ESCAPED LIGHTLY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20013, 11 August 1939, Page 4

ESCAPED LIGHTLY

P.B. CITRUS ORCHARDS SMALL FROST DAMAGE MILD WINTER CLIMATE IJROWX -K OT PR EC A UTI ON S Commercial growers of citrus fruits Vi Gisborne can count their losses through frost and storm this winter as insignificant, as compared with the losses reported from other citrus districts of the North Island, such as the Bay of 'Plenty and Hawke's Bay. Though some heavy frosts have been recorded in this district, conditions generally have favoured the orchards, and in. only one part of Poverty Bay, in the neighbourhood of Ormond, has there been any marked damage suffered. In view of the experience in Tauranga, where some growers report a loss Of 100 per cent of the current season's crops, and in Hawke's Bay, where the damage has been widespread. and has penetrated to areas not usually troubled by frost, Gisborne orehardists consider their escape to be more than ordinarily fortunate.

There are several areas of young trees, planted in recent years to provide lor the growing demand for New Zealand 'citrus fruits, and these generally are showing little sign of injury. Mature trees are holding the fruit well, and generally speaking the winter conditions this year have affected the orchards only mildly. Contrasts at Ormond A curious feature noted at Ormond is that frost has struck fairly bard in one orchard, and damaged crops and young trees, while in an adjoining property, no better protected, fruit and trees have escaped. Gisborne’s winter climate has the advantage of being more stable than that of Tauranga and Hawke’s Bay, judging by the experience of the past 35 years. The last occasion on which serious damage was done to a citrus crop in this district was about 25 years ago, when a heavy frost settled on -the district and dried up all the fruit, and in addition nipped back all the new growth on which the succeeding season's crop would have been carried. One grower, recalling to-day the incidents of that frost, mentioned that about 11 a.m. cn the day following the frost, he endeavoured to use a spraypump. Throwing water on the pump to easp its action, he saw it form in a film of ice within a few mo-ments. He recalled also that a prominent resident of Waerenga-a-hika, who for several seasons had advocated strongly the growing tif tree tomatoes in the district, on account of its exceptionally mild winter climate, had his plants killed and his opinions changed radically.

In that year practically 100 per cent o-f the -lemon crop of Poverty Bay was destroyed, and in the following season the effects of die-back, a result of the severe -frost-bite which attacked the trees, were seen in almost a complete wiping-out of the crop for a second time. Tauranga and Hawke’s Bay growers may have a similar experience this season and next, judging from the reports received of Ihe damage done there recently. Precautions Against Brown Rot

Growers of citrus fruits in Gisborne are taking precautions against She development of brown rot. in the event of the spring being warm and moist. The disease affects the fruit directly, and humid conditions are most conducive to its spread. Spraying is one of the means of protection against brown rot, and the removal of all fruit lying under the trees is also a necessary precaution.

Commercial growers take care to prune all boughs which tend to droop to ground level, as it is by these branches that the spores of brown rot, rising from tiie -ground, penetrate through the foliage and gain access to the fruiting stems. Turning over the soil under the trees is still another precaution generally practiced in the commercial orchards. Light and ventilation are the enemies of brown rot.