LEMONS

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXX, Issue 13623, 22 April 1942, Page 2

L EMO N S

! Sir,—l notice the Interna] Marked a ed that the ment is slightly i$ We P r a Jat , he ;■ years mainly on ifi c--" weather experiencedL ° f *£ We know that the * experienced affected L y *H but there is more "thH Pr& - : ' age than that. Th e lemon shortage so far ,' £ land supplies are cnn, Ke * h Price paid by the Go *\ ismsufficienttopavfo r ,J nu -' ures and sprayine aboa r.:> given the iSZSST't the New Zealand p r S n gradually fall * that the Marketing rW " h ons from lis to is* Ji »* lh iug to count, quarter hushel ca*e Wh growers get? According j--partment they get t s , V k so. converting the packed a bushel case, we fin? a ? : " pavtment sells the bushel case at from i 3s ! * < ' per case, say an average of k - i; it cost the department lu , ; ' ; .and sell a case of lemons" V'' where does the difference m * Before the Government tj" trol a large number of their own lemons and the total of selling was, say, l s a ease and 10 per cent, commission toS ers. Now the Government packs the lemons and still s* through the brokers, pacing «? 10 per cent., and further it anS the retailer to make 40 per Z profit, never for a moment consfe ing the growers' profit or realhk» living. Tliere is something rm wrong somewhere and if the h\\ !■'• lemon growers did not have means there would be no lemon r' dustry. I would ask the Govt--. ment, does it know of one to instance where a mah is making living out of a lemon orchard" claim it is impossible. My eiW. ience is that one man can, by corking all hours, handle 200 matin trees, bearing say, six orchard case per tree per- year. Six cases repress 30s or a total of £3OO. Out of tnis comes interest, manures, sprays, ett, etc. What does that leave for : grower, not working 40 hours ■ week either? The Government, is slowly bat surely killing the industry, and i; my opinion some tribunal should ta set up to thoroughly investigate imposition. ' The Government, when question: shelters behind some stateme:: made by a few Tauranga grower; What did that amount to? Merely a statement that they were getri:; a better price from, the Government than before it took control, which:; correct. But why?. In 1937-3$ tit Tauranga Citrus Association got Into difficulties through no fault of i: ; own, the reason being that prior to 1939 any merchant in New Zealand could import lemons and in 1938 the merchants apparently all thou?;: that there was going to be a shortage, with the result that everyone imported, and instead of £ local shortage there was a bumper crop. Naturally the merchants sold their own fruit and left the New Zealand growers to do the best they could. Finally they asked the for assistance in controlling import;, but the Government took complete control of New Zealand lemons ana imports, virtually a monopoly, ann now- they say we are getting a Utter price. It does not take stipe' men to run monopolies and personally I do not object to the prejK svstem, but I do object strongr J the price paid—growers rough!) , per lemon and the public pas W to sd. There is only one «n*g the slow but sure elimination ol u» lemon industry.—l am, etc. "GROWER.