A TRIP TO MOTUEKA AND NELSON.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 6, Issue 1656, 9 April 1884, Page 3

A TRIP TO MOTUEKA AND NELSON.

(By a Wairaiiapa Visitor.) A splendid day greeted my arrival at the small but charming little seaport village of Motueka. The view from the pier at which the vessels anchor is not very imposing to a stranger, as tho town is situated some two miles from the sea beach, the surrounding hills screening it from view, A cab was ' waiting for me, and .alter a pleasant drive I arrived at my temporary residence, passing several delightful-looking little villas upon the road. After partaking of a hearty lunch, I sallied forth, under., the guidance of a friend, proposing to visit some of the surrounding hop giil'deiis, for which culture this district is famous, A short walk of about ten minutes brought us to one of these, and a very pretty scene it • presented, dotted here and there with the busy workers. After a stroll through the gardens, in which the quality of the hops was extremely good, though the yield was not equal to tho preceding year's growth, owing tothe unsettled state of the weather, which threw them some weeks behind, we were piloted through ono ot the numerous kilns, and shewn the hops in the different processes of drying, baling, etc., preparatory to shipment. 'J lie drying room is an air-tight compartment situated directly over a furnace, the floor being composed of battens laid about two inches apart and covered with coarse horse-hair matting, . The hops are spread upon this flooring about a foot or eighteen inches deep (according to the ripeness of the hops), and kept there from ten to fifteen hours, during which time they are repeatedly turned, to prevent them from scorching, The baling process occupies from twenty minutes to three-quarters of an hour to each bale, depending principally upon tlie sample of machinery used. Tho majority of that in use in the Motueka District is very rough, being but temporary. The bales average in weight from 270 to 3001b, which, taking the machinery into consideration, is a very fair average. Motueka is, indeed, the chief hop growing district of the South Island, almost every resident having a hop plot and kiln (inclusive of stock and dairy-farming, the latter industry being very prosperous'. Indeed, I was credibly informed that one resident in the district made an average of from//to to twenty pounds of butler per wtek, the product oione cow) varying in size in proportion to his, or her, means, the average farm being from two to three acres; and a very profitable enterprise it must be, seeing that all the settlers are in very comfortable circumstances, arid such a thing as a poor man is scarcely known, The yield Jrom these farms is from £3OO to £4OO (according to size of farm), deducting about £IOO for expenses, thus leaving a net profit of from £2OO to £3OO each season.. The price paid to pickers averages from 3d to 4d per bushel, depending mainly upon the yield, and industrious pickers can earn about 5s per day, working ten hours. Hop-poles are chiefly imported, and the standard price averages from 25s to 40s per hundred. Two poles arc used to each hillock (the mound upon which the hops are planted), and 1200 hillocks go to the acre. The poles i generally remain good for threo or Hour years. Hop-picking lasts for about three ißeekß or a month, during which period farm woik has to be almost entirely suspended, laborers preferring the light work of hop-picking to any other. Last year, the season being favorable for the culture, the quality of the hops was very fine, and as the market demand was great, the prices realised were considerably in advance of previous seasons. Tho rates ranged from 2s 6d to '2s lOd per. lb ; but the Motueka growers, believing a still higher price could be obtained by holding back their crops, refused to sell under 3s or 3s 3d. But, alas! their bright hopes were scattered to tho winds by an unforseen circumstance. The Nelson growers, whose hop crop was also very fine, sold out their wholo stock at the usual rate, which caused a glut in the market, and the majority of Motueka growers were forced to sell early this season at an extremely low rate of 8d per lb, thus absolutely losing thousands ef pounds which might otherwise havo been retained in the district, and which would have added considerable weight to the pockets of growers. Indeed, it is currently reported that one large

grower was the loser by at least £2OOO by this unlooked for decreaso in the market value of hops, However, it will be an event that will long bo remembered by the hop growers in tho Motueka district. After completing our tour of the hop gardens we turned our steps toward tho town, intending to view the commercial portion; which. consists of a Post office, a bank, a blacksmith's and draper's shop, and sundry other warehouses, which though small, are amply sufficient to supply the wants of the inhabitants. Having seen tho sights (?) wo made an adjournment to dinner, to which ws did ample justice. That by no means uninteresting ceremony completed, we indulged in an evening drive to tho He Waka District, which is situated about five miles from the Motueka township. Tho greater portion of this district is under cultivation, and hop gardens arc to bo seen in every direction, Wo wero informed that tho hops grown in this district are even superior to those grown in Motueka Proper, the rich alluvial soil being specially adapted for tho culture. ■ Stock-farming is also carried on to a very great extent in this district. Pietuming homewards some large orchards wore passed, tho trees iii which were absolutely laden with fruit (principally apples and pears, it being too late in the season for other varieties), and we were informed that fruit, in conjunction with hops and dairy produce, is also largely exported. Next morning I left Motueka, bv coach, for Richmond, a district situated some eight miles from tho city of Nelson, and about twenty-five from Motueka, Here the farmers seem to have gono in for extensive wheat and oat cropping, judging from the numerous straw stacks to be seen in the neighborhood, but I had no time to (inquire as to its success. The adjoining meadows all looked fresh and green, and the stock grazing in them in very good condition. Richmond is, in fact, as I afterwards learned, the produce district upon which Nelson principally relies. A train journey of about half-an-hour's duration brought me to the city of Nelson, and I spent what leisure timo I had in making a tour of tho town and its suburbs. Coming upon Nelson from the sea ' would lead a stranger to infer that it was but an oflshoofc of a larger city further inland, nestling as it does amid the surrounding hills, but once fairly in its midst it presents a very different appearance, and the amount of business transacted both in its centre and out-districts is considerably greater than many persons are aware of. At present business is very brisk, hoppicking being in full swing, The hops are of very good quality, though not equal to last year's crops,' either in ' weight or size, and they aro not nearly so fine as those grown in Motueka. Still, upon the whole, it is thought the season's growth will turn out a success. The greater part of tho fruit grown > in Nelson this year has turned out a failure, the trees having been attacked by a small insect call the "leech," which destroys the leaves, and the fruit by a kind of worm, which derives its existence from a moth, These destructible little insects burrow their way into the centre of the fruit, hollowing it completely out, and leaving nothing but a shell. Should this nuisance continue (it came into existence but last year, and then only in a slight form), it will cause a great loss (o fruit growers, as it is well known that Nelson is one of the principal fruit-growing districts of the colony, This pest does not seem to have attacked the suburbs nearly so heavily as the town, the leech only making its appearance here and there; but in the city it ravages the tops of vegetables as well as fruit trees, ornamental trees and shrubs even coming in for a share, Motueka has escaped altogether. It is to be hoped that some means will shortly be devised to eradicate this pest, as the amount of damage it is doing is very considerable, It was with feelings of regret that I j departed from Nelson, having thoroughly enjoyed my trip; but business must be attended to, and " Sleepy Hollow" as Nelson is commonly called, was left behind one bright afternoon, bathed in sunlight,.preparatory to my returning to that valley of stumps and logs— Wairarapa.