Tea and Silk Farming in New Zealand.

Thames Star, Volume XIV, Issue 4615, 19 October 1883, Page 2

Tea and Silk Farming in New Zealand.

No. 11.

(To the Editor of the Evening Star.)

Sic, —In the course of my advocacy of the enterprise which heads this letter, I am occasionally asked to furnish information regarding one or other of" the subsidiary industriesproposed^to be associated with tea and silk farming in the northern part of New Zealand. Among these, grape cultivation holds an important place, and as some interetting facts bearing on that branch of horticulture have lately reached me from California, the matter may prove useful to some of your readers, and helpful to the proposal which you and other journalists have kindly given publicity to in your columns. A, relative,

a coffee planter in Ceylon, has within the last few months propounded a series of questions on the cost, management, and revenue from Californian vineyards, to a French vine-growor settled there, and the following is a condensed account :—- ---(1.) What ia the cost of suitable land in California per acre ? Such land may be purchased at prices Tarying between 20 to 150 dollars per acre. For an area of 300 to 500 acres in a good locality, such as Sonoma, or Napa Valley, within a moderate distance of the means of transport by rail or water, 50 dollars per acre is a fair price.

(2.) What is the cost of water rights ?

The greater number of northern Californian grape farmers do not irrigate. Only in secluded valleys, like Frisno, where the rainfall is very limited, is irrigation resorted to. As the cost of water right is at least 5 dollars per acre per annum, intending grape growers are recommended to purchase land in situations where the natural moisture is sufficient, and such land can be acquired for 50 dollars per acre with the assurance that in the course of from 6 to 10 years the whole of the purchase price will hare been refunded in produce. In the west, as in the east, the natural position for a vineyard is on a warm, light, dry moun« tain slope, and copious and long continued rain is more lo be dreaded than too little. (3.) What is the average outlay connected with clearing land, planting a vineyard, annual maintenance, and how long a period elapses before ifc reaches full bearing ? The following is an estimate per 100 acres, spread over four years :— FIBST YJEAB. dols. Ploughing and harrowing at 2*50 dols. per acre ... ... ... 250 Laying out land and planting, at 10 dols. per acre ... ... ... 1000 Cost of 100,000 phylloxera proof vine cuttings at 10 dols. per 1000 ... ■'... ... .1. 1003 After cultivation, at 2*50 dols. per acre 250 Hoeing near and around vines at 1 dol. per acre 100 Wear and tear, repairs, and taxes,.. 300 §2900 SECOND YEAB. Re-planting 20 per cent, of failures with rooted vines, say 20 acres, at 250 dols. ... ... ... 50 Cost of 20,000 rooted vines, at 40 dols. per 1000 . ... 800 Pruning about 80 acres at 1 dol. per acre SO Ploughing and harrowing 3 times at 750 per acre ... ... ... 750 Hoeing, wear, and tear, etc., as before ... ... \,, „. 400 $2080 THIED TEAS. Grafting, at 10 dols per acre ... 1000 Pruning and removing wood ,at 3 dols. per acre ... ..., ... 300 Three cultivations, hoeing, wear and tear, as before ... ... „, 1150 §2450 FOUBTH YEAB. n ■ i. dotoi Pruning, at 4 dols. per acre ... 400 Three cultivations, etc., as before ... 1150 $1550 Recapitulation — First year, 2900 dols; second, 2080dols.; third, 2450d015.; fourth, 1550 dols; total ... ...§B9BO, At the end of the fourth year the first crop of about 2 tons of grapes per acre, value 30 dollars per ton as they hang, may be expected; a pecuniary result which will reimburse the farmer for that year's outlay, besides covering his expenses to the end of the following year. The fifth year's harvest, should the blanks of the first planting have been filled up with rooted vines, thereby saving a year, ought to be from 4 to 6 tons per acre. During this year and afterwards the annual cost for cultivation should not exceed 20 dollars per acre, and accepting an estimate of 4 tons of grapes per acre as a minimum crop, valued at 30 dollars per ton, the nett income will never, in all probability, drop below 100 dollars (say £20) per acre, however much it may rise . above those figures. These calculations, it may be explained, are made upon tha basis of a farm of 200 acres managed by the farmer himself, employing a foreman, the necessary labourers, draught and other animals, with all their harness and other appurtenances, at aa outlay of 5000 dollars. But should an experienced manager be necessary, his salary would press too heavily on a farm of this size, so ifc is re« commended that the area in such a case should be expanded to 500 acres, 400 acres of a vineyard, and 100 acres for ordinary farmiag purposes. (To he continued.)