DANGER OF IMPORTING AUSTRALIAN FRUIT

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 266, 6 August 1937, Page 13

DANGER OF IMPORTING AUSTRALIAN FRUIT

Effect on Local Market APPLES AND PEARS MAY BECOME UNSALEABLE If the importation into New Zealand of Australian oranges is allowed without stringent restrictions,' the effect on the local market will be disastrous and large quantities of New Zealand apples and pears will be unsaleable and will have to be destroyed. This was the opinion expressed in a resolution moved by Mr. W. A. Tate, Wairarana, and carried, by the New Zealand Fruit-growers’ Federation at its annual conference at Wellington yesterday. The conference decided to ask the Director of Internal Marketing to draw the Government's attention to the matter. There was some opposition to the resolution. Mr. A. Forsyth, Nelson, said the public was entitled to a balanced ration of fruit; they could not be expected to eat apples all the time. “The solution lies, not in shutting out imports, but in looking after our own end of the business,” he said. Mr. L. Robinson. Nelson, said it could not be denied that the importation of Australian citrus fruit seriously affected the market price of pip fruit. Dominion growers, he said, would be well advised to go in for propaganda, stressing the fact that pip fruit was just as health-giving as citrus varieties.