TRANSPORT OF FRUIT

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22318, 4 February 1938, Page 14

TRANSPORT OF FRUIT

EXISTING ARRANGEMENTS CRITICISED

NEED FOR INSULATED TRUCKS EMPHASISED

[THE PRESS SpecUi Servlce.J

DUNEDIN, February 3

Complaints by Auckland fruit merchants of the condition in which Central Otago fruit was arriving, were endorsed by Dunedin merchants today. The Auckland advice was that fruit was arriving there in very poor condition, in some cases Deing quite spoilt, and the blame was placed on the unsatisfactory transport system. "It is not in the slightest degree surprising that the fruit is not in a good condition by the time it arrives at Auckland," a reporter was told by Dunedin brokers. "We are having enough difficulty here. Altnough the fruit has to come only from Alexandra, and it is railed down overnight, it is imperative that special insulated vans should be provided. By the time the fruit arrives here early in tne morning, it is hot, and it is not difficult to imagine its condition after a trip to Auckland in ordinary goods trucks, and by a system which entails handling eight times." However, the real cause of this season's complaints was that the Central Otago weather had been abnormal, it was said. The heat had been, and still was, excessive at Alexandra. On Wednesday, for example, it was 103 degrees in the shade, but it had not been a dry heat, and the dampness has resulted in an unusually high incidence of brown rot. Fruit coming into Dunedin has been much more badly affected than usual. Consignments from Canterbury provide evidence that growers in that province are suffering even more seriously than those in Central Otago. "There has been too much rain in the growing season, and combined with heat, this has made a big contrast with last season, when the fruit was very hard." a reporter was told. "In Central Otago at present the fruit is almost cooking on the trees. Although we get our fruit down by night, brown rot has caused a great deal of concern to merchants and retailers this season. It is a seasonal complaint, of course, but there is not the slightest sign of any improvement yet." It was the unanimous opinion of brokers approached that the provision of insulated vans was an urgent need, but it was also suggested that it should be possible to deliver fruit in Auckland from Central Otago in a shorter time than five or six days. Frequent handling must affect the quality of the fruit, it was pointed out, and it was considered that the whole system of transport could be revised, greatly to the benefit of the industry. Central Otago growers had had some losses this season, but they had been obtaining exceptionally good prices on the Wellington and Auckland markets, and had no cause for complaint in the return tor fruit they had been sending north.