THE FRUIT CROP.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume VI, Issue 5, 15 May 1913, Page 550

THE FRUIT CROP.

The officers' of the Orchards, Gardens, and Apiaries Division, report as follows on the condition of the fruit crop at the end of April : ;

• Whangarei.Apples, only t very late varieties; lemons, fair to medium; pears, nearly finished; oranges, falling badly on the volcanic soil, especially sweet varieties.— J. W. Collard. . ■ '

Auckland North. —Apples, late varieties only, good crop ; lemons, looking well, good prices; pears, good crop, nearly over; tomatoes practically finished.—l 7. G. Thompson. ' ■ . "

Auckland South.—Apples, only late varieties left, fair crop ; pears, almost done ; nectarines, crop finished ; peaches, crop finished ; tomatoes, nearly all done, now being cut by frost.— N. -B, Pierce.

Hamilton.—Apples, fair crop of late varieties, rather damaged by late flight of moth; lemons, still very scarce in markets; peaches, crop all harvested; pears, crop all harvested, prices good; -tomatoes, crop practically finished; walnuts, very light crop; early frosts have destroyed outdoor crops.— T. E. Rodda.

Poverty Bay.—Apples, below average, may expect shortage of sound apples during the winter lemons, poor; pears, good, but' not keeping well; . walnuts, good average.— W. R. L. Williams.

Manawatu and Wairarapa.—Apples, medium crop, late varieties good, and less scab than earlier varieties; pears, taken on the whole, a very clean crop; tomatoes, average crop, clean, will soon be over for this'district.; walnuts, fair crop, attacked by bacteriosis in some parts of district. — G. Stratford. r

Wanganui.—Pears, crop average to heavy being harvested; plums, crop harvested; plums (Japanese),.crop harvested ; tomatoes, crop done.— W. C. Hyde.

Hastings. supplies not too plentiful, quality very good ; pears, late varieties good, free of scab; tomatoes, exceeded expectations, season over ; walnuts, fairly good crop.— J. A. Campbell. . -

'Wellington.—Apples, average crop, cooking varieties looking well; pears, average to heavy crop, scab prevalent; tomatoes, average crop, slightly damaged bv frost. — T. G. Webb.

Blenheim.—Apples, medium crop, season almost over ; lemons, good crop ; pears, fair average crop, season almost finished; tomatoes, good crop, two or three severe frosts destroyed all fruit that was not picked ; walnuts, heavy crop, harvesting in full swing. B. G. Goodwin.

Nelson.—Apples: All early and midseason varieties now gathered, and growers are-busy getting in the later ones. Sturmers mostly being cool-stored ; Jonathans have turned out well, but supplies of this variety are now getting short. Heavy wind blew on the 20th instant, bringing down hundreds of cases of fruit; in one place a grower picked up some 500 cases after the blow. Pears, now all picked, and supplies are getting short, a fair quantity have been placed in cool-store; tomatoes, still a few, but sharp frost early in month spoiled most of them and growers are now clearing up their areas. The apple shipments to South America for the month totalled 14,849 cases. AU stonefruit is now finished.— J. H. Thorp.

Christchurch.—Apples, good crop, turning out well; pears, good crop, harvesting well]; tomatoes, heavy crop, a few still being picked ; walnuts, light.— W. J. Courtier.

Timaru.—Apples, late keeping sorts now being picked, fair crop of Stunner Pippins; pears, late keeping varieties being picked, good crops of Winter Cole variety; walnuts, a splendid crop of nuts has been gathered, and are realizing good prices.— A. B. Mansfield.

Dunedin.—Apples, main crop being picked; peaches, a few late varieties still picking; pears, later varieties being picked ; strawberries, large area being planted for next season ; tomatoes, over ; walnuts, being harvested.-

W. T. Goodwin.