THE FRUIT SHIPMENTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2318, 4 August 1898, Page 7

THE FRUIT SHIPMENTS.

SOME SENSATIONAL STATEMENTS

(Melbourne Leader.)

The manner in which the experimental shipment of fruit; sent to London by '.he steamer Gulf of Bothnia was disposed of is being severely condemned by tho "Fruit Grower," a London horticultural trade journal. The statements made are somewhat indefinite, but details are promised later on. Tho Leader, our readers will have already noted, secured an authoritative report from an English expert regarding the condition of fruit stored in the Bothnia's hold, and Mr Koupell (our representative) was emphatic in staling that 'the result of the experiment was a lamentable failure. It will bo 10membered, however, that a limited number of cases were stored in tho cool chamber of the Bothnia, and it is with these that our English contemporary is dealing. It should be further noted that the journal mentioned does not, in his instance, ch>cuss the failure uf the experiment, but as the proper disposal of shipments in London is next in importance to tho safe carriage of the fruit, the subject is of direct interest to Australasian growers. With the idea, therefore, of submitting, later on, such details as may be supplied, the following statements may be given in the meantime for what they are worth. Our contemporary says : — " The arrival of the Gulf of Bothnia and the manner in which the fruit sent was dealt with disclose a very curious state of things. We wen I on hoard and inspected hundreds of cases, and also saw some of the fruit, and in each instance the samples were remarkably sound. We saw there were signs of setting a. rumour about t'jat the condition of ihe fruit was doubtful, and eventually tins rumour took possession of the market. We have pointed out tho dangers of these rumours', and now we see that the result of the sale of the fruit sent by cool storage is most disastrous, as in most instances it Las been sold at bad prices, and in some the fruit has been passed as valueless. Now who can account for, the great discrepancy between the two rcpoils? We stand firmly by what we saw, and .we can tell in a moment from the outside of the case whether the contents are sound or not. There is evidently something very curious about the cool stored fruit sent by this boat. In the first place, the parties who are supposed to keep the interest oi tho senders only in view declined to furnish information, which if given would do much to improve the demand and sale ot colonial fruit. Can it be to the intercuts of the growers to allow their fruit to come to hand without the knowledge of the buy era? We think not. That being so, why is the system that we condemned pursued? We 6'vwiys find that when so nrudi mystery surrounds a shipment the unfortunate grower has to suffer. If this fruit is worth from 12s to 16s a case, what harm can be done by the trade knowing this? Of comva these prices were not made, nor anything like them, and perhaps the full \alue of any of these shipments will never be realised until senders on the other side insist upon their fruit being ! dealt with on straightforward business lines, j

" Meanwhile mo advis-e xhc. senders to demand every re?--- Table explanation of bad price sent Ji'>if\ :\n;l io 'Viakc quifo sure ihah the mar It ;.nd ■porliccilars on the '.ale notes refer viilnr-l doubt to their own confjgnu.ent«. it 5) v> vot be ont of place here io say that some influence is at work with regard to this business, one effect of which has been to prevent our obtaining promised particulars regarding the (Sulf of 13othnia/s iruit. There seems t,o be what may be termed a conspiracy of silence ■with regard to tliis experiment, but we have no intention of allowing the matter to rest where it is.

" The silent system, introduced during recon fc years into the colonial fruit trade, is one of the mos.l buieidaJ policies with which we are acquainted. That the colonial officials are acting bona. fide is beyond dispute ; that they are acting wisely is open to question ; that the methods they support will be productive of permanent benefit to the growers is impossible —so that it is clear we have a very serious state of things to consider. Let us see how the silent system works. A

cargo of Australian apples enters our docks. ', No one is acquainted with the fact except the so-called city merchant. Who i.s the city mor- , chant? We will tell you. Ho is a gentleman ' Usually trading as a big company. The company consists of one. The system is to work with a friend who also trades as a big company, and so on. The two or three working apparently separately, but in reality together, , form a ring — not a market ring, Lut a city merchant ring. Growers and senders writing I in confidence to one of those firms will often mention, in ignorance of tho connection, that they ha\e had dealings with another company ; thus these merchant firms know every J move of the sender. When one of tho firms have worked out one grower, tho next firm opens up business with him, and so on, until the three have had dealings with him ; as later on he (the grower) finds out to his cost. These, then, are the men who in many instances, under the silent system, are the only men acquainted with the colonial fruit arrivals, which are kept a secret. To make matters worse, colonial agents themselves get into their toils, and are persuaded that the silent system is the one which should be adopted by the colonial shippers or senders. It will be asked, But of course these city merchants are actual buyers? Nothing of the kind ; they are too arlf ul for that. In some instances we could name they are not practically acquainted with the fruit trade at all. They get hold of consignments and hand them over to ordinary market salesmen and deduct a commission and expenses, and Yes, and other items, which amount in tha end to a good total. Added to this, the market salesmen must deduct his commission ,for selling, so that double commissions, and more, become au absolute necessity under this system." Our contemporary also remarks: — "There is one aspect of the matter, however, which is satisfactory. It is remarkable how all other consignments of Tasmanian and Austialian apples have been ' boomed.' It's an ill nind that blows nobody good. 1 '

The latter statement seems to us somewhat inconsistent with tho (foregoing, as it would be natural that other shipments, however good, would also be treated to the alleged conspiracy of silence.

OTHER SHIPMENTS,

Writing upon fruit and pulp shipments, our London correspondent, under date 20th May says: — " The Austral brought 19,000 cases of Tasmanian apples and 1100 from Australia. Messrs D. D. Parkhurat report that some makes of apples were very small. Stunners brought 10-i to 12s, Scarlet Pearmains, 10s to lls; French Crabs, lls to 12s; New York Pippins, 15s to 16s 6d; and Adam's Pearmains, 10s tolls. Messrs Garcia, Jacobs, and Co. report that the applc3 both jfrom Australia and Tasmania were in magnificent condition, and prices ruled about Is below last week's shipment. Mr J. B. Thomas reports that the apples were in splendid condition, and of fine quality. They sold readily, and realised good prices. Messrs Duthoit state that prices are Is to 2s lower tins week, owing to the arrival of the outside steamer Gulf of Bothnia the same time as the Austral, buyers being suspicious that the two steamers should bo mixed together. On inquiring of Mr Wills about tlie split apucols and apricot pulp brought by the Woolloomooloo, I was informed that the parcel fiad not yoL been sold, but it v.as exf>ected to reab&e about 16s or 17s per 1001b. Tho complaint made by experts was, as ] mentioned last week, that it was too watery.' 1

lie tho London apple market, our correspondent, under date 27th May, writes: —

" Tho Australia brought about 9000 cases, of which 800 came from Australia and the rest from Tasmania. "The quality and condition were excellent, and owing to the sinailness of the shipment there was a substantial improvement in tho prices. Messrs Garcia report an advance of about Is 6d to 2s per case on the rates of the previous week. Messrs Parklmrst report: — Stunners, at l?.s 6d to 13s 6d ; Scarlet Pearmains, at 12s to 13s ; French Crabs, at 12s to 13s 6d ; New York Pippins, at, 16s ; and Scarlet Nonpareils, at 14s. Messrs Duthoit and Co. report their sales of Victorian apples as under; — Scarlet Pearmains, lls to 13s; Stunners, 12s to 14s; FvoncU Ovabs, 12s to 13s; New York Pippins, 13s to 18s ; Crow's Eggs, 13s. Some grapes from Adelaide, ex Australia, sold by Messrs C4arcia and Jacobs, brought excellent prices. They were packed in logwood shavings, in cases which contained from 121b to IMb of fruit. They looked well, were 6rm, and ripe, and had a very appetising flavour. The average sale price was lls 6d per caso, which would be about lOd per lb."

Of the London iruit market, our correspondent, under date 3rd Juno, writes :~

" Tho Ophir brought 22,000 cases of apples, of winch only 100 v. ere Australian. The apples were oi fine quality and in good condition, and as t he season in this- country is very backw.ml there was little or no soft lnit in the market. The prices icalised were as follow: — Australian: Cleopatra, 17s io 19s 6d; and Dunn's Seedling, 15s to 18s. 'I'rsmanian: Xow York, 15s to 18s ; .French Crab. 12s to 13^ hi ; and Scarlet i'earimiin, 13s to 145."

Mr Sinclair, reporting en the fruit s'rpped by tho K.JI.iS. Orub-i, arriving in London in the middle of April, >ay.i some eases of pears sent from Victoria were foui'd to be completely rotten, but 25 trays or quarter-cases of pears bhipped from Adelaide were in excellent condition. These trays or narrow cases were made of pine, and were about 2ft long by 15in wide, and about 4-£ in deep. They contained two dozen pears each, in a single layer, in four rows of six. Tho sides had auger holes an inch in diameter bo-ed

through for ventilation. The pears v.era wrapped in paper, with layers of wool or shavings at the bottom and the top. Ihe variety appeared to be Bon Chretien. 'Hie South Australian cases, either of pears, apples, or grapes, always have battens of Jin -,r im nailed in one or two places on one side of each ClI-sc to prevent close stowage, yind ensure good circulation of air, and the fruit invariably arrives in better condition than Victorian or Tasmanian com;ignments.