FROST-FIGHTING TESTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23369, 8 December 1937, Page 7

FROST-FIGHTING TESTS

EXPERIMENTS IN ORCHARDS GOVERNMENT'S PROVISION (From Our Parliamentary Reporter! WELLINGTON, Dec. 7. The steps being taken by the Government to test the frost-fighting methods investigated in .California by Mr W. R. Lloyd Williams, orchard instructor at Alexandra, were referred to by the Minister of Agriculture (Mr W Lee Martin) during a discussion in the House of Representatives to-night an the Supplementary Estimates of thr Department of Agriculture. Dealing with the item of £4OO for frost-fighting experiments, the Minister said that none of the methods of combating frost so far used in N r v Zealand had been really effective, and ai the request of the growers the Government had sent Mr Williams to California to investigate the frost-fighting devices used there. The suggestions he had brought back were now being tested out at the request of growers to see how effective they would be and what they would cost. The Leader of the Opposition (Mr A. Hamilton): What is the nature of these experiments? "One consists of an improvement on the smoke pots used," the Minister replied. "Another creates a current of heat through the orchard and there is a third method by which growers are ablf to combat frost damage."