H.—29.

HORTICULTURE DIVISION. REPORT OF W. K. DALLAS, DIRECTOR. Weather conditions have been generally adverse both for fruit production and the production of vegetables. After a fairly fine autumn, wet and prolonged winter conditions were experienced, and a very late spring. Prolonged spells of cold, wet weather, and late frosts in the spring adversely affected market-garden production, and this contributed towards a fall in production and high prices being recorded for vegetables. Hailstorms and high winds from November until January had a detrimental effect on pip-fruit crops, although conditions improved later, and welcome rains in March did much towards assisting in the sizing of fruit. Horticultural Diseases. Black-spot has again been more than usually severe this year, due to insufficient attention to trees, brought about by inadequate labour, shortage of spray materials, and inclement spring weather making difficult the application at the proper times 01 the earlier sprays. # Codling-moth was more in evidence iin the Nelson district; but the incidence m Delicious apples in the Auckland district was noticeably reduced. Other insect pests generally have been less troublesome this year. Citrus canker continued to spread in the Otumoetai area at Tauranga m the earlier part of the year, although prompt eradication measures have since confined it to four orchards. In the Kerikeri district the eradication measures appear to have been successful. Orchard and Nursery Inspection. Inspection work in nurseries and orchards has been somewhat curtailed. Inspections for citrus canker have been maintained, and officers from other districts were sent to Tauranga and Kerikeri for a period to carry out 'a systematic inspection there. Fruit and Vegetable Instruction Service. Instructional services have of necessity been reduced to the barest minimum so that essential inspectional functions connected with the war effort could be maintained. To some extent it has been possible to combine instructional work with inspection, and instruction by correspondence has been given wherever possible. Vegetable-culture instruction, as being more closely associated with the war effort, has been increased. Experimental Work. This has been restricted, and only existing experiments and long-term projects have been continued. Experiments inaugurated during the war (for which arrangements were already matured) were for the growing of peanuts, castor beans, and olives under New Zealand conditions. Experiments with the cool storage of Granny Smith apples and with gas storage of fruit were carried out in co-operation with the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. The Fruitgrowing Industry. Owing to war conditions and the cessiation of export, the fruitgrowing industry experienced a difficult year. The production of fruit for the 1941 season was as follows :— Apples .. •• •• 2,500,487 cases (bushel). Pears .. • • • • 440,154 „ Quinces .. • • • • 15,878 „ Stone-fruits • • • • 440,198 „ No apples were exported during the season. Indications are that the crop for the 1942 season will be smaller than that for the previous season, owing to a combination of factors, the chief of which being the inclement season. . ■ During the year the general condition of orchards has shown a deterioration. Ihis is attributable to' a number of factors, which may be briefly summarized as follows:— (1) The unsettled outlook for the fruitgrowing industry as a result of cessation of exports: (2) The shortage of labour brought about by the callmg-up for military service of skilled personnel, both from orchardists' own families and from permanent hands employed, and by the greater inducements offered by industrial employment to casual hands and female labour which in the past has been procurable in the harvesting season: (3) Rising costs of maintenance and harvesting owing to the employment of unskilled labour and the need to compete for such: (4) Shortage of fertilizers causing loss of vigour to the trees. With the exception of apples, the average price-level for fruit showed an increase over the previous season. Grapes reached a very high price. Standardization. Grading standards for stone-fruit which were to have become compulsory' during the 1942 season were suspended until 1947. During the 1942 season apples and pears accepted for marketing by the Internal Marketing Division have been confined to two grades Fancy and Commercial the lancy grade including both Extra Fancy and Fancy, as set out in the New-Zealand-grown I ruit Regulations 1940.

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