Page 5 Advertisements Column 1

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 9221, 8 June 1893, Page 5

"It is well to be informed of the success or otherwise of shipments of, fruit from the othe£ colonies. Tno Daily News of April 12 reported that a consignment of fruit from Victoria had been opened on the previous day in the Covent Garden Market, and was found to consist of plums, grapes, pears, tomatoes, and apples. , The apples, magnificent in size, form, and colour, had travelled splendidly, and found a ready sale at a good price. The softer fruits bad not fared so well, many of the pears having lost their firmnness, while few of the plums had retained their freshness. Some of the grapes, both sultana and little currant grapes, were fresh with the bloom on them, but some of the contents of the boxes were quite soft and discoloured. It was pointed out by exports present that great care is needed in choosing the kinds of fruit for transport in the first instance, certain sorts travelling extremely well, while others will , not stand any knocking about. Among the pears sent were some Williams', which are notably transitory. Summer pears do not keep as a rule, and those which were sent by the . Department of Agriculture, Melbourne, though splendid fruit and of great size, were, of course, gathered in the height of the antipodean summer. Even in these disadvantageous circumstances, however, many of them were in good condition, and, on the whole, the experiment is by no means unhopeful. The tomatoes were pronounced to be first-rate in quality by a well-known authority in Covent Garden tiarket, and of these about a third were sound and fresh. Experience in selection is needed, and also in packing the fruit; : The apples showed an exquisite bloom, almost like that of an apricot, and the: flavour, and : odour were excellent. These were packed in cylinders of corrugated brown paper, and were none the worse for the long voyage. Tho fruit left Melbourne on February 25, having been placed in the cooling chambers 'of the s.s. Britannia on the previous day. It was | six weeks on the way.