VEGETABLE GROWING

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 100, 29 April 1937, Page 14

VEGETABLE GROWING

LICENSING OPPOSED

DISHONEST PACKING

"No intelligence system, designed to regulate the quantities of the different kinds of vegetables to be grown in accordance with the estimated requirements of the market, exists among growers; nor would any such system be readily workable, but in the absence of some such plan, the whole matter of vegetable supplies remains one of chance. It is recognised that the over-production in the case of an annual crop, apart from the immediate results, is not as serious as in the case of a permanent crop, such as an established orchard, for in the former case, a change-over to something else can be made without any great loss of invested capital. However, with production unregulated much of the advantage arising from the ability to change over fairly readily may be lost as new growers, lacking; knowledge of the marketing situation, may enter the business and produce a marketable crop in a short space of time and to this extent', contribute towards the continuance of,,over-supplies. Unfortunately, new growers, particularly Asiatics, are periodically entering the market-gardening industry, and are being encouraged, or at least assisted financially, to do so by some wholesale fruit and produce firms. Short of introducing a licensing system designed to regulate and, if necessary, to restrict production, a matter which the Committee is not prepared to recommend, the Committee feels that not very much can be done towards improving the position of those engaged in the vegetable-growing industry. .The principal recommendations which, the Committee feels, that it can make towards improving the. position of those engaged in the industry would be (a)' a strict enforcement, of our labour laws relative to housing; treatment of employees and hours of labour and rates, of wages; (b) the introduction of a system of vegetable grading, or other form, of .classification of vegetables offered!f.or sale, designed to improve the, position of more careful and honest growers, of whatever nationality, as against that of the careless and dishonest grower. '•:/■. . INCREASED INSPECTIONS. Although the committee is inclined to agree. with- the , wholesalers'^ views that inspection and prosecutions carried out by departmental . inspectors have materially '.checked dishonest packing, it is quite satisfied : that far too much of this-| class '■ of packing is still practised by a proportion of vegetable growers. In view-of this'and of the large, number of. packages offered for sale daily in each market, i*. would recommend a material increase in the number .of inspectors ' available for this work and also that a," system;, of closer, co-operation between:the retail trade and; the Department' be devised so that, through information; supplied by individual- retailers, ; inspectors might, be enabled to utilise to better, advantage the limited time at their disposal, in. which to work-by concentrating their attention! on the produce of doubtful packers rather than on the whole of the material for sale.

"Serious complaints were made by witnesses who gave evidence, before the committee, particularly those re-

presenting the retail trade, against the unsatisfactory state in which potatoes are commonly offered for sale. The complaints were not only supported by extensive evidence depicting numerous instances of fraudulent packing, but were also illustrated in many cases by actual specimens showing the faulty character of the pack and the manner in which the potatoes were secreted in the package to the deception of the buyer. In addition, to deceptive packing the practice of selling large, small, ill-shaped, and fork-injured potatoes under the designation of first or second grade is only too common. It is alleged that this applies to such an extent that retailers almost invariably have to pick over their purchases before offering them for sale to the consumer, resulting in loss either to the retailer or to the purchasing public in consequence of the readjustment in price. POTATOES PLUS MUD. Not only are many potatoes offered for sale thickly coated with mud but in many instances the amount of dirt left in the sack after the potatoes have been removed suggests that it was wilfully placed there. The weight of such soil has at times amounted to 36 pounds per sack of 1801bs. The general opinion of the trade is that the time has arrived when New Zealand, in common with many other potatogrowing countries of the world, where in some instances the practice has been in vogue for many years, should have compulsory grading standards, together with appropriate marking of packages in respect of potatoes.

The committee recommends: That regulations .be ~ issued 'under the Orchard and Garden Diseases Act, 1928, or other appropriate Act, providing for the compulsory grading of all potatoes offered.for sale and that the Department of Agriculture be requested to devise a range of standards suitable for the purpose.

■ A similar recommendation was made in regard to onions.