NEW ZEALAND APPLES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22568, 11 May 1935, Page 16

NEW ZEALAND APPLES

THE LONDON SEASON OFFICIAL OPENING LADY HEW ART ON DOMINION PRODUCE. (From Ocr Own Correspondent.) (By Aib Mail.) LONDON, April 13. Lady Hewart, wife of the Lord Chief Justice, officially opened the New Zealand apple-selling season. As usual, the entrance hall of New Zealand House was very tastefully decorated with baskets and cases of polished apples, and a large company of New Zealand residents and visitors and the whole staff of the office took part in the ceremony. A stage of floral scenery occupied one side of the hall. On the shelves .of this were arranged the gilt baskets containing samples of all the available varieties. Highly polished and generously beribboned, they made an attractive show. On each side of the stage were open cases of apples. The entire layout was very effective, with scenic background. . , This pleasant opening ceremony has a very definite publicity value. Over half a dozen representatives of the photographic press invariably attend, and the chief actors are photographed in the act of taking a bite from the fruit. The photographs seem to appeal to London and provincial editors, and the public are thus cheaply informed that the first of the New Zealand fruit has arrived. Some portion of the speeches is reported very widely as well. Sir James Parr, after introducing Lady Hewart and Mr Malcolm MacDonald (Parliamentary Under-secretary for Dominion Affairs), said that Mr H. Turner, (manager of the Fruit Board) had hinted that this year there would probably be 1,500,000 cases of apples from the Dominion. The High Commissioner said that prices had been unremunerative, but luckily the fruit farmers of the Empire had taken the matter into their own hands and had devised a remedy which he hoped would be successful. Last vear a conference of delegates of the United Kingdom and dominion fruit growers was held. As a result of this conference New Zealand, Australia and Canada had voluntarily co-operated in moderating supplies to the United Kingdom markets, and, by so doing, it was hoped that definite benefit would accrue to the overseas growers by way of payable prices, and to the English growers by minimising the competition of other Empire-grown apples and pears during the Home growers' season. A committee named the Imperial Apple and Pear Council had been formed, upon which not only New Zealand, South African, Australian, and Canadian interests would be represented, but. the English crower also, by delegates nominated by the fruit section of the National Farmers' Union. Meetings were held at intervals, and the most cordial co-opera-ion existed between the representatives of the English growers and the overseas dominions. REGULATION, NOT TARIFFS. " This," said Sir James, " is an example of regulation and not tariffs, which are to-day preached so much. I believe the result will be to raise prices for the New Zealand fruit growers, whose return hitherto of less than Id per lb has been shamefully low. Is it not possible to have voluntary producers' agreements in other branches of produce? Already in the case of mutton and lamb —I say nothing about beef—the regulation of supplies from the Dominion has been so well managed that the prices are quite remunerative for the English mutton farmer as well aa the Dominion farmer. I hope that the meat conferences will not abandon regulation of supplies in favour of a bare tariff with-

out any restrictions. There are certain obvious cases, such as fruit and lamb and mutlon, where regulation is cleariy indicated as the most appropriate remedy in order to get payable prices. "A levy or tariff has always tliis danger: that it may, while raising the prices for the English farmer, stabilise the dominion farmer at a permanently low and unpayable level of prices. ''New Zealand desires in every way to help the English fanner, but not Dy methods which might result in the present bankrupt prices for New Zealand be coming a permanent condition." BRITAIN'S FRUIT BILL 1 The High Commissioner said that £27,000,000 worth of fruit was tent into Great Britain. Of this £11.400,000 worth ccme from the dominions and £15,500,000 worth from foreign countries." There seemed room for some alteration in these figures. New Zealand seni £600,000 worth of fruit; South Africa £2,500,000 (sterling) worth; Australia £2.000.000, Canada £2,000,000, and other British countries £4,500.000 worth. Mr Malcolm MacDonald, who spoke next, paid an eloquent tribute to the scenery of the Dominion. He said that the people of New Zealand were too modest in advertising their wonderful country. CHIEF JUSTICE RATTLES APPLES. Lady Hewart said she had written out , a speech, but she remembered when she - sat next to Sir James Parr at a certain dinner, and a speaker was turning over sheet after sheet, he asked if she could see how many more sheets there were. She was interested, to know this was the third time a woman had opened the season. After all, women had to arrange the household shopping, and they could not do better than buy New Zealand produce. She delighted in giving New Zealand dinners, in which she served toheroa soup, New Zealand lamb, passion fruit cream, and cheese savoury. She had informed her husband that Coxea Orange Pippins rattled when they were good. Unfortunately, he now went about the shops picking up apples and holding them to his ear to see if they 'rattled. (Laughter.) She washed the New Zealand fruitgrowers continued success. Mr Turner, on behalf of the fruitgrowers, thanked Lady Hewart and Mr MacDonald for giving their blessing to the fruit season. On the subject of overloading the best market, the United Kingdom, he said that New Zealand apples might soon be found on the shores of the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, in Egypt and Abyssinia. It was interesting to note that the people of Abyssinia preferred the apples known as Black Ben Davis, the people of Egypt preferred Rome Beauty and Cleopatra, and the inhabitants of Palestine preferred King Davids. All the guests took away a bag containing half a dozen selected apples. The fruit shown was from the Opawa shipment of 50,000 cases, which had arrived the day before. They consisted of Coxes, Jonathans, Dunns, Worcesters and Lord VVolseleys. These have arrived in good condition, with the exception of the seasonal bitter pit in some of the Coxes.