NEW ZEALAND FRUIT GROWERS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21019, 7 May 1930, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND FRUIT GROWERS.

MARKETING BOARD’S 'ASSISTANCE. - GRANT MADE FOR RESEARCH. (Fbom Ocr Own Correspondent. j LONDON, February 27. At a meeting of the Empire Marketim Board last week a capital grant of £200( and a five-year maintenance grant wai made to the New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research for research on fruit production and storage to be carried out in New Zealand. The money will be used to buy an experimental orchard near. Nelsrn, and to co-ordinate and extend investigations into cool storage, transport, disease, and insect control, nutrition, physiological diseases, and root : stock propagation of -<ew Zealand fruit. , 'A good deal of intermittent work has been earned out in the past (says a report issued by the Empire Marketing Board) by the Departments of Agricuf ture and of Scientific and Industrial Research, and by the Cawthron Institute, valuable results have been obtained; for instance, woolly aphis, a serious pest of apple trees, has been almost eliminated bv the introduction of the parasite Aphelinus Mali. But the work has suffered owing to its lack of continuity and the lack ol proper facilities, particularly for field experiments, Recentlj a conference was held at Wellington between representatives of these bodies and the fruitgrowers. It was decided unanimously to form a fruit reorganisation to co-oridnnte and plan all the New Zealand work and to extend its scope. An orchard of 70 acres in the Nelson district has been offered to the Fruit Research Committee for an experimental centre. The 'and is typical of an area which produces about 50 per cent, of the exported fruit of New Zealand, and the orchard contains the principal varieties „ f re t f' The Department of Agriculture and the Cawthron Institute mil, it ‘is anticipated, co-operate in its administration, ■ Experiments on cool storage have already been started in co-operation with the low temperance research station at Cambridge, under Sir William Hardy, ibis will be continued, and special investigations will be started on the effect of temperature, humidity, and orchard factors on fruit quality. These should work in w.th the study of the ’effects of soil, moisture, and fertilisers on the keenof fruit which is proceeding at the Long Ashton station, near Bristol! under the Empire Marketing Board grant! New work on insect pest, such as the bronze beetle and the redmite, and on fruit diseases, such as eyerot and mildew, which have not hitherto been seriously tackled, will be begun. * Under the new scheme a horticulturalist SjJi b S appointed to study the introduccion of fresh stocks and improvement of the extensively used Northern Spy. He will collaborate with the East Mailing station which is so well known in England. Probably a suitable nxata will first t 0 j Mailing to learn the methods used and results so far achieved Bntain by Mr R..G.’ Hatton and Zea >? d fruitgrowers are contributing substantially to the expenses of the scheme (the report concludes), and the remainder of the cost is being met ay the New Zealand Government; The Department qf Agriculture, the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, and the Cawthron Institute will .end to the fruit organisation those of ,neir men who are mainly engaged on iruit work, and this amounts to a large ion tn but ion which does not figure in the aalance sheet. It is hoped under this icheme to put New Zealand fruit research )n to a sound and systematic basis, and ,o plan 'an extended programme which will lover the most pressing problems in a ;rue order of merit. a