48 



■would not interfere with the keeping quality of the fruit, provided 

 the water was put on early enough to prevent the trees suffering 

 from the effects of drought. 



Mr. Waekbn desired to ask Mr. Lang as to whether fairly 

 successful exportation was due to packing the fruit directly off 

 the trees and sending ofE at once. 



Mr. Lang replied that it was his invariable practice to pick the 

 apples about a week previous to packing for shipment. Two or 

 three years ago it happened to be a wet autumn at Harcourt, and 

 he could not get the crop gathered in the dry weather, and 

 the mail steamer would not delay for him, so he picked 

 ten or a dozen cases of apples wet off the trees, and dried and 

 packed them at once, and those apples went home in equally 

 as good a condition as those packed the week previous. He had 

 repeated that experiment two or three times, and found there 

 was not the slightest difference. At Harcourt, where they had 

 26 and sometimes 36 inches of rain in the year, irrigation 

 was usually practised in the summer time. The trees were 

 now pretty well established, and the roots fully occupied the 

 ground, and when a full-sized tree caiue to bear a full crop there 

 was not moisture in the ground sufficient to carry the crop to 

 maturity, and a little irrigation was the greatest assistance then. 

 He felt sure that no harm had resulted from the practice ; in fact, 

 the fruit was much better. They had as good keeping qualities 

 as before irrigation was tried, and wherever irrigation could be 

 had for fruit-growing he would . recommend it during the dry 

 months of the summer, even in wet districts, because there were 

 always two or three months in the summer time when a good 

 soaking to the roots of the trees would be of advantage with a 

 heavy crop of fruit on the tree. 



The Chairman said he would like to point out to Mr. Craike 

 that the Government had, from time to time, paid bonuses not 

 only for canning and fruit-drying, but also for a factory. The 

 money had not been claimed to any extent, and in that direction 

 there was a small sum still available. The discussion had led to 

 a very important point, that the department should make experi- 

 ments in the direction of sending home fruit in the holds or on 

 the deck of vessels. In making inquiry from the P. and 0. Com- 

 pany, as to some better way of sending home fruit as general 

 cargo, they had got the information that the hold did not exceed 

 60°, and only that when passing through the Suez Canal. 

 Vessels going round the Cape would carry at a lower temperature, 

 and they found that Mr. Lang and Mr. Draper had successfully 

 sent home fruit as ordinary cargo. There was convincing proof 

 that even before the refrigerating chambers were thought of, Mr. 

 Draper had sent 80 or 90 varieties, which arrived fit for exhibition 



