AUSTRALIAN FRUIT.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 238, 8 October 1936, Page 5

AUSTRALIAN FRUIT.

EMBARGO NECESSARY.

DOMINION GROWER'S VIEWS. DANGER OF INFECTION. i (By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.) CHRISTCHURCH, this day. "This would be the thin edge of the wedge, and once the embargo »on oranges and mandarins was lifted, an effort would be made to secure entry into the Dominion of cucumbers, marrows, etc." In these words, Mr. C. E. Pope, president of the Dominion Council of Tomato, Soft Fruit and Produce Growers, commented on statements made by Messrs. James Hearne and E. E. Herrod, president and secretary respectively of the Fruit Growers' Federation of New bouth Wales. Messrs. Hearne and Herrod, together with Mr. I*. S. McDermott, general secretary of the New South Wales Chamber of Fruit and Vegetable Industries, are at present in New Zealand. One argument put forward by the Australian delegation was that since December, 1932, when New Zealand placed an embargo on all Australian fresh fruits, the consumer had had to pay high prices for oranges and mandarins. "I venture to say that if the embargo was lifted, the public would still not be able to buy oranges cheaper," Mr. Pope said. The object of the embargo was not to raise the price of oranges, nor was it to make the public pay dearly for fruit. It was put on to safeguard the New Zealand grower from j the fruit fly. It is from the New Zealand grower that the public draws most of its supplies of fruit, and further diseases would add to the cost of production. "Menace to Export Trade." "These diseases are a menace to New Zealand's export trade. The is ew South Wales grower is not concerned as to whether the Dominion grower survives or not. He is only concerned with finding a market for his fruit." It was the custom of Governments all over the world to take precautions to stop the entry of fruit from other infected countries, Mr. Pope observed. For the benefit of growers and public alike, all imported fruit should be handled bv the Government, especially when there were conflicting interests such as Mr. Muller, representing the Murray Citrus Growers' Co-operative Association, and Mr. Heane. representing the New South Wales Fruitgrowers' Federation. Pecuniary Interest. "All the interest they have in the welfare of the people of New Zealand is what pecuniary gain they can make out of the orange business commercially," said Mr. Pope. "Should these people succeed in their object of breaking down the embargo, it would be the thin edge of the wedge. They would attempt to have the rest of the embargo lifted." Answering the statement that the climate of New Zealand was not suitable for the introduction of the fruit fly, Mr. Pope remarked that the average temperature of Auckland, and Sydney was identical, while Alexandra (Otago Central) had a higher summer temperature than Sydney. So far as was known, he added, there had been two outbreaks of the fruit fly in New Zealand. One. was at Takapuna and the other at Dargaville. If it had not been for the alertness of the officers of the Department of Agriculture, this might have proved a very expensive business for the fruit consuming public of New Zealand.