FRUIT SHORTAGE

New Zealand Herald, Volume 80, Issue 24758, 4 December 1943, Page 6

FRUIT SHORTAGE

GROWERS' HANDICAPS SMALL APPLE RETURN CONSUMERS PAY DEARLY The apple grower who raises the tree, prunes, sprays, thins the fruit, fertilises, cultivates and picks the crop is asking the Government for approximately Id per lb. for his fruit. Apples sell in the city to consumers at Gd per lb. and they have been higher. What happens to the differenceP The wide margin between the price the grower receives and the price at which the fruit reaches the consumer is one of the important factors operat-1 ing io the detriment of the fruit indus- I try to-day. More fruit would be readily! consumed if it could reach the consumer at even 2d or .'3d per lb. above the price the grower would regard as profitable. The grower says the Government is asking him to grow fruit at less than the costs of production. A consumer retorts that ho might as well eat a turnip as the apples he _is usually offered at a prohibitive price. Great Potential Market A talk to'a few housewives around the city will reveal that in Auckland alone there is an enormous potential market for fruit if the price is right. The difficulty is to reach the consumer, instead of the barriers between producer and consumer being removed, growers complain that they are increasing. liven younger 'members of the community can recall times when it was possible to purchase fruit after a visit to the cinema, but to-day even the fruitcarts have gone. Yet growers are emphatic that their industry is unprofitable and they have to bolster it up by outside work. "Why can't we deal more directly with the public?" tliev ask. Those growers who are able to enjoy the limited consumer trade now available say they can sell cheaper and better this way and make a greater success of their orchard. Decline in Orchard Area The grower is handicapped with all the frills of uneconomic packing and grading for the local market, especially under war conditions. The consumer in desperation is turning toward his home garden and trying to grow more and more of his own fruit. The growers do not regard this threat as serious, in spite of the progress it is making, because tliev snv the home grower has not the time, and often not the skill, to give the care and attention to the trees necessary for complete success. Consequently the situation has_ arisen that, while the country, eminently suited for fruit-growing, is suflcring a severe shortage and high prices, the fruit industry is going into decline. The New Zealand Official Year Book, recently published, shows that in six years' from 39:50 to 1012 the area in fruit trees of a quarter of an acre or more fell from 20,072_ acres to 19,544 acres, a decrease of 5528 acres. PETITION TO PARLIAMENT GROWERS HOLD MEETING A decision to petition Parliament and to advise each member of Parliament of the position and viewpoint ol the industry was made at a meeting attended by 90 fruitgrowers in the Oratia Hall last night. Those present were representatives of the Oratia, Henderson, Birkdale, Albany and liuapai fruitgrowers' associations. The action of the directors of the New Zealand Fruitgrowers' Federation in declining the Government price offered for the 1944 crop of pip fruits was unanimously endorsed. The resolution also urged the federation representatives to continue the fight to secure a price equivalent to the average cost of production. Ceiling prices for stone fruits were also discussed, and it was decided that, while those present opposed ceiling price-setting in principle, the recommendation of the directors of the Fruitgrowers' Federation that the top price for highest quality fruit should he 15s for a half-case and 25s for crates was regarded as satisfactory. It was pointed out that the great bulk of the crop would be sold at considerably less than the rates quoted. The action of Mr. A. B. Congdon, who addressed the meeting, in resigning from the National Fruit Advisory Committee was endorsed,. RETAIL TRADES SURVEY OF MANPOWER DIRECTIONS TO INDUSTRY A recent survey of the retail trades, made with a view to transferring some of the workers into occupations of national importance, was referred to by the manpower officer. Mr. C. G. S. Ellis, yesterday. Tie said that about 500 men and 150 women had been called on to report at the manpower office for interview. This represented only about 10 per cent of the people engaged in the retail trades. "The interviews of the women have been completed and about 30 direction notices have been issued, although the department is desirous of disrupting the retail trades as little as possible at this time of the year," said Mr. Ellis. "Many persons engaged in shops have stated that they are not capable of doing work in essential industies, but it will he necessary in the New Year to call u]> for service many who have so far been called merely for interview." AMERICAN AWARD AUCKLAND WING-COMMANDER News of the award of the American Distinguished Flying Cross to WingCommander D. It. Bagnall, D.5.0., D.F.C., has been received bv his mother. Airs. H. Bagnall, of 3 Como Street, Takapuna. Wing-Commander Bagnall is an old boy of King's College, where he was a champion gymnast and runner. He was also prominent in the Mount Eden Swimming Club and the Alarunui Surf .Life-saving Club in Wellington before leaving for England in 1938 to join the Royal Air Force. Early in 1939 he was posted to a heavy bomber squadron in the Aliddle East, where he has remained since, seeing a considerable amount of action in that theatre. BUTCHERS' HOURS EARLIER SATURDAY CLOSING Commencing on Saturday, December 11, the retail butchers' shops of all members of the Auckland Master Butchers' Association are to close on Saturday mornings at 11 o'clock. This decision was made at a meeting of the association this week. In a statement issued yesterday, the association said it had been the general experience of butchers during recent months that householders were doing most of their week-end .shopping on Fridays and early on Saturday mornings, and that little business was carried out during the latter part of Saturday mornings. Even with the new earlier closing hour, butchers were giving a much longer service than was generally appreciated, as they opened their shops very early, especially On Saturdays. In addition to this, a considerable amount of work was involved in cleaning premises after the doors were closed. FALL FROM TRAMCAR Concussion, lacerations and a possible fracture ,of the skull were suffered by Mr George Cairns, single, aged 2G, a farm hand, of 47 Ash Street, Avondaie, when he fell from a tramcar on the Great North Road at Grey Lynn last night. He was admitted "to the Auckland Hospital, where his condition later was reported to be fairly serious