PRICE OF TOMATOES

Evening Post, Volume XCI, Issue 107, 6 May 1916, Page 6

PRICE OF TOMATOES

TO THE BDITOR. Sir,- —I notice that two correspondents have taken exception to my remarks anent the deputation of tomato growers, asking for the practical stoppage of the importation of, Rarotongan tomatoes into the Dominion. It is worthy of note that neither of them attempts to meet the arguments ■ which I advanced, so, apparently, they are completely sound. The only serious suggestion or argument put forward was that if these fruits were allowed to come in it was tantamount to having unfair competition in the line, in that white labour in New Zealand would have to compete against the lowpaid coloured labour of the island. That, Mr. Editor, is hardly a correct summing up of the position, for not only does the question of'labour enter it, but, what is more important by far, the climatic conditions in the winter season are the determining factor- in the question. .'.:■ .To: produce tomatoes in the Dominion during July, August, and September (with the probable exception of the far north), a good deal of artificial heat is required, •and this entails a tremendous cost to the person who purchases the fruit, and as there is a very restricted output the prices logically go very high. My point in" the letter which opened the correspondence was that this made it impossible for the bulk of the New Zealand people to purchase this fruit at a time when there is a scarcity in the .whole line, and nothing either of my opponents has said has shaken the position. It might equally as well be advanced that we should attempt to "prevent the importation of all sub-tropical fruits because, by the employment of a number of workers in costly glass structures with plenty of artificial heat we would be able to produce these things for ourselves. As one deeply interested in the good conditions of labour in the Dominion, I should be sorry to advocate anything which might detract from that, but under the circumstances I hold that it is far more important that a comparativeh cheap supply of tomatoes should be available for all classes than that a handful of growers should be able to "make a pot ef money hy \ catering for the wealthy few. Judging i from the position in Britain, they would hardly be affected anyhow, as, although tons of tomatoes are introduced from the hotter countries further south, nevertheless the growers of the local product under glass are always able to command a decent price for their superior article, which is purchased by those able to pay the higher price.—l am, etc., J.R.

sth May, 1916.