not overcharred the pieces of fruit all become soft and pliant. Evaporation is based on entirely different principles. The surface is kept moist while tbe entire process is going on, whether the evaporation is in a hot air chamber or in melted sugar. When the evaporation of the natural juices is effected in melted sugar, the process, however, is usually called conserving." To enable fruitgrowers to take advantage of the different colonial and English markets, they will have to form a Fruitgrowers' Association to go into the matter as a body. G. E. Alderton.