DOMINION ITEMS.

Hokitika Guardian, 22 August 1924, Page 1

DOMINION ITEMS.

BY TELEGKArn —riIESS ASBN., COPYRIGHT. HOSPITAL PORTERS STRIKE. WANGANUI, Aug. 20. All the porters at- M’anganui hospital. about eleven, went on strike tins afternoon owing to what they term tinfatisiuetoiy rrnditioiv, and through a porter in the theatre being dismissed and the others In-ing expected to share his work. One of them .suites that they receive £2 per week, and were expected to work from 12 to Hi .hours per day. The second on duty is expected to work ldom (i a.in. till 10 p.m. and he ready alter that hour if called upon, should anybody die. to remove the corpse from the ward. DOMINIONS’ ORCHARDS. M’HI.I.INGTO.V. Aug. 23. The estimated area planted in commercial orchards during 1023 was only IS3 acres. A number of orchards in different localities, moreover, dropped out. having been abandoned by tho owners, who were tillable to carry on through lack of finance. The total area of emuniereicl orchards throughout the Domini >ii stands at approximately 3’).(I!I0 acres. A umd season has been experience ! in 1 lie growing of all kinds of graprs. traps have hie hue the average, and comparatively free from disease. A good demand exists for grafted vines cf both t.ihl" and wine varieties. It is estimated that the wine of grapes will yield S( 1,(131) gallons of wine, valued at £32.<M!(). The return from grapes grown under glass was £3!..C3-3. An industry which has made considerable development during the year. I'-n t ieidarl.v in the Nelson district, .s eider-making. Tho quantity of eider manufactured was •10.000 gallons, nu.si of this being produced from a grade of apples which in former seasons was allowed to rot in the orchards or was fed to stock. In this connection the eider industry promise.- to he of great value l-.i the apple-growers of the Dominion as a means oi making a profitable use of low-grade apples, and it deserves overv encouragement hum that point of view alone. Up to the present the bulk o! tbe - ider produced ha- been (-unsullied locally, and judging from the amount disposed of in the Nelson district, itshould command a ready sale throughout New Zealand when the business has been properly developed.