N.Z. GROWN ORANGES MORE EXPENSIVE THAN IMPORTED VARIETIES

Wanganui Chronicle, 8 October 1946, Page 9

N.Z. GROWN ORANGES MORE EXPENSIVE THAN IMPORTED VARIETIES

Oranges, a rarity of to-day, will be in more plentiful supply as N.Z. grown sweet, oranges start coming on to the market, but consumers may wonder why New Zealand grown oranges cost more to buy than overseas fruit which has to bear the expense of long distance freight. The reason is that it is extremely difficult to grow sweet oranges in the New Zealand climate.

Whereas oranges thrive without attention in the tropical islands of the Pacific, in New Zealand the orchardist has a relentless struggle to bring trees to maturity. Seedlings spend four years in a nursery before being transplanted in an orchard; it then takes many years for them to reach full fruit-bearing capacity. The trees have to be well manured and protected from wind, frost and drought. Orange trees need sub-tropical heat and a regular supply of moistureheavy rain in winter will no*, compensate for dry weather in summer. Last summer New Zealand experienced a severe drought when the young fruit was forming and this will adversely affect the orange crop now being harvested. Each tree requires more than 20 gallons of water a day, which means at least three inches of rain every month. The trees have to be protected from the wind for warmth and to lessen the evaporation of the available moisture in the ground. Furthermore, the fruit must not be marked by the rubbing of branches or it becomes unmarketable. Citrus trees can stand a little frost when the sap is not running, but a sudden cold snap in the autumn may damage the plant. In New Zealand sweet oranges are grown mainly in the north. Kerikeri, north of Auckland, produces twothirds of the total New Zealand crop; Tauranga. and Gisborne supply most, of the otfier third. Sweet oranges represent only 40 per cent, of the citrus fruit grown in the Dominion, for grapefruit and lemons are more suited to the climate.

Last season New Zealand produced a little over 8000 cases of sweet oranges from 36,000 trees, but it is not possible to estimate the amount of the present harvest. The fruit is harvested between August and November. Some times the later varieties are not as juicy as th earlier ones because spring growth takes place while the fruit is ripening. Howeve»* the later varieties are important to New Zealand consumers because they come on the market when few oranges are axailable from overseas.