47 



doubt if they planted for export purposes six or eight varieties of 

 apples and plums and the same number of pears that would be 

 enough. He was surprised to hear from Mr. Lang the kinds of 

 wood used for the apple cases. He was under the impression that 

 the spruce, or the white pine or the white deal, was not suitable. 

 Fruit was abundant just now, and at mid-season apples sold at Is., 

 2s. 6d., and 3s. a case. The moral of that was that people must 

 plant later sorts, and those more fit for exportation. Some 

 orchardists had said lately that friiit grown on irrigated land was 

 not so valuable for keeping purposes as that grown on unirrigated 

 land. It would be interesting to know the facts with regard to 

 that. 



Mr. Kavanagh said he had had a little experience in irrigating 

 fruit, and one of the best authorities, Mr. Neilson, was of opinion 

 that apples grown with irrigation would not keep. He (Mr. 

 Kavanagh) had irrigated for three years, and in August last year 

 Mr. Neilson was at his place and examined some fruit grown by 

 this means, and, after testing it, he said he was astonished not only 

 at the keeping quality of the apple, but at the superiority in flavour 

 and size, so that he was convinced that irrigated apples were an 

 improvement on those not irrigated. 



Mr. Shaw said there was a certain time to irrigate. If a man 

 irrigated after the fruit came to maturity it was a mistake. As to 

 peaches they must be irrigated when they were just stoning ; 

 plums when the seed was properly formed. The vine would have 

 taken sufficient moisture in winter and spring to have formed the 

 seed, therefore the berry was formed and all that needed to be 

 done was to use' water to swell that berry out. He had kept 

 apples all the year round that had been irrigated. He was com- 

 pelled to irrigate to get a market value with apples the same as 

 with grapes. 



Mr. Pagan said he found that grapes on irrigated vines did 

 better and kept better than grapes grown on vines not irrigated, 

 because there would come a dry period sometimes which tended 

 to dwarf the berries. By applying the water they became fully 

 developed and kept better as green fruit than those that had not 

 water at all, simply because the berries were kept in a fresher 

 state, and they were not allowed any time to go bad. Directly a 

 berry began to shrink up a little and shrivel, rain might come and 

 do damage. 



Mr. Allen said the time for applying irrigation depended on the 

 climate and soil. If the soil was moist it would carry the grape 

 right through, and did not require irrigation. Generally about 

 January the trees wanted moisture, and if it was applied then the 

 fruit would not be allowed to wilt and shrivel. It is necessary to 

 mature the crop, and then it would keep for any time. Irrigation 



