FRUITGROWERS' CONFERENCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 10036, 24 January 1896, Page 6

FRUITGROWERS' CONFERENCE.

WHY HAS FRUITGROWING NOT BEEN A COMMERCIAL SUCCESS IN THE AUCKLAND PROVINCE? The following paper was read by Mr. G. Bertram Hutton, Otahuhu, President of the*" Fruitgrowers' Union, He said :—

It appearing to the executive of the Union all important that the fruitgrowers of this province should seriously, consider the question at the head of this paper, as only by recognising the mistakes of the past and present, can wo hope to place fruitgrowing on the footing which it should occupy us a national industry, I took upon myself the business of dealing with the subject. I think the question may be discussed under three heads, which pretty thoroughly cover the points requiring to be brought out, viz.:—Want of Knowledge; Want of Capital ; and Want of Unity. Three separate words which cover a multitude of sins and misfortunes, and with which exceedingly few (if any) of our fruitgrowers have failed to make acquaintance. WANT OF KNOWLEDGE. In the old days when orchards were few and far betwoen, when prices obtained for fruit were high, and insect pests had riot spread to any extent, a settler taking up this industry required little special knowledge and industry to enable him to reap a handsomo profit. With the considerable extension of this industry, which began aboub twelve years ago, it was only natural that prices should drop, and pests should spread at a much greator rate than the knowledge and experience necessary to cope with the altered conditions. As .the result, most of us have suffered bitter disappointment from our half-built castles of independence tumbling about our ears, leaving many of us hopelessly if unnecessarily depressed, and those with a reserve of pluck and hope to begin the battle again in some special direction which experience has taught them their land, situation, and market pointed to as offering a fair chance of success. It may be some comfort to us to realise that in these adverse experiences we are only going through similar ones to all other now countries where it has been attempted to establish the fruitgrowing industry; but where we have boen to blame is in not, as a body of men, recognising the new conditions, and adapting our work and proceedings to them with tho speed and willingness which is necessary to success. In what directions then has want of knowledge been especially responsible for our want of commercial success as a whole ? The special capabilities of our several lands for one. How many of us have planted plums on land much more suitable to pears or peaohos, or some other fruit treo; or lemons where oranges should have stood ; or apples whero peaches would have flourished, or any of theso on undrained land, or oven too dry land, This is a troublo which experience and experiment could alone rectify, more especially here in tho North, whore even small areas contain quite different varieties of soil. Yet again many through : , ignorance bought trees worked on stocks quite unsuitable to their soil—as, for instance, tho plum, which according to soil does bettor on the plum or tho peach stock; or how many, nob realising the risk they ran, have bought cheap troes from irresponsible agents, only to find out years after how they have been taken in through their ignorance of the old saying, "cheap and nasty." Many through want of experience, and led away by some of our teachers, planted too great a varioty of fruits, and yet too few of any one variety, tinder the mistaken idea that wo must bo ablo to keep up a constant supply, even if in driblets, all through tho season. Wo havo since found to our cost that a great waste of time is entailed by only being able to supply a few casos of one variety ; that our customers as a rule liko to bo able to get largo quantities of a favourite fruit, and will go elsowhoro'for it if we fail them, while on the other hand wo find it far better to grow a large crop of ono variety, and that dono well, instead of wasting our time over a dozen varieties of varying crops and qualities. How many of us have suffered loss from our ignorance of entomology, that scienco whose scopo of study,, as far as fruit interests aro concerned, would teach us how to recognise our insect enemies from our friends; which teaches us the life history of both, where wo may confidently get help to aid our friends, and where we must bestir oursclvos with artificial means of warfare if we would hold tho fort. Yet again how many fruitgrowers have planted their trees in ill or well-pre-pared ground, and either through ignorance or through attempting too much with the moans at hand, neglected the cultivation and treatment of those trees on tho lines which alono can lead to success. Perhaps that mistako of attempting too much with tho means at a man's disposal—spreading oneself out over toomjch ground—has been responsible for more sins of omission, and consequently mora want of commercial success in fruitgrowing, than anything else, for through that growors huvo found themselvos unable to do their sevoral operations at the right timo, and have consequently boon always behindhand, howover energetically they may havo struggled. Wo have now come to the second heading of our enquiry, viz.,

WANT OF CAPITAL, a want which has perhaps boon particularly felt by the fruitgrowers of tlio North, more especially by tho npplo-growors, since tho destruction of their hopes by tho alarming sproad of tho codlin moth ruinod their chances of obtaining profitable returns from the capital sunk in planting those trees. Consequent on the general stagnation of trado and farming, they have often not been able to raiso capital to make a fresh start and live until thoy could receive some return from their new venture. In all other now countrios which have bocomo famous as fruitgrowing centres, capital has played a very prominent part in establishing tho industry, by taking hold of the waste places, preparing them by the wholesale and therefore tho choapest methods, and disposing of them to individuals especially tor fruitgrowing, who knowing that tho land had been propbrly prepared and tho right) trees planted, having instructions at hand to toach them the best methods, and knowing how long thoy must wait for a return, all settle down together with enough money to keep them going till tho crops come in, with one object in view, and therefore with one community of interest, in pushing forward all schemes which may prove of mutual benefit. Here, with all our natural advantages as to climate, the growers have not been able to start with this feeling of community of interest, having settled down in a haphazard fashion, here and there, scattered over tho face of the country, using their small capital in a wasteful groping manner, because thoy could not consult authorities; each a law unto himself, and inclined to regard all suggestions for drawing his class into closer alliance with suspicion, with a consequent indisposition to join heartily in any movement for placing his industry on a better footing. Unfortunately capital (in a large sense) has not felt itsolf encouraged of lato years to increase its usefulness in such directions, but if it could be induced to take up schemes of a similar nature to those mentioned above, the fruitgrowing industry in this country would very soon find itself on an improved footing. Owing to our plentiful rainfall, much less capital would be required here than in almost any other couutry. We will now consider the last heading of our enquiry, WANT OF UNITY. What is the oauso of the proverbial disinclination among settlers of the land to work in harmony with each other Is it cantankerousness or their scattered and often isolated positions in «iho country, tending to make them exclusive in their habits? That last is the most probable answer for to create ( distrust of each other, and each other's motives, is too often tho result of want of intercommunication, and to that want I lay nine-tenths of the difficulty experienced among us in organising our forces against tho many others arrayed against us, bolli insect and human. How many hundreds of attempts have been mado in different localities to work up nn abiding intorest in joining together for mutual benefits shown, and havo (lied out, because no ono could be found to energetically organise, and the individual members, though perfectly willing to receive benefits, were not willing to put their own shoulders to the wheel, bub only hung on to it like a dead weight. Tako apple-growing of late years what a dead-alive stato of, affairs; those who worked for the destruction of the codlin moth hampered by and ruined by neighbours who preferred ruin themselves 1 m making a united effort to:down; the' enemy. Result, that in districts where

this pest has bad its way apple-growing as a commercial success is dead, and in districts which it l is' now spreading in, but which it might never have reached if taken in time in the first ones attacked, they are beginning to realise their mistake in not having assisted to bring about measures of repression several'years : ago. There is but one single operation connected with fruitgrowing from the buying of the trees till he disposal of the fruit to the public, in which, if growers would only recognise it, unity of action would- prove of the greatest value pecuniarily to them, and it is only when as a body they make up their minds to pull together, both in money matters and interest generally connoeted with their business, that they will find their position improving, their industry rewarded satisfactorily, and the fruitgrowing interests taking the position they should in the list of the country's products and exports. The question of union among fruitgrowers might very easily be enlarged upon to almost any extent, but the object of this paper is not. to enter into details too minutely," but rather to indicate the direction in which we as fruitgrowers should turn our thoughts if we would avoid past mistakes, overcome the natural difficulties of our position, and advance along the road which shall place our industry in a satisfactory position. We have a right to demand that the State shall give us all possible advantages to be derived from a thorough organisation of a Horticultural and Entomological Department, and we should use all means to insist on such an organisation. At the same time we must never forget that it is for us individually and collectively to make the most of any such benefits, and to read and keep ourselves abreast of all knowledge and movements in other countries, for now that intercommunication is so rapid, and freights are so low, we can call no markets our own 'unless we gain them in competition with the whole world ; that wo shall never do unless we adopt the best possiblo methods in growing and marketing our fruit.