Blight in Fruit Trees.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2516, 25 August 1888, Page 2 (Supplement)

Blight in Fruit Trees.

At the ordinary meeting of the Nelson Philosophical Socioty, held lust night, Mr Holloway in the chair, an interesting paper by Mr Wells on " Blight in our Fruit Trees " was read to a small but appreciative audience. The scope of it covered the genesis of blight and the natural means of cure. The writer contended that parasitic life upon living thing* was generated by poverty. He pointed out that in the early days of the settlement of Nelson fruit trees throve admirably upon the virgin soil ; apples pears, plums and peaches were gathered in splendid condition; but when the virgin soil was exhausted the blights began to appear, and as a proof of this he pointed out that our best fruits now came from the outlyiug districts. He said the climate of Nelson had not changed, and there was no reason why wo should not grow as good fruit now as in the past; but t'> do this wo must avoid the errors that had produced the blight. There were two errors in planting. Tiio mere digging a hole and putting the tree in and allowing it to talco its chance, was not sufficient; it must bo cultivated. Another was planting the trees too thickly; six were often planted where only 0110 should be. Trees required air and breathing space, and water too was a prime necessity in our dry seasons, and orchards should bo irrigated to keep the trees in health.

He said the Government had attempted to puss n Codliu Moth Act, but lie was jflutl to see it had been thrown out. There woro much worse blight than thecodlin moth ;the scale Ihp leech, and the mimosa blights. The codlin moth attacked the fruit, the scale the tree. He did not believe in coercion, and 110 inun liked a policeman about his premises to lell him what to do. Nine "lit of ten fruitgrowers were igu mint of tliii menus of checking the blights and had only to be tulcl what to do and they would do it. Every fruit grower, if he wi-hed to succeed, must bo an .4ct of Parliament to hini-elf. Proper food and free air should be bis maxims. He pointed out the limit of Government in terferenne and illustrated it by the practice in Germany which was to appoint properly trained chemists who visited the people, analysed the soil, and pointed out the best fur the purpose and the proper

manure for its foorl The want of New Zealand was, he said, technical eduua. lion. A selection should be introduced into our pre.-ent Education Act for the purpose of establishing schools for technical instruction. The remedy he suggested for badly affected orchard* was to root out-the old badly blu-hted trees, and apply the same remedy that was used for scab in sheep, liino and sulphur. To advocates of coerciou who said some people would not clean their trees he said, do your duty and you will get your fruit, In the discussion which followed, Dr. Hudson said ho did not agree with Mr Wells' views upon coercion. He thought that people who would not cleanso their trees should bo forced to do so. He pointed out that there were other remedies besides lima and sulphur, notably for the codlin moth, Paris Green. He did not know whether the latter would be at all

dangerous.—'The Secretary of tho Fruit growers Association said he believed Mi Wells had put his finger directly upon th( cause of tho blights, and he quilu agrcec with the writer in his depreciation ol coercion. Tho genuine system of helping the people to help themselves was the proper one. It had worked well with the Fruit-growers' Association as very many people had from the information afforded by the members gone in for their orchards with success. Ho moved a vote of thanks to Mr Wells for hit paper.—Tho President of tho Fruitgrowers' Association said he thought the paper might have been fuller upon the remedies. Tho members of tho Fruitgrowers' Association were continually experimenting upon the blights. Paris Green for the codlin moth had been found very effective, saving from 50 to 00 per cent, of the fruit, but he did not know whether it would injure the soil. He had much pleasure in seconding the vote of thanks to Mr Wells.—Dr. Locking thought it was impossible that the Paris Green could do harm. He had fowls and a horse feeding on the grass under his trees without any visible effect. He thought the quantity, Joz. to 14 gallons of water, could not possibly hurt anything. Mr Soincrville stated his experience of Paris Green, and said lie

i had found it effectual iu the leech blight, - and that he thought there was not the r slightest danger of it injuring the plums as it only required one application. He 1 said before he tried Paris Green for . Codlin moth he could not get apples, but , this year he had saved 7000.—Dr. Cole- ) man said he thought the blight was somewhat analogous to the disease that i attacked mankind, such as smallpox, &c, much more virulent on new grounds. He illustrated this by stat :ng the effects of smallpox upon the natives of the South Sea Islands, and said he thought the blight would naturally die out.—Mr Kingsley deprecated attacks on the blight-eating i birds (such as the little White Kye) by the small boys of Nelson, and said ho thought there ought to bo a tax on eats. —The Chairman said he thought their thanks were due to Mr Wells for the paper, but he did not agree with Mr Wells upon coercion. He thought it was a necessity, as many poople did not caro whether their orchards were clean or not. I '

He asked the President of the Fruitgrowers' Association to get another paper upon fruit blights and their remedies.— The President promised to consult the Association upon the matter. It was elicited that salt scattered on the ground round the trees before rain was a cure for the American blight, that Joz. of Paris Green to 14 gallons water was a remedy for the Codlin Moth, and Chapman's Blight Eradicator was a thorough cure for the soalo.—Nelson Evening Mail.