facebook   twitter   mail  

The Nelson Photo News

 

60

Reaping The Harvest

From all parts of New Zealand, and from across the Tas-man as well, hundreds of seasonal workers have flowed towards the tobacco, hops and fruit farms throughout the Nelson province. It's harvest time again. For baccy growers in the Riwaka area, this has been a good season, but for some of the areas with a lighter soil, the damp, cold spring and consequent late growth has done little to cheer the farmer. In such areas the yield is expected to be a little below average. The hop harvest is expected to be a good average one. Recently we took our cameras into the fields of Riwaka and Motueka and around Brooklyn to record a few harvest scenes. We concentrated on the Motueka property of Mr Warren Fry for our baccy harvest pictures, and on the hop garden of Mr Phil frewavas, Brooklyn, for our pix of the hops. We believe that Mr Trewavas is the last gardener still harvesting his hops by hand-picking - an unusual sight today in this age of mechanisation, but certainly more picturesque. The pic on this page shows two harvesters working on Mr Warren Fry's property.

61

As inch by inch the big tobacco machines move through the rows, workers, most of them unseen among the broad baccy leaves, pick the leaves and send them by conveyor to the platform above where they are tied in bunches on sticks. This method of picking is also becoming quite unusual, many growers preferring to pick by hand, transport the loose leaves by trail-er to the sheds where the leaves are tied by machine.

×

Elizabeth Campbell, Motueka, is no stranger to this work.

×

Pam Graham, of Dunedin (top) and Gail Fry (Riwaka) are tying on the top platform.

×

Captain of this unusual ship is Terry Fry.

62

The season has been very kind towards growers, and the absence of rain in any quantity has allowed the harvesting to go on unchecked.

×

A pallet of green tobacco picked and tied on the baccy machines was heavy enough to bounce the front wheels of this tractor off the ground when it struck a bump.

×

Off to Australia shortly (in fact we think he's already there) is Terry King, of Riwaka. He occupies a nice, shady position under the machine.

×

The later, and quicker of harvesting hops, is shown here. The vines are cut and carted away to a clanking machine which strips the hops from the vines. This pic was taken at the garden of Mac Inglis.

63

It's very peaceful around the hop garden. Pickers work on the shady side of the vines and the absence of noise lends a dreamy quality to the scene.

×

Bags of hops await cartage as pickers work towards the close of the day's work.

×

A close-up view of the picking.

×

Mac McLean, of Motueka, was on the job.

×

How's this for a record? Mrs Lucy Watson, pictured here, nas been hop picking for more than 70 years. Her father, David Clark, was a surveyor, and the Clark River was named after him. Now living in Christchurch, Mrs Watson has been coming up to the Motueka district for the hop picking for many years.

64

The hand-picking of hops is a dying trade and few young people are to be seen seated above the bins picking busily at the vines. Not that many years ago - only seven or eight, in fact - all hops were being picked by hand. Today, to the best of our knowledge, the only garden where hops are not picked by machine is at Phil Trewavas's.

×

Mrs Winnie Brunsdon, of Lower Hutt, has been hop-picking, on and off, for about 45 years. She lived in Riwaka and Motueka for 14 years.

×

Mrs Alison McLean, of Motueka, is no novice at the game.

×

While hubby was out fishing the Clark River, Mrs Edna Whiting, of Te Kuiti, was picking hops and, as a well-known Tv character would say: "Loving it." This is her idea of a holiday.

×

Kept busy keeping the pickers supplied with vines is Harold Trewavas.

×

The end of the day and the boss, Phil Trewavas, comes to measure up. Here, assisted by son Harold and Bill Pahl, Phil uses the bushel bucket to measure Bill's afternoon quota.