Other Fruits.

Otago Witness, Issue 2569, 10 June 1903, Page 79

Other Fruits.

For the quality of p'utis, apricots, pears, eherri&s. appl-vs, tomatoes, or strawbi rrie-s, Otago Central has no equal in the whole colon}', as r!i€«e fruits crow ra abundance and to pt-rfc-ction. In almost any orchard a vHtov choo=es to enter hs wdl there find the most superb samples. Tho opinion of Mr G. Howden, who has many times acted .is judge at th-e Vincent County horticultural shows, and who has boon connected with horticulture for some 50 years, is interesting in this connection Mr Howden asks ft here, in the whole colony, tac sucli mpcrb examplc-s of the app'?, rear, plum. pp?ch, apricot, nrctaiine, Hg, wah.ut, etc., to be found as aro exhibited at tho horticultural shows at Alexandra. Clyd?, and Cromwell? The fruit staged, for c-.\tc-nt and quality, was tho finest ho had ever seen, the displays of peae\cs bring e\ccpt'onally fine, both in size, and quality. Most of the first prizo apple*?, pr aches, ppricots, and neclanu^s wero sfrowi from rips or stores, and these, superb scrU when distributed would form a valuable addition to those already in cultivation ia other parts of the col on v. All the fruit exhibited was grown on standard trees in tho open air. In one place ho had vHrcd in the district the break-winds were formed with apricot and P"ach trees growing 10ft cr 12ft high and beaming abundantly. Ke saw there a plot of land of nearly two aero, which produced, on an average, every year throe tons of the finest sti aw berries raised in the- colony, and that with very little cultivation, the grand secret being an irrigation c upp'y. In conclusion, 6ays Mr Hcwden. the diver-ity of soil and situation, with irrigation, affords abondnnt opportunity for th-c growth of all tho dilTcrcnt uk ties of fruit enumerated. The great difficulty in tho way of the industry i=, of erurse, vrnt of railway commnnication. M'-^srs Howden and Moncrieff's nursery gardens at Gjlloway Flat are in thcmsplvo3 striking proof of Mr Hoivde-n's v. ords. In tho words of Mr J Blackmore, Government nomclogiSt. " the whole of the Tipper valley of the Clutha, moro especially from Roxburgh lisht through to A'exam'ra* and tho foothills adjoining Lowburn, i= ble-s.=rd ivith as fino a climate, and soi" — with irrigation — for the. production of fruit for drying purpose? a- is to bo found anywhere in the world." He had seen nowhere in tho world a district bettr-r adapted for the purpo=f\ and it might be regarded as a certainty that the industry would yet be developed there, and prove to bp one of the chief sources of wealth of the southern portion of tho colony. Mr Blackmore also said he had never known better winter Nellis pears than come hs had seen at Mr Dxwson's, .at Conroy's Gully, and he had see-n at Alexandra a =amp!e of locally-grown hops equal to anything from the bc«t gardens in the world ; and there was no reason why the district should not grow hops, not only for the whole colony, but for export as well.

Though I ('id not make spcci.il inquiry into matters relating to bop growing around A'exandrn, I saw -oinc saran'e heads that were certainly eo.ua 1 to. if not finer than, the product of tha Xcw Norfolk hop gardens in Tasmania. Br Blttckniore, however, " go?s one better," for he says: " Californ'a is famed as a hon-o-rowing country, and hops grown the-re hod the highest niaci' in the market, bpinp; va'.ii' d at l\\ ico the prico of tliose grou it in NeKou. I took a sample of Alexandra h< us 10 Ci^mwr-11. ni'd compared t!:6m with Cd if orn ,m h"i'-, ar.d I ha\e no lv-'itat'on In sajiug tho lot.il crt'tle is quite equal, if not super or, (o the Cahfornian." Another b r ancli cf tho orrhardist'b business — that of wa'nul growing— is likely to bo an mipoitnnt one in the future iv t !l is district. Splendid wa'nuts are grown at several places, and giown .11 abundance, but in tha opinion of the (kn eminent pomologist they are not of th& right \ar-.ety. He rpcommenda th<» Ch'irtsete. and cnn«idi'rpfl this nut would grow we'l in Central Otago. There can be no doubt, however, that tho growuig ci fruit for drying purpo=p.s will ba the foundation for the development of a great industry, for there are very few di'tnc's in the wo 1 Id 1 o --c— .113 -'it once tl'e .'oil and climate suitable foi fnvt growing and fruitdijinjr. and Central Otatro ha^ tin'be two advantaypa in very high degree, while there is an unlimited demand for cined fruits, especially for aprn nta. peaches, and prune plums. Aw idea of the market for prune plums, which can he puwn to perfection \n Central (>ta<^o, may be '.amed from the fact that as many as 40 tour-* %e->«l le-vc Bor dpaux. in Fr,u c, an 'iv il'y with prune- plums alcn-e for foreign lrarkft-. So:ne 18 yejr 5 ago the cul' nation of the 7>rure plum was commenred 111 C'a'iforina witb 13 trees, and now there aro million*, ainl always a lr.irket fr>r tho prof'uee. In 1901 dnr-d frun-> nev<importod into New Zealand to thn \alue of £95,300, nnd LV;.MaI ()tj«o, wne its re-<^ourr-'>s de\ eloped a-> they m.ght be ar.ci 'hould b», could n.pp'v tho wrole p-ilony. There «a- al-o an itin of £105.182 for frch fruit, but as thi» in> hides oi-angpfi and bananas it is rot into corsnieratiun. Of fre=h fruit, c\cry \a,iety of which is groun 111 (Viitral Otaifo. tip i o'.onv mi ported o\er £+o.ouo woitb. It is iritcrr-t-ing to note that while New ZcaU'i.d rmpo"ts this enoimor* amour t of fmira winch could I^p grown w th.n li^r own houndm-ic, exclusive of outlying 1 land-, California in 1894- supplied fruit to over a quarter of a nul'ou people, ail in addition c cut out of tlio State 37 277. 1301b of fr-sh fnut, 43. 811, "501b of clripd fruit, 28.860.9201b rai-ma, and £0.465 030'.b of canned fruits. It will be teen from these figures that it is impo- ib!e to o\ er-producj fruit in th.v; (• .!ony. Ther>> nra great markets ever ready and willing to t.ike unlimited quantitii- of hops, tomatoes, onions, app'es pears, plums, apricots, quinces, and punches. In apple culture for cider-making

alone there is tho element of a largo in- ; dustry in the Central Otago fruit di-tricts Nowhere else in the_ycorld will onions grow so prolifically, amT tomatoes grown in the open air surpass those grown elsewhere ia . the Australasuin colaaiea. Ther& is no | better district in the whole of the colony — 1 if, indeed, anywhere in the southern hemi- ( sphere — for the cultivation of seeds. In an j excellent paper read by Mr J. Tambiyn, of Teviot. before a conference of fruitgrowers and horticulturists at Dunedin. in i9Ol, that gentleman statfd that apricots had so far proved the most profitable of Central Otago fruits. Although not quice so sure a bearer as peaches and plums, they always commanded a ready sale at a fair price. Quinces grow well aud boar prolific crop 9, they are subject to no kind of blight, but only command a low price, and, owing to the cost of getting them to market, are not at the present time very profitable. There is not space in a short article to deal with the necessity for co-operation amongst fruitgrowers, or to dwell upon the methods of fruit-dryinj, etc. ; but these matters and tha fostering of the fruit-grow-ing industry in Central Otago should receive the immediate and considerate attention of the Government. The almost incalculable rceouroas of the district demand it. I find that New Zealand imports wines- to the value of about £50.000 annually, while it should not only supply its own demands, but ba able to export largely also. In small fiuits, again, there should be an enormous industry in Central Otago ; but how is it possible to grow fruit for profit when there i= no mr-ans of conveying the produce to its natural markets?