ORCHARD PESTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21982, 17 June 1933, Page 7

ORCHARD PESTS

VALUABLE RESEARCH WORK INCREASET) PRODUCTION PROBABLE. (Per United Press Association.* NELSON, June 16. In the course of an address to the Mapua fruitgrowers on orchard pests, Dr Miller, chief of the entomological department of the Cawthron Institution, said that Mr L. Dumbleton for the past two years at the institute had been making researches into the apple leaf hopper, leaf rollers, and the codlin moth. “ The results,” Dr Miller said, “are of outstanding importance to the fruit industry, and will prove to. be the means of fundamentally improving crop production to a very marked degree.” The statement was received with applause. Laundry is a big item in the hospitals controlled by the London County Council. In 57 laundries attached to hospitals a staff or 1100 washes more than 55,000,000 articles a year, at an annual cost of over £200,000.

gambolling about—and then, considering their duty nobly done, they disappeared. It was an entertaining experience, and reminded one of the habits of “ Pelorus Jack ” which used to pilot steamers regularly through the French Pass. Before turning into Smith Sound we obtained excellent views of Secretary Island and its peaks of over 4000 ft in height, and also of the first arm. From Smith Sound we caught interesting glimpses of the weird Crooked ’Arm, and likewise of Hall’s Arm with the magnificent Commander Head, well over 4000 ft in height and actually overhanging the sound, which guards its entrance. Numerous fine waterfalls, several of them over 1000 ft, were seen throughout the trip, the most notable being the .beautiful Helena Falls at the head of Deep Cove. The comfortable hut at Deep Cove is nicely situated on the banks of the Lyvia River. We spent the night there, and next morning were most interested in the plentiful bird life which exists in the vicinity. The wekas were specially numerous, and were remarkable for their dark, almost-black plumage, quite different from the golden species we saw at Lake Minerva. FISHING IN HALL’S ARM. A delightful afternoon was spent in cruising amidst the exquisite scenery of Hall’s Arm, where the seaway between the enormous mountain walls is so narrow in places as to be only a few hundred feet across, and where Nature smiles so beautifully in that perfect mirror of her own providing, the sheltered, deep, still, and clear waters of the fiord. Clinging forests, towering, vertical walls, soaring peaks, and blue sky and clouds were all reflected to perfection, even in their colourings. In bold, picturesque grandeur, with the magnificent overhanging Commander Head at the entrance and the Black Knights and Black Giants some distance back at its head, with fine waterfalls and deeply riven walls, Hall’s Arm rivals even the glories of Milford Sound itself. Here, in this peaceful, sheltered paradise, we spent a couple of hours in fishing, our most exciting catch being a 7ft Gin shark, which fought gamely and tangled all the lines. With the launch at one’s disposal one could spend a month in these fascinating fiords and always see something new. OVER THE WILMOT PASS. We completed the last stage of this wonderful round trip, viz., from Deep Cove to View House at the south-eastern end of Lake Manapouri, on our sixth day out. The first section of II miles is wdiolly through bush, comprising an easy climb for three miles up the valley of the Lyvia River on to the Wilrnot Pass *(2226 feet), between Mount Wilrnot (5090 feet) and Mount Barber, and thence, by a gradual descent, down into the valley of the Spey River, which flows into the West Arm of Lake Manapouri. It provides a wealth of splendid river, forest, and mountain scenery, relieved by numerous cascading streams and waterfalls, and some fine views of Deep Cove, the Black Giants (5377 feet), and the curious , Leaning Peak and Turret Range fronting the West Arm of Lake Manapouri. Being so low andso narrow, and crowded with handsome alpine and sub-alpine flora, all flourishing in the most luxuriant state and flowering in profusion, the Wilrnot Pass represented to the writer the most beautiful and certainly the most interesting mountain pass he had seen. On the right Mount Wilrnot rose 3000 feet above in a sheer precipice of naked rock, while on the left Mount Barber, almost as