FRUIT CONTROL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 28 October 1926, Page 6

FRUIT CONTROL

AN OPPONENT’S VIEWS (To- The- Editor.) —'l'bo- ipeolipg; Jpdd; at Stoke K*. ovaPtflg: vyas; one- ■of the most p,di)»'l|o affairs I, iiaye over attended, Sure.y Colonel Gray must have hotel under the impression that Ihe orchardists had hern asleep for several months and knew nothing about the arsenic scare, the big strike, the heavy shipments of American apples and the particulars concerning the arrival and of the shipments of fruit from New Zealand. Aa a matter of fact, thanks to the splendid services of the Press of the Dominion, including the Nelson “Mail,’ the average orchardist is well inlormed on all subjects concerning his own particular business, and also affairs in general affecting the well-being of Eng land and the. dominions, including the findings of the Economic Committee ami also the .Marketing Committee. However. Colonel Gray proceeded at great length in. a carefuily prepared report to inform his unfoiiunate audience, seated on uncomfortable forms, of what had happened, what is happening, and what is likely to happen in the apple world; much of the ground had previously been covered by Ihe reports of Mr Geo. Stratford and Mr Atlwood. also by Colonel Gray's previous reports. He is quite a good speaker ami knows lmw tn handle words and play his audience to best advantage, hut during the four hours of flow of polished words his poor audience looked bored lo deatlt, and it is to he hoped that the long-drawn-out report is not to he inflicted upon meetings of orchardists in any other part of the Nelson district or oilier places in New Zealand, Colonel Gray says someone (presumably bimsell) must go to England permanently to supervise the sale o! our fruit. One large distributor at Home in a recent letter to New Zealand stated: “It. is lo be hoped that this year’s experience will have taught the glowers a. sufficiently severe lesson to leave the sale of fruit at the English end to those who know the business and have < been in it all their lives.’’ Colonel Gray admits that the fruit is well handled * at Home by firms of ability, long experience and unquestioned integrity. At great length lie wearied his audience with the respective merits and demerits of tho auction and private treaty systems. As a matter of fact there is room and place for noth methods; auctioning for large parcels and private treaty for smaller lines and continuity of supply to the smaller buyers. An over concentration of our .shipments lo private treaty firms may easily land us into a repetition of the serious fosses of the 1924 and 1925 seasons, when our fruit was sold at as low as 1/- and 1/6 per ease, many of (he Nelson growers being very heavily hit. Private treaty often ljecomes a sort of “Dutch auction,” and real .competition is eliminated. As orchard ists our first care must be to produce high quality fruit of the most popular variety and size, put it up attractively and dispatch it expeditiously to the markets; the long delays of past seasons have caused serious deterioration of our fruit befort if left New Zealand, and has led substantially to tho prevailing opinion at Home that our fruit “does not stand up” after discharge from the steamers. Colonel Gray’s place was here to make sure that?'the business was well established and in thorough working order at this end; instead of that he went to London. There was the, greatest confusion and congestion in Wellington, and tho system of loading our fruit over there has completely broken down, Every effort must now be made to induce our Harbour Board to provide a little more depth of water and the shipping companies to send their steamers over here. Nelson is faced with a very grave crisis, for if the fruit industry goes down (and there was nothing disclosed at last, night’s meeting to save it or even help it) Nelson will suffer one of the most severe slumps that any town " in New Zealand has ever experienced, and it is for the Chamber of Commerce, the Progress League and Fruitgrowers' ; Associations (the Provincial Fruitgrowers’ Council is now dead) to give the Harbour Board a very solid hacking in the matter of deepening the harbour and bringing the ocean liners over here. There will then be little occasion for pessimism. Direct loading at Nelson • means a saving of 6cl per case, besides • much Jess handling. There is 6d per case reduction in overseas freight and pie-cooling at 6d per ease is now to be cut out. This means 1/6 saved on each case. The Control Board and Federation will need to amalgamate and cut their expenses down' to a minimum. These concerns collected about £l7 per 1000 cases or £IOO for every 6000 cases this year, and what service did we get for it‘( The staff is growing enormously and becoming quite a young civil service. With tho costs at this end shaded down in every possible way, the most made of the South American market, and with normal conditions at Home, the prospects of the fruit industry are quite good. The orchardists expect all available information lo be made known to them promptly, but up to the present it has been very difficult indeed to'obtain the necessary information and the rebuke by the Minister as reported in last night's “Mail” was well merited. Finally, the orchardist who grows the fruit and owns it, must be allowed lo conduct his own business according lo his own judgment without undue inlerforeneo from the servants of his organisation. I am, etc., ORCHARDIST. 27th October.