FRUIT GROWING IN THE NORTH.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume L, Issue 12721, 5 February 1906, Page 2

FRUIT GROWING IN THE NORTH.

THE CANNING INDUSTRY

INTERVIEW WITH AN EXPERT.

SOME INTERESTING VIEWS

In Mr Jacques, <ttoe fruit canning and preserving expert engaged by the Government to advise and instruct # fruitgrowers in .the mat tea- of canning ot fruit the orch'arddsts and others engaged in tfhe fruit industry have a valuable and energetic friend. The Government bias no more courteous officer m its service He is ready at all times to go to any length of trouble and to all parts of the colony to render assistance, and he has that most desirable quality ot being able to adapt himself to. colonial conditions, and study each different question that crops up an his department from the point of view of the colonial fruitgrower, as well as from that ot the English expert. During the time Mr Jacques has 'been in the colony he jhas rendered valuable assistance to fruitgrowers^ and if ihe had. done nothing else in 'his term of service so few than to take up tlhe case for the fruitgrowers of the Roxbuirgh district, and guide ttiem to the establislhment of so successful an institution as the Teviot fruit-canning and preserving factory, whereby they are now able to secure good prices for their fruit, instead of being obliged to see scores of tons of it -rot on the ground, as he has done, Ihe would have justified his engagement. The colony new imports dried fruit, canned fruit, and fresh fruit (excluding tropical varieties) to the tune of many thousands of pounds worth annually, while, w^tih its soil and climate and other natural advantages, it should be exporting these fruits instead of importing thfem. Mr Jacques has just returned to Auckland from a visit to Whangarei, KJawtakawa, Hohianga, Ko--siukohu, Rawene, and other districts in the North of 'Auckland, and in the course of an interview a " New Zealand Herald" representative had with him 'he sa^d that since he last visited the (Northern district he found very little alteration had been made. The growers •were always going to make alterations, but never got very far. Generally there was a lack pf funds, and fruitgrowing might be said to be carried on very promiscuously.

EVAfPORATION. The ordiardists, however, worked out things fairly well for themselves, but they did not evap^ate fruit as he would like to ccc it evaporated. A proper process of evaporation drew all the moisture out of the fruit, leaving ail the good-in it, but in the North the growers were drying the fruit and not getting tihe quality they should. To properly evaporate fruit, it was really necessary to (have a proper chamber, properly heated by steam-pipes to send & current of (heated air through the •trays of fruit, thereby drawing out the moisture. Such chambers need not be very expensive, but it was necessary to have a 'boiler to heat the pipes. Where individual growers could mot manage to provide such dham'beTS themselves, they might easily enough join together, and 'have one large chamber to provide tor them all. He found that the fruitgrowers -thought they were packing as good an article as the American growers. They were packing as good an article as America sent to New Zealand, but not anything like that which America sent on to the big markets of the world. "What he wanted to do was to bring the fruitgrowers to turn out so good an article as would effectually exclude th© American fruit, or fruit from any other country, from the (New Zealand markets, and this applied to canning as well as evaporating, was quite satisfied it could be done When sufficient supplies of tihe .right material were and growers, or others with tihe necessary capital, could be induced to set up the necessary plant. Por many years past orchardists in the North, and elsewhere also, had been growing "unsuitable fruit, and at the .same time had not been giving proper attention to it, with tfhe result that the codlin moth and other sorts of pests and. diseases were rampant. A MA(R£ED~iIMPItOVEMENT. 'He had ■noticed in the past year, practically all over the colony, a marked difference in the attention that was being given to the production of fruits generally. He thought it had been pro. perly demonstrated to orchardists that if orchards received the necessary attention the .remuneration was a hand--some return; but, on the other hand, if .an orchard did not receive proper attention it would not pay, as the money returned for indifferent fruit was so little 'by companieon with that returned for good fruit. Up to the present growers of good fruit had had to suffer from the negligence of the careless orchardists. All this was 'being altered, but it would take considerable time. Still, there was reasonable expectation that more rapid -advances would be made in the next .year or two. In the South the growers were (becoming very much alive to the future of the canning and evaporating, jas well as to improve varieties for the fresh fruit markets. Large numbers of trees were being planted in the Nelson and Central Otago districts, and, in fact, in all the fruitgrowing areas of the South Island, and very much more ■suitable trees were being planted. ■CANNING VARIETIES. Speaking about the North of Auckland principally, the districts there ■could grow peaches, plums, apples, and pears of very fin© quality, and in large quantity. He had not had time on thlis occasion to go thoroughly around .Auckland province, and would have to leave that until his return in March. ] He was, however, enthusiastic in praise- ! of tihe Tauranga and other portions of the East Ooast country, as fruitgrowing •areas. Those who had b-een growing for canning had, unfortunately, in the past, been growing wrong varieties. For instance, the large (red apricot had^ been very generally advised as a suitable •variety. " And is it not? " " I do not know of any variety whach is less suitable for the purpose/ replied Mr Jacques. Asked to give some points, particularly .about canning varieties, Mr Jac--ques said many sorts of peaches were jalso advised which were white-fleshed and " freestone," and these were not suitable. There was only . one whitefleshed peach 'that was canned in America in any quantity at all, and that •was the "White Heath, ft was a sine qua non that *if New Zealand was to hold its own in canning of fruit the Tardeties must be orthodox,. and compare favourably with those packed in other countries". In apricots, he recommended, for canning purposes, the Moorepark, Royal Blenheim, HemsTrirke, Mansfield Seedling, and St. AmIbrose. That selection was quite suffificient for any orchard in the colony. "The northern district would and should grow apricots splendidly, but orcharddsts did not grow them extensively or well, apparently because they did not •sufficiently understand the culture of t'Ms fruit. In the (Molyneaux Valley in Otago, apricots were grown to perfection. In cherries, continued Mr Jacques, ftih'e IBigarreaux Napoleon was the only variety required; nectarines would not can 'at all. With regard to plums, all the Englusih plums were suitable. H© placed the yellow Victoria first, and mexfc in order the white Magnum Bon/um and Ooe's Golden Drop; these were ■excellent canning varieties. The best

peiacihes were Lemon Cling and Orange Cling, and improvements on tthem, 6uch •as Nichols' Oling, Phillips1 Cling, and MxsDevitt's Oling. Then there was the newest of all, which was being grown largely in Australia, known as Puller's Oling, and the yellow Italian, Susquehana, and Late Crawford varieties. These were the beet canning varieties, and other sorts had better be left alone. Apples were usually canned in gallon and half-gallon, tins, and any variety found in the district would do, as long •as it answered the necessary requirements, which were ■ hard, sour, and white-fleslhed cooking apples. APPLE-GROWING. The northern portion of Auckland was eminently suited to late apples. The early apples grown in the North were 'G'f no use for canning. In fact, it was generally TOOOgnieed that, in regard to fruit for keeping, all the best varieties ■were late, and orchiardists in the South were rooting out the early varieties and planting late ones. Enormous quantities of apples were being imported into Great Britain, and at seemed that the supply could in no way equal the enormous demand, both for canned and dried appke. Oantada was awakening to tlhe importance of the apple trade, and after a few years -there 'would be over 100 miles of apple orchards in tlhe Annapolis Valley. Those orchards would be in full bearing in a few years, and Canada would be taking a share of the trade. A NEW PEACH. France. Italy, and Portugal were also becoming alive to the importance of canning fruit, and were taking steps in the right direction. Australia had made the same ningtake that New Zealand had ■made in the matter of unsuitable varieties, until tfhe Australian Government found it expedient to send a commissioner to California. That commissioner, with regard to peaches, reported that it was only the yellow-fleshed cling stone varieties, such as he (Mr Jacques) hiad mentioned, that were suited to canning. The mistakes had been promptly remedied in Australia, and that country would shortly claim her share of the canned fruit trade. He was pleased .to say that in the northern district there had been produced a new variety of peach, which, from samples he had seen this year, canned remarkably we'll. This peach was produced by an crch'ardist at Hokianga. He (Mr Jacques) was procuring budding. sticks of this peach, which he intended to distribute to those who were growing canning varieties in various patts of the colony, and, -as *he peach was hardy, be had great hopes of its proving a great success. .'For want of a better name, the peach was at present called the Yellow Mundy. Hh hoped to be able to -experiment wittti this peach, land to be able to give more definite information concerning it when he had been able ito bud it on. AN EXTENDED VISIT. With reference to Auckland fruittgrowing districts, Mr Jacques said he had not been able to see as many orchairdists in Auckland as he would have liked to Slave met, but there was so many ca'Ua on ihis services from different parts of the colony that his visit was really only a flying one. When he returned in 'March next he hoped to make a complete inspection, 'and give full advice in regard to fruit canning. Last autumn, in tfhe slack season, he went through the colony giving lectures on canning, •bottling, and evaporating, and ihe hoped to be able to make a similar round next winter. THE SMALL BIRD PEST. In some parts of the North the smallbirds were troublesome, but not nearly so much so as around Gisbome, and Napier, and Tauranga. The bird known as tlhe aniwah was especially troublesome. _ " Do you think tlhe introduction or English owls would mitigate the nuisance? " aisked' the interviewer. "_l!he English owls," said Mr Jacques, " would^d© splendid siervice could they be sufficiently protected, but, unfortunately, (there never would be sufficient ' (protection in the country districts, and the owls would be soon shot off. If they could be reared here and left alone they would be valuable friends to the lortchardists. The New Zealand owl, the morepwrk, was <a good little friend, but even that was not left alone. The Englififh bats could be introduced, and they would be of very great assistance in keeping down the oodlin moth, for anyone seeing^ them at Home would realise how busy they were at night, when the oodlin moth was on the wing. It was 3'oubtful if they could be preserved; and whether there were suitable places ■for the feats to hybernate during winter. At Home the bats could be found hanging hy the feet, with tifreiir wings folded around them, under the eaves of buildings, dn old towers, bairns, etc., and there they hung all winter. The question was whether they could hybernate undisturbed 'here." WHANGAIREI SUPERIOR TO CALIFORiNIAiN. There was a proposal on foot to .establish a canning factory in Auckland, but the matter had been in statu quo •for some time, pending the subscription of t/he necessary capital. Of course, if such ia factory was established in Auckland, and run on proper lines, it would .'be a great thing for the fruitgrowers.,

There was a small canning factory in Wlhaingarei, which was packing with the greatest success, and he was able to dtate, confidently, that the pears being packed were superior an quality and flavour to those produced dn California. At 'present the quantity was small, and it had not 'been possible to properly ■gnade -for size, 'but this coming season grading 'would ba properly undertaken, ■and every year there would be an increasing crop, and ultimately entirely satisfactory quantities would be produced. ThereW'ss only one canning pear 'which turned out a satisfactory •article, iand tftiat was Williams' Ben Chretien. A great many people were taking up land on the riverside in the Hokianga district for commercial orchards, and he was confident that in timo this would he on© of tihe particular peach-growing centres. 'Strawberries oould be grown well anywhere in the North, -and the 'b&st way ito utilise this fruit was to pot it. CANiNED iBLAOKBERIRTES. A very great deal of the Northern Jand3 was covered with •fhe'^'blaclvberry briar, and tha fruit could be canned. (In fact, there wa6 enormous demand for canned 'blackberries, 'but they were one of the most difficult fruit to can successfully, and they required most skillful treatment.'by thoroughly experienced experts. The labour of gathering the fruit, 'however, was expensive here, as hi found that school children practically asked adults' wages before they would pick blackberries. There was a good market 'anywhere for the fruit, but anyone desiring to take up the industry Of canning blackberries would re_ quire to Jhaye the most capable and expert supervision over th© selection and ere'dtion of plant and treatment of the fruit.