ANOTHER AVENUE OF TRADE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1078, 17 March 1911, Page 8

ANOTHER AVENUE OF TRADE.

BRIGHT POSSIBILITIES. < By the Rimutaka, which left New Zealand for England yestevdayj.a shipment of . about 5000 cases of Nelson apples were dispatched to the London market. lor some years past the State' Department of Agriculture has been encouraging New. Zealand fruitgrowers in various , iray's. .At the winter shows great (lis- i ■, plays of apples have been made in order ' to.show what fine fruit can lie grown in this, country. On such, occasions a chat with, tho.pomologist, Mr. \V. A. Boucher, has undoubtedly been instructive to any orchardist or prospective orchardist. The good specimens raised on socalled poor soil, trie length of time this ..variety or that has kept .we'll in cool storage', 'and so on—all at the enthusiastic ; . pomologist's finger-tips. Tho interest taken ill the industry by. the head of tho fruit division was manifest by Mr. Kirk's speeches and advice at the fruit f Conferences. The knowledge of the Department e'x- ■ perts and the enterprise of some Nelson growers was combined and conceived the idea..of-founding an export trade in apple's. _ Last season the first shipment was sent aVay. It lcit here about the middle . of April and was landed in London about tho third. week in May: This year a second attempt is being made, and the ■ project i? one which may shortly force itself'under the-notice of the public. A correspondent wrote to The Dominion b, few weeks ago objecting to tho • Government granting a sum ot money to secure tho shippers of this year's trial shipment, a certain remuneration, and accompanying his complaint were several statements relative to tho subject. "To realise- their price (a. remunerative price) it was necessary to obtain 'Js. per case, in the London market," said tho correspondent, "and this it failed to do because the fruit was landed in an unsaleable- state." The facts concerning the arrival of the fruit are these: It was landed on the day before the King's funs' eral.'an occasion- on which the market i conditions were not normal. It was judg- ) e'd advjsable to put the fruit on sale '■ Tight' away as it was in good order, and ' a consequence of' the sudden change from n. cdld. to a warm temperature was' that the. went before the buyers with tho wrappers in a wet, unattractive state. The effect' was thai purchasers were chary. Nevertheless, tho prices obtained wre within one shilling of Tasmaniau prices, notwithstanding that years of trade made Tasmania's fruit well known on the market, and New Zealand's was totally unknown. Tho shipment consisted of 1199 casPS, all Nelson grown. Some of- the prices obtained wore very_ good, but on certain iines there were deficiencies which were made good by the Government.- The ■ Government had offered to assist the growers by guaranteeing a return of at least one penny per pound; that is. if tho net return was less than one penny per pound th 6 State would supplement the receipts until they were swelled to an ?xtent which raised the rate of recompense to the sum stated. The cost to tho State of fulfilling this agreement was AVhilo there were losses the following quotations indicato the possibilities of the trade. Cox's orange, "Radium" brand, brought 18s.; "Kivorslea," 10s.; Roseneath," 10s.; "Echledalc," 10s.; "G.T./.T.," 125.; .TonaTuan; "Roseneath,'' 10s. ;"\Villowbrook." Its.; "H.P./M," 125.; "Kap'ai," 10s.; "W/H," 10s. per case.

I iTKis Year's Shipments, j ■ AIL tho apples conic- from Nelson. No' other district is making it move yet. Nelson growers have big nreas in apples, and aro going in for varieties

suitable for exporting. Big extensions in the areas under apples have been made in the last two seasons, and, in addition, large blocks of suitable apple country have been cut up and arrangements made for planting a number uf. them. Extensions similar to those proceeding in Nelson arc going on in other districts.