THE FRUIT-FLY.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXVII, Issue 43336, 11 June 1908, Page 2

THE FRUIT-FLY.

When we consider the very great inconvenience and loss sustained by orchardists and consumers alike

throughout the Dominion, owing to : lie prevalence among us of the various orchard pests we cannot but i realize that it is better for the regu- j lations dealing with the importation j of citrous fruits to be too severe rather than run the risk of their not being stringent enough. The codlin moth has caused our orchardisls enough trouble in all conscience, but the codlin moth is entitled to consider himself an altogether desirable immigrant when compared with thfruit fly. This dreaded pest not merely infects the fruit with a single grub, but literally transforms it into a seething mass of maggots. If the New South Wales fruitgrowers cqmplain of the stringency of our law in this matter we can only remind them of the vast amount of trouble they are being put to at this very time in order to com'bat the raids of this loathsome intruder, j The fact that they are taking so much pains to eradicate it is by no means sufficient ground for our slackening vigilance, as some appear to urge, quite the reverse. When we hear that they have succeeded in getting rid of the infection, we will commend their perseverance and withdraw our restrictions.

Even viewing the matter from the standpoint of our merchants and consumei s, we cannot afford to overlook the fact that although the importation of citrus fruits may be temporarily diminished in quantity, and thus Ihe price be advanced, that it is a matter which in time may be largely overcome by the extermination of the pest in those bases of supply where it at present prevails, and also by increased importation from other places. In any case we cannot. Commend any course of action by which we may be rendered liable to the invasion of a further pest, in addition to those already, in our midst. The fact that even apples and tomatoes are liable.to attack by the fruit fly places the matter in an alarmingly personal light. In New South Wales native fruits have been infected, and although it does not seem likely that we possess any native fruits liable to infection, yet as we do not know just what the visitor might not fancy among our native berries, it seems the merest commonsense to keep it at arm’s length. For were he to retreat to the cover of our bush, to take refuge in our indiginous plauts, as he has done in New South Wales, then farewell to any hope of getting rid of him for some time to come.