ORCHARDS AND VINEYARDS IN MOTUEKA, NELSON.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 8320, 29 July 1890, Page 6

ORCHARDS AND VINEYARDS IN MOTUEKA, NELSON.

Motueka is the name of a. small township situated about 10 miles from Nelson, across the bay, near the mouth of tho river from which the township takes its name. The districts immediately round the township are devoted mostly to farming unci grazing pursuits, bub a good deal of attention is also paid to the cultivation of hops and fruit. Tho hop kiln is quite an institution at Motueka. Like other settlements in the Nelson district, it is the exception not to see one attached to the outbuilding of each farm. Much of the produce is exported direct from Motueka to Wellington per the s.s. Waitapu, which makes a direct trip at stated intervals, so that the settlers have the advantage of one of tho best markets in the colony at their back in which to dispose of their produce, But this is not to tho point. I started to write a few notes on orchard matters as I found them in the Motueka district. I observed that almost everyone around here grows fruit to a greater or less extent, from about one acre up to five or six acres. Of the different classes of fruit grown, apples appear to predominate everywhere, with here anil there a few pears and plums. The growth of small fruits also seemed to receive a fair amount of attention, and to succeed very well, especially gooseberries. The black and white currants and raspberries also grow well, and bear fair crops. AN ACTIVE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. Motueka has a strong, go-ahead horticultural society, which is under tho able management of a committee composed of some "of the leading men of Motueka and surrounding districts, of whom Mr. R. Hursthouso is president, and Mr. 11. W. Gibbs, of the Bank of New Zealand, is lion, secretary and treasurer. The society held their annual show in the Church of Lug land grounds last autumn, when the display of fruits, vegetables, &C., would have done credit to a much larger place than Motueka. As showing the hold the society has in the district, I may state that just prior to the show £40 was collected in the district for the purchase of a large tent in which to hold the annual show each year ; and after paying all incidental expenses I connected with the show the society has a credit balance in hand of over £20, besides the new tent. This speaks volumes for the society and its management. VARIETIES OF FRUIT CROWN. J noticed that the number of varieties oi apples in general cultivation round Motueka appears to be rather limited, I,ox s Orange Pippin, Hib-t.one Pippin, Stunner Pippin, Nonpareil Russet, md Epps Seedling (Tower of Clammis) seem among the favourites. So much is this the case that separate prizes were offered for the live best apples of each of the four formernamed varieties. It would take far too much space to give even a brief notice of all the orchards in and around Motueka, for, as I have already stated, almost all the fanners are fruit growers more or less. Of these the largest are Messrs. Ballard, .lacker, and illiam Scott, who reside on the Riwaka side of the Motueka River. MR. SCOTT'S ORCHARD AND VINEYARD As Mr. Scott has devoted a good deal of time to the subject of orchard pests and their destruction, perhaps it would not be out of place to give here a short description of his orchard and vineyard and the appliances used by him in suppressing the various pests. The orchard, which is about six acres in extent, is planted on good, strong alluvial soil, and mostly consists of apples. They looked a nice, clean lot. on the whole, being quite free from the scale, and but little American blight was visible. Mr. Scott has a large quantity of young pencil trees, which are planted in long rows, with a high wall of tea-tree scrub on each side to keep out the wind. The experiment so far has proved successful, and the trees look clean and healthy. The vineyard consists of six rows of grape vines, each MOO feet long. Two of the rows .are enclosed in a glass-house, .SIX) feet long. 1 understand the crop of grapes was •cry large last season. The inducements I were such that Mr. Scott intends placing glass-houses over the remaining rows before the spring. The variety of grape grown is the Black Hamburg. At this orchard I was shown the most complete lot of appliances for spraying and syringing fruit trees that I have seen in any part of New Zealand. These include four or live force pumps and the necessary gearing, in the shape of nozzles, tanks, &c. The tanks are of sizes varying from the capacity of 50 gallons up to those of 2000 gallons. I noticed that eacii of the pumps had a stirrer attached. The next thing of importance in connection with these appliances is what is used with them to destroy the insects ; but on this subject I found Mr. Scott somewhat reticent. He told me tho secret was the use of a mineral poison with a vegetable poison as a base, and this vegetable, I gathered, was tobacco, which Mr. Scott grows somewhat largely. He states that when strong mineral poisons are used alone the results are always injurious to vegetable life, but when a vegetable poison is used as a base the results are different, insect life being destroyed while the plant treated remained uninjured. Throughout Mr. Scott's orchard a water supply is laid on, the supply being obtained from a large well by means of a windmill and automatic forcepump. MR. GEORGE RKMUENT'S ORCHARD. One of the largest orchardists around here is Mr. George Remuent, of Ngatimoti. His apple orchard alone covers over ten acres, from which, although some of the trees are comparatively young, he has taken over '20 tons of fruit during the present season. From Mr. Remuent I learned a valuable wrinkle in the art of cheap storage of apples. Although he has had so much fruit, and some of it he has kept two months alter picking, yet it has not cost him a penny for storage room. His mode is as follows: —When the fruit is ripe he picks it, and then places it in a long heap in the orchard upon a prepared bed of dry rushes. Those heaps of apples sometimes contain from two to four tons, and may be 'of considerable length. When the apples are lirst picked and heaped they are lightly covered with dry rushes to keep oil the sun and the worst of the rain. Here they are allowed to remain from three to four weeks until they have done sweating and got dry, when they are closely thatched, like a potato heap, and there left until it is wanted to take them to market. Mr. Remuent states that rushes should be always used for thatching, as straw would bo likely to attract rats and mice. The advantages claimed for this plan of keeping apples is that it is cheap and effective, and the percentage of loss from rot is less with this than any ot her method ; also, it is claimed that it will keep tho apples for a much longer time and with less shrinkage than any other plan. This plan should commend itself to some of our Auckland fruitgrowers as well worthy of a t' ial. WORKING THE TREES. The settlers in this district almost wholly work their trees as high standards, giving them a stem of from four to six feet, to allow of tho plough being worked under the branches. I was also somewhat sorry to observe that little attention was paid to blight-proof stocks, many people here still working on the ordinary seedling stocks. A USEFUL WASH FOR SCALE. The following is the recipe for preparing a useful wash for scale, which is generally used here :Take of fresh quick lime and sulphur equal parts ; mix, and keep stirred occasionally for three or four hours until it is killed, when it is ready for use, and will keep for .any length of time in a dry place. To use : Take '21b of tho lime and sulphur mixture, and put it into 40 gallons of strong tobacco water, in which a little soap has been dissolved. Mix well, and it is ready for syringing. The application should always be made to the trees while the liquid is hob, and the stronger the tobacco the better. —[Travelling Correspondent.] ■