RAROTONGA.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 496, 1 May 1909, Page 6

RAROTONGA.

FfIUIT REGULATIONS IN THE CROUP. ■■■ . i ' A PROTEST. Mr. Oarl Kohn, a gentleman who baa lived in Rarotonga for twenty years, and is now resident at Auckland, forwards a letter he has received from the group in regard to the proposal to enforce the New Zealand Orchard and Garden Diseases Act, 1908, in the" islands, particularly that provision which provides that'no fruit shall be exported thai is grown within a mile of a fruit-fly infected orchard. In forwarding the letter, Mr. Kohn writes':— - ! Ttia Rarotonga Fly. "It ia well known by those in power that , there are no orchards of. fruit, especially oranges;, the whole of these islands is virtually. one large orchard. The natives being the principal owners of the fruit, have their . small pieces of land distributed all over the island, and it is a matter of impossibility to sign honestly 6uch a certificate., It is also known by the Government that the Mediterranean and Queensland fly is not in existence in the Cook Islands. Theso' flies eoem to be dreaded the most of any. It has beeai stated that there is a fly at the' island 'of Rarotonga of a, special kind which appears quite harmless and cannot.live in New Zealand. Oranges to my. knowledge have been imported into the Dominion for more than 20 years, and I would like to ask the questions—has New Zealand suffered very much from that particular pest? Had. this particular fly been of such a nature as to do such injury, to our orchards in the Dominion, we would have heard of it long before this. In February last year the Government issued strict instructions that the bananas shipped from the Oook Islands must have a certificate that they are grown ovtir one from an infected ordhard. The Agricultural De- > partment no doubt, when thew issued. that order, belierved that tho fly also affects the bananas, but a few months later they must ' have found out that they were erroneous in 1 their idea, and cancelled that order, and substituted a oertifioate which only required

that they are shipped in a green chrf unripe oondition." A Qualified Certificate. • i 'The letter;received by;Mri Kohh is bs follows :—- . , - "Dear Sir,—Be frait certificates, owing to the inspector here being nnablo to Bign the certificate for the present cargo, as required by. the Orchard and Garden Discaso Act of New Zealand, via.; with, mile-radius 'ulan'na' we shippere had to guarantee freight and other charges, &ij the U.S.S. Oompany would take no risk, because with the certificate enclosed the cargo is likely to be refused, admittance into New Zealand. About; 2000 cases of oranges have been skipped from Barotonga to Weffington'afcne. Hie Inspector of the_New Zealand Agriculture Department has'inspected,the frmt here, and• has giveaua certificate without the mile radius,, as, knowing that fruit fly fepresent here, he cannot conscientiously sign, tho required certificate' until atho rough inspection has,been earned out. . , ' _ To the Benefit of the Frcnch Islands. "Now, the N«w, Zealand Government has treated, ns.jtnost unfairly in the wholo matber. You are no doubt aware that thoy Bent one of their own inspectors to report on our industries, pests, etc. This was done, and we heard nothing further until last mail, when word came that a certificate under tne Act would be required, or the fruit would be refused admittance.. We ; wore-given absolutely no time to organise, a system of control for the inspector. What' were we to do? Block all shipment of fruit and lose our trade connections, ■ etc., to..the benefit of ! the' French rslands,. or got the best certificate that : the .inspector was . prepared to give, and ship at our. own risk ? We chose tho litter course. Nowj sir, will $n© Now Zealand Department of Agricnliura stop tie landing of two'steamers cargo,: although oovored .by guarantee that it is free from fly, from their own islands, and allow the trade to go to foreign islands, Which will reap the-benefit' by (S----ting high prioea at the expense of, the con- , Again, I have it on good authory ,tnat tiie certificates for the French islands are signed by - men who have no qualincations whatever for, fruit inspection, and yet they are accepted by tho New Zealand Government. What Cain from Ara»xatton7 ''Now, whore do wo derive any benefit from being part of the Dominion' of New Zealand? We would be for betor like the French islands, "independent,' and able to appoint our own inspectors .to sign certificates, no mattar what they would be worth as regards pests, etc. ■ At any rate, our fruit would be admitted, and we would be' free control of the Department of Amricultare, wnioh, mstead of assisting us to develop our industry, has retarded it to tho advantage of foreign islands. I hope I have made our portion clear to you, and that you wiU agitato to get the cargo landed. Bhould rt bo held up on arrival in Now ZeZ land. Should tbis cappen it would practica 7 ™pper. He' inspector and the U.S.S. Company have done all thoy can to_ assist us in our difficulty. Trusting you wffl use your best endeavours to brine all influence to bear on our behalf. ' . "Yours faithfully, "A; F. AMBRIDGE."