HAMILION FARMERS’ CLUB.

Waikato Argus, Volume XVIII, Issue 2906, 19 June 1905, Page 2

H AMI LION FARMERS’ CLUB.

\ meeting of the above was hold in the the Borough Council Chambers, Hamilton, on Saturday evening. There was a good attendance of members, and Mr W. Chilly presided. I'OTATo I»ISKASK. A letter from the Rakauroa Branch of the N.Z. Farmers’ Union (Gisborne), referring to the potato disease was road and referred to Mr Kirk, Government Biologist. school ok agriculture. A letter from Miss Betsy Jophsou, of Hamilton, informed the Club that she had recently been appointed New Zealand agent for the Homo Correspondence School of Agriculture, and placed before the Union the great advantage offered by the school.—Letter received, REGROAN ISATIO N OF THE CLUn. Mr E. Vcalo, secretary of the Waikato Farmers’ Club, Cambridge, wrote as follows;—" The following is a draft of rules for the conduct of business at the conference of delegates of the Waikato Farmers’ Club, Kindly forward any amendments or additions your branch may suggest not later than Monday, 19th inst: —(l) The Waikato Farmers’ Club shall consist of bodies of settlers meeting at convenient centres, who may add to the title of ‘ Waikato Farmers’ Club ’ the name of their own district. Each such centre shall be called a ‘ section.’ (2) Each section shall elect its own officers and administer its own finances. The chairman of each section shall ba a member of the Executive Committee, and shall sit at the conference whenever held. (3) The number of delegates to the club conference shall bo computed on the number of financial members in each section. (-!■) The expenses of conferences shall be borne by the sections pro rata on the membership.— The first meeting of the conference shall bo held on Monday, Juno 20, at 10 a.m,, at the old Council Chambers, Hamilton, when a President, vicoPresident, and Secretary shall be elected, and the question of remueration to the secretary shall be arranged.” A long discussion followed, after which it was decided to receive the letter, and adhere to the resolution seceding from the Waikato Farmers’ Club, and calling the club the Hamilton Farmers’ Club, and deciding to affiliate with the New Zealand Farmers’ Union. On the motion of Mr Farrer it was decided to request the present officers to continue to act in their various capacities till the end of the year. FRUIT CANNING. Mr Jacques, Government canning expert, then delivered an address upon this subject. lie referred to the importance of the work and said that in California it was the great industry, specially legislated for. Fruit-growing there was an object lesson to the whole of the world. It had been recognised there that only the best fruits should be put upon the market, in the same manner as only the best lambs and beasts were sent Home from here to the London market. The demand for fruit and vegetables in the Home markets was unlimited, and Now Zealand ought to wake up to the fact that she should be in that market. He was surprised to find in New Zealand a scarcity of fruit, and that that sold was dearer and inferior to that sold at Home. He thought the producer should get a better price for his produce, considering the retail price obtained. The only remedy was canning. A cannery could bo established for .£4OOO, capable of dealing with any quantity of fruit at the lowest cost in handling. Mr Jacques described the method of dealing with fruit in California, where the whole of the work in connection with truit-canning was done automatically, thereby reducing the cost to the lowest possible figure. He had travelled over almost the whole of New Zealand, and with regard to Waikato he was satisfied the finest peaches and pears could bo produced. As to apricots, he was not quite certain, but he understood that they grew exceedingly well at the Thames, and did not see why they should not do well here. He was of opinion that wo could not grow apples in this latitude equal to those grown in Otago ; but apricots, poaches, pears and plums could bo grown equal to anything in the world. In Otago the large red apricot was grown, but this was a mistake, as it was not suitable for canning, because it bad a very large pit, and when it was in a proper degree of hardness for canning it had not developed its sweetness or flavour. The Moore Park variety, on the other hand, was most suitable; there wore many varieties, and ho felt sure some of them could be well grown here. The great essential was to put only a first-class article on the market. The best pear to grow was Williams’ Bon Chretien—there was nothing to equal it. As to peaches, the orthodox sort was the yellow-fleshed variety with the cling stone. The favourite varieties were the Lemon and Orange clean, the Nicholls’ cling and the Early Crawford. They did not want the dark-skinned plums for canning, they must have white or yellow skins, such as the Yellow Victoria or Coe’s Golden Drop—large-sized egg plums. Ho severely condemned Japanese plums for this purpose. Any sort of apples would do for canning as long as they were of the sour, white-Heshed cooking variety. As to strawberries, ho asked was not it a strange thing that colonial manufacturers had to send to England for this fruit in order to make jam, as the people of Now Zealand were too lazy to grow anything but the Marguerite variety. He was greatly in favour of pulping fruit, and if raspberries, strawberries, apricots, poaches, and any of the liner fruits were treated in this way there was money in it. All they had to do was simply to boil it, put it into tins hot and solder it down, and it was done, and there was an unlimited demand for it. He, however, was strongly opposed to sulphurised pulping, and said that ere long this process would be prohibited by law. Mr Jacques described the method of evaporation of fruit and vegetables, and also the bottling process, which, ho said, had not been entered into in a commercial way in New Zealand. Ho condemned the bottles at present in use, and exhibited a sample bottle, the top of which was held in position by the action of a vacuum, which was much better for the purpose. Coming to the question does it pay, Mr Jacques said it was not necessary to dilate upon this point, as Tasmanian apples that cost -is per case to produce realised ISs per case on the London market in unlimited quantities, and he saw no reason, if the proper attention were devoted to the culture ot fruit, why the same result should not be achieved hero. He asked them to seriously consider fruit-growing as ono of the chief industries in New Zealand in the future, and asked them individually to use their influence with the rising generation to induce them to go in for this industry seriously and thoroughly, in which case be felt sure it would not bo long before it rivalled that of dairying. A hearty vote of thanks was accorded Mr Jacques for his address.