CENTRAL OTAGO FRUIT

Otago Witness, Issue 3212, 6 October 1915, Page 14

CENTRAL OTAGO FRUIT

DISPLAY IN LONDON. Messrs A. Moritzson and Co. have re* ceivcd a. communication from the High Commissioner in London m regard to an exhibit of apples sent to London, also some extracts sent by the High Commissioner as they appeared in the English papers about the exh.bit. Mr Mackenzie states that the judges were greatly interested in the fruit and spoke very h.ghiy of the quality and appearance of it. 'They awarded the iiunksnui silver-gilt modal to the collection. Groat interest was also taken in the display by tho numerous visitors who attended the show. Tho newspaper comments arc as follow The Daily Chronicle.—Prominent among tho exhibits at the Horticultural Hall yesterday was a collection of apples from tne new iruit fields in Central Otago, New Zealand. The judges pronounced tho fiuit to be of the highest excellence, and awarded a silver Bank-nan modal. iho dominion bids fair to become one of the greatest orchards of tho Empire. At present it has only 31,953 acres unde* cult.vat.on, but some 2,800,000 acres are available, and the industry is growing by leaps and bounds. Owing to the existence of a profitable market in South America tho dominion has hitherto sent only small consignments of apples and pears to England, but tne prices received for these have proved so attractive that there is likely soon to bo a largo trade. Tho fruit arrives in the best condition from April to August, when the British market can most readily absorb it. The Fruit-grower, Fruiterer, Florist. In conjunction with the fortnightly show of the Royal Horticultural Stocioty, the Government of New Zealand made an excellent display of apples, for the most part from what is one of the newer orchard districts of the dominion —Central Otago. Some of the varieties on exhibit seemed to approximate more nearly in character to English-grown fruit, while other wellknown varieties were quite equal in appearance and size to fruit which conics into tho English market from abroad. Scarlet Nonpareil was in splendid form, and should find a ready market in this country, or anywhere else for that matter. Cleopatra was also very good, as was the variety Delicious, Sturmer Pippins, again, were perfection. Munroe’s Favourite is ono of the finest apples of that variety we have seen, very like well-grown samples of tho English Hawthornded. Other varieties shown included ‘Esopus Spitzenberg, well-coloured examples; Jonathan, in good form; and Ballarat Seedling, very large. Some large exhibits of this variety, grown by the Upper Clutha Fruitgrowers’ Association, Cromwell, Otago, were perfection itself. Rome Beauty was shown in good form by Mr Albert Birch, Birchdale Orchards, Tcviot, Roxburgh, Otago. If New Zealand can grow and send to this country fruit of as srood a character as that which was staged there should be a great future for fruitgrowing (apple growing especially), in what has been called “ England underneath.”