STANDARDISING OF TOMATOES DEBATED.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18545, 20 August 1928, Page 5

STANDARDISING OF TOMATOES DEBATED.

NO ACTION TAKEN BY ASSOCIATION.

The Christchurch Tomato and Stone Fruit Growers’ Association met on Saturday evening, Mr C. J. Fineran presiding. Mr Bucktin moved that the association should oppose the standardising of tomatoes. He contended that the proposals in this respect were not fair to the grower. “ Some of these inspectors should not be on the job,” declared another member. “ They don’t know their job.” Mr G. Billson said they should not pass a resolution about something they knew nothing about. They should know where they were before they took any action. It would not make their case any better to kick in the wav they were doing. Mr Bucktin said they should not wait till the restrictions were put on them before protesting. If they did that it would be too late. He did not think that standardisation would improve the grading. Mr C. E. Pope said it would not pay the outside grower if he had to grade his tomatoes. The growers should find out where they stood. Mr Billson expressed the view that the growers would be consulted before anything was done. Mr Pope: Not on your life! The chairman said they were working iu the dark. There was nothing to show what standardisation meant. It was no use. carrying a motion and not knowing what they were carrying it about. The motion was withdrawn. Mr M. Coffey was elected a member. Discussing the question of tomato culture, Mr W. B. Bucktin said much of the treatment given tomatoes was entirely wrong. To prevent disease it was desirable to steep the see-d in a mild disinfectant. Climatic conditions and the way. the plant was grown had much to do with wilting. It was not due to the attack of a parasite. Black rot or black stripe was a very bad disease. He did not think all the spraying in the world would save an infected plant. Potash had proved useful in combating the disease. All he used was dry sulphur. For the past few years he had not been troubled with the disease. Good drainage in the glasshouses bad much to do with keeping the disease down. He did not believe that stable manure was the cause of the disease. There was more chance, he considered, of causing the disease by artificial manures than by stable manure. The eel worm was a great bugbear. He had tried flooding the pest out. He had heard that it worked better on light dry soil than in heavy wet soil. He had tried soil disinfectants but so far was not in a position to report results. Sterilisation was the method Recommended for dealing with the eel worm. The soil should be sterilised when the seed was being sown. There were a lot of insect pests. The white fly had been very troublesome, usually at the tail end of the season. Insufficient ventilation had something to do with it. If they concentrated on absolute cleanliness in their glasshouses they would go a long way to eradicating the diseases. If they kept the glasshouses as clean as possible they would be going a great way towards eradicating the diseases. One member said wilting was caused by the plants taking too much water. They should be allowed to dry out. That was the Best cure for wilting. Members gave their experiences in regard to the ravages of different diseases and described the steps they took to combat them. The Auckland Provincial Fruitgrowers’ Council wrote stating that the idea of a national association was good, but the Auckland body urged that the local organisations should be kept going as registered bodies, the unifying body to be called the National Council of Tomato and Small. Fruit Growers. This council should be affiliated with the New Zealand Fruitgrowers’ Federation and hold its own conferences before the annual fruitgrowers’ conference.

The New Zealand Fruitgrowers’ Federation wrote stating that the board fully approved of the line of action taken in Canterbury regarding the formation of a Dominion Tomato Growers’ Federation. The federation was prepared to extend any assistance possible in the attaining of the object. The hope was expressed that the opposition which had come from Canterbury to the Local Control Act would be entirely overcome. There was no danger that Canterbury would be forced to accept something against their will, as the whole question was entirely in the hands of the province concerned, as to whether they would have local control or not. The letters were received.