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Waikato Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 3039, 7 January 1892, Page 2

It is reported that; tho codlin moth is making sad havoc with the apple crop in the Otahuhu district. If enquiries were set on foot, we anticipate the same report would be heard on all sides in the Auckland province. There arc but few orchardists in Waikato, we venture to say, who have not by this time realized to some extent the loss that is likely to befall the colony, through the ravages of this insect. This unfortunate state of affairs might have been avoided if the suggestions made by members of the Waikato Horticultural Society some three or four years ago had been acted upon. The promoters of this movement did foresee the danger, and endeavoured to obtain preventative legislation upon the subject : but when the suggestion reached the ears of certain residents in and round Auckland, the most violent opposition was aroused which effectually put a atop to any repressive measures being put into force. We still hold the same opinions we did at that time. We supported the movement of our Waikato friends, and still hold that they were amply justified in urging the necessity for legislative interference. What at one time bid fair to be an important industry in this part of the colony, and one capable of almost unlimited expansion, is doomed, unless some very stringent measures are adopted. To talk of any extended export of fruit from Waikato, we feel under existing circumstances to be-out of the question. Many of the older etablished orchards are so badly effected that not one-tenth of the fruit will be free from the grub. In most cases the owners have become so disheartened that they propose either to cut down the trees and do away with them all together or else leave the moth in undisturbed possession, feeling that so long as their neighbours are careless and indifferent, it is hopeless to attempt to carry out any system dealing successfully with the pest.