THE FRUIT QUESTION.

Cromwell Argus, 2 March 1908, Page 5

THE FRUIT QUESTION.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir.-I had expected ere this to see some other parties touch on the subject brought forward recently by Mr J. G. M'Leod in regard to the waste of fruit in our district this year. The statements made by that gentleman are plain and to the point, and worthy of greater consideration than they have merited. The quality of fruit which has been grown here this year, under very adverse circumstances, has been excellent and would, I am sure, compare more than favorably with the product of more famed districts. The quantity of fruit has been enormous, in fact so great that it had to be allowed to rot under the trees, and even had to buried. We are surely very prosperous or a very dilatory community. We are never backward in expounding the possibilities of this district as a future fruitproducing centre, and can easily estimate (on paper) what the nefct profits are going to be at some future time by the sale of fruit in the great markets of the Dominion. Nothing furthers an object of this kind better than practical 'results, and the opportunity of obtaining such results, by adopting a scheme on the lines of the previous writer, has been excellent. Had some body been formed locally to obtain the fruit and forward it to a market, I am quite satisfied the result would have done moie to push on the industry than all that can be written or said about it. Good quality plums, of which we have had a great supply this year, would realise at any time Id a pound in Dunedin, and recent prices have ranged from lfd to 2d. Surely that would pay with only 13 miles to the railway, when Roxburgh, for instance, has to cart 30 miles. Taking another view of the matter, what a bad advertisement it is for a district which is clamoring for railway communication to have such a state of affairs existing. The best way to prove the necessity of a rail* way is by doing the utmost under the present circumstances in making use of the products of the district, and by showing that the statements made by deputations to Ministers are easily proved in reality. Some progressive individual will yet undertake to forward consignments on a large scale to Dunedin, and the result will set the whole district on the move. I do not wish to underestimate the possibilities of the district, but I cannot help endorsing your previous correspondent's remarks in regard to the great opportunity that has been allowed to pass of tec-ting our fruit in the leading markets, as there could not be a loss.

Some will argue that it will not pay, but everything points to the contrary. And further, what a fine thing an up»to-date factory and preserving works would be in our midst. One has only to consider what a great quantity of jam and canned fruits are imported to this town alone in the winter months, and look at the huge amount of fruit wasted during the summer, and the situation can bo easily guaged. Instead of importing we could be supplying our own wants and leaving a good surplus for export. The season is probably too far advanced for anything to be done this year, but it is to be hoped that before another season is allowed to pass in a like manner, that an association will be formed to act on behalf of the growers, and I feel confident the scheme will have a beneficial effect. Thanking you in anticipation.—l am, etc., ADVANCE.