FRUITGROWERS CONFER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 207, 1 September 1932, Page 10

FRUITGROWERS CONFER.

SUCCESSFUL YEAR RECORDED

DOMINION MARK SCHEME.

CONSIDERATION OF REMITS,

The Auckland Provincial Conference of the . New Zealand Fruitgrowers' Federation, Limited, was held this morning at the rooins of the A. and P. Association, Albert Street. Mr. W. J. Rodger, one of the directors, presided, and aleo present were Mr. J. A. Campbell, Director of Horticulture, and Mr. W. Benziee, secretary of the Export Control , Board, Wellington. Begret was expressed at the absence of the president, Mr. T. C. Brash, through illness. In hie annual address the chairman eaid that in spite of the fact that the past was the most difficult year the federation had experienced it was a successful year. It had been possible to place to reserves £2500, to add to accumulated funds over £3000, and to allocate to growers £2023. That had only been possible by careful buying and by absolute loyalty of the great majority of the growers throughout New Zealand. In Auckland Province ealee had increased from £2675 in 1920 to £10,171 in 1032, probably the largest percentage of increase in New Zealand. The chaotic conditions in. the local markets were even worse than last year. Selling price had fallen approximately 40 per cent, an<l in many caeca left the grower with nothing for his. fruit, while in others there was a lose. Dominion Mark. The chairman referred to the efforts to get a Dominion mark adopted by growers, brokere and retailers. Distributors wore agreed that there was much room for improvement and were prepared to give the scheme a thorough trial in the hope of it becoming as successful as the national mark scheme in the British market. Regarding Ottawa the chairman hoped the results of the conference would bo such that fruitgrowers would benefit and share with other industries, both primary and secondary, in the return to more prosperous times which he confidently believed to be ahead of us. Delegates. Delegates to the Dominion Conference were elected a« follows: —R. Becroft, R. W. Houee, H. S. Izurd, E. C. Purdie, F. Firth and H. Paltridge. Messrs Becroft and Purtlie were also elected to represent the province on export matters. Meesre. J. A. Lambden, B. Carter, It. Becroft, and C. Ballantyne were elected a local advisory committee. Standard Case. When discussion took place on the question of standardised fruit cases Mr. Campbell said there would never be unanimity, as each district wanted ite own pet case adopted. There was exactly the eamo trouble with the tomato growers until they eank their differences and left the matter in the hands of the Department, which took all requirements into consideration and designed a box that wae unanimously approved. A delegate euggested that it would be wise to adopt a provincial standard without aiming at a Dominion standard. Mr. Campbell eaid it wae not poeeible owing to the nature of the Act. Regulations could not be gazetted to take effect only in provincial areas; any regulation gazetted must apply to the whole Dominion. That was one of the defects of the Act. After further discussion it was decided that delegates be instructed to be guided by the result of the Dominion conference when considering the Iβ remit*, oa the subject. Sold Under Wrong Name. There was a remit from Huapai urging that an effort be made to stop the local sale of varieties, termed inferior, under the name of "Cox's Orange Pippin." When the names of the substitutes were mentioned, one of the delegates wanted to know who was competent to say the apples so named were not all identical. Mr. Campbell, when appealed to, eaid there was only common law to deal with the point. At the present time there were no definite authoritative names for different varieties. There wae a movement afoot for setting up a nomenclature board, which would draw up a list of names for fruits and plants. If that were done it would be illegal to sell fruits and plants under other than the correct gazetted name. At the present time there was no legislative authority for punishing the sale of fruit under a wrong name. The only deterrent at present was popular condemnation of any "funny bueinese" unless it went so far as to constitute fraud, when it came ■ within the scope of common law. Picking Dates. A remit from Oratia, suggesting that the picking of fruit for export by the calendar be abolished and that maturity be the only guide, caused a good deal of discussion. Delegates complained that last season some of the fruit was not mature enough to pick on the picking date in the instructions issued by the Export Control Board, and others that certain fruit intended for shipment had been shut out because it was a day late. Mr. Benzies eaid the rules as to picking dates were not intended to -be hard and fast. Allowances were made, but to enable the Export Control Board to make its arrangements for shipping space there must be definite data for the board to go upon. He said that last year the board had actually shipped fruit many days after what should have been the closing date. Mr. Clyde Ballantyne agreed that they must have fixed dates in order that the board would have something to go upon. He thought the remedy would be to speed up the picking. It wae a rush at present, but he was afraid the only thing to do was to speed up even more. Mr. Campbell referred to the necessity for definite information to enable the earning of the Government guarantee, and he considered from his knowledge of what had happened last year that the Export Control Board had done the very, best it could and had been as lenient as possible. The matter was left in the hands of the delegates. Eastern Markets. . Mr. Benzies gave an account of the efforts the Export Control Board was making to push New Zealand apples on the Eastern markets, from Shanghai, through the East Indies, and as far as Colombo and India. Excellent advertising matter had been provided, and representatives of the board would carry out an intensive campaign. It was realised that the only way New Zealand could compete on those markets with the Australian fruit was by having direct shipping between the Dominion and the East. Therefore the

board was undertaking its advertising campaign to make known the New Zealand fruit and to popularise it. At first there might not bo much response, but every market had to be built up gradually, and eventually the board had every hope of the Eastern market developing into a very valuable one. Mr. Benzies, referring to the state of the English market, detailed the steps taken by the board to retrieve tho position when there was a glut and the prospects of the New Zealand fruit looked very glum. By judicious'cool storage, and by a well thought out campaign of advertising the sturmere, the position was retrieved and the return to the grower was considerably better than it would have been if those steps had not been taken.