A WORD IN SEASON

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 140, 8 March 1919, Page 8

A WORD IN SEASON

COMMERCIAL FRUIT GROWING AN AMERICAN'S ADVICE Mr. A. W. Porter, of the, California Packing Company, iij staying in Wellington for a fen* (toys on his way back to America from a visit, to Australia, and nfter visiting moat cities and places of interest in both the North and South Islands of New Zealand. The corporation with which he is connected is the largest canner of fruits and vegetables in the world, their annual output running into millions of casts. In conversation, with a Dominion reporter, Mr. Porter expressed a very high opinion of both the fresh fruit and vegetables he had sampled in New Zealand and Australia, especially the latter country, stating that in his opinion the climate .was ideal here for the perfect development of' peas and beans, far' moro so thnn in most places in America, as, unlike fru.its, they require cool nights, frequent rains, and are adversely affected by extremely hot weather. Fruits, on the contrary, require continued hot weather for several months to attain perfection, which is the case in California.

As is well known, the seasQi)j/' k tliero are ( just tho opposite of ours, their rainfall ] and the coldest weather being from No- | vembeir to February, inclusive. The ( earlier fruits are just now beginning to j bloom, with a succession of such for the , next six weeks. Cherries in California , begin to ripen early in May, followed by . apricots in June, peaches, plums, etc., in i July, grapes in August, and apples in ; September.. The season for each extends ( over several months, as there are early . and late varieties of all fruits. It is seldom that any rain falls after May 1 ■ until November, though occasionally ' early rains como unexpectedly and play , havoc with the growers' anticipated ; profits, as was the, case in 1918, when. : millions of dollars were lost by the pro- , ducers of prunes and raisins, who experienced an early and unexpected storm. ■ The bulk of tho deciduous fruit is grown ; in the great central valleys of the State, where there is plenty of water for irrigation, obtained by the diversion of part 1 of the big riversf many of them navigable by steamers) which traverse tho State. When tho weather during the i growing season is very hot the thermometer in such sections in somo caws goes above, but generally hovers about, 1 the 100 deg. mark for weeks at a time, just when the heat is needed to givo tho fruit its colour, sugar, and ilavour._ Because of these conditions all 1 drying is performed by tho sun, tho only exception being apples. Owing to growers having made the mistake of planting the wrong verities on certain soil, and planting fruit trees in unsuitable districts, heavy losses lmvo been sustained in the past, but tho business is now reduced to a scientific basis, so that, barring late frosts and early storms, tlnso who consult tho proper authorities cannot well go far wrong. To do this they must make tho proper investigations as to the nature of the soil fobtained by analysis), annual temperature, etc., before deciding upon a location for a fruit farm. Having done so, and received tho requisite nssuranco that tho soil and conditions nro suitable, he could go right ahead. .During the moro than fifty years' experiments that lmvo been going on in California, there liavo been many failures. In tho early days of the industry Ihey outnumbered the successes. Almost nny promoter or dealer with land for sale could show by figures that a uertain number of " acres planted with varieties of fruit, with a certain number of trees per acres, would produce certain and quick wealth, but, alas for the gullible, who, anxious to amass wealth, bought shares in the many companies tloated, or who invested in land on tho glittering figures pvesonted without thorough investigation, they, as a rule, lost their all. It was thought by most people in the early stages of tho industry that fruit could bo grown successfully anywhere in California, but it had been demonstrated that many districts were not suitable for its successful production, and should- be used for other purposes. "From what we have seen and heard, said Mr./ Porter, "you have' the dairy stock and sheep country of tho world, for nowhere elso is there the abundance of natural feed as there is in New Zealand. Nor is there any other country thnt wo know of where such feed is obtainnble all the year round. Holland and Denmark have learned their lesson—tlut there is more money in specialising on the products thnt can bo produced at less cost than .in other countries, and for which there is a ready market at remunerative prices, as witness the prosperity of those people in tho production of dairy produce and meat (including linms and bacon). I don't mean to say that fruit cannot be grown profitably here, for I know nothing of local conditions. but can only suggest going slow until it can be satisfactorily demon* ■ strated that it can be made a successful industry, and thereby avoid the disappointments and severo losses that were suffered in California in the experimental stages, when fruit-growing was boomed by speculative land-owners and promoters for selfish purposes, and, unwittingly, by many honest and conscientious newspapers in their laudable desiro to help their country. Tt has been the experience of our producers that a high,' dry temperature during the growing months, with plenty of water for are necessary to produce fruit commercially and compete with the older countries of Europe in the export trade, and, with either lacking, the result will be disappointnient and failure.' - "Planting an orchard ns an investment or for a living." Mr. Porter con- * tinned, "means waiting from five .to seven yea,rs for results, and if it is a i failure the disappointment, is far .more i keen and heavier to bear than that resulting from tho failure of an annual > crop. Therefore, no matter how allur- ■ ing the prospect, investigate carefully, ■ then investigate again, and if you are i Btire the conditions are right and you ■ can afford to wait for result, have no fear, but plant." Asked nbout walnuts, which he had been informed wero not grown commercially to any extent here, Mr. Porter ■ added that. Calfornia produced about 12,000 tons annually, and was state in America where they were produced in commercial quantities, though Oregon and Washington were experimenting quite, extensively. As tho annual imports into the United States from attfbd that California produced about 1.0,000 tons, there wa.s a big homo demand yet to bo supplied by American growers. Ho further said that our climate and , the. topography of the country wero 3 similar to the districts in France where 5 the be3t walnuts were produced, and. if soil conditions were right walnut-grow--1 ing in New Zealand should be a profitable, t undertaking, but the same suggestions os applied to the planting of an orchard applied. "You grow walnuts now, I know," said . the visitor, "but you grow the wrong ' variety. We have a ,cultivated walnut. B with a thin shell that you can almost 3 break with the fingers, full of meat, but .yours is the Chinese walnut with r Ihe thick shell and dwarfed kernel. You have great difficulty in breaking tho shell. I saw a. man break a pair of mil- ' crackers recently trying to see what was insido one of your walnuts. The crackers | must have lmd a flaw, but that does not I excuso your armour-plated nuts."