DOMINION SHORT OF FRUIT.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 170, 18 July 1919, Page 2

DOMINION SHORT OF FRUIT.

AUCKLAND SOURCE OF SUPPLY [KEEN DEMAND WITH PRICES HIGH. If there is a (shortage in one commodity Jmore than another it is fruit, the whole (Dominion market being bare, with Auckland as usual the chief source of supply. (The consequence is that prices on the | local market for all lines of fruit are| ihigh, with no immediate sign of any in|fluence likely to affect the position, j lOrangeg in particular are very scarce,! 'owing to the big percentage that is rele- j (gated to the waste bin, an average of two-; thirds of all re-packed lines being found: tonfit for human consumption. The posi-j tion is so acute that leading auctioneers I anticipate that by Tuesday next there j twill be hardly any island oranges on the market.- Mesrs. E. Turner and Sons eoldj cases of twelve dozen by auction to-day at 20/. The next shipment is due heraj 'in about three weeks' time. Bananas are that scarce that this firm have been shipping them as far south as Invercar-1 gill, where they are realising up to 28/. I .In Dunedin the price stands at 20/.! JApples are likewise being shipped south ; Wellington. Thanks to the good cool [storage conditionsift.lia,t tf prevail in Auckland the local market is kept going from this source. There is ample still in store to last until the first shipment of 'Canadian apples, -which should arrive about the middle of October. Pears are particularly scarce, and good dessert varieties are bringing up to 17/6 per case of 451b. Hothouse grapes are practically off the market. A supply from. Otahuhu and Mangere was sold by Messrs. E. Turner and Sons to-day at from 3/6 to 3/9 per lb. Passion fruit, the second crop, sold from 12/ to 14/, tree tomatoes from 7/ to 10/, hothouse! tomatoes from lOd up to 1/2 per lb, Jsland tomatoes from 12/ per case of 161b. Lemons are exceptionally dear, although the market has receded from what it was two weeks ago. Choice are felling at from 30/ to 40/ and rough £1. Poorman oranges are in short supply) and are selling at prices from 10/ to 137 'per bushel.