FIRE BLIGHT PEST.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17663, 27 December 1920, Page 6

FIRE BLIGHT PEST.

THE AUCKLAND OUTBHtAN. NELSON GROWERS' CONCERN. ADDRESS BY DR. TILLYARD. The outbreak of fire blight in orchards in the Auckland district was dealt'with at some length in a recent address at Motueka by Dr. R. J. Tillyard. biologist to the Cawthron Institute, Nelson, who lately returned from a visit to England, the Continent, and America. "When I got to Auckland," said Dr. Tillyard, "I got some idea of the ravages of the fire blight, and it has not been exaggerated at all. The most important thing of all is to organiso to keep it out. It seems to me that you will have to work out for the whole of New Zealand a scheme whereby entry in prevented into the fruitgrowing districts of anything— plants, fruit, soil—Jjy which the fire blight can be carried; and you must have experts on fire blight at all ports to examine everything. Secondly, you must awaken the community to a sense of responsibility regarding firo blight. •■ I have been 'told that some irresponsible person sent a specimen of fire blight to Nelson. That is tho very best way of bringing it here. I. want you to get it into your heads that an action of this sort is criminal, and I would go as far as to say that persons doing this sort of. thing should be put in prison." It was a certainty, said Dr. TiUyard, that the pest would appear in tho Nelson district within two or three years unless steps were taken to prevent it: Cook Strait was only a temporary barrier. For the first time this spring and summer fire blight had done a great deal of damage in England, and ho had seen very strong evidence of damage done in the West Country of England. The University of Bristol'was conducting a fine experimental station, and he had a look at it. lhe entomologist took him round to see what was thought to be fire blight, and was very anxious about it. The trees had absolutely died within a few days of the blidit appearing. Of all the young irees un-tb four years old practically nothing was left and the whole of the experimental work of one of the finest stations in England had been destroyed. Dr. IMvard said he would not say that this was the true fire blight, as had appwre in V Zealand. If that sort of thing.ever got into the Nelson district it would be ol[great seriousness, and he doubtd whether, such a virulent pest could be coped with. Necessity for Precautions. Dr Tillvard urged the necessity for stringent precautions as the first nee* lv The second line of defence would 'he" io he prepared for the pest when it came in There seemed to be a consensus of opinion that the hawthorn hedge was responsible; but this was onlv partly true The- disease seemed to take undeniablv to plants belonging to the roseaceous 'family-roses, howthorn hedges, wild sweet .briar, etc.—but the most dangerous was the hawthorn hedge; so tho first thing was to deal with lhe hawthorn hedges. Dr. Tillyard continued that he had not had the time to work out a suggestion; but one had been made to him to the effect that in the early spring, before flowering, the hedges should be sprayed with kerosene and then set fire to. He thought it would bfl worth while setting aside a number of hedges for experimental purposes. The main ping was to prevent the hedges from flowering, and not allowing insects from them to get to the fruit trees. If hawthorn hedges wer« allowed to remain as they were, he though, orchardists would be in for serious trouble at any lime. The next thing to do, Dr. Tillyard went on to sav, might be called the third line of defence-to decide what to do if the disease got a hold. If t v ,ey organised th/ir other lines of defence, they had a reasonable hope that, if the disease got in it would be controlled. There should be a number of men ready to pounce on the disease as soon as it appeared: but unless thev went to the length of organising all these three lines of it seemed to him that they were running great risks. He did not think it would lie costly to organise; but if it got into the orchards it would be very costly to stamp it out. Mycologists knew so little about the action of fmieoid pests, and really had a very difficult problem. Outbreak in Auckland District. Mr. W. T. Goodwin, of the horticultural division of the Department of Agriculture, who was present, referred to his recent visit to the infected Auckland orchards. He said that if those present had seen what he had during the last few months they would be rudely shocked. Fire blight had spread to every part of the Auckland Province. Fruitgrowers in the North did not seem to realise the seriousness of the pest. Mr. Goodwin gave a description of the ravages of the blight, and the condition of hawthorn hedges, many of which were simply oozing with the infection. While the hawthorn remained so would the fire blight. The worst infection occurred at flowering, and if the hedges were kept hard-trimmed and prevented from' flowering, it would greatly reduce the risk of the disease spreading. Professor T. H. Easterfield, director of the Cawthron Institute, agreed that there were serious possibilities of the fire blight being introduced into the Nelson district. A resolution urging that the Government should take more drastic steps to deal with tho outbreak in the Auckland district was carried. The meeting expressed itsolf unfavourably regarding the suggestion by' Auckland growers that a tax ftf 5s an acre should be levied on all orchards in order to fight the pest. It was decided to appoint a number of vigilance commit-