MARKET GARDENS

Timaru Herald, Volume CLIII, Issue 22476, 11 January 1943, Page 6

MARKET GARDENS

Full Returns Required AU occupiers of commercial vegetable gardens of half an acre or more are required by the Vegetable Production Statistics Notice, 1942, which is published in the Gazette, to provide the Primary Industries Controller by February 1 with a return of all crops at present under cultivation or intended to be planted between February 1 and July 31. The only vegetable excepted is the potato. The form which occupiers have to complete lists 29 vegetables and requires to be added the names of any other vegetable crops not specified in the list. Space is provided for a statement of the area of ground not under glass, for the number of glasshouses and the area they occupy, for the approximate date of harvesting, and for the estimated yield. There are separate columns for the crops under cultivation at the time the form is completed and for those to be planted between February 1 and July 31. A commercial garden is defined as any land used for the production of vegetables for sale for human consumption, and it is stated to include any such land enclosed within a glasshouse. An occupier is defined as the person by whom or on whose behalf any commercial garden is actually occupied. It is also stated that vegetables intended for use in the manufacture of any food intended for sale for human consumption are deemed to be intended for sale for human consumption. This means, for instance, that land devoted to the production of vegetables for canning or sauce making is deemed to be a commercial garden. The notice applies to every commercial garden in New Zealand with the following named exceptions:—(l) A commercial garden consisting solely of land enclosed within a glasshouse and containing an area less than 2500 square feet; (2) a commercial garden no part of which is enclosed within a glasshouse and containing an area less than one-half acre; (3) a commercial garden part of which is enclosed within a glasshouse if the total area of the garden is less than one-half acre, it being provided that any portion enclosed within a glasshouse has to be computed at the rate of 5000 square feet per acre. It Is specially provided that two or more areas in the occupation of the same person for the purposes of a commercial garden are to be deemed to constitute the one garden. It is commonly considered by commercial gardeners that the issue of the notice is further evidence of the Government’s intention to exercise greater control of vegetable production. The aim is believed to be to expand output to meet increasing needs and also to facilitate the promised control, of prices under the stabilisation plan.