Manawatu Herald. SATURDAY, AUGUST 1, 1891. Fruit Farms.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue III, 1 August 1891, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. SATURDAY, AUGUST 1, 1891. Fruit Farms.

In many of the Southern and Midland Counties in England, fruit growing is a portion of the industry of the districts, and attached to most farms are certain areas of well grown orchards, besides acres oi small fruits, Wt have to hand some Kentish papers, and the advertising columns have many notioes of sales of fruit, which are regular annual affairs, and are sold by auction, giving the purchasers the right to pick and sell. One firm of auctioneers advertise their annual sale uof soft truit, podding peas, and other grow ing crops ; " another firm have " ninety acres of cherries and other soft fruit ; " another firm advertises the sale of " 820 acres of growing crops of cherries, gooseberries, currants, raspberries, strawberries and other fruits." To show how general the cultivation and sale of fruit ia, we may mention that the lots are described, with the names of the owners, and vary from 20 cherry and 8 apple trees to 46£ acres of cherries, damsons, apples, pears, plums, gooseberries, currants, raspberries and walnuts. In one of the sales we notice that near Paddock Wood there are 8 acres, 7 acres, 6& acres and 12 acres of cherries offered ; Sir Julian Goldsmid has 1 acre of black ourrants for sale ; aMr Dann 2£ acres of cherries, black currants and gooseberries, and some one else 7f acres black ourrants and gooseberries. We have enumerated this one sale as supporting our contention that the more who grow fruit the better it is for all the growers, as a market will be found if the production is of a sufficient quantity to justify the ereotion of a factory. The point to notice is that the growers sell their crop to be picked. We may be met with the query, does it pay? In answer we again refer to the Kentish paper, and find that in this particular district of Paddook Wood a valuable freehold orchard and fruit plantation is offered for sale. The property comprises 28 acres of land, close to the Paddook Wood Junction Railway Station, from which a siding enters the ground, planted with good sorts of apples, plums, pears, cherries, raspberries, gooseberries and currants in full bearing, and is at present let at an annual rental of £100. The rental dees not sound high, though it is over £8 kin acre, with the tenant

bound down to pay all taxes and to keep the property in first class order ; but still it puts even this property at the rental mentioned, equal to £2500, or over £88 per aore, which is we take it, a pond bit over the price of agricultural :and in the same neighbourhood. But we have always advocated the possession of an orchard not so much as to enable a wealthy man to sit down and draw the mere rental, but ag a means for the poorer class to incieaae their earnings by growing and picking tha fiuic themselves, thus remuneratively employing their children at a very healthy occupation. The cost of picking fruit may be estimated at one third of the price obtained ; the cost of cleaning and pruning may be put put down at half the cost of picking, say a sixth of the price obtained ; and if this is bo, the tenant of this orchard, over and above his fair profit on the yield, would have found employment for his spare labour of nearly £50. We do not pretend to estimate the profit made by this Kentish man, but merely use him to show that the labour ia a very valuable portion in the question of fruit growing. We were informed by a Wanganui gardener that he paid over £10 for picking the crop of one aore of black currants. We should have time now, if there was any likelihood of sufficient interi est being aroused, to have such 8 thing as a meeting of those who own small areas of land, so that stepr might be taken for all to agree to grow special classes of vegetables (thus cropping around a dozen or so of young fruit trees), that are best adapted for preserving, and thus permit of some estimate being arrived at as to the quantity that we could guarantee to some experienced person to work our overplus up into a good marketable product. Is there sufficient interest ?