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SAPO Trust is forty years oldDR PhiLLiP FouRie Email: info@saplant.co.za SAPo Trust celebrated its 40th birthday on5 Nov 2014 at blaauwklippen, Stellenbosch.The manor house at Stellenbosch after restoration.SAPO was founded on 30 April 1974 and two of the original founder members attended the celebration aswell as the ex and current chairmen, general managers and Trustees. Other distinguished guests included producer and nursery as- sociations’ chairmen, clients and associated business partners like DAFF, DPA, officials of the Western Cape Province Department ofAgriculture and our sponsor, Thorpe Paarl. In total 80 guests attended.SAPO commenced with their plant im- provement business on Excelsior farm in Ceres in 1974, re-located to Fleurbaix farm in Stellenbosch and later to Tygerhoek farm in Riviersonderend. The head office re-Guests attending the 40th anniversary of SAPO.SAPO distributed the first certifiable plum plant material tonurseries in 1976.mained at Stellenbosch since 1987 although the facilities and laboratory were upgraded through the years.Interesting to note is that the amount of nurseries declined from 365 vine and 1 273 tree fruit nurseries in 1973 to 28 vine and 18 tree fruit nurseries in 2014.The first certifiable plant material, plums on Marianna rootstock, were handed over to the chairman of the Nursery Association, Jo- han Ligthelm by min. Ben Schoeman in 1976 (see photograph from 'Die Burger' above) and the nurseries gave the first of these su- per material to Piet Wolfaardt, a producer of Prince Alfred Hamlet.From 1987 to 1989 the old historical manor house, wine cellar, slave quarters and stables on Fleurbaix farm, built in 1768, un- derwent a complete restoration process by the deciduous fruit marketing boards (see pic above left) to accommodate SAPO.Subsequently in 2012 SAPO bought part of Fleurbaix and is cur-rently in the process of es-tablishing their new officeson the premises.MONTAGU VRUGTEBOOM KWEKERYDank aan ons Skepper vir 10 jaar se besigheid.Montagu Vrugteboom Kwekery is ‘n SAPO/CULDEVCO geakrediteerde steen- en kernvrugteboom kwekery in die Klein Karoo. *Spesiale aanbiedinge op alle perskebome vir Winter 2015.Sel: 0829297790 | Tel: 023 6143572email: jastrydom@compuservices.co.zaINDUSTRY NEWS 39FEB | MARCH 2015