THE FRUIT INDUSTRY.

Nelson Evening Mail, 18 April 1916, Page 5

THE FRUIT INDUSTRY.

IMPORTANT MEETING; AT STORE,: PROPOSED CJO-OOPERATIV^ ' COMPANY. '. -:•.*< a .-' "What is'stated to bo the- r lairgest', gathering of fruitgrowers yet hold' at Stoke iook° place last evening, when a meeting ■ was hold at tho Public Hall, to hear .an address on the fruit industry iby Mt" H. G-. Hill, and also to gather informal tion regarding, the utilising of cull apples from Ma: A. H. Mazure,., Government, vine and wine instructor. . ' ■■>:'■' -•"• Mr A. T. Allport, a member of :the Board of Agriculture -was voted! to the chair and briefly explained tho object of the meeting, / ' j. .Mr Hill said' the headings of his adj. dress—"The Fruit Industry, past, £*«*. sent, and futnro"—were very appropriate. ' He had visited a largo .number'.of orchardists this side of ihe'Moutero Hills in the interests of the company it was hoped to form. Ho had been alilo .to _ assimilate the ideas and views jof '."tho people with whom he had como in contact. He had found it difficult to _, get growers to realise present-day xeguire- ~ orients. History was repeating itself. Growers were sending fruit to the market and getting a debt therefor, instead of. a reward for their twelve ■ months' work. The methods of the past would not suffice for the needs of tlie present; The time had arrived for definite'action! What form -was the change to take There was chaos—men producing what thoy could not sell and people wanting what they could not get. Unless people could get what they wanted at a. reasonable pi ice they would not buy it.)* The following figuies were given showing the quantity of fmit impoited into New Zeoland in 1915. " Fresh fruit: Fiona Canada, 1,031,9791b equal to bushel cases, valuedi it £8,946. From Undted States: 1,163,456 lb, equal to 29,086 i bushel cases,' valued at £10,339. Grand total: 54,886 valued at £19,285. Dned fruits (applcg and apricots): From Canada, 12501b, valued! at £25. Fiom United States: 570.0351b, valued nt £10,372. Total: 751.2851b, valued at £10,397. Grand total, fresh and' dried fruits: 2,195.4401b fresh; 751,2851b dried j total 2.946,7251b; total value £29,682, Thus while there was fruit going lotten m New Zealand, fruit was oeing imported iiorn Canada and) t^e 1 Tintedi States to the amount of £19,000. Figures like that were to bo quoted, While the industry ini New Zealand wag sStaguaot! Reference was made to what was being done in New South "Walea the competition of imported fruit.-by .the adoption of cold storage., Co-jopeiation, cold storage audi tho "establishment' canning factories "we're to be the salvation of the fruit industry. T,o he quite candid, he had never seep ab.ytKing't/ipi preaching the disunion and; <fosoigani§iition that existed to;day an the 'fimijt in dustry. Tho action —or inaction—was bound to reflect on the, future of- fche industry. If the production of fruit was lessened then the capital value of theilj properties was going to falL A large percentage of orcharcUsts wanted to seH ? as they saw their orchards were not pay jng. If ©very man, wom.m. and child in the D/raiiniom was 'eat,tig- as much fruit as was waafced and' lhe>e , then a surplus, then ho would say ibere was over-production. But that was not tho position. After all, jt» >vas only a question of, bridging the gulf between the producer and the cb'isiinj&r'.' From north to south, arid east to west the cry was going up—organise 1 t brganise! The growers must organise to prevent the 1 waste that was goino on. - ,- .' Mr" Hill ventured the opinion that."t would be five yeara after, the wa>. .ondedi before shipping was back to norm■'l,' and unless theie was a plentiful sivpplyot. ships they would! have to look to 'thfijr own markets to consume the fruit. .No apples need go out of the countiy if php lsevr Zealand public -couldi get ■{hem. at a reasonable price. The consumption of r fruiti had to be increased,,new ipaijcets r opened, and the apple popularifed. 'lf it was not done then some people .would have to go to the wall. The -standard of grading would have to ibe jncroaseij, leaving, with the enormously inciensed production, a much larger quantity) of culls. By utilising what was nov\ v wostecl the prico for tho better, article could b<> lowered and the consumption of frrot <( popularised. The manufacture of > cidep' was one method by which ihe am pins ip>i pies could be utilised. In Auckland largo quantities of chemical cider worn being manufactured'; but in kelson there wei© apples available to turn into •* real cider. 'The' salvation of the- fruit business, was organisation—on -co live lines, with everything coming ,back to the growers. The- grower could 001 l get tho benefit which accruer to him except on truo co-operative lines. *. Mr Hill then proceeded to lay "before the meeting the results of his micsibn to giowers regarding the formation of the company initiated at Qtqke. , ljle. had sometime"? been told' that it \vas»im bo a Stoke but he had quickly dispelled that idea, and in the end h<i had been able to secure a largo number of shareholders all along Range to Stoke. Amongst othei* there* weie shareholders in Korere, Kohatjtf, Foxhill, Wakefield, Spring Grove', Bright-water, Hope, -Appleby, !Redwood's Valley, Richmond, • Stoke. Stoke had nbt yet been canvassed,''but, would be in a day or two.' The position "wasthat 80 shareholders to date h#d taken 5025 shares, or 2000 shaves less than, the number lequired to be taken before flotation If all the .remaining orchardists each took up the*! - , same number- of shares as those l who had already dona so, there would he 2000 shares above. Mja number requited. Mr Hill said lift couM faithfully claim that he had done his share as organiser, and if every growefr did tho same, there need ba no questionas to 1 the success of ithe future of><- the _ industry. (Applause). • • c Questions w'ero invited* • -i * ■ ' Mr Hall said' there Jvere two difficulties—the small fruit grower and tho £8 an acre liability of shareholder«. Efich sharehdlder is required to up 'eisht shares for each-acre of orchard in the production .stage.' ,', , v Mr Hill replied that if the company could not do bettor for the grower thi*. the grower was doinc now, then it would be better to drop it. He « had found that the £8 an acre was a spurn* , bling block, but it was really aa> insurance,'and there would be 4i years io,r payment. ■ ' i* Mr Hall considered the growers wereat present losing more than„£B a -jear. The, chairman said a crisis had come in the -fruit industry. Ik ."had', come sooner than expected owing to-the war; and the only way of meeting »t ,>ya.s organisation of the growers. , Pj QductyQn 1 was increasing, and therefore «it ava.s necessary to find more markets. W was tor the 'Stoke gi'owers to decide v \\,hoti\ftr. thev would ioin the compahy.. It was hop'ed to amalgamate with tthe Usp companies on the other side of . the Moutere Hills. Tsie Moutere Copipany had been operating feu* some years, and ■with success. It >had 'been proved ,ths,t a co-opeiative company, .could -. wor j* ; with success. The diffeience

price the consumer -paid and the pro- ' efucer gob was altogether too great, and • -matters should certainly bs placed on a better foundation. 'Mr Agmen Smith asked Ala- Hill if Be' thought the statements in the press about the glut of fruit were a good thing. Everyone (was looking for cheap fruit. zMr Hill: : That's what you want. •You want to give the people cheap fruit. -Mr Smith said) that if there had not "beers such a howl in the pres there would not have been, such a rush of fruit to the market. ../.Mr HilL said he knew of orchardists fruit-. » . The chairman thought the press should fae thanked for the way in which it had dealt -with the present position. A great deal of space had been given bv the press "with a view to popularising fruit. Once start "the people using fruit thev would always use it. The campaign* in the press, he- considered had done good. (Applause).

' ; BY-PRODUCTS OF APPLES. CIDER VINEGAR. AND DRIED FRUIT. " Mr Mazure next addressed the meetas follows :—ln view of the fact that -this district is greatly dependent on its •fruitgrowing, it seems a positive cr<me that the waste- of. fruit, of which there must foe an appalling amount, is not turned to some profitable account. 1 do not think growers can possibly realise to "what extent the by-products of the apple can be utilised. Naturally the first question is "What are the market prospects of those by-products?" When I tell vou that 70,000 gallons of artificiallv prepared cider are sold in New Zealand vou will probably realise that the genuine article opens up immense possibilities. . Again, it must not be forgotten that numerous persons no doubt "refuse to use the artificially prepared -concoction, but were the genuine article Offered/ in its stead. this prejudice - would, I am sure, entirely disappear. It €s practically certain, then, that proper;jv manufactured cider should prove an immense success. Cider is. of course, the anost important by-product of the apple. -It-is a wholesome, refreshing, healthy •ibeverage, at the Same time possessing medicinal properties. It '.s said "An- apple a day keeps the doctor away." The point-is if the apple has such wonderful properties, why not consume.it in its liquid form, by partaking . *>f such a delightful and refreshing beverage as cider? The process of manufacture is simple. The apples are crush«d. tho juice squeezed out, fermented in -casks, clarified,, bottled), and aerated, -with the result "that in six'months you fcave a pleasing beverage with so close a to champagne that most people really prefer it to that most expensive article. The next question to ilecide is that of cost- An up-to-date s plant costing about £SOO will deal with l&tiont 10 tons of apples per day. Any •apple can be used providing there is no *ot about it, and more emphatically still ■there must be absolutely no codlin " jnbth. For this class of apple the grower should get £5 per ton. or approximately a shade over one halfpenny per pound. Think what this would mean to the growers in this district I I understand there are about'2ooo acres in orchard '.this side of the Moutere Hills. • And if irwe'take 130 trees to the acre we get '260,000 trees. If they are not all in thev will be in a few years' time . Judging from what I have seen Jfc is on the safe side to say there will "be a waste of an average of lOlbs per jfcree. That means 2,006,000 pounds of -apples wasted in the year, while if they ~y>ere turned into cider they would return to the growers between £SOOO and -'£6ooo. Add the other portions of the district not mentioned and you will get some idea of the annual- loss: not oniv Vfe> the growers- individually, font to the countrv~as a whole. At the present time fit must be Temembered that we are at ■war, and the Imperial Government is -endeavouring to awaken the nation to reconomv on the one hand and the saving- of/wastage on the other . What are to assist the nation from -this standpoint? .-5 To return, to the cider plant. The size mentioned would -produce at least 125 of cider, per ton of fruit, which 3f -sold at 2s 6d per gallon as still ci■&&■—that is in hulk without aeration—--Vould produce £ls 12s> 6d per; ton. The of manufacture can be estimated at Is per gallon, to which must be added •the price of the fruit. Take it as follows .—A case of 401bs costs, say, 2s. "It- produces approximate! v 2£ gallons, which is equivalent to 5s Bd. The cost of manufacture is 2s 3d, thus leavin-r "you a margin of Is 5d per'case. If : the company manufacturing the_ cider js co-operative" it means that this extra profit goesba ck to the shareholder as a Ibonus ■ - Thus the grower gets 2s per : <ase in the first place and Is 5d as above making 3s 5d for reject 'f.rnifc. ■ Another hy-product which is, m my opinion, a very ' important one, is the Imanufacture of vinegar. The cider plant ~io= suitable for this purpose with the '-exception that specially prepared casks must be used. Vinegar costs approximately 9d to Is per gallon to produce, •and a low estimate of its selling price cas Is 6d to Is lOd, for a good sound .-article. There would, lam. sure, be a .-good market for this product, for at the. .• .present time there is consumed a large -quantity of vinegar composed of acetic : and water, coloured artificially. lb Another important : branch of indus■=trv is > the manufacture of unfermented ;arid non-intoxicating cider. This drink would appeal to the teetotal portion of - the population, and would be very popular amonest the purveyors of soft -drinks. The only addition to the cider -jplant already mentioned is a pasteuriser --which would cost about £IOO. "" The next by-product of equal import.iuico is the process of drying by evaporation. Sun-dried apples from Califor- ' iiia are invariably discoloured. One case of apples will produce from 6 to lOlbs Joi dryings which, if first grade, will sell ,for a'minimum price of 6d per lb in this -"countrv. A plant consisting of either an r elevator wire tray evaporator or a large iclay and straw, kiln would cost approxi".matelv £4OO. including peelers, corers, and slicers. Do not forget that the cores and peels can he used for cider making or if preferable can be turned into apple jelly, a delectable .by-product of the fruit. Having mentioned the various by-pro-ducts of the fruit I should like to give my opinion as to the best means of giv--injr effect to my suggestion. I do not -yfaelieve it would pay any grower to in>ital a plant for his own use, that is from 4. commercial point of view ; but Jtbere are so many growers I am firmly "Convinced a co-operative company is the proper scheme o adopt: To make a big 'scheme a success you mast co-operate. and to make this apple industry, with all its attendant by-products, a success it must be on a big scale. Therefore, Ifhere is only one thing for the growers, in my opinion, to do and that is to ""form some such, company as 1 have described. r ' Mr Mazure was warmly applauded at the conclusion of his address. S* In. reply to questions Mr Mazure said 3x men could do all the work in a 'iSider factory, rsmegar-mak- " if«g; two more men for drying, and two ;?The chairman said that if the district -found £IOO for a cider plant the Govwould . find the remaining JB4OO. It seemed .a. very simple matter, and there would; *be-3s.'a case for the jUrOwer. which was a. "very fine price. " jyfbye whole of the second .and third-class

apples could be made into cider, vinegar, or dried fruit.. Air Gilbert paid under the. proposed Company scheme the grower grew his j fruit and delivered it to a central packing shed. The company would do a!! the rest. The time had come when the growers must help themselves. There was too much looking to the Government. There was no glut of fruit at the present time —only of second-class stuff. The people of New Zealand were calling out for fruit. There was an order in the city for a thousand cases of good fruit, which could not be supplied, yet the growers were in a funk. What was wanted was loyalty to the new company. It was the intention of tho company to embrace a scheme such as outfined by Mr Mazure, to deal with the wastage. The. company was an assured) success and now- only wanted tho loyal support of the Stoke growers. (Applause). Mr Bolt said he had been out with Mr Hill, and no man could have done better work than Mr HilL 'had during the past, six weeks. One could: not but be struck at the tremendous wastage. All through the district growers were, complaining of having no market; and it was absolutely necessary to have some methods of dealing with the wastage, and this on cooperative lines. Mr Gilbert moved a hearty vote of thanks to Messrs Hill and Mazure for the valuable information placed; before the meeting . In seconding, Mr Agmen Smith warmly commended the action of the Agriculaural Department in so promptly sending an officer to Nelson to tell them how to deal with the waste apples. There "were a lot of apples in hand that could, be dealt with. The motion was carried by acclamation. Mr Hill acknowledged the vote on •behalf of himself and Mr Mazure. ITo said that there were enough men in the room to make it possible for tho company to ; be an accomplished thins the following day. The company would embrace all departments. What were the growers going to do? A vote of thanks to the chair brought a most successful meeting to a close at 11 o'clock.