BLIGHT PROOF APPLE STOCK.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 31 May 1911, Page 2

BLIGHT PROOF APPLE STOCK.

AT THE K AWT IT NURSERY. The cultivation and treatment of fruit trees are now being conducted on the most scientific lines, and the question of woolly aphis and other orchard posts is receiving the most careful attention at the hands of Government and of poniologists in general. The new treatment which .Mr Taylor has discovered at the Experimental I ,, arm was cordially praised yesterday by Mr H. Xcu , - port, the proprietor' of the Kawiti nursery, in course of conversation with a Chronicle reporter. Mr Xewport lias himself devoted many years careful study to the question of how to raise 'blight proof stock, and .Mr Kirk. the Government biologist, and Mr Boucher, the Government poinologist, who recently •vi.s'ited the nursery, expressed, a. high opinion at the appearance of the trees, their general oldaiiliness, and healthiness. They also commented very favourably on their size, having regard to their age. Mr Kirk asked wliethcr they were not a little high in the stems, but Mr Xewport replied that lio- found it necessary to have the stem eighteen inches high. It is a method of treatment he has studied for years, and it has been found to be most effective in preventing blight. A close inspection of the nursery yesterday failed to reveal a particle of blight, and those wlio have purchased trees from Mr Newport are reported to be unanimous that he has discovered, as. the result of pa-, tio.nt la'bour, a most effective method of preventing woolly aphis. There is a splendid array of apple trees ready for the- purchaser, and these include Stunner pippins, Jonathans, King David, Washingtons, Munro's Favourite, Golden Russet, and Lord Wolsoley. One bed alone eontains over 250 Jonathans, and another over 300 Stunner .Pippins. Mr Newport cultivates practically every kind of fruit tree, and will execute, orders with promptitude. Apart from this, he lias a-.splendid collection of daphnes, rhododendrons and camellias, and every kind of shrub for ornamental purposes. A visit to the mursery is .always profitable, as Mir Newport will "explain in detail a 'hundred , and one points in the cultivation of trees, and shrubs. , The total absence of blight in the orchards is an undoubted triumph in the work of the prevention of pest. .