CORRESPONDENCE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLIII, Issue XLIII, 27 January 1909, Page 1

CORRESPONDENCE.

THE HARBOUR BOARD ELECTION. ■ TO THE EDITOR, - Sir, — If all that rumour says 13 true, it behoves the people of Nelson, and, .tM Waimeas to show exceptional .interest in the forthcoming Harbour Board election.. The Board consists 0f ... ten members, threes of whom are elected by the j ratepayers' of the City) three are elected.by the ratepayers of Waimea Countyj _ one. is elected- by the ; ratepayers ., of ißjch- J mond, and three are nominated By tthfe; Government; .so., that thete. are ,to_;be: elected oh .Feb. BtlJ.no. less than 'se.verf members. Nov? thatf th& iraproyejnents to the -Harbour are -completed and' haver proved., to have. materially-Uncreased -the. utility of our port^tojsuqfcan dxte'rft that- the; erection of jKe>laSg^prkarhas. been undertaken^ and " the _ advent of : ocean-going is a thimf oij -t^he ,E^ar s iiitui:e> -itanecesaarilysiolttiw^ that the prosperity of th© distsict ia increasing, rand.its" lands are enhanced in yalue. This being indisputably St he case,) the question; of •reclamation [of the i vast Waimea and v ,Wakap&ak& mudflats is forced upoa the, publif attention. {These large areas,' comprising a§ they doj some 12,500 acres, aro the endowments of the Harbour Board, the possession of the people, and with comparatively little expense they can be made] a public) asset which will'be^a' valuably source of income to the ratepayers fojf ever. The Chairman, o&the Barbour Board has declared his.- /opinionj that the! time has arrived .when flfe^Boaijd shoul4 consider the 1 question of reclamation, aiid no doubt under his careful Bguidancei the work would be carried on) to the jnaximum advantage; j bnt-Jrumour persistently has it i hat an organised' attempt is being made by a syndicate Lof capitalists to undertake the work for private (gain. Of course it would be necessary forthose who might desire to turn* these rjublia endowments into' a- source-of private income to gain the consent of the Harbour Board to the alienation ; and it may be safely foretold that with a Board iii, favour of such action, occupation of | the lands would quickly pass into the hands of the capitalist. "A lease' for 99 years at a peppercorn rent would be abouf the extent of what such a syndicate would ask for, and, if agreed to, the lands', increasing in value year by year, would bo practically lost to the people for generations, if not for ever, and would become a source of immense profit to the capitalist and his descendants. . The Harbour Board itself of course, can do tie work quite easily— if if « constituted of men who are desinmh of preserving the public's interests. Bat if the Board were to consist of creatWes of a private body of men who aTe d ;rrirous of doing the work for private gjain, then the Board would put difficulties in the way of doing the work itself, land would be willing to hand over the Ii nds to a company of speculators. It ie estimated that at present the Wainea, Flats (comprising- sqme x 900 acres), are worth about £25j0Q0:.^Beclaimed, ihey would immediately be' wortWsjtoething like £100,000, increasing to full*Bßo0 t OOO in 25 years. Estimated cost of , Wclaana-. tion, £50,000. Their reclamation "shduld indeed be a. profitable .undertaking, but why should, the capitalisjb Lb^ to reap a golden harvest?— WKy should not the public receive the benefijj from the increasing value of their 'own* lai ds? The reclamation of. the „ Wal^api aka flats is just as easy, would cost ahput as much, and,.considering,theit_pr<sunty to the City of Nelson and their valub as prospective building uitesotheir reclamation should; be as pdrofitablias that of the Waimea flats. 'So' that rtl^' - at present worth about £50^)00 and if aprospective value when reclaimed of something • near half-a-million-pou lds,. are involved in the matter under a nsideration. Surely, then, these lands are wortl reclaiming by.rthe public.,! To .-acopmi lish Hftat, it wilibenecessary to fleet a Jeople's Board— as most - decidedly has .been, the outgoing Board,— and not one which represents capital and -the Janpv. speculator. Every candidate for a seat ion" the Board should be asked how hestands in this mater, and every ca id»dato who does not declare himself in favour of the reclamation being dom 1 by the Board and against the leasing of the properties to any body of speculators who might desire to reclaim tt«w, should be rejected by the ratepayers In addition, the public should see that seven candidates who are Pledged to maintaining control of these valuable, emoluments; are nominated before! the last day on which nominations cafl be ; made, namely, Tuesday, February 2nd, otherwise the peculiar position may f be created of their having no choice but to elect merely those candidates who jnay be privately pledged to support the I interests of capital^ whom rumour bersistently declares to be desiro.is of .obtaining rights over the public emoluments in question. I am, etc.. COMMONWEAL. APPLE CULTURE AND THE CODLIN MOTH. IO THE EDITOR. sil _As an old fruitgrower ■ of more' than twenty years PJ"twal|«periance in fruit-growing, 1 have read with oreat pleasure the interesting ankles in your journal regarding applecnlture 1 by Mr E. K. Wolslenh"lme. . , . , i 1,1, The writer handles Ui subjeci ?Uh aroat knowledge, and deserves gjreat nraiao for tho advice he gives! to apple gvowers in rogaid to the coflUn moth their greatest enemy. Mr Wolstenholmo writes well, .but shows, after all, that ho falls _ ljaek more upon the well-known theone? of American, Australian, and our bwn so-called experts than upon his own (practical experience. There are a few weak points in tho history of] the codlin moth's life which, as adopted Gospel, are not true, and give a great deal of unnecessary "trouble to .the fruitgrower if carried out as recommended. _' .' .0, Mr Wolstenholmo quite correfeuy '• says that the codlin moth passes [the '. winter in ther Jafya&^jworm ,stj»ge. . In the spring these. larvae change, to "• ■ 0 0-20 *0± f}_

■ ■•■- ' i. '•.•;. 'oyoy ■ the ptiypa -Hf^ht^aSia, from which the moth emerges about a, week after tha - apple .is in bloom. ' This mean's clearly, that there, is and can. be only one brood in tHe ,year. L ' Tet'it is • stated at tha same time ftuTrthSr. on', that -there are more tlaft'iSß^^Sotij* as the well-known gospel teaches',%nd for this purpose it is . recommehded'.tjiat the bands round the trees shoWdfbeihs'pected every 10 days. : "WhSffof ??-'-'os '^ohn .Chinaman would "fsay! ■■ '-\ ;' , r During inoif f.nan 15 years, year by .year," hive Tbrt'd. and reared the codlin r iTOthi r tfrdm':t^"ffljst summer apple up to 1 t^he late; StUrfriefr. and stoile pippin and - nevejf : cotifdPp6s<fßL6e a second brood. The . '"so.-calUd'iecqtiß and third broods are nothing:4>nt 'jtnerlater outcoming of -the -gruVfrqm a'utUmh to winter-apples, and : all \«5hV-.a''^r&teV , s rest before they can undergo jfche 'change of becoming a moth. - The' i^elaSs. 1 inspection of the bauds • everjf teW dksk .could be of any use only if it Wai possible to find there a chrysalis, instfcjri '*f*ft.e grub. Unless tha .finding 4I : a quickly and a very quickly'foriSed there is proved (not a • chrysalis^of rlas't year, mind !) the theory of a second is a myth. Let our. fruitgrowers try — the time is nbw'rtgbi^-it they can produce a second brood. If .not, .they may leave their band alon'4, ai the-grtb' from to-day will be the same grub still in six months ! I am, etc., • C. WIESENHAVERN. Spring Gwye,- 25/1/09.