APPLE CROPS.

Hokitika Guardian, 3 April 1926, Page 2

APPLE CROPS.

BUMPER YEAR IN NELSON. UNPRECEDENTED YIELDS. , " NELSON, Alarch 31. The present apple season is quite unprecedented in Nelson’s fruit industry. After an apparently bad winter, the wonderful possibilities of a clean, bumper crop, opened out to view. There have been one or two disappointments, but on the whole, growers have been picking splendid fruit from laden trees. At an orchard on the Aloutere Hills yeseterday afternoon, everywhere thero were scenes of great activity. Over thirty people wore engaged, and at times long hours had to be worked to get the fruit away. AVliat is going on at the Alildura orchard, is typical of many others, though not on so largo a scale.

An outstanding fact about the fruit industry is the extent of the labour involved. This may not always be in the interests of the.grower, but it is certainly in the interests of tho districts. The growers require cases, hundreds of thousands of them. Then there is the picking and grading of tho fruit, requiring a very large number of hands. The Alildura orchard alone needs 20.000 cases, and the wages bill during the picking season, amounts to £l4O a week. APRLE RICKING. It appears quite the fashion for Nelson ladies, young and old, to go applo picking, just as numbers spend many pleasant days in the hop fields. Usually there are several pickers at work in the same line of trees, and the companionship and genial surroundings add to the enjoyment of the few week s outing. Expresses are moving to anu fro, distributing cases, and collecting full ones for the packing sheds. Hero there is always much activity and organisation is required to maintain tlio supply on the one hand, and prevent congestion on the other. On one of the largo orchards, two motor lorries are running continuously to Alapua and Nelson, with fruit for shipment. It is possible for a lorry to go to Alapua and hack in an hour, but such is not- often the case, for it must be remembered that a largo number of other lorries are running to that port, and immediate unloading is not possible. . Arrangements at Alapua are excellent. and tho very best possible is done for the grower on all occasions, this means much to many. Tho outstanding fact about the Aloutere Hills orchards, is that land, producing almost nothing under ordinary farming,, is now producing, in not a few instances, up to £IOO ail aero under fruit. It is an amazing transformation. It is true that orehardists have had a most trying time, and many have gono under, but the trouble appears to have been that growers have had to wait longer than expected for their payable crops. AN INSPIRATION. A visit to the orchard areas at tho present time, is an inspiration. The colour of the fruit on tho laden trees, is a sight to behold. On one orchard it will not bo possible to gather many thousands of cases of apples, for tho simple reason that even the big staff em|ployed cannot copo with tlio fruit. The trees are gono through once or twice and thou other varieties demand attention. Meanwhile the small fruit left on the other trees fills out with amazing rapidity, and is soon ready for picking, but it has to bo left. At least this is the ease in many instances.

In one..sense there is terrific waste in the orchards. There are many instances where growers can cope only with the first class export- fruit, ar.d the rest lias to go ■by tho board, for the simple reason that it cannot he coped'with. A medium packer handles 40 to 50 cases a Jay, a good packer GO to 70, and there are a few specialists who are able to reach the lot.al of 100 per day of eight hours. Many growers are not first-class packers, and besides, there is a host of other duties demanding their attention. As things develop, however, tlio number of available packers will increase, and hamper crops will be saved lor the markets. CARE OF THE TREES.

It stands to reason that the enormous yields must take much from the land, though from the look of it, it would appear there was not a great deal there to begin with, and that much must have been derived from the sunlight and air. A handful of nitrate of soda round the trees at the right time is one grower’s method of manuring. These are apples of the Statesman variety, situated a short distance up the Aloutere Hill road. This is not to say that cultivation and manuring are not required in other parts of the orchard. A few trees left without manure, have not a great dewl lor the English market.