PEARS FOR ENGLAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19859, 1 February 1928, Page 9

PEARS FOR ENGLAND.

NELSON SEASON STARTS. GREAT CARE IN PACKING. [BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.} NELSON, Tuesday. The packing of fruit for the English markets has commenced, the first consignment being a line of pears from a Stoke orchard owned by Mr. G. Dees. The fruit was packed by Mr. Thorp, Government instructor. This season the greatest possible attention wdl be given to the pear pack to rectify past mistakes. Last year Colonel Grey, of the Fruit Control Board, reporting on pear shipments as they arrived in Great Britain, said he was satisfied that much of the damage was caused by slack packing, "for." be said, "when the fruit arrived in every instance practically you could have got at least three or four more pears into the crate without crowding." Colonel Gray emphasised the need of more woodwool in the full pack. He said: "I have examined some hundreds of trays and compared them with the South African pears pack. At a conservative estimate I would say that the South Africans use at least ten times the quantity of woodwool found in our trays. Improvement is simply vital." No stone is being left unturned this year to improve the pear pack. Mr. Dees has no satisfactory market for these early pears in New Zealand. Last year some 100 crates were exported in a good pack, and the average price obtained was 27s a case of three trays, each tray containing from 25 to 42 pears, according to size. a few instances crates containing 75 pears sold as high as 32s a crate. This, is not far short of 6d per pear. Mr. TJiorp attributes the success of this particular line ever others to the fact that woodwool was freely used. This year even greater attention is being paid to the pack by makin? the pears fit more closely, and by using all the woodwool possible. The three travs which form the crate by being firmly bound with wire cost about Is 9d, and the woodwool necessary for satisfactory packing costs 7£o, from 21b. to 2Jilb. being required. Mr. Thorp said growers were not unnaturally staggered by the latter expenditure, and many had been reluctant to spend so much on woodwool, but the results at the other end made the expenditure a sound investment. For every 7d spent here on woodwool at least 7s would be gained in the prices realised for the fruit. That, at any rate, was what the reports from Home meant in hard cash. "It is absolutely imperative," Mr. Thorp concluded, "that growers put all the woodwool possible into the pack." OPOSSUM SKINS, VALUE TO WEST AUSTRALIA. Some idea of the value of opossum skins to Western Australia is given in official figures issued last week. In four months 80,000 skins were collected, ' and some were still left to be counted. Hie value to the Sate of the open season will be about £20,000. MARKET REPORTS. FRUIT AND PRODUCE PRICES. In spite of the long spell of dry weather good supplies of field produce came forward at the Auckland City Markets yesterday, meeting with a moderate demand. At the sale a week ago the market was poorly supplied, with a marked rise in values all round, but yesterday's prices were o» much the same level as those recorded last Saturday. The fruit section was well-supplied, bananas being very plentiful. Tomatoes were slightly lower in price. There was a distinct improvement shown in the demand for most grades of apples. Several cases of the Southern apricots which had just arrived were found tc \e j over ripe and had to be sold' cheaply. The demand for oranges is still slow, the recent shipment from California realising 32s to 35s a case. The difference between higher and lower grades of hothouse grapes was less marked than at the last sale and prices aro firm at a satisfactory level. The supplies of plums were small and the demand improved correspondingly. The field produce market was well supplied, the demand being only fair. The dry weather has, however, affected supplies of pumpkins and marrows, prices being higher than usual. Potatoes are small in size and t,he demand in this section was fairly keen. The supplies of eggs were very short and a distinct rise in prices was shown all round. No change in the price of farmers' butter was recorded. FRUIT. Tomatoes, first grade, 3s 6d to 5s a case; inferior, 13 6d to 2a 6d; plums, favourite, 7s to 9s a case; others, ss. to Gs; peaches, special, 7s to 8s a case; others, 5s 6d to 7s; Cape gooseberries, (id to 8d per lb; hothouse grapes. Is to Is 6d-per lb; apples, Bpecial Gravensteins, 7s to 9s a case; first grade, 5s to 6s; inferior, 2s 6d to Ss 6d; cookers, 4s tp ss; lemons, graded, 16s to 20s a case; inferior, 10s to 15s; southern apricots, first grade, 8s to 93 a case; inferior, •Is to 5»4 bananas, ripe, first grade, 14s to 18s a case; inferior, 10s to 12s; Californian oranges, J!23 to 35s a case. FIELD PRODUCE. Potatoes, new, 6s lid to J3s a bag; kumaras, new season's, £d to 4d per lb; pumpkins, 16s to 25s per owt; swedes, 3s to 4s a bag; onions, 5s to lis 9d a bag; cabbages, 8s to 9a a sack; on benches, 2s to 5s 6d a dozen; peas, 6s to 10s a bag; beans, 6s to 10s a bag; lettuce, 2s to 7s 6d a case; rhubarb, 2s to 3s 6d a dozen; spinach. Is a dozen; . spring oaions, Is to Is 3d ' a bundle; marrows, 3s to 9s a dozen; carrots, paj-snips, beet and turnips. Is 6d to 3s a dozen; cucumbers. Is to 3s 6d'a dozen; pickling onions, lid to .lid per lb. DAIRY PRODUCE. Hen eggs. Is 9d tc Is 11-id a dozen; duck ejgs, Is Sd to Is lOd a dozen; farmers' butter. Is to Is 2d per lb. FIRM PRICES FOR BEEF. RATES AT FRANKTON SALE. [BY TELI&RAPH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT.] HAMILTON, Tuesday. The Farmers' Co-operative Auctioneering Company reports that at the t rankton sale to-day there were a good yarding of beef, a fair entry of fat and store sheep, and a smaller yarding of fat and store piss thau usual. Beef was again firm and prices were on a par with rate 3 in the previous week. Both fat and store sheep met with, good competition, but rates for pigs were a little easier. Quotations are:—Light fat steers. £0 to i' 9 Is; unfinished light steers, £'s 19s; prime fat cows, £8 to £8 7s 6d; mediumweight cows, £5 18s to £6 lis; plain and unfinished, £4 7s 6d to £5 16s: store cows. £2 17s 6d to £Z £s. Fat wethers, light, to 20s 30d; fat 2-tooth ewes, 23s 6d; fat 2-tooth black face ewes and wethers, 19s to 20s; small shorn lamb 3, 10s 4d; small store wethers, 16s Id; good 4 and 5-year ewes, 21s 3d; sound mouth ewes, 16s to 18s 9d; aged ewes, 8s to 9s 6d. Heavy baccners, £2 7s to £2 10s; light baconers, £2 2s to £2 ss; heavy porkers, £2 to £2 3s; light porkers, 30s to 365; slips, 14s to 18s. LONDON MEAT MARKET. The Bank of New Zealand has received the following advice from its London '.Cice, at the close of business last week:— Frozen meat: The market is firm for "wethers. Price's for ewes are steady. As a consequence of the lamb market being over supplied prices are affected. Australian are quoted at 6d to and Argentine, 6d to Bjjd. There is a fair demand for beef. Quotations: —Wethers, light, 6d to 7£d per lb; wethers, heavy, to per lb,; ewes, heavy, to per lb. ; lamb.-., twos, lOd to 10j{d per lb. ; lambs, eights, lOd to 102 d per lb. ; lambs, fours, lOd to per lb.; lambs, seconds, 9£d to lOd per lb.; ox hiuds, <Hd to 4fd per lb.; ox fores, 3sd to 3|d per lb.; cow hinds, 4d to 4<fd per lb.; cow fores, to per lb.