WHERE THE BEST FRUIT COMES FROM.

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2586, 7 October 1915, Page 8

WHERE THE BEST FRUIT COMES FROM.

(To tho Editor.) ' Sir,—l have read with interest Mr. Morritzson's letter on the above subject. As also Mr. Allport's rejoinder. I am sorry that on the question: of a. igreat Dominion industry like fruit an attempt should be made to revive the old provincial prejudices. Those of us who have -. made. a life-study of ' the : matter know that in the. various fruit bells of New Zealand .'equally good fruit (estieci-T ally apples), suitable for export, can be grown. Prom Otago to thenar North of Auckland—Canterbury, . Nelson, : Hawke's Bay, East Coast, Auckland, and noTthlyards—all have their proved fruit areas, of more or less extent, where it has long been demonstrated that fruit of the best appearance.; highest colour, firmest texture, and finest flavour, can' be grown to profit in commercial quantities. Amongst the various areas of excellent fruit country in .the different parts of this Dominion, probably the largest, least:known, and yet the one possessing the ' area and the most latent I possibilities,: is ■ the kauri gum lands of the Northern "Peninsula of the Auckland Province, several-million acres in extent, most of .which, is within easy; reach of •oosan-going. liners by tidal rivers, coastal harbours, or railways. l By the mifidle deoades'of the 19th century this land had. been proved beyond doubt as to its 'fruit capabilities. Situated in an ideal climate, free from extremes of heat or cold; wet oj-'dry, vvliere spring frosts are unknown, and artificial watering is unnecessary, a country where; the grass ero'ws all the year round, and where the ■apple and 'the lemon, the pear and the ■orange,-'.theTpeach and' the grape, the nectarine .'and - the olive, and the apricot may be : seen growing side by side in eoual' luxuriance; each producing fruit of its kind that would hold its own with specimens of the 6ame class grown in any part of the world." And further, it may be stated'that these lands are now ol> tainable at a tithe of the cost charged for similar land in any other part of the, Dominion, -fire capable of very close settlement, and-the production of millions of . pounds sterling worth of fruit annually, for the expenditure of 'a minimum amount of-.labour-and-' capital.

. It.certainly; is, therefore, to be .regretted;.that some; advocates of Otago fruit lands are not content with setting forth the,claims of their own districts, but endeavouring. to decry other valuable fruit areas, (possessing perhaps in some respects superior ..advantages), by "making 'statements-'that" are-not strictly in accordance' with: facts.—l. am,: etc., GEO. A. GEEEN. . , Auckland;' October •4, 1915.