AUSTRALIAN GRAPES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2812, 5 February 1908, Page 10

AUSTRALIAN GRAPES.

(From Our Own CorwbspojtdentJ AUCKLAND, January 30. Referring to the statement made by tho Hon. R. M'Nab as to the "trade" objecting to the Government going into the wino mdustiy, a leading member of the "trade" says there is no notification for Mr M'Nab's assertion. The -'trade," he sa-ss. would be only too glad either to see wino manufactured by the Government, or private enterpj-iso encouraged ro embark in this industry- . thorouerhlv believing that the popularising of drinking helit pure wine would bo in the best intercuts of temperance.

WELLINGTON", January 29. A shipment of Aii-(ral'an giarrs was landed in Wellington by the s.s" Wnnmera to-day. Thi« a-, the first lot of Au-ninhdii grapes that has reached the Now Zealand market for many years, there having been a total prohibition of them until last Friday on account of the prevalence in Australia of phylloxera. In all there were 292 quarter ca^os of grapes in the steamer's cargo, and of this number 70 quarter casee were consigned to Christchurch and 10 to Dunedin, the balance being for Wellington. Fifty quarter cases are consigned to Townsend and Paul, 80 to George Thomas and Co., 44 to C. A. Griffiths and Co., and 67 to Won* She. Tho fruit was brought across in the steamer's cool chamber. The general fruit shipment by the steamer was not large, this being ■what is known as the " off season " for fruit m Sydney. Several crates of water melons

were amongst the cargo, th© remainder I being principally oranges, lemons, etc. Tho grapes were subjected to a rigid examination on the wharf by officials of the Biological Department. Mr Haybittle reports that the consignment was not of a very good variety. They were small black grapes of the Muscat and Hamburg varieties, instead of the fine sherry grapes that wero looked for. There was a general feeling of disappointment caused by this. The shipment was brought over at a temperature of 45 degrees, but in consequence, it is stated, of defective packing a good many of the grapes were landed wet. No doubt these defects will be remedied in future. The present shipment was rushed away at a day's / notice, and there was no time for effective packing. The shipment to Thomas and Co. was from West Maitland, New South Wales, and the , prices realised ranged from 5d to jd per lb, with an average of 6d. Messrs Griffiths and Co. report that they had shipments "of black and white grapes. They were small and poor. The black samples brought about 10s . per case (6d a lb), and the white, which were in bad order, only 4d. The prices above . quoted will leave a small profit to the grower, but the results are not as satisfac- ] tory as they might have been. Auctioneers ] estimate that better quality grapes would 1 have brought from 9d to 101b a pound to-day. CHRISTCHURCH, January 29. Mr T. W. Kirk. Government biologist, who arrived in town From Wellington yesterday, in the course of conversation with a Press representative, said that consequent upon the removal of .the prohibition upon the importation of Australian grapes frequent , shipments of these fruits should now be received in New Zealand. The South Austra' ■ n growers, he continued, promised to stipulate that the grapes should be retailed in New Zealand for 6d per pound; but how far it was possible to carry out such an arrangement remained to be seen. The only ports of entry wore Auckland, Wellington, Lyttelton, Dunedin, and the Bluff, and at these places the fruit would be 1 examined by Government exports and passed before going into consumption. It was anticipated that practically the whole of the supplies would be drawn from South Australia, New South Wales, and Victoria. Queensland was too much out of the way. South Australia was free from phylloxera, while in New South Wales and Victoria the pest was being checked. We may expect Australian grapes practically from now on to the early part of April.