THE MOLYNEUX VALLEY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2677, 5 July 1905, Page 80

THE MOLYNEUX VALLEY.

IV.— IMPRESSIONS OF THE COUNTRYV (Bt Otfß Seecial Cojimissioneb.) The bearing which the proper develop-* mien* of the fruit-growing industry in the Molyn«ux Valley, and Central Otago ingeneral, will have upon the prosperity of the province and the importance of Dunedin At, a city and a, port of export is a matter deserving of the deepest consideration on. the part of the Otag> people. The pioneers who blazed tracks into the interior and! carved out homes in those vast solitudes j left a legacy to the generations which were to follow them that should not, and must not, be neglected by the people of Otago, and it ie plainly the duty of every Otago resident to take intelligent interest in the development of those vast areas of interior i Otago whioh will on© day bei the great main* stay of the province and th© chief commeroial field of the City of Dunedin. Abundantly as Nature hag blessed this beautiful colony, she gave to no part of i# more richly and lavishly than she gave to Otago in the rich lands of the great interior. I am aware that there is wide diversity o£ opinion about Central Otago; not so very long ago that far-seeing man Vincent Pyke was benevolently regarded as a man withi a monomania about th© future of Central Otagp, but I repeat that the day is yeft coming when the people- of Otago will realise that their province has a power within itself which is capable of enormous development, and which "will be productive of magnificent material wealth, and then they will wake up to the realisation of whati Vincent Pyke_ really s»w, and they will erecfc a cairn to his memory on the top of the highest range looking out over the great lands, and cpeak gratefully of those men | who fought hard and 'continually to preserve ! Otago_ for the people of Otago against the agitation of the far-sighted men in another district who had realised the grand futura before the Molyneux Valley. Continuing my sketch of the country embraced in what might be termed tributary area to a railway from Lawrence to Rox~ burgh, I might say I have only taken the narrowest limits. That is by the way, however. The lot of a newspaper commissioned? on tour is not a path of rose©, for hi® is the task of receiving evidence of all sorts and conditions and sifting it to arrive at a con'elusion, of travelling late and early, of setting out in the morning with no idea off where h© will sleep at night or where he will Cine or sup if he be fortunate enough to manage either or both, and of contenting! himself often with but a> passing glimpse of vast stretches of country whioh his desirei for research would fain lead him to inspect closely. Be it understood, therefore, th-aft the places visited and described are only representative, and by no means embrace more than a portion of the tributary areas before-mentioned.

SOME MORE ORCHARDS.

Passing by the many pretty little garden* of Roxburgh, I called, one stiperb morning, at Messrs J. H. Waigth and Sons' splendid orchards on the slope of the foothills north! of the town. The grounds have been beautifully laid out, and on this slope there are 14 acres of orchard, while there are five other acres nearer the town, and between 4000 and 5000 fruit trees are being attended bo, of which 1150 are apple trees, and thia orchard is capable of turning out 3500 cases of fruit per annum, which alone means £87 in railage at 6d per case. The land ie» all violi and requires no manure, while Oio slopes above might be carrying many, many similar orchards. Messrs Waigth ana Sons have found that late apples pay fatf better than early apples. The late apples are not so subject to the co-cllin moth asd the early varieties, and, moreover, if the] market is not suitable they keep better ana travel better Were an apple-drying depart-* nient established in connection with thfl fruit-canning factory at Roxburgh, whioui will be described later, the orchardists wouldl probably again cultivate the earlier sorts',but at present they are not profitable^ Pears are also largely grown ia this orchard,, and there are also areas of peaches and) apricots. The apple* _ grown by Messrs Waigth and Sons aio, principally, the scai^letl Nonpareil, Stunner Pippin, Stone Pippin, Munro'e Favourite, Cleopatra, an<J Jonathan, while there are also some Scarlet Pearmaifls and Newton Pippins — all latei varieties. A few Itibston Pippins and Cox's OTang© Pippins arc the only early sorts now in ihe orchard. The pears grown art! principally Williams's Bon Chretien, Winteis Nelis, Napolson, Winter Cole, and Louise* boa Jersey. The whole orchard is bearing well, and magnificent crops fruit ar« fcecui'-ed ev«cr season;; but the small-bka

pest is making itself felt, and unless some effective, remedy is discovered the pest will niean very serious losses to all the orchardists. Walnuts grow here to perfection, and apparently all that is necessary is to plant the nut and come along from four to five years later to gather the crop. I was informed that as much as 6d per lb has been paid for walnuts in this district. Straw.berries also grow profusely. An orchardist planting out a new area with young trees cannot, as a rule, afford to sit down for six or seven years to await his fruit crops, but while the trees are growing he can oultivate strawberries in between the rows of trees, _ and no more profitable crop could be raised than the varieties of strawberries suited to this district, beside which the famous strawberry grounds of northern districts could not hold a candle. In this manner many of the largest orchards of the Teviot district were founded. Messrs "Waigth and Sons have a water supply laid on to their ground from the slopes behind for irrigation and power purposps. The experience in the case of this orchard was that irrigation was only really required during the first season after the trees were planted, except, of course, in case of a very dry period. The water, however, is now at hand " whenever required. During the first season it was 'necessary to carry the water in kerosene. tins. By wi arrangement of wires, run all through the orchard and hung with kerosene tins, a fairly effective bird scare has been established, the wires being kept in motion by the pulling and releasing of a lever connected with the water wheel. Thus the water-power -has , been turned to somewhat novel purpose; but the birds even get accustomed to the incessant banging and rattling going on night and day in the fruit season, and actually perch" on the wires, with a sort of "Go on, you people, don't mind me " expression about their exasperating persistence. One could imagine, after seeing these birds calmly enduring a 50-brak<3 horse-power row, * starling meeting a sparrow with the remark, " Aw, these — aw — beastly band accompaniments wathaw deafening, don't-cha-fcnow," to which the sparrow probably replies, " Gam ! the grub's all right, anyhow." Beyond Mesers Waigth and Sons' orchard there is a. vacant stretch of land, and then come Mr R. Glendining's and Mr J. Dunlay's orchards, both growing peaohe3 and also strawberries very largely. The ground here is still all rich river silt, and 1 there could be no doubt about the fertile nature of it after looking at the fine paddocks " bordering the road. At Mr Robert Wilson's farm of 600 acres there is a splendid orchard containing 3000 fin© trees, and for the 70 acres of flat in this property an offer was made, I understand, by the Government, the intention beiing to acquire it for experimental purposes', but the offer was not high enough. On the other side of the road' there is a very, extensive mining reserve running out to the river, and on part of it an orchard has been planted by Mr R. PaTker, the land being held on what is known as dairying occupation license. As the reserve is all rich land it is to be hoped it will never be disturbed by mining operation's, at all events such operations as will for ever destroy it "for orchard purposes. Further-up,- beyond Mr Wilson's property, is a very, fine-oronard owned by Mr John Ben.netts, who holds 70 acres of flat laud. He has 5000 trees in full bearing, and several thousands of young trees planted out, and after walking through this orchard one cannot but -admire the splendid system apparent lir (every department. The trees all bear evidence of the most careful and scientific treatment, and they return the care bestowed on them by heavy yields. Samples were shown •to mci of peaches, pears, and apples which, late in the season though it was, were all of superb quality. iSlr Bennetts chiefly cultivates peaches, apricots, ipears, and apple*. Behind the orchard proper is a piece of higher ground, and this •Sir Bennett* is terracing and planting in trees also. He finds walnut trees flourish luxuriantly on his property, and, indeed, he has uprooted a number to make room for other fruit trees. In this orchard, in the fruit season, a. big water wheel is kept at work pulling and releasing the wires of the birdBearing apparatus, which Mr Bennetts has found to be fairly effectual. The birds are particularly destructive in the cherry season, «nd very careful precautions have to be fcaken to preserve the crop. AH this country, along the flat and up to a certain altitude on the hill, is eminently adapted to fruit .culture, and there is plenty of ground to support thousands of a population. With a fair season's crop Mr Bennetts reckons his output at 3000 cases, and (he has taken 28 cases of peaches from four trees?,' an average of seven cases per tree. Visitors -to the Otago A. and P. Society's winter show " this month had an opportunity -of seeing wme -of Mr' Bennetfs's splendid fruit displayed for exhibition. Adjoining Mir Bennetts's land further up the f alley -is Mr A.' Birch's property, consisting of 80 acres flat ground and 500 acres of pastoral country, a great deal of which is suitable for terracing for fruit-growing purposes. Mr Birch has about 30 acres planted down in orchard, and somewhere about "6000 trees are in full bearing. Next |o his place is Mrs B. J. Tom&'s fine orchard t>t about 14 acres in trees. She hoids some 30 acres, «Il most suitable for fruit culture, And particularly apples and pears. Mr Michelle holds some 15 acres, of which six tire in trees, and altogether this is the foundation of a very fine orchard property. Mr St. Kirkwocd has taken up ground on the taming reserve, and he is founding an orchard. Mrs Sophia Toms holds 35 aores of magnificent land, of which 16 acres have Jbeen planted in orchard, and from about 12 acres, of this the output is 2000 cases of j fruit. The apricots here are grown on the fugh ground, which seems to suit them best, ftnd 4li the hill-face, up to at least 800 ft ft> 1000 ft abftve the valley level, could be terraced^ while irrigation would not be r«jßuired, ,Mf H. A. Tamblyn holds about eight acres in orchard away up on the hilllace. Mr Moody has about 30 acres neat t, of which 14 to 16 acres are in trees, some idea of the quality of the land u5 diatriot may be gained from the tact j , ,£IBOO was asked for 30 acres. Mr R. j E. Bennetts has about seven or eight acres jjp. orchard, and grows apricots and peaches : )n the hill-face, and then Mr TJren's orchard ; Jomefl- ift «b- the back of the Coal Creek : School. Messrs Manuel Bros, have about jftfj tores in orchard, and their output is , 8000 oases of fruit, of which 800 cases are JM »pricot3. • "They find plums somewhat I Unprofitable growing as, owing to the difSjbulty of transport, there is no profit; under Ms par case. While fruit may be carried JBJiywiheTe on the railway at od per case, jshe cost of carting to Lawrence is Is per Base. -Two^ vineries under glass are worked |n connection with this orchard, and the •rapes grown are Black Hamburg and Bar*MKS» $?gif&fl; Mestra. Maausl B?oa. and

George and party are working hydraulic claims at ±he river bank with 60ft and 90ft vertical pressure. Next to Messrs Manuel Bros.' is Mr E. Orchard's 16 acres in fruit trees, and then comes Messrs Tamblyn Bros., who hold three fine orchards and at least 20 acres in trees in full bearing. Apples are grown to perfection away up on the hill slopes, almost out of sight of the road. The old garden by the roadside here was the original fruit garden of the Teviot district, and Mr Joseph Tamblyn was really the pioneer of the fruit-growing industry in that part of the country. Many of the trees in the old garden are old, but a-re still as vigorous as ever. Opposite here, on the other side of the river, there Is a tremendous stretch of fiat suitable for fruitgrowing, but that will be referred to at a later stage. Adjoining Messrs Tamblyn Bros.' property is Mr A. H. Tamblyn's orchard, and then Mr G. Courtier's orchard. Above and behind these orchards there is scarcely any limit to the area of hill-faces and slopes and basins and gullies which might be requisitioned by fruitgrowers, and in many places there is excellent opportunity for growing any quantity of the hardy wine grapes. Then, above Coal Creek again, there are thousands of acres which could be utilised in growing apples. The soil is rich enough, but the situation may be somewhat colder than that lower down the valley, and probably apiicots and peaches would not prove so satisfactory as on the warmer faces. There is also an almost unlimited area of coal in this part of the district, and I will deal with the coal seams in my next article. I have mentioned facts in connection with the fruit-growing industry enough to show those who have only a hearsay acquaintance with the district that fruit culture is being carried out on proper and systematic lines, not as merely a pastime or subsidiary to some other occupation, but as a business, and by the area planted in orchard it may be judged that th« fruit-growing industry there has come to stay. In this case I am dealing with areas proved to be most suited to fruit culture, and. when it is remembered that the orchards already established would be a mere handful beside those which might yet be established, some idea of the bearing fruit-growing may have on the trade and prosperity of this province may ba gained by even the most uninitiated. Yet it is a- fact nevertheless that for every acre planted in trees in the Teviot district there arc hundreds of acres suitable for fruit culture yet lying barren, and in the whole of the Molyneux Valley from Beaumont to Wanaka, the fruit-growing areas may be reckoned in tens of thousa-nds of acres. Not vet has any railway tapped these great fertile areas, but the Otago Central line will soon reach a portion at Alexandra and Clyde, and then the LawrenceRoxburgh line will commence tapping the lower valley at. Beaumont, so that in a a few years' time some important developments in the fruit-growing industry in Otago may be confidently anticipated.