TASMANIA'S -APPLE LAND.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 841, 13 June 1910, Page 10

TASMANIA'S -APPLE LAND.

■"; A visit to the Hupn'Valloy,.'the ; chief apple-growing centre of Tasmania, was recently made by Sir. H. S. Kingsland, of Nelson. Writing of his experiences in the Nelson "Mail," 1 Mr. Jiingsland says he had to confess to a feeling of disappointment on his first sight of' this far-famed apple district. "Imagine," he says, "a narrow valley with a river (the Huon), black, broad, and deep, flowing down the centre, very little flat'land on either side, and the hills for 'a distance of 20 miles clothed with orchards mostly in full bearing. True, in the Upper Huori there is a little land which might! bo termed undulating, but bar this all the fruitgrowing is done on the hills. At some .places the. soil could,,be classed fair,., but .the great bulk of it is poor,.hungry soil, and all been heavily bushed at'one time;: Bight;.hereJ. would.like to pay a tribute to the pioneers of the industry in Tasmania. Even in, our favoured 'country; where 'the •' land is mostly cleared; and any amount of stuff can '.;be!grojm in between,the trees, the task of _ rearing '-an orchard and a family together, is a herculean one. "What the task would be to a man who has all his land to; clear, trees, to plant, and ,keep.in order,for seven,or eight years .witliypractically nothing coming-in, can best be imagined. ]'\ .. ' ',-., "The'' prodigious' am'(itr3t' ;c bf % brcaking'.. labour, which;it takes to.clear some of the laid re-quires-to bo seen to be credited. . / It's • the '/boulders 'which give the itrpnblejl. as rocky, ground is always .much more;esponsive ,to 'clear. There are-splendid 'orchards ■ growing- on . slopes -.which! before clearing a newcomer ;might declare lit for a quarry site, 'but- nothing else. 'In the Huon district most of the orchards are of moderate". size, an' average might bo from ten to fifteen acres.. This isn't •the-case-everywhere. In the .Derwent /ahd-'-Tarnar districts.-there'are : some .orchards! 1 ;. It" is very notice"able,"hbwever,".that':'the smaller grow-ers'-generally pay the "best wages. In the, Huon,tho.average wage for;." a good labourer, would be,'about ss. for a day of eight or nine hours. ' "There is no standard, wage or hours, \ and conditions generally depend, upon the demand existing for labour and the employers' capability at beating a bargain. I,'ve, known experienced and reliable men, married and with' families, working for 245. .a week-and a, cottage. In the face of these conditions ono naturally asks how can we expect to 1 compete -'successfully' with Tasmaniari fruit? I honestly believe that in the average Nelson orchard at the present day it is-costing less to produce a bushel of apples than in the average Tasmanian orchard.. This seems; rather a bold statement to make, but there.is .only one contributing cause —working expenses. ...The hilly nature of a great deal of the country renders the working a rather, expensive -"matter. In some places the slope is so steep that horse work. is. out of the "question, and all the cultivation has got to bo done /by hand. One-orchard I was in was so steep, that it took a powerful draught horse from a half to three-quarters of an hour to'scrnraple to-the'top with 10 ompty dump cases on a sledge, and the orcnard was only 12 acres in extent.