BANANAS ARRIVE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26781, 26 May 1948, Page 7

BANANAS ARRIVE

TRANSPORTED BY RAIL A small part of the shipment of bananas that was expected last week reached Dunedin by rail on Monday. At present there is no word as to when the balance of the shipment will come to hand. Lack of shipping from Wellington was the cause of the delay. A large quantity of apples of small size has been reaching the market, and stocks are mounting in the auction marts. Apples of good size have a ready demand, but buyers are not prepared to take the smaller sizes at the present price, and are dealing only on a hand-to-mouth basis. Extremely few pears have been released in recent weeks, and retailers are finding a difficulty in obtaining a variety of fruit to offer their customers. Tree tomatoes are plentiful, and prices are lower than has been the case for some years. Chinese gooseberries are also in fairly good supply, and prices have been disappointing from the growers’ point of view. Passion fruit, however, continue to be in short supply, and the market is firmer. A few outside-grown tomatoes are still coming forward, but the quality mainly is poor, and they are almost unsaleable. Only those lines not affected by frost are worth sending to the marts. Vegetables are in better supply, and cauliflowers and cabbages in particular are now coming forward more freely than in the last few weeks. Marrows are plentiful, but here again damage by frost is affecting sales.