THE FRUIT INDUSTRY.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13917, 31 May 1909, Page 2

THE FRUIT INDUSTRY.

I'll TOISI ALLY PR ESE.Vi'ED

The fruit industry of South Canterbury seems to consist ehielly in ing t]ie nails of packing cases, emptying tiic conlents into show cases or shop cases. ami presently weighing lhem in paper hags. That this Is not the case with tlie Dominion as a "hole is shown hy the splendidly «r o t up annual Fruit X urn her of 1 !,<• ,Vw Zealand I'armer, which is the nuniher tor .June. The Brett Publishing Company ot Auckland have done themselves credit hy turning out this number. the greater part of which is devnt"d id fruit of all kinds, as grown in various parts ot Xcw Zealand, and it is profusely illustrated with a large number of excellent photo-gravurcs. which taken together indicate that the trim industry ~f .Vow Zealand is already a big thing, and suggest that it rtiight and ought to he much' bigger. The photographs of countless "weli grown fruit trees, and of specimen branches loaded with fine fruit, are enough to tempt anyone owning a bit of land to put at least some of it into profitable use -is .-nil i,'d. A lV;<liiiv ot the number are pages of photogr.iphs ot different varieties ot apples, i iiims. and peaches, all taken to one scale, so that they can be compared as to size, a requirement that probably gave the photographer a lot of trouble. There are endless pictures ot orchards and vineries, and ot busy industry among thenu One striking picture is that ot a '"pit" of 30 tons of Sturnier pippins in one ot the Havclock orchards. One page only is devoted to "the industry, in Canterbury." and tho three, illustrations for this are views of Mr E. Butcher's orchard near Timaru. Elsewhere there is also a picture of strawberry picking at AYaimate. but this looks like an old acquaintance. The writer of this chapter remarks that very few of the farmers of Canterbury have so much as one acre of orchard, and one cannot help noticing T hat the. industry is much neglected in a province where good results can be obtained. He notes that in consequence of so much dull weather in summer the apple crop lacked colour, which is a test of quality: usually the prevalence of" sunshine gives Canterbury apples that quality. In dealing with South Canterbury, he says: — Around Geraldine there are some nice orchards, while at Teinuka the orchards are well kept; but do not cover large areas. Xear Timaru there is one of the best kept orchards to be seen anywhere in South Canterbury. This is owned by Mr E. Butcher, and contains 2-1 acr"s. The situation is a good one. the trees being planted on sunny slopes, while effective breakwinds in high lir trees divide the orchard into squares of about three or four,acres each. Apples and pears are, of cours°. the two leading fruits grown, and a thorough system of cultivation is followed throughout the whole orchard. This demonstrates that the difference between failure and success, is attention. The cultivators and horse hoes are kept going constantly, and in the proper season, spraying is carried out in such a thorough manner, that the orchard is particularly free of scourges that are found in orchards where no precautionary measures are taken. Tt is an ochnrd such as that of Mr Butcher's that is the real solution of the question whether fruit-growing can be made to pay as an industry. The orchard. it might bo added, was planted by ]\l r Butcher some 31 years ago. Fnr'her south, then* is not much done in fruit-growing for market, with the exception of the small .l'ruit produced at Waimato. Mere' raspberries grow vry well, and the past.season was n prolific one in all the gardens. Mr Z. T. Cousins, one of tho largest growers. informed the writer that the frosts comintr "«o late in the season did a ■rood deal of damage, but tho showery weather- experienced at riponmn time >vnde tho return much lar"-"r than was •he ease in the preceding season. >tr-iwbnrriet are also frown at Wain'atc. but the area under crop is inivh I«than it. used to be. owing to the plants becoming diseased.