MONEY IN FRUIT.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIII, Issue 9142, 11 May 1908, Page 6

MONEY IN FRUIT.

There ia at the present time a great demand for fruit-growing land in the Hawke’s Bay district, near Hastings, hot owners are naturally reluctant to sell their properties owing to the fact that the areas have been found so profitable. There : are possibly 1000 acres of land under fruit cultivation in the Hastings district, and all the growers are reported to be doing well. It is common to make 15s to 30s a tree from these gardens, and one owner, who has been making from £3OO to £4OO from five acres on lease in perpetuity planted with apples, pears, plums, and peaches, has sold his goodwill for £I2OO cash. This property lies about a mile and a half from Hastings. Another grower, with an orchard ten years old in pears, is receiving a return of £IOO per acre. One man paid £6B per acre for a peach orchard, and cleared £IOO par acre in the first 13 months. This was an exceptional return, the net gain in peach orchards being usually £SO to £6O an acre. These returns are not general every year, but they have been so in the past season, which was favourable, and was aided by ; big prices.