BREAKING IN A WASTE.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1372, 24 February 1912, Page 15

BREAKING IN A WASTE.

AROUND HOOTER! HILLS, lELS9M.

SOME FLOURISHING ESTATES.

Sfxtoon years ago, when a Tasmanian risitor to the Nelson district pointed to the Moutere Hills and said, "In twenty years that will be ono great apple orohard," his hoarers, residents in the province, remarked, "The man requires mental treatment" It must bo admitted that on first appearances there was some reason to believo that tho Nelson residents were correct in their opinion, bocause stretches of the Moutere were decidedly uninviting in appearance. The low-lying hills wero covered in many Instances with manuka arid fern; raupo Brow in the valleys and flats, and although it had been proved that the flats had Drought out son\o fine crops of grain, the suggestion that manuka and fern land could grow' apples was treated with disdain. . There- was one point, however, in. the, visitor's favour,-and on which his hearers neglected to place any value.. Ho was a. fruit •expert..from a fruit land. Time has .nroved that. the prophecy .of the Tasmanian is'well on the road to fulfilment, although it must bo admitted that it is only during the past few years that the valuo of tho Moutero Hills as an apple land has received proper. recog : mtion. , APPLE LAND. The Moutere . Hills, which include the well-known "Tasman," "Bronte," and other estates arei. a block of something over 30,000 acres of sunny,' loiv-lying, and undulating land facing the waterfront of Tasma.il Bay, and situated from three to nine miles from Motueka. To the uninitiated the country is rough, but it is easily cleared. Cultivated it discloses a friable looso soil, which grows darker and darker under each season's handling. It in eminently suitable for apple-growing. On'v'aricua neglected old-timo orchards in the district apples have thriven magnificently. Following upon tho opinion of tho Tasmanian ■ expert, Mr. T. \V. Kirk, F.L.S., Director of the Government Orchard Division, was ono of the first to pronounce possibilities for Moutere ns a land which could grow high-grade apples suitable for export, and later he backed his opinion by purchasing a IL'U-f.rro J section of "Tasman" and planting it with applo trees. Another advocate of Moutere for apples was Mr. T. Horton, F.E.H.S., the well-known Hawke's Bay nurseryman, who declared, inter alia, "The climate is undoubted, tho land lies well to the sun, ' there are no strong winds, frosts aro unknown. Judging from tho quality of the fruit grown there—its texture and colour—no district in New Zealand offers better opportunities for the cultivation of apples for export. It would grow to per-, foction Cox's Great Orange Pippin, the most valuable of all apples .grown for export." -Liko Mr. Kirk, Mr. Horton backed his opinion. Ho purchased 100 acres of Tasnian land, and immediately placed a large area under fruit cultivation. A demand sprung up for lands, and areas were purchased, amongst others by Mr. Justice Chapman, Mr. F. C. Nottago, loto Government Fruit Inspector, Hawke's Bay; Mr. F. E. Hallam. late Government Fruit Inspector, Nelson; Mr. A. Mlvec, orchardist, Riwaka; Mr. T.. T.-L..Austin, manager for Messrs. Sargriod. Son," rind Ewen,.Wellington;-Mr. J. t.A rtdrmvsi.: ..Dfipnftmsnt»rt of>•' Agriculture, .Welli'rifrton; Mr.' S. Brown, orchardist, iriJdrtra:":;Mr. E. H. Williams, Napier; '■*7.i«lsK'J(lwiri,- of Wellington, Messrs. 'j .'iif'&ltfTjylor, M'Quario, and others. these people immediately '-,- -'./'i'."'s9 c ' ear n "d cultivate their areas, a Dominion representative yVriSiCL'.the district in order to see how yUi'ij-iyfr.ero going on. , '•.!,: 'A TRANSFORMATION. ; Ho".found that in the period of one rtiprt year a settlement of forty' indus- . trious souls had taken the place of the ( odd man and a dog who had previously meandered through the, sheep tracks in tho scrub, and had sat upon the broken pates and fences, and wondered all the time in a casual sort of way what the section was really fit for. The Dominion representative found a scene of trans- - formation and industry. Orchnrdists and their families had nioved bodily oh to their areas, land had been cleared,'ploughed, and harrowed, and harrowed again, and in somo instances, new houses had been erected. Those who had not erected houses were living in tents. Men were fencing- and draining, and Government roadmen were working on the formation of an arterial road which is to run from tho settlement, skirting the lagoon, and bringing tho place to within three instead of six miles of Motuelta, and eight miles nearer to Nelson. This road will Boon be finished. Altogether, the enterprise and industry shown by the orchnrdists has beon admirable. ' Of those who had taken up areas for fruit-growing about a year ago, th« following had their orchards started:—Messrs. T. Horton and Co., CO acres; T. T. L. Austin, 20 acres; Trevethick, 20 acres; Stafford, 30 acres; Justice Chapman, 45 acres; Dr. Deck, 10 acres; A. M'Kco, 30 acres; E. H. Williams, 25 acres; H. W. Kirk, 7 acres. Messrs. Allport. ,and Best, on an adjoining estate, had 5 acres; Harris-, 5 acres; Fullford, 5 acres. \

BIG PLANTING. Mr. Williams and Mr. Horton had their areas cleared, ploughed, harrowed, and .lisccd in the winter, and planted in six «ks. The Williams property has al■irty 4500 trees growing on its beautifully undulating slopes, while Mr. Horton has about 11,000, mostly apples, but also pears and other fruits.' On an experimental patch, Mr. Horton has 150 different varieties of fruit trees, the whole farm being under the management of Mr. E. H. Vollmer, a Tasmanian fruit expert, who oamo up to Tasman lost winter with his roung wife and child, and lived for months in a tent, in order to be on the spot immediately and give snecial supervision to the work. Thousands of pounds hove been epont by both Mr. Horton aud Mr. Williams, and this fact is a strong indication of what these gentlemen think of the tuture of the' Moutero Hills for fruit farm- , ing purposes.

IN THE MAKING. In the course of a walk through theso orchards in the making, it was noticed that they had made more than six inches of growth, nnd even, at this earlv period, two anples were seen on two of Mr. Uorton's trees. Tho growth was undoubtedly good, and, according to Mr. Vollmer, tho pystem of treatment required in thinning the fruit spurs, is similar to that purducd in Tasmania, and exactly the reverse of what is required in Hastings. The branches were thick, well set, and well nurtured, and there was no blight. Mr. Justice Chapman 1 has also already several apples in his orchard.

NO FUNGUS PESTS. The absence of fundus nests is another of the virtues possessed by the Moutere Hills, for the simple reason that there tho climate is dry at the time when the sporos arc breeding. In this particular connection tho Montere has tho advantage of Tasmania, where, owing to a humid atmospit're, black spot is very prevalent. In the growing of apples for export, an even moisture is required from the atmosphere, and here again tho Moutero ranks equal with tho ■principal fruit-grow-ing districts of Tasmania and New South Wales. It'is evident also that the apples rill possess a brilliant colour.

GOING WELL. Mr. Horton is now preparing another forty acres of his section for planting, and When completed this will make tho largest apple orchard in >ow Zealand. Mr. Jloi'ton has also apricots, cherry trees and persimmons growing on his areas. All are doing well. Mr. Justice Chapman's section is planted principally with apples but there aro also apricots. His land was prepared at the same time as that of ,llr. Horton, and tho same transformation

is seen. Tho trees aro growing splendidly, and arrangements aro being made for further planting. In all fully 40,000 trees- have been planted in loss than a year. In the course of a few years the product of these -10,000 trees and tho many other thousand trees which will bo growing by that time, should be capable of filling tho cool chambers of several ocean liners/ which will, doubtless, be laying for that purpose cither at the Nelson wharves or off Tasnian in tho bay.

OTHER GROWERS. Amongst other growers, Dr. Paxton, of Wellington, is clearing 20 acres, Mr. S. J. Brown five acres, while Mr. H. Clelnnd has 20 acres ' ready for planting, a Mr. Darvall is also clearing an area, while Mr. F. E. Nottage, the late Government Fruit Instructor for Hawke's Bay, who nioved on to his section threo weeks ago from the North Island, has already commenced to clear his land. Mr. Nottage's section faces the now main arterial road, now in tho course of construction to Motueka and Nelson.

AN EXPERT'OPINION. The late Hawke's Bay Fruit Instructor is a man of considerable experience in the business. He has been in Western Australia in the capacity of a fruit expert, he lived for a time in South Aus-

tralia, and he has been in Tasmania. It is somo years since he first visited tho Moutere, and in conversation with the writer ho declared, that what he saw of the place from the first convinced him that it was idea! for a fruit farm. On the first available opportunity he resigned his Government position, and took up a settlement on the Tasman Estate.

THE SOIL. Mr. Nottage is an enthusiast in the way of fruit, and fruit land possibilities. In company with The Dominion reporter he tramped over some of Tasman's virgin country with a mattock, turning up the soil in various portions of the country, now on the rounded hills, now on the slopes, anil then again down in the watercourses. The whole of the soils broke up very easily, and although the surfaces might have a very hard appearance, the soil proved everywhere loose and very friablo. In some cases where there was a slight surface ot small -pebbles, the land beneath was earthy to a degree. The tops were of clay formation, but these also broko'up very easily. "In West Australia," said Mr. Nottage, which country he considered had a tremendous 1 future as a fruit-growing State, "experts used to rido through the bush looking for similar land to this for fruitgrowing purposes." Of course a number of people speak disparagingly of manukacovered land, especially if it is asked to grow apples, but Mr. Nottage pointed out that Hie hard-growing manuka is not unlike the apple. The root systems wero very Similar, and where it had not been cut and burned, the manuka showed good growth. The flats were of richer quality than the hills, there being nearly a foot of dark soil, all very loose, with a substratum of clay. This is characteristic of the flats covered with raupo. The great distinctive feature of the soil seemed to be the ease with which it could be reduced to a fine stato of tilth. Once broken, cultivation should be easy at any time.

NEW ORCHARDS. On the new road leading from these hills round the harbour to Motueka, one passes the comparatively new fruit farms of Messrs. F. K. Hallam (Into Government Orchard Instructor for Nelson), Ovens, J. L. Tacon, L. Rowlings, and 13. Manoy. These are lands which are similar to those of the Moutero, but in most instances they have been under longer cultivation. In numerous cases, however, there is to be seen the land in its rough state, partly covered in gorse and manuka, side by side with the trimmest of orchards, with apple trees and strawberries growing in long, alternate lines, a delight to the eye.

MR. HALLAM'S SECTION. Mr. Hallam has moved on to his section with' his family, and with a staff of men lie i-i very busy on the work of orchard-unking. He bought tho place somo time ago, -ind since March la-st he hjs put down 35 acres in trees, while he is getting ready SO acres for further planting, lie also has down a fair area of tomatoes, and he intends to go in for strawberries. In the course of a conversation with, the writer, Mr. Hallam, who is a Tasmania'i, stated that about twenty years ago his father wished him to buy a farm in Tasmania. The land apparently was not of much value, and it was offered to him at 10s. per acre. Ho rejected tho proposition, and a few: years ago when he was iii Tasmania ho "found the same land transformed into an orchard, and the owner asking for it the magnificent price of .£2OO per acre. "That convinced me," remarked Mr. Hallam, "and I determined that I would never again turn my back on such a proposal. This la.nd was for sale, and T bought it, possibly cheaply. You see what I have done on it; well, the other day I refused JMO per acre for the orchard part of it from a man from Danneviikc."

TACON'S EXHIBIT. Mr. Ovens has about ten acres planted with apples a year old, while the orchards of Messrs. L. limvlings and Manny run from two to three years in age. These trees look very well, and some conception nf their possibilities is furnished'by the sight of Mr. CI. L. Tacon's four or five-

year-old orchard. Tlio trees were well set, with wide strong branches, and loaded with heavy crops of the famous Cox's Orange Pippin. Line after lino the orchard extended m> the slopes, and dipped over tho hill, while in between there crew bunches upon bunches of healthy-looking strawberry plants. Tho spectacle was as good an advertisement for Jioutero as one could possibly wish to see.

WATER FRONTAGE. In. addition to boing well roaded, tho Tasnian Estate is peculiarly fortunate in having a good water frontage. The western entrance, to the Waimca flats, affords n pretty luirbour, which can be negotiated by steamers like the Nikau, and lies about "thrco miles to the south of tho property, while the southern end of the Moutere Lagoon is about one and a half miles from the property.