FRUIT EXPORT TRADE

Dominion, Volume 19, Issue 117, 11 February 1926, Page 10

FRUIT EXPORT TRADE

SHIPMENTS LEAVE NEXT WEEK GOOD PROSPECTS FOR SEASON Bound for Rugland, the Tort Hunter and the Arawa will leave Wellington next week carrying in their holds 20,000 cases of apples, which,will comprise the first two shipments of fruit to the Old Country this season. The fruit has been drawn from the north of Auckland, Central Auckland, Hastings, Marlborough, and Nelson. There will be 12,000 cases shipped in the Port Hunter, due to sail on February 16, and 14,000 in the Arawa, which wall depart the following day These shipments will be a little earlier than the first shipments in previous years, owing to the fact that in some varieties the fruit has matured earlier than usual, and on account of the fact that in a number of instances growers are shipping fruit which hitherto has not been introduced to the English market. Bookings with-the Fruit Export Control Board indicate that during, the season there will be in the vicinity of 430,000 cases shipped from the port of Wellington, 20,000 from Auckland, and possibly between 50,000 and 60,000 from Dunedin. Heavier shipments will also be sent to the Argentine market now that the embargo placed on New Zealand fruit has been lifted. The quantities to be sent to tlie Argentine and Uruguay will be about 50,000 cases, and from recent advices received by the Control Board it would appear that satisfactory prices may be expected. Every endeavour is being made ill New Zealand to fulfil the requirements of the English market, and at the present time Colonel C. Gray, chairman of the Frpit Export Control Board, is in England, where he will, throughout the season, attend to the distribution of fruit wliicji has voluntarily been pdaced in the hands of the board for that purpose. Colonel Gray will also supervise the arrival and handling of New Zealand consignments, thereby furthering the interests of the growers in New Zealand. In future more use is to be made of the outside ports such as Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, and Hull, as it has been realised in New Zealand that by shipping to these ports it will be possible to secure a wider market for distributipn than it is by dispatching shipments front London. The present prospects for the season are that there will be an approximate increase in the total shipments for New Zealand of about 100 per cent. Growers generally appear to be anticipating a good season, and this year they have been much more successful in combatting various pests. Consequently the fruit is cleaner and in a better condition than usual. A recent decision of the Control Board, which should meet with much popularity, is a move on the lines of the Meat Control Board’s operations. This innovation enables private individuals in the Dominion to have, fruit addressed to relatives and friends in England. Thus they will be able to obtain New Zealand fruit in wholesale quantities, and immediately a shipment arrives at its destination.