INTERCOLONIAL FRUIT CONFERENCE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2968, 7 May 1896, Page 2

INTERCOLONIAL FRUIT CONFERENCE.

Wellington, May 5,

The Intercolonial Fruit Conference opened yesterday afternoon in the Parliamentary buildings. About eighty delegates were present. The Premier opened the proceeding!) by welcoming the delegates on behalf of the colony, saying that it was pleasing to have present representatives from the sister colonies as well as from all parts of New Zealand. Gatherings such as these, attended by experts, must he of great benefit to the whole of Australasia, and he hoped that the visit of delegates from the'other colonies would bo of a pleasant and profitable character. New Zealand delegates, who had attended previous Fruit Conferences in other colonies, had returned complaining of how little was being done to foster this great industry in New Zealand. He admitted that we had only just made a beginning, but later on he hoped to see the colony make progress in this industry, and in doing so work hand in hand with the other colonies. In New Zealand fruit-growers had many difficulties to contend with, principally owing to the conhguratiou of the country, which caused considerable difficulty in obtaining a market for the products. The Government had practically adopted the zone system for the carriage of fruit, aud it has proved very beneficial for the fruit-growers. The colony must hope for great improvement in the direction of the dried aud preserved fruit industry, and thus the Conference would be able to aid us in this respect. He ventured the opinion that iu getting up orchards iu New Zealand, more care should be taken in selecting trees suited to particular soils. The other colonies were much further advanced iu the fruit industry than New Zealand was, but he felt confident that much good would result from this conference. He again cordially welcomed the delegates. Mr W. F. Campbell (New South Wales) expressed regret that he was the only representative from his colony, and explained that the absence of other experts was due to some important experiments that were being carried out there, experiments which, if successful, would also be of great value to New Zealand. Ho spoke iu terms of high praise of the facilities that had been placed at the disposal of the delegates by the Department of Agriculture iu travelling over the country. He had recently passed through Taranaki, aud he was surprised at the backward state of the fruit industry there. He was extremely obliged for the kind welcome that been extended to him by the officials of the New Zealand Agricultural Department. Mr J. Williams (Victoria), on behalf of the Victorian delegates, thanked the Premier for his kindness. He had travelled during the last few days over some of the finest laud he had ever seen in his life. Professor Bayley (Queensland) spoke to a similar effect. The Premier admitted that New Zealand was backward iu the fruit industry, but the delegates assembled at the Conference would assist the colony to remove that reproach. He apologised for the absence of the Hon. John McKenzie, and conveyed to the delegates the best wishes of that gentleman for a most successful gathering. Ho also wished to convey to the delegates the warmest thanks of the Bon. Mr McKenzie for their attendance. Mr L. G. Currie (Queensland) was unanimously elected chairman. At the night’s sitting a paper on “Fruit Culture iu Tasmania” by Mr F. J. W, Moore, of the Tasmanian Department of Agriculture, was read and discussed at great length. The discussion embraced the questions of the size of packing cases, the prevalence of the codliu moth and best varieties of apples suitable for cultivation in New Zealand. On all these subjects there was great diversity of opinion. The other paper was on “ Orchard Cultivation ” by Mr A. H. Benson, of the Department of Agriculture, Now South Wales. The Fruit Conference resumed at 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday. Papers entitled “ The cultivation commercially of the banana, piue apple, and other sub tropical fruits” by Mr W, Soulter (Queensland), aud “ Pine apple disease” by Mr J. Lauterer (Queensland),

were submitted to the Conference and briefly discussed. The next paper was by Mr E, Blix (Queensland), and was entitled “ Fruit production and consumption.” The writer pointed out that statistics showed that the proportion of fruit consumed in the colonies per head of the population was ridiculously small. The middle-man was blamed for this state of things, but the writer contended that the middle-man was forced into cut throat competition through no fault of his own. The producer was, in many respects, responsible, and took no pains to regulate the market and prices. The writer urged that only the best and most attractive fruits should be grown, and more care should bo taken in the selection of trees. In order to bring the grower and consumer into closer communication with each other, the former must not lose sight of the necessity for careful picking and packing of fruit. Messrs Fowler (Pemberton) Lorie (Teviot), Burfoot (Nelson), Ayers (Christchurch), Karl (Waikato), Thomson (Auckland), Bennett (Teviot), MacKenzie (Auckland), and Piper (Nelson) and others, took part in the debate which followed. At 5 pm. the conference adjourned till 7.30 p. m. Mr Adams (Pahiatua) gave notice to move : “ That it is desirable that the conference should recommend a standard size for fruit packages.” The conference resumed at 7.30 p.m. Mr J. Mayo, Now Zealand Government Pomologist read a paper on “Fruit-tree stocks, propagatiou, grafting, and budding, with remarks on the relation of scion to stock.”

Mr James Gebbie, curator of the public gardens at Oaraaru, submitted a paper on the same subjects. Both papers were of a technical character, and dealt fully with the different methods of grafting and the most suitable stocks. In the discussion which followed, Mr Tamblyn (Toviot) said that the question of the most suitable stocks depended on the nature of the ground of the orchard. Mr Gimblott (Christchurch) dwelt on the necessity of obtaining some now stock for preservation of fruit trees. Mr Bennetts (Teviot) said that very good peaches could bo raised from seedlings, which, though longer in bearing, sometimes gave the raiser a new variety. Mr Hutton (Otahuliu) warned the delegates against tho introduction of American seedlings, owing to their liability to introduce pests,especially black rot. Mr Campbell (Now South Wales) thought that too much stress had been placed upon the effect of tho stock upon fruit. Tho fertilisation of tho flowers had more to do with tho flavor of fruit than anything else. Several other delegates also took part in the discussion, which was mostly of a technical character. Votes of thanks wore passed to the authors of both papers.