GRAPE-GROWING IN TEE AUCKLAND PROVINCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11562, 28 January 1901, Page 7

GRAPE-GROWING IN TEE AUCKLAND PROVINCE.

%?3fc THE GOVERNMENT EXPERIMENTAL , VINEYARD. - THE POSSIBILITIES OF WINEMAKING. [BY Otfß. SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.] ' Vinegeowtng in the Auckland province has "ton" been talked of, but it is only during Ihe last few years that people here and there •' have recognised the potentialities of the '■'•'".grape as giving scope for industry and profit. The suitability of this northern' part "-'. of New Zealand for grapegrowing was advertised nigh on a century ago. " The vines which we planted," says one old missionary, "' "have thriven amazingly. ■ I placed the few , ' cuttings which we brought from Sydney in light, sandy soil, and though to all appearance they were mere dry twigs they are now spread in all directions, and carry great clusters of delicious fruit." Another writer in a book issued by the New Zealand Land Company sixty years ago, speaking of Auckland, says :" It is a land for the grape and fig; vines but four years old bear splendid crops, and winemaking will become a great industry." From the earliest times until now grapes of all descriptions have been grown, and there is scarcely a homestead in the North but what has its vine clustering \ about some portion of the house and bearing abundantly, whenever the' multitudinous ' pests introduced with such blithe carelessness permit it.. , If the French had taken possession of New Zealand as they might have done and very nearly did, Auckland would, indeed, •have been "a land for the grape, and the , ' fig;" but we English are not winegrowers, . and our settlers, instead of establishing vineyards, have, with clogged persistence, tried to establish the grasses of North Europe in a semi-tropical climate, and have spent more time in attempting to grow gooseberries, which love winter snows, than in estab- ' lishing those rarer things which our warm and sunny climate make 1 possible. Several settlers in the North and one or two Government officials have steadily advocated the growing of grapes for winemaking. The editor of the Weekly News has published article after article showing the possibilities of the industry, and when Signor Bragata, the greatest authority on viticulture in the southern hemisphere, visited Auck- ; land, he declared emphatically that it was possible to raise here finer and more deli- , cate wines than in any part of Australia. During late years the industry. has made considerable progress, and vineyards have ;■'■..■•. been established here and there on all sorts of soil, and wherever they are properly looked after they have thriven well. One of the most noticeable of these vineyards is that established at Wairangi, near Lake Waikare, in the Waikato. ,; The Govern- : ment have a large block of land there, and' the place is known by its wattle plantations, of which there are already something over 1600 acres. Everyone who has . travelled on the Waikato line must have noticed the desolate appearance of the country about Wairangi. Brown rush swamps, low, rollings downs clad with .stunted manuka and bracken indicate to the land-wise the extreme poverty of the soil, and those who know the district would possibly declare it to be the most barren part of New Zealand. When Mr. Palmer, the Government fruit expert, asked me to visit the vineyard there I acquiesced, because I was curious to see how vines would thrive in that class Of soil. I was not quite so prejudiced perhaps as many Aucklanders, because I have seen how productive the despised gum lands can be made with practical working:' Waerenga, the Government wattle farm, is only a few hundred yards from the Wairangi railway station. We found Mr. Kensington, the manager of the place, superintending the operations of a number of men who were draining and breaking up a block of land near the homestead. The vineyard, which covers about five acres, is situated on a gentle slope facing the north. It contains about a score varieties of vines, including Pineau Meunier, Pineau Noir, Black and White Hermitage, Sliiraz, Riesling, Carbinet, Golden Chasselas, . Malbec, Pineau Chardenay, Pineau Blanc, and others. The vines are trained on wires about 3ft to 3ft 6in high, and are pruned in several waySj.so .as to test which is the,best method., "They are planted eight feet "apart in the | rows, and six feet apart between the rows, j but Mr. Palmer declares that it would be an advantage to reverse the order, and have \ the rows eight feet apart and the vines in the rows six feet apart. \ The ground between the vines is kept well ] cultivated by means of a Planet Juhr. culti- j vator. .The soil is light and loose and of j that class which one of our legislators recently declared wouldn't keep a wooden hen to the acre. (Surely he meant a | " woodenhead," for such a lot of wooden- | heads are persistently decrying Auckland j soils). ■'.-. . . 3 . There" is no question about the soil suit- I . ing vines, for though the oldest of the vines | are only planted three and four years, the j main stems are of a large size," and the mature I vines are simply laden with clean, healthy \ bunches of grapes. The Pineau Meunier s and the Pineau Noir seem to be the heaviest \ croppers, and as they are an early variety ] they should ripen during the hottest and j driest part of our summer. Neither the n Isabella nor the Black Hamburg, which have ! long been considered the most suitable vines j for Auckland, compare with the Pineaus, and | there re other varieties which, having even j a shorter period between the blossoming and i the ripening, may even rival the Pineaus. 1 The vine- which blossoms late, and thus es- 1 capes the cold winds which mark our early | summer, and which ripens during the hot- \ test part of the season, is evidently the sort i best adapted for Auckland, and this fact j should be remembered by our viticulturists. S Taking the mass of expert evidence, and the g result of actual trials, there seems to be | overwhelming proof that fine, light wines j can be made in this province, and so far as j can be seen wines of a class likely to suit I public taste can be made at a price which j , will enable them to compete with the wines 1 of any other country. The vignerons ■of j South Australia declare that they can sell i wine in bulk profitably at 2s 6d per gallon, 3 and even at this low price Auckland vine- j yards could be made to yield about £75 per | acre. The most carefully-worked of the best' French vineyards, whore hand labour is j largely used, calculate their expenses at £15 j per acre, but where vines are grown on a \ large scale, and cultivated by horse power, i they can be kept in excellent order for less ; than half this amount. ■ j In the Hermitage Vineyards, on the banks | of the Rhone, an acre of vines is estimated [ to yield 200 gallons of wine, which is worth i from £1000 to £600 per 200 gallons; but I Hermitage is a famous wine, and it will be I long before Aucklanders can produce a simi- . lar brand. That they may do so in time is \ not impossible. One thing at least can be j done—good light wine can be made, which Will be a healthy and pleasant beverage, and j which may find a wide market over seas, \ , A winemaking industry would provide em- ! ployment for hundreds, perhaps thousands, [ of people in this province, and would be I as profitable a crop for the land as the best at present raised. If it makes the poor class of Waikato soils and suitable portions j of the gum lands profitable and productive, it j Will do a big thing for Auckland, and if , anyone believes that this cannot be done, let j him visit the Waerenga Vineyard. It is | one of the best object lessons that one could | wish to see, and the Agricultural Depart- I 1 inent and the officers responsible for the I vineyard are to be congratulated on the sue- j '; cess of their achievement. Already men, 1 , seeing the promise of the vines, arc planting 3 vineyards of their own. I met an intelh- 1 gent Frenchman who comes from a family 1 : of viticulturists; he has already started a 9 /vineyard and is sanguine of success. He | ■ told me we could produce a wine in the Wai- I ;; kato that would make the fingers tingle with- I out making the head stupid. He thinks j highly of the Pineaus, but declares that the | Petit Gamay and the Gamay Picard will do j even better, as they blossom later and ripen 1 Earlier. He strongly advises that these two j Vines should be introduced into New Zea- j land, and his advice seems worth taking, j *»« Agricultural Department have done j much for the public in showing such a sue- 3 ' cessful vineyard, but when one sees the dif- 1 . fcreuce in productiveness between the varie- 1 i;V;f|^ of vines one recognises how important j it is that the public should choose the right j .- . .-• variety for planting. One thing further is 9 ; needed, and that is a winemaking plant, 1 either attached to the Waerenga Farm or in I . some central position to which grapes can t >':<-?«*. sent. It is as important that experi- : ments should be made in winemaking as winegrowing, or any other new industry, and Bo individual can be expected to experiment I 84 his own expense. •It is essentially the | ; *wk lof the ; State, ; and after-seeing the | Ppwth of grapes at Waerenga and ; also in g : ■.'.-."■■ -" -'-•- -■■■..-'- .-:■'--:' :■:■■-■•:-,"■ , .•/ ■ miff & a:

1 other: parts of Auckland: province, I am tf I opinion that no expense should be spared in | starting such a much-needed work, for on | it may depend the earlier success of a very I great industry. 'Z'-■".."■ ' I The friends of temperance could do their I cause no greater service than by encourag--1 ing the introduction of wine in place of \ strong ales or spirits, whilst those who place I the prosperity of their country above mere I personal fads 'might strive to ■■■ help this I wine industry into practical being. It is ! an industry which, depending on New ZeaI land demand only, might easily be worth ! two or three hundred thousand pounds per I year; but as the world wants a light wine | which,, as my French acquaintance says, ! tingles the fingers without affecting the head, ! there is room in the world's markets for ! such wine as can be produced in Auckland. I Given vines that blossom late and ripen I early, and careful cultivation, there is no J question about large and well-matured crops I of grapes being raised, of a quality equal I to some of the best in Europe, and with i good grapes there is no doubt that experi- \ ence will soon teach us to make good wines. ! Can anyone imagine the effect the establishment of vineyards would have on certain parts of the Auckland province? Think of that stretch „■ of country between Wairangi | and Huntly with vines planted on ail me i sunny slopes and on broken ground and 1 south-west falls plantations of black wattle! : Think of that country between Waikumete I and Waitakerei planted in the same way! I This can be done. Vines have been proved j I to thrive in the places mentioned, and the I | black wattle grows rapidly in such places, I black wattle grows despised and deso- ; These districts now are despised and deso- : late; who is going to follow the lead set by j the Government and make them beaaiiful land productive? Parents wondering what I they will do with their boys might set them 1 to worse work than establishing a vineyard.