FRUIT INDUSTRY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LIII, Issue LIII, 10 November 1919, Page 4

FRUIT INDUSTRY

MiR. BUNDLE’,S VISIT TO AMERICA. OPENING FOR NEW ZEALAND FRUIT.

Mr D. H. Bundle, manager of the NeUon Go-operative Fruit Company, has reii/urned after spending some weeks in the £(taltes of California, Oregon, and Washington inquiring itto various phases of thd fruitgrowing .industry. Speaking to a Mail representative, Mr Randle •e.miph.aisifted that sjtain.dna’disation of apples was now an important feature in the Pacific fruit States, and all sales were made on standardised grades of .fruit. Th e cases, ..too, wore standardised. The apple box adopted, by California and Canada was 18, inside measurement and the use of this box becomes compulsory .next season. Appjles imported into America, Mr Bundle says, will bring better prices if in the standardised box.

The opening prices for American apples this season, at present rate- of exchange fin Now Zealand, word: Delicious 19si, Win-esaps 14s 3d, Newtown 14s 3d, Jonathan 10s 9<l, Cox Orange 10s 6d, Macintosh Refi, 10s 6S, Winder •Show (P.onmie d© N-iegc) 10s 6d.,_ Jeffreys 10s 6d. The * la-fq, five varidtie.si are, being imported to New Zealand, and teh cost to land them at Auckland is 21s a case. •

The apple crop in British Columbia < and Western America is . the largest cm. 1 record, and the reason for the high i prices obtained in the East is that the ] co-operative selling organisations have ] been able to invade the .Eaalliem apple ] areas and sell standardised fruit there < in competition with th e home-grown, non-standaidisedi article. The East is i now adopting ami < Western packing ' methods. New York State, which is the largest apple pro* H ducer, is feeling the effeo-'a of the ( Western competition pi selected vane- j tics, and is getting rid of certain sorts which are «xa now pmfitaWe. This l , and also th. o facts that the orchards are somewhait. neglected!, :s reducing the production greatly. Washington.- this year heads the outout of the States. Wenatch e Valley, in Washington, has 52,000 a'eves of bearing orchards and the average produc- I tion, is 620 cases an acre . The United ( Stales Department of Agriculture is * advising increased planting of apples in thei West. As choking .the amount of 1 planting Ithat is - being done Mir Bundle i mentioned: that appl© 1 stocks are unprocurable -‘it 2s 6d a tree, and nurserymen are laying 6s a pound for apple pips for stocks. Seedling frees ar e almost entirely used, although a few Northern Spy trees are to be seen. * Community, or co-operative packing sheds arc becoming increasingly popular. .Sixteen, of these have been erected 1 in, the Hood River district * n thp, last two years, and there will be another dozen. put up next season.. The manager of a Hood River growers’ association, which shipped two million cases thi s season, told Mr Bundle '"•that he wished all the apples would come from the community packing sheds rather than from individual .packers'. Apple-grading machines are also becoming increasßogly popular. They are regarded ias essential for quick handling of the fruit and to secure standardisation. Some 320 graders were sold last season in the Washington., Oregon,, and Californian Slates, representing an investment of £50,000. During his travels M.r Ruipdle met Mr Campbell, assistant Di rector of Orchards, who is making investigations on behalf 61 the New Zealand Government. .The two New Zealanders, spent a week together in Hood River orchards. Mr Campbell has been (through the apple growing districts of America and is gathering valuably -Information in all branches of the fruit industry., One orchard visited by Messrs Cam obeli and Bundle was that owned by the Dufur Orchard Company 40 miles from Hood River, The orchard comprises 4000 ' acres of eight-year-old tiees, and will produce _ 150,000 cases this season. Th© varieties are made up of two-fifths Jonathans, two-fifths I Delicious, and the balance Yellow Newtown and Winter Banana The cost ot pruning this orchard for one year was £4OOO. There is a packing shed, _ m the orchard 380 feet long by 80 feet wide, containing eight 4-grade machines packing 4500 cases daily. Board and lodging at a dollar a day is provided for 250 employees. The orchard is nine miles long, and ‘the plant tobe duplicated in another part of **»,, orchard three miles distant, and a concrete highway is to b© comsi* :| racted, to the port, IS miles' away. One feature mentioned 1 by Mr <Rnndle is the development of' big companies ito handle the output of orchards. America is two million bushels short tills season. English buyers have been through buying.. The opiniom is general that sales up to 50,000 cases ftom New Zealand or Australia can be made 'this season if shipping is available. In addition to fruit, Mr Bundle was also asked if he could make arrangements for various* other linos, including bacon, ham, peas, maize, wheat and oats. Asked as to tho cost of cases in America Mr Randle stated thaJtl cases were costing 9d each on contracts. Twelve Ideal graders hav© been ordered by Mr Bundle. One is already here, one is on the way, andten are to be shipped in January. It is intended, to give a demonstration of this grader at iStok© this week. Finally it may be. stated that Mr i Ruddle returns (to NpleOn thoroughly satsfiedi with the iirospecis of the fruit , industry in this province. ' *** ■■ M——— l —**