THE FRUIT TRADE.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1032, 11 December 1891, Page 25

THE FRUIT TRADE.

The people in England think more of the probabilities of the colonial fruit trade thau the people of New Zealand themselves. In London they know the requirements of the market, and they also have a good idea of what this colony cau produce. The New Zealand apples already sold in London gave the trade an idea of what to expect. Tne quality was excellent, the quantity limited, and the packiig not bo perit c" as it might have been. There is a prospect of dear fruit in England this next season, and the London buyers are anxiously looking to these col nies for their supplies. One large firm in Covent Garden, W. N. Wb t s ani Co. (Limited), have sent their buyer, Mr T. H. White, to travel through the fruit growing districts of this colony and see for himself what the apple growers really cm do in the way of an export trade. The firm he represents is an old eatablirhed onojind does an extensive business. At the last annual dinner to the staff in February last the principal stated that during the financial year which had then closed,

the firm had disposed of L 254.700 worth of fruit, and one of the firm’s customers in France had received cheques for an aggregate of no less than L 102,000 for his year’s consignment to the firm’s sales at Govent Garden. We mention this fact to show that if one firm alone does a trade in fruit to this extent, the aggregate trade in Groat Britain offers a vast market for our exports. Well grown, well packed fruit will sell in any quantity, aud if spnt to reach London in the proper season will command paying prices, but, as we have often urged, the work must be done honestly. None but sound fruit shipped, true to name, well graded and packed in the most approved manner, so that it can reach its destination in a presentable state. With judicious care and a considerable amount of common sense, the fruit trade may rapidly develops iuto large proportions.