FIREBLIGHT MENACE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19831, 29 December 1927, Page 11

FIREBLIGHT MENACE.

DANGER OF INACTION.

GREATER EFFORTS NECESSARY.

GRUBBING OUT HAW.THORN. BY OUR AGRICULTURAL REPORTER. That there are contradictory opinions concerning the prevalence and danger of fireblight in the Auckland district is apparent from the various letters which have appeared in the public press, and that efforts have been made to mipimise the extent of the present outbreak is plain, and under the circumstances probably natural. In the first place, no owner of an orchard property wishes to have the value of his holding diminished, nor does he desire to be put to tho trouble of cutting oat the bearing parts of his trees if there is no stern need for these things. In the second part, the horticultural division, which is responsible for the administration of the Orchard and Garden Diseases Act, and pai-ticularly for the measures dealing with fireblight', certainly would not like to acknowledge that it had been neglecting its duties. Yet if anyone comes to examine the country between Auckland and Elliot's Point, Henderson, he cannot help being convinced that someone has failed in taking ordinary precautions against this dreaded disease and failed badly. Most people having any association with our land industries remembers the serious outbreak of fireblight which occurred in Auckland about six years ago. It was recognised as threatening the very existence of our orchards. Special legislation was passed in order to deal with it, and the horticultural division commenced an active and what proved a most effective war against it.

Destruction of Hawthorn. The special legislation provided, among other things, for the destruction of hawthorn, which is looked upon as the main source of infection in fireblight, and also for the destruction of affected fruit trees, or parts of fruit trees. The destruction of hawthorn was looked upon as so important that in certain districts within .50 many miles of commercial orchards, its eradication by felling and grubbing was strictly enforced, and in other districts Far removed from commercial orchards it became compulsory for hawthorn to be cut down during the blossoming period. It required an army of officers to carry on this war against fireblight';,. and it caused widespread indignation among the owners of big hawthorn fences, and big old fruit trees far removed from the sight of commercial orchards. It cost the State and private individuals quite a lot of money and much labour, but like all wars carried on thoroughly and efficiently, it was effective. The first year after the outbreak it would have been difficult to find any sample of twig or foliage anywhere blackened by this serious scourge. Every orchardist in the country and nearly every possessor of fruit trees had become a sort of honorary inspector. Commercial Orchardists' Part.

The commercial orchardists did not forget the dangers and lessons of this outbreak of fireblight. It became part of their routine of work during the growing period to note carefully any sign of blackened foliage. It might, of course, merely mean that a borer or cicada bad cut through a small stem, or that the wind had broken a leafy leader, but it might , mean the shrivelling of tender twig and the slimy black leaf due to disease.

The commercial orchardist has done his part to prevent any recurrence of fireblight for his own sake as well as to observe the laws of his calling; but what have the officers of the Horticultural Division been doing during the past year or two to administer the laws framed for the prevention of fireblight? The grubbing out and destruction of hawthorn throughout widespread districts cost the State and private individuals large sums of money; the cutting down and burning of old trees in neglected gardens cost nearly as much, but as anyone who has had experience of these things knows, hawthorn will grow again from rootlets and stumps, and from seedlings, and apparently decrepit apple and pear trees in neglected grounds have a habit of putting out new growth, Hawthorn is the Danger. I travelled recently for some miles along the Auckland-Henderson road, and I saw hawthorn growing in several places,and not only saw it growing, but saw on it indications of fireblight. I visited one or two properties right in the midst of the great commercial fruitgrowing belt in Henderson itself, and saw fruit trees so neglected that gorse and bracken were growing thickly among, them, and on these trees we're evidences of disease. The officers of the Horticultural Department had been at work just before my visit, there were prunings lying on the ground, and evidences of burnings; on the neighbouring holdings the owners had been compelled to cut back almost to the bone the greater part of bearing trees, but apparently the owner of the neglected orchard had done nothing. It seems evident that during the past two years, while commercial and other orchardists have kept careful watch and ward, that trees owned by absentee land-owners and land speculators have been ignored by the horticultural officers, as have the possibilities of hawthorn springing up again. _ i The present outbreak is by no means as simple a matter as some people would have us believe, because quite, a number of orchardists have had to cut out a large part of their fruit-bearing wood. The commercial orchardist can, however, he depended upon to do his full share in the war against fireblight, and it remains for the horticultural officers to once more check the hawthorn menace and to enforce the Act strictly against absentee landowners and careless owners of fruit trees.