TRADE OF TAURANGA.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 284, 25 August 1908, Page 4

TRADE OF TAURANGA.

WELLINGTON ITS NATURAL OUTLET., REMARKS BY MR. W. COURTNEY. There was again such a small attendance at the Chamber of Commerce yesterday afternoon that Mr. W. Courtney finally decided to abandon his intention of addressing the business men of Wellington on the prospects of trade between this port and Tauranga.'. Speaking to a reporter, Mr. Courtney said that, as a resident of Tauranga, he/felt that Wellington was, beyond a doutyt, the,-centre with which the trade of tho Bay of Plenty should bo carried ' on. According to the Government. pomologist, the district comprised the finest stretch of fruit-growing country in New Zealand, but at present the fruit, went to. tlio Auckland market, where it had to compete >vith tho earlier products of tho northern districts., Tho position was the same with regard,, to early potatoes. Generally speaking, tho season was a fortnight .to a month earlier at.Auckland than at Tauranga. Hence tho desiro for direct and regular communication with Wellington, where tho season is later than in the Bay of Plenty.

Mr. Courtney expressed a belief that if such communication were established, the fruit-growing industry would. be developed to such an extent as materially to increase, the population of the district, t and' make its trade still, more valuable to Wellington. He indicatod, however, that fruit-growing was' not the only specidlity of Tauranga. I "He. regarded it as the best placo in New Zealand for poultry raising. His wife had found, on going there from Taranaki, that her fowls matured earlier, consumed , less food, and showed a smaller percentage-of losses. Tho Bay was also to the fore with .pastoral products, notably' lambs and'pigs, whilo its waters abounded with kingfish,'(flounder! butterfish, and hapuka, all of which were exported solely to Auckland. _ Mr. Courtney added that, in his opinion,., land was cheaper in his district than - anywhere elso in the Dominion. Sections of onefifth of an aero, quite close to tile town, could be bought for £16 to £40. Land of rather poor quality, but excellent for fruitgrowing, six to eight miles from Tauranga, was being sold at los. to 80s. an acre. Rich lands had readied much higher values. ■,Finally,: as a proof of the capabilities"' of tho district, Mr.'Courtney produced a gigan-. tic vegetable marrow, one of crop of four-' teen grown at Tauranga-on n plot 14ft. by Dft. The total weight of the 14 was 5191b., and tho largest turned the scale at 701b. These facts were attested by a certificate bearing the signatureS i of the Mayor-. (Mr. John Bull) and three justices of the. peace.