The Dunstan Times. "Fiat justitia ruat coelum." MONDAY, MARCH 25th, 1912 THE FRUIT MARKET.

Dunstan Times, Issue 2627, 25 March 1912, Page 4

The Dunstan Times. "Fiat justitia ruat coelum." MONDAY, MARCH 25th, 1912 THE FRUIT MARKET.

Prices in the Dunedin and other central markets during the past few weeks have been at anything but a satisfactory standard from the growers point of view, With peaches selling at from Jicl to i l <d per lb. and apples and pears at from is to .2S & per 40H) case the return to the producer cannot do more than return actual expenses, let alone provide a fair margin of profit. And the worst feature of the case is that as far as the consumer is concerned the price of this commodity is as high as ever—in fact is so high as to make its daily use prohibitive to the workers of the Dominion. As far as price is concerned there is little doubt but what a most unfavorable season has affected the quality which is not up to the standard. A proportion of the consignments are unquestionably of lower grade than usual and these cannot be expected to realise high prices. The cold, wet weather lately experienced, especially in the coastal districts, is also responsible for a considerable decrease in the consumption of fruit. Still both of these factors conjoined are not, in our opinion, sufficient to account for the slump in the market which has taken place. The weak point in the fruit growing industry at the present time is beyond doubt "the system of distribution. _ A system which gives the lowest possible price to the producer and exacts a prohibitive one from the consumer must have something radically wrong with it and the sooner our growers face the position the better it will be for them. Organisation on the part of the growers is the one thing that will remedy the matter, and until that is effected the brokers must control affairs and the present unsatisfactory state of things continue. The organisation of the fruit-growers has been already commenced per medium of the local fruit-growers association and it devolves on the executive of that body to inaugurate a scheme for the regulation oi supplies to a central market and a system of distribution that will bring the producer into more direct communication with the consumer. Such a process would go a long way towards securing prices that would be more satisfactory to both parties, while the increased demand that would naturally follow the cheapening of the price to the latter would help materially in the disposal of the large increase in the fruit output, which must take place within a very short period. When the large areas which have recently been planted come into bearing it is only reasonable to suppose that growers will have to look beyond the local markets for the disposal of their produce, and will have to turn their attention to canneries and the export trade. The experience of other countries has shown that it is only by the establishment of these factors that the industry is placed en a really solid basis. Growers may have to face a temporary slump hi prices until these things are established facts, but in the meantime they should lose no opportunity of endeavoring to establish the trade for which they are now catering on the most satisfactory basis possible.