FRUIT CROP PROSPECTS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 304, 12 September 1918, Page 8

FRUIT CROP PROSPECTS

I • ! POSITION AT END OF AUGUST. | • ! The officers of the.Horticultural DiviBioii of' the Agricultural. Department j. report as follows ou fruit crop pros- ' pects at the end of August:— ; ; Wellington—The earlier stone fruits i are coming into bloom', and'showing good promise. The planting t>' tomatoes under. gla v ss is now well in hand. ! Outdoor stock is being, pricked out, !. and there is a prospect of extensive i planting in the Hutt. Valley, consequent upon last season's good prices. !' Cultivation- of orchards is almost - entirely neglected 'in this .district. Palmerston North.—Fruit from cool store' appearing on market in good • order. Pricesa re good. Local variei ties do" not'iippcar to by keeping well. !■ Hawke's Bay—Tho winter, and early j 1 spring .- have -beeu ivery-cold and ..dry. I Heavy rain's have now fallen. The inf dications aro for a late season. Bloom- } ing is very, much later this year, r, . Wanganui.^-Apples: Pruning and !. -'spraying considerably.delayed owing to unfavourable weather conditions. Nec- [ tarines and peaches shedding fruit buds i owing to severe frosts.. Peaches: A I • few of the early varieties breaking into ! b100m.,. Cherry plums in full bloom. I' 1 Nelson—The weather for the montli, ! has been seasonable. A .great deal i, of orchard spraying in being done, and j'. spring ploughing is well' forward. To- : wards the.eiid of the month stone.fruit j ' trees commenced to blossom: tomato 1 plants are well established under glass. Marlborough.—Spring has come with i a jump: :: Cnerry plums , are casting ■ their blossoms, apricots are flowering, ■ • poaches are the . pink stage, pears are in the cluster-.bud stags, J-'.' and apple buds are swelling._ The win? 1 ter has been'a good one, with no 'un- - ;'. toward happenings, but largely a series :• of very "heivy" frosts. The., snow- !•• falls, storms, 'etc., have'passed this , district by. ~ j- : ; -