REJECTED APPLES

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 123, 26 May 1943, Page 4

REJECTED APPLES

GRADER SUPPORTED

STATEMENT BY MINISTER

A statement has been issued by the Minister of Marketing and Agriculture, Mr. Barclay, regarding the display in the office of the Auckland Star and in the window of a city seed merchant's premises, of cases of Salome apples rejected by the Agrocultural Department's grader.

"From my knowledge of the facts," says the Minister, "I have no hesitation in stating that this is an organised move which misleads the public by conveying a wrong impression regarding the operations of the Department of Agriculture and the Internal Marketing Division. The former is the sole grading authority, and the Internal Marketing Division has no jurisdiction over the inspection process.

"What are the facts? I accept as a fact the judgment of the man in the street that the apples he examined looked good, tasted good, had no codlin grub, were not too mature and were not affected with rots. I also accept the fact that certain of my Cabinet colleagues received sample cases of the frut, some of which were of good quality, but others were badly infected with codlin moth.

"Yet the inspector said that in the fruit submitted a portion was affected with codlin moth, some samples up to the extent of 50 per cent, some were were over-mature and some affected with rots. The inspector did not say that each and every apple was affected with one or more of these defects, but that the percentage of apples with defects was such that the grower should regrade them. In the inspector's opinion faulty grading was the key to all the trouble."

"Senior Officer of Division"

"This particular inspector is a senior officer of the Horticulture Division," says the Minister, "and, in fact, is at present acting Horticultural Supervisor for the Auckland province—a man of long experience, well known to the fruit trade and to growers, is held in high esteem by all, and there is no question about his integrity. As Minister in charge of the Department of Agriculture, I am fully prepared to accept his decision.

"The next fact is that Mr. A. B. Congdon—a leader in the fruit industry , a , n d well Known to growers in Auckland and all other fruit districts—saw the fruit which had been sent in for inspection, and he fully endorsed all that the inspector had said about it. Growers know Mr. Congdon and have full confidence in his integrity and judgment. Mr. S. Conway, the Auckland manager of the New Zealand Fruitgrowers Federation, an organisation most vigilant in safeguarding the interests of all growers and which would be one of the first to openly nf or expose any miscarriage f ? ec -* m - g any grower, saw tne line of fruit in question, and he supported the inspector's decision. P cklan cJ growers this in itself will be sufficient proof that the inspector s decision was right.

Percentage AYere Defective 1 ' "According to Press reports, the fmmnl , am ] s the apples were all of equally high grade as the fruit already described on display," continues Mr. Barclay. "According to the inspector, a percentage of the apples were defective. The grower C ?+u e l. irnma te the defective fruit at the inspection depot or his own packing shed, whichever he desired and the good fruit would have been Conway and Congdon state: . , P ai ticular fruit which was rei™? d d - ld ¥ ve a Percentage of sound apples m the cases, but the percentage of infection and over-mature apples was too great to permit the consignment being passed. The grower has the right to repack and to cull out the apples that do not make the grade.'

As Minister, I must accept the unsolicited evidence of these ttvo fullyqualified witnesses in support of the inspector. I am satisfied that the lino as seen by the inspector w-ii faulty, but I am not satisfied that the fruit submitted for public inspection was the same fruit in the same ungraded condition."

Commenting on the impression conveyed to the public that the Gos tei nment purchase scheme applied only to the best quality apples, and' were large quantities of edible fruit withheld from the public for which the only outlet was as pig food, Mr. Barclay says: "The Government purchase scheme has three grades: Extra fancy, fancy and commercial. For economy reasons, the first two grades are now combined into one. Then, as an extension of these grades, the Government this year has made special arrangements to extend the commercial grade to include apples having practically 100 per cent russet and black spot up to three-quarter of an inch in diameter. In addition, the degree of tolerance has been extended for special low grades of apples affected with sun scald or hail marks or codling stint's ancl, under certain circumstances' even windfalls are accepted." '

"A Retrograde Step" "Leaders of the fruit industrv while most anxious that the greatest possible proportion of their crop should be converted into cash nevertheless feel it is a retrograde step, and detrimental to public interest, to put this low grade fruit on the market, says the Minister, "and have recommended that this verv low grade fruit should be utilised only for factory needs. This attitude indicates that the Government purchase scheme is taking practically all the orchard output, including even the fruit which growers feel should go to the factory rather than the market."

. Confirmation of this fact is seen in the supply position of the factories," concluded Mr. Barclay, "as they are unable to purchase from growers sufficient fruit to meet their canning needs. The canning factories in Auckland and Nelson approached growers for fruit for canning but found that the Government purchase scheme had sapped their source of supply. In Nelson, to meet factory needs, the Internal Marketing Division is diverting certain fruit from market to factory; in Auckland the factory received a small supply from the Internal Marketing Division and now has diverted its activity to other products required by the Food Controller. Surely this is sufficient evidence that the Government has taken all reasonable steps to ensure that good fruit is not being wasted."