THE FRUIT INDUSTRY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15824, 22 January 1915, Page 4

THE FRUIT INDUSTRY.

Mr. Massey was on safe ground at the nurserymen's conference when he remarked upon the great possibilities ahead of the fruit industry. Those who compare the relative scarcity of fruit upon the tables and in the homes of our people with the desire for and value of this most wholesome and delicious of foods must recognise that there is illimitable opportunity for the industry and for the nurseries upon which it must depend. To some, the president of the conference may seem optimistic in his prediction that the export of fruit will become one of the Dominion's finest assets, but Ave venture to say that he has as much ground for his belief as any dairyman had, less than a generation ago, to expect great things from the butter trade. The fruit-growing industry is still unorganised; orchardists as a body are handicapped by lack of capital ; system is still hardly existent. On the other hand,. we. know that fruit grows exceptionally well in many parts of the Dominion, and nowhere better, according to variety, than in Auckland Province ; and Ave know that there is a good market for good fruit of the right kind if produced in sufficient quantity to make shipment possible. It may be said that the local market is badly catered for, and this is to a certain extent correct, but an export trade,' if once satisfactorily established, must react upon the local market, which is at present so relatively small as to be easily glutted, to the ultimate injury of both producers and consumers. The Government has shown a ready willingness to assist the fruit industry,, -but orchardists must help themselves by systematic co-operation for growing and handling the -marketable varieties—which is the elementary need of the export trade.