Story: Nelson region

Under the shade of an old oak tree, workers pack apples into wooden cases at Ngatimoti in the lower Motueka River valley, probably in the 1890s. In the background another worker picks apples. In this period Nelson fruit growing was not organised, whereas in Central Otago growers had a marketing and transport collective. Apple growing increased in scale after the mid-1890s, and by 1918 was beginning to rival sheep and dairy farming.