MONEY IN FRUIT.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 447, 4 March 1909, Page 2

MONEY IN FRUIT.

FOR THE MIDDLE MAN. When one sees tho tempting displays of • Australian grapes in Wellington shops or ' on hand-carts, one can think of the struggle | that tho Australian growers aro having;in their own country to get their proper dues. ■ This paragraph "from the Sydney "Daily Telegraph" is rather telling on the point:— "Tho present grape season is proving the most profitless experienced by vignerons fcr some years. In spite of the fact that the crop of table grapes was reduced to about hull', by tho heat wavo at tho beginning of the year, tho prico to the grower is no moro than is realised in seasons of plenty. As a matter of fact values have gone below thoso of previous years, but the public are, all the same, asked to pay more, and growers are much perplexed in consequence, t "Speaking to a well-known 'vigneron,- who t sells his own fruit in the Sydney market, 9 and is in a position to study trade tactics, ' a representative of "The Daily Telegraph" was given an insight into tho workings of tho market, which goes a long way toward explaining tho anomalies which exist. It is alleged that the majority of tho city fruiterers work in unison; each market morning, they arrive at a tacit understanding regarding the price to bo paid for various varieties of fruit, and act accordingly. . To simplify ( the carrying into effect of these , decisions, one individual will buy for a numbor of shopkeepers, and by this means thero is less likelihood of the prices arranged being diverged from. After the shopkeepers have concluded their purchases—somo time beforo 10 a.m. —the market becomes quiet, until tho "jammies" begin to operate—usually in the afternoon—when agents are tired and weary of trying to dispose of big lots of fruit which they know well is deteriorating with every hour that passes. Tho "jnmmio" knows this, too, and waits his. opportunity. At tho last moment he swoops down, and buying in big lots of fruit that would be valueless on the morrow, gets it at iiis own price. .Then comes tho opportunity for tho itinerant hawker, who for a few pence buys .what the others have left. "At tho present time, growers say they see no way of remedying matters,| although a combined movement is now afoot, to bring about an alteration of existing conditions with the completion of tho new markets, which will, they 1 hope, afford facilities for disposing of the fruit to tho general public direct. As an instance of the abnormal charges made to the public by retailers, it. is only necessary, the speaker said, to deal with passion fruit. This fruit, although in ' great demand among consumers, would not pay to send' to market, the ruling price being 2s. Gd. a "gin" case of 40 dozen. Tho consequence was, that thousands of cases wore allowed to rot on the ground, and it is estimated that in the Gleuorie district alone 5000 cases went to waste in this manner. At the same time, the retail prico of passion fruit in Sydney was from 4d. to (id. per dozen, the profit to the retailer being about 18s. a case. While these thousands of cases of fruit were rotting a few miles out of tho city, thousands of families were wanting it, because passion fruit is looked upon as absolutely necessary for fruit salads. They could not c-btnin it', however, owing to the high prices asked. Tho same stato of affairs .applies to almost all varieties of fruit in a mere or less degree, and the speaker felt confident that two-thirds of city and suburban residents regard fruit as a luxury which they cannot afford." Mr. Bisset, Editor of Publications in the Department of Agriculture, is this week visiting the poultry stations at Milton and Duruham, in tho South Island.