A MARKET AT HOME FOR COLONIAL FRUIT.

Otago Witness, Issue 2203, 21 May 1896, Page 8

A MARKET AT HOME FOR COLONIAL FRUIT.

(From the paper read at the Foreign and Colonial Section, Society of Arts, by Mr C. R. Valentine, March 24, 1896.) There are in Great Britain some 218,428 acres of orchards ; and they are increasing very •lowly and, considering a trade in fruit, if we except pears in a good season, English competition may be neglected. Much development of English fruit-raising will nob take place. Tho difficulties are (1) the climate, (2) land tenure, (3) unprofitableness in mosb years. With regard to tropical fruits, the Australian colonies have great difficulties and disadvantages to overcome. Oranges are produced in California and Florida in excess of the demand, yet with the chsrges on them they cannot pub them on New York markeb »o cheaply as can their Mediterranean competitors with their cheap labour. With regard to grapes, the disposal of this fruit by the Australian colonies would probably be best accomplished by the manufacture of wine, or as r&i«ms. The apple trade promises the best, and with regard to the more perishable fruits, the wh.-le question for the Australian colonies is the price at which / they can place them on the English markeb •gainst their Mediterranean opponents. There is a means, however, in the evaporated fruit trade of disposing of colonial fruit. The *' fruit evaporator" shown at the Nottingham Royal Show (1888) is in common use in America, and, in 1887, 1500 were at work near Rochester, chiefly drying apples. Mr Dan. Pidgeon tell us that these find a market chiefly in Germany, England, Belgium, Holland, and France. Evaporated apples are placed in cases containing 501b, and the cosb of carriage to Liverpool is 30 cents. (Is 3d). The same quantity of green fruit would cost from 8s 9d to 10s carriage. No damage is done to dried fruib in the longest transit, and the advantages to Australia aud New Zealand from this fact alone are obvious. Apples, peaches, apricots, plums, cherries, aud raspberries are all treated this way, and it is a big business in the dwtiiob of Western New Xork. Australia has receivtd imports of fruit preserved this way for the making of jam, compotes, marmalade, &c. Vegetables can also fee treated the same way. In canning of fruit and vegetables there has been a vast development in America. The colonies there have a well-established trade to meet is this respect alto. It should be stated that of canned fruit Great Britain received in 1894 34,897 packages of evaporated apples, 35,246 of canned apples,

17,798 of evaporated apricots, 15,343 of apricob pulp, 57,863 packages of American canned tomatoes, and 9640 of French tomatoes. Taking Canada first, the production of frait aud grapes, &c , inoreased from 45,957, 0001b in 1881 to 68.864,0001b iv 1891, or over .50 per cent. The average export from Canada alone to Great Britain in the years 1891 to 1893 of green apples was 2,005,000 bushels, or 54 per cent of the whole imporb of Great Britain, other British possessions only sending 176,000 bushels. The drying and preserving of fruits and vegetables is carried on in some 45 establishments, and the industry is increasing. I will proceed now to Austra'a-iau fruit-rais-ing The cultivation of fruit has uot yet received the full attention ie deserves, although ihe soil and climate are adapted to fruib growiDg in all the provinces. Grapes, oranges, apples, pears, and peaches are the principal fruits grown, bub with an unlimited area suitable for this class of cultivation, and the climatic conditions so varied, varyiDg from comparative cold in New Zealand and the highlands of New South Wales and Victoria to tropical heat in Queensland, a largo variety of fruits could be cultivated, and the industry only languishes for want of a sustained demand. ! New South Wales has 45,000 aoreo under orchards and gardens. The increased facilities for exporting fruit by the adoption of cool chambers have eaabled Auttralasi&n fruit-gr^wt r<* to compete wi.h toieign States in the iiuib supply for the Euglish market. The Tasmanian trade with England has passed the experimental stage, and every Ecaeon large steamers visit Hobarb to receive fruit for the Home market. With the exception of Tasmania, at leaat up to 1892, all the colonies imported mort- fruit aud fruib products than they kxpur cd. The. garden and orchard crops ot Queensland, Victoria, and West Australia give buo most return per acre — from £24 to £20. In the other colonies, in 1892, it averaged from £11 for New South Wales to £19 ior New Zealand. The smallness of the average for New South Wales was explained by the fact that the producers cuuld | not get their produce sold and had no facilities for disposing of it. With regard to the irrigation colony at Mildura of Some 250,000 acres, the leading industry is the production of raisins. AH kinds of truits grow to perfection there ; it is the disposal of them that is the great difficulty in the way of setting up a la/ge trade nob merely in England but all populous centres. In New South Wales much intelligent iDtoreßb iB now directed to fruit-growing, and indeed the same obtains in Victoria and Queenslabd. In Now South Wales table grapes aie grown on about 2400 acres, with an average yield of about two tons per acre. In 1894 the land under citrus fruits in New South Wales was 11,967 acres, and in 1895 12,204 acres. The increase is steadily progtetsive, markets a c now sought abroad, and the advantages New South Wales possesses is that her orange can be delivered in London when the supply from Spain and other countries north of the equator has censed. Hitherto, owing to imperfect drjiug and bad packing, the industry has not met with very great success. In 1894 the export of orangts was estimated at 4,294,880 dozen. Experience iB being gained, and faults learned bjr actual practice are being correoted, It is hoptd yto establish in time in connection with the orangeriers of New South Wales manufactories for the preparation of candied citron, lemoD, aud orange peels and for the preparation of the oil and essences of citrus fruits. In 1894 the dried fruits from Mildura made a good impression on the English market. New South Wales, considering her advantages, imports far too largely of all kinds of fruib, but she does a little intercolonial trade. Victoria has recently opened up an experimental exportation of apples to Java and Sumatra, and shippers there consider that they have discovered an ideal packing material in the shredded bark of the tea tree. Passion fruit packed in this has reached London in an excellent state of preservation. The only thiug that has hitherto prevented the colonies t -iking rank as l*rge frnit exporter* has been the inexperience ot those engaged in trade. The area of orchards in Victoria has been increased by the bonus system from 40,419, in 1869, to 72,790 in 1893; and the fruit industry giveß promine of becoming a large trade in the near future. In addition to the fruits of the British leles, Victoria grows oranges, lemons, loquaba, flgs,- persimmons, passion fruit, mulberries, melons, almonds, and olives. To encourage the exporb of fruit, also, Victoria, in 1895, gave a bonus of 2s a case for green fruit of good quality grown in the colony, exported to approved foreign ports. The Vegetable Products Commission of Victoria has given valuable attention to the Victorian fruit industry, and matters are progressing towards a considerable trade. Fruit canning is making progress al?o with the colony, encouraged by the bonuses, which latter will have had the effect of teaching people the trade if they have not created one. Queensland produces fruit in its tropical climate to great; advantage, and the return per acre is high and better than in any of the seven colonies. The Department of Agriculture in this colony are doing their best to develop a i trade, not merely in fruib, bub in tobacco, olive oil, coffee, sugar, &c. Instruction in the canning of fruit and other modes of exportation has been given throughout; the colony, aad with the extension of knowledge the export will come, for the fruib is there. South Australia is a vine country, and in 1894 already 10.000,000 vines were planted. The colony has passed a Vine Fruit and Vegetable Diseases Acb to prevent the introduction of diseased trees into the colony. At present the three great drawbacks to the Australian fruit-growers are : (1) the excessive freight ; (2) the large percentage of loss arising through the fruit being canned without a proper >yatem, and through the bad keeping qualities of the fruit when landed. New South Wales has shown how to meat these difficulties, and they must be met, for if fruit-growing is to be a colonial business, an exporb trade is a sine qua non. With regard to fruit, New Zealand has left no step untaken to develop an export industry. The Government appoints pomologists and instructors,, gathers information about the demand- in the Home market, and all advice likely to be useful to would-be exporters. Generally speaking, all English fruits grow luxuriously, and in the Auckland district oranges,-- lemons, and limes flourish as well as olives, the manufacture of oil from which promises to be an important industry. Home grapes are largely sold in the AuokUnd market. The apple orchards n^^r tbero hay,» existed half a century, and yield returns of £40 to £50 per acre. Orchard plautiug is progrebsing, and must soon become an important industry. New Zealand has to some extent mastered the problem of landing fruit in a good condition in the London market, aud the trade has passed the initial steps. It is important to notice that fruits of the proper varieties, and properly packed, have invariably realised remunerative prices. It is largely' a question of packing and freights aa to how great an extent the trade grows. Lemons

have experimentally been successfully shipped to London. At Dunedin, 'canning, hobbling, and manufacturing into jam and jellies of large quantities of fruib are carried on, and at Christchurch cider is made. As far as New Zealand is concerned, we should be on the threshold of a large fruib and fruib producb trade with this country. Demonstrations in the use of the fruit evaporators were given throughout the colony last year and excited much interest, whilsb three specialists ia orchard managemeub travelled the colony and gave lessons in planting, pruning, spraying, &c. The Victorian viticulturali6t visibed the colony last year and inspected the vineyards already esbablished. and reported three districts as especially suitable for viticulture. New Zealand imports fruit largely, the value in the last return being £31 134 of dutiable fruib and £62,926 of free fruib. The colony appears to have made up its mind to alter this, but the value of fresh colonial fruit exported in 1894 was only £1072.

Ib will be nr cessary to Bay little about fruib in Tasmania. Apples from that colony have become iv England one of the most acceptable fruits for the early spring, though they were unknown to us here as an article of commerce prior to 1889. Expert adv.ca on the varieties!, the modes of packing, transit, and all debails wis sought. Then the markeb was sounded, truit brokers approached, and the information 6Pnt throughout the colony. The mail companies) assisted, and the fruib ou arrival was inspected and reported upon. All this is unnecessary now; a sound footing for the trade has been secured, and Tasmania sent us last season 160,000 bushels of apples. Some impiovemenb, however, is needed in di&tribubion here, for the growers declare that the London middleman swallows up mosb of bhe profit. Sympathetic distribution is needed here, at any rate. The trade is now launched, aud the methods by which it wa» accomplished might well be followed by the other Australian colonies.

I have nob hitherto referred to the Cape. It is an importing rather than au exporting c>lony of bbc perishable arbicles I have been dealiug with. There was, however, for the Cape au export) of fruib of various kinds of tie value of £2414 in 1895, which was a considerable iucrease upon 1894. The Cape imports buttsr fairly largely, and, as we have shown, a very considerable amount of condensed milk, which New Zeals.!. d could well supply. Vicboria and South Australia have considerable trade with Cape Colony, and from Nabal bhe colony receives fruib bo th 9 value o? £15,746 There is a snaall honey import froaa Australia. Tae wine exported from the Cape in 1894 araouubed to 86,702 gallons, apparently worth £20,428.