Oranges From Sunday
p. 30 · Read in the full issue
Island?
From Our Own Correspondent
Rarotonga, June 1.
AN auxiliary schooner which arrived at Rarotonga recently, reports that orange-planting on a considerable scale will shortly be carried out by the New Zealand Government on Raoul (Sunday) Island, in the Kermadecs.
Mr. W. T. Goodwin, formerly Director of Agriculture at Rarotonga and now Assistant Director of Horticulture in New Zealand, has visited the island and approves of the plan. Orange trees are known to flourish there in a wild state; properly planted and cultivated, presum ably free from insect pests in a practic ally virgin island, they should respond well.
Although Raoul is very small, there is no indigenous population to consider, and all the suitable land could be utilised.
Only two days’ run from New Zealand, the island is well placed and although the anchorage is extremely bad, this per haps can be improved.
Inasmuch as all citrus fruits exported from the Cook Islands go to the New Zealand market, Rarotonga may be affected. Rarotonga’s wild native orange trees, like old soldiers, are fading away, and replanting is moving so slowly that it seems as if the New Zealand Govern ment may be losing patience.
The effect of Raoul Island would not be so much from quantity as quality. A well-run citrus orchard on a large scale, with plenty of capital, such as is envis aged, would produce better fruit at a cheaper price than the 1-acre peasant groves which are now being planted in Rarotonga. It seems that Rarotonga must wake up—or get left behind.