THE ORCHARD.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XXXVI, Issue 3, 20 March 1928, Page 206

THE ORCHARD.

EXPORT WORK. In picking all varieties for export two main essentials have to be kept prominently under observation —namely, colour requirements and stage of maturity. Neither should be sacrificed for the other in any instance. Every effort should be made to get the fruit picked at the right stage, and despatched as soon as possible after it is picked. Allowing fruit to remain in the shed —either before or after packing detrimental, and detracts from general appearance.

Careful handling of fruit for export may still be emphasized, there being signs of damage in many lines now coming forward for examination. Attention must be called to the possible damage to apples at the sides of the cases when packing with the high bulge recommended this season. Much of this can be alleviated by a slight pressure of the apples towards the centre of the case before putting the lid on. Apples packed high at the ends of the case are very liable to be bruised. A good practice is to pack the first few apples in the case — even half the tier —with the calyx towards the packer, reversing this at the other end. This applies more to apples slightly conical in shape. The result will be a solid pack in the centre of the case, with very little chance of sinking, while the apples at the ends of the case will be somewhat lower than the centre, enabling the lid to be put on with the minimum amount of pressure and very little, if any, bruising. The overlapping of varieties — Jonathan and Delicious — sometimes leads to trouble, the tendency being to pick the Jonathans too green and with little or no colour, in order to get rid of them before starting on the Delicious. This should be guarded against. Growers should study the regulations, paying careful attention to the colour requirements for each grade before picking. The packing of pears for export requires every care. It is not the number of pears in the tray, but the condition on arrival, that sets the price. Consequently grade and pack carefully, using an ample supply of wood-wool, so that there will be no fear of the pears bruising in transit. COOL STORAGE FOR LOCAL MARKET. Growers intending to cool-store apples for the local market will be well advised to treat such fruit as carefully as that intended for export. It must be realized that only good, sound fruit can be expected to keep in cool store over a long period. Damaged fruit when put into store can never come out sound. On the other hand, the rots set up by the damaged fruit often spread throughout the case. It is a waste of money to pay storage charges on fruit that should have been sent to the jam-factories or given to the pigs. The aim should .be to pack out from cool store as many cases as put in, and this can only be done where the handling and packing have been of the best. Periodical examining of fruit in cool store should be undertaken, so that each variety may be placed on the local market in the best possible condition. ’ ORDINARY ORCHARD STORES. ' Quite a number of these home-made stores have been erected in different fruitgrowing districts, and have proved successful. Although the fruit cannot be kept in them for such a long period as in mechanical cool stores, yet a glut on the market can be often avoided by their means. Some growers are apt to place very inferior fruit in these stores. This is not advisable,, conditions being more favourable for decay, and consequently rots spread faster. The question of ventilation- is very important in this class of store, and ample should be provided in order to allow for the elimination of gases that accumulate.. Stacking should be done so as to allow free access of air all round the cases, and humidity should be attended to. —G Stratford, Orchard Instructor, Motueka.

Citrus-culture. After such a prolonged dry spell, followed by late summer rains, the trees will rapidly put forth new growth. This growth will be softer than in normal seasons, and more disposed to suffer from even light frosts in winter. For this reason nitrogenous fertilizers are better withheld, as they will tend to make the growth even more succulent. Potassic or phosphatic fertilizers will be required, and if any nitrogen is used it should be slow-acting. Superphosphate, 8 cwt., plus sulphate of potash, 2 cwt., per acre, is a good dressing to meet most cases.' There are many citrus-groves which will naturally benefit by an application of lime. Where no lime has been applied for many years, i ton per acre, to be followed by | ton every third year, is correct. Where such a dressing of lime is made, applications of artificial manures should be deferred until later. Autumn working. of the land should aim at keeping the soil from consolidating on the surface, and so arranging the contour as to provide an easy get-away for. the heavy rains expected later. Unless this is done prior to sowing a green crop it is rarely possible to do it later, and water stagnates in odd places, to the detriment of the trees. After thus preparing the land it is seasonable to sow a green covercrop. Blue lupins are ideal for the purpose, and provide the largest quantity of green material to turn under later. Oats and tares or Lotus angustissimus are also quite good. Super or lime, whichever is being used, should be used at sowing-time; but where lime is used the super should be applied later, when the crop is turned under. There will now be a certain amount of pruning required. First, the worn-out parts of fruiting-wood should be removed, as also all dead wood. When dealt with at this season these are more readily discernible than will be the case later, when the trees are in full vegetation. All branches which sweep the ground or hang within i ft. of the soil should be cut away, as it is on these that spores of citrus brown-rot first find lodgment. The loss from this brown-rot is great every year, varying in severity according to the continuity of rainfall, but even under the best conditions it causes quite sufficient loss to justify preventive measures. These are really of a threefold character : Firstly, sterilization of the soil, where the spores reside. This is usually done with sulphate of iron, 2 lb. per tree, worked into the surface soil; but White Island No. i Product, 3 cwt. per acre, is in many cases giving even better results, as it not only contains various forms of iron, but sulphur and other elements which correct chlorosis and give general tone to the trees. Secondly, pruning away lower branches, so that spores missed by the sterilization will not be so readily lodged on the trees by rainsplashes from the soil. A cover-crop of green growth under the trees is also beneficial, as it acts as a carpet against splash. Thirdly, an application of bordeaux, 4-4-40, to the trees in late autumn, which acts as a preventive to the establishment of such spores as may chance to alight on the covered parts. In certain localities where the disease is not troublesome, or in seasons of lesser severity, part of this-threefold treatment may suffice, but it is well to be prepared in its entirety.

W. H. Rice,

Orchard Instructor,. Auckland.