OTAGO FRUITGROWERS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3994, 30 September 1930, Page 14

OTAGO FRUITGROWERS.

CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATION.

ANNUAL MEETING AT ALEXANDRA The annual meeting of the Co-operative Fruitgrowers’ of Otago, Ltd., was held in Alexandra on Friday, the president (Mr S. A. Stevens) presiding over an attendance of about 50 members.

The Mayor of Alexandra (Mr W. Bringans), on behalf of the residents of the borough, extended a hearty welcome to the members of the association, and pointed out that the borough was largely dependent upon the district, as the interests of the district and the borough lay almost entirely in fruit growing’. The success of the grower, however, did not depend solely upon his crop, and the Mayor felt sure that the deliberations of the meeting would materially assist in the successful marketing of their pro« ducts. The present position of the country as a whole was well known to all. and in his opinion constructive criticism from* the conference would do much to benefit both the producer and the consumer.-?. (Applause.)

Mr John Bennetts apologised for the absence of Mr H. Bradie, who was unable to attend the meeting on account of illness in the family. It was decided to send a letter of condolence to Mr Bradie from the meeting.

ADOPTION OF ANNUAL DEPORT.

In moving the adoption of the annual report and balance sheet, the chairman stated that it was to be regretted that the association’s thirteenth year had not been very successful. In the early spring of last year the climatic conditions had been unfortunate, and the majority of the growers had had light crops This reacted on the prices realised on the market, as with the • slackening off in supply. the returns had dropped correspondingly. Nevertheless, the association had made a small profit, so that in the circumstances it had not done badly. Mr S. P. Mirams. in seconding the motion, dealt with the items set out in the balance sheet. He stated that, as compared with 1929, the 1930 season had been bad. In the former season the association had sent out 300,000 half-cases of fruit, as compared with 237.000 for the 1930 season, representing a decrease of 63,000 half-cases. The returns in 1929 amounted to £7616, and in 1930 to £7116, a reduction of £5OO. There was also a further decrease of £lBO in the association's income on account of the fact that the term under which the association’s premises were let to the Evening Star Company had expired, and another tenant had not yet been found to fill the vacant space. If and when the association could secure a tenant for those premises a great difference in the balance sheet would result. In the profit and loss account there "was shown a gross increase of expenditure ot £334, but against this item was a decrease of £404 in salaries and wages, snowing that every care had been taken to keep the executive expenses as low as possible, lhe total decrease in working expenses amounted to £474, leaving a net decrease in expenditure of £230, indicating that every effort had been made to reduce working expenses as much as possible ln le eiremnstances. lhe report was adopted without any discussion ELECTION OF DIRECTORS The following were elected to the positions on the directorate left vacant by the retiring directors:—Messrs J. C. Harris (Oamaru), W. B. Kenworthy (Teviot), A. Ashworth (Alexandra), and E. Asiin (Dunedin district), Messrs Hanning and Johnston were re-elected auditors. STANDARDISATION OF FRUIT.

_ The question of the standardisation of ptone fruit, as well as of pip fruit, was placed before the meeting by the chairman, who stated that they liad hopes of being able to secure compulsory standardisation of stone fruits. The matter had been placed before the Prime Minister, who had promised to give it his close consideration, but it was apparent at the moment that the Internal. Sales Committee was concentrating on the standardisation of pip fruits, more especially apples. At a. recent conference of fruitgrowers' associations a recommendation was put forward that a voluntary system of size grading be adopted, and he thought that if they gave that system a trial they would achieve good results. At the present moment numbers of growers had their own grading systems, but owing to the absence of uniformity in the grading sizes buyers were not in a position to get the best out of such a system. When the matter became compulsory the position would be greatly simplified. The chairman then read a report of the conference. of fruitgrowers’ associations, in which it was recommended that in grading apricots the minimum size be inches, the succeeding grades to advance at intervals of $ inch, and in the grading of peaches the minimum size to be 15 inches, the intervals between grades to be the same as in apricots. It was also suggested that a local control board be set up to deal with the grading and advertising of the fruit. Mr Kenworthy asked how it was pronosed that they should limit the application of the Local Control Act to grading and advertising activities if a board were set up under the Act.

The chairman stated that three members would be appointed by ballot to the committee, and they would be pledged to deal only with such portions of the Act as dealt with standardisation and advertising. If, however, it was desired that the application of the Local Control Act be enlarged a ballot could be taken on

the’ matter. A member pointed out that if the growers were dissatisfied with the local control board they could circularise a petition, which only 10 per cent, of the growers need sign to make operative, appealing for the disestablishment of the board, and on a vote being taken a bare majority could put the board out. Mr Bennetts asked if any effort tor Dominion-wide standardisation had been made, stating that many growers in other parts of the country kere sending fruit down to Otago. The chairman replied that in every probability such a course would soon be adopted, as the export standard would become the standard for New Zealand, and if the Otago fruitgrowers set a standard he was of the opinion that it would be adopted by the Internal Sales Committee in Wellington. Mr C. Weaver asked if there had been any improvement in the standard of stone fruit in the past two years as the result of individual grading by growers. The association’s manager (Mr J. H.

.LIIC itooULlanuii o muiiugci. Waigth) stated that the grading and packing of fruit had improved considerably. Buyers were also more educated With regard to the quality of the fruit, and poor quality would not sell. Another feature of last year’s activities was that ' the Railways Department had given the growers a night train to Dunedin, and the fruit was thus able to catch the market. The growers owed the railway a debt of gratitude for having put on that train.

The question of the importation of dried fruits was brought up by Mr Benhetts,. who stated that they could advertise their fruit as much as they liked, but- whilst South Africa could send to New Zealand dried apricots. which were fio convenient for use both in the home and in hotels and restaurants, they could hot expect to make much headway. What they wanted was an embargo on dried fruits of. that nature, and he considered that it was the duty of the Government to legislate for the protection of its local producers.

r Mr Weaver said the value of the goods imported into New Zealand from South Agrica amounted to approximately

£130,000 annually, whilst each year New Zealand exported only about ’ £30,000 worth of goods to that country. The great proportion of the imports from South Africa consisted of dried fruits and preserves. The fact remained, however, that if the fruitgrowers were instrumental in having an embargo placed on South African dried fruits they would have to be careful that they did not turn the consumers against them. It was to be remembered that the Government legislated for the majority, and not for any separate section of the community. Could they get an embargo placed on a commodity, asked the speaker, unless they produced an article of a similar nature? Dealing with the advertising of Central Otago fruit, Mr Weaver stated that he was of the opinion that the product’s best advertisement was its quality. The chairman stated that from Mr Bennett’s remarks it might be thought that the association had done little in the matter of securing heavier duties on imported fruits, but as a matter of fact the association had made representations to the Government for increased duties on imported fruit, and had received a reply that the question was receiving careful consideration. Mr Bennetts said that he had not inferred that the association had done nothing in the matter, but he had made his statement with the desire to impress on members the necessity for protection for their fruit. After some further discussion it was decided that the association instruct its producers to mark the size of the fruit on the cases, and also that the sizes approved by the recent conference of fruitgrowers be adopted. EVIDENCE BEFORE COMMISSION. Mr R. Kinnaird reported on his visit to Wellington in connection with the commission set up by the Internal Sales Com. mittee, and stated that the evidence placed before the commission by the Otago delegates had been considered to be particularly valuable. It had been obvious, however, that the Internal Sales Committee had no desire to standardise any fruit other than apples or pears in the meantime, and would not consider the standardisation of stone fruits at this juncture. The committee’s argument was sound in that it had no desire to go over the same ground more than once. The evidence placed before the commission was that the marketing procedure of the association was very sound, and its adoption by other associations could be recommended. It was further recommended that the Government give assistance in the formation of similar co-opera. tive concerns owned by the growers, and stabilise the industry bj’ the introduction of stabilisation. It was suggested that the entry of fruit into New Zealand from overseas be prohibited during the parallel seasons in the country when locally grown fruit was available in sufficient quantities to supply the requirements of the consumers. It was recognised that the retailers were necessary for the placing of the fruit on the markets, but it was considered that there was too great a discrepancy between the prices paid to the growers, and those asked by the retailers. It was also recommended that no restriction be placed on the export of fruit from the Dominion. As soon as the result of the deliberations of the commission was made known, continued Mr Kinnaird, the Internal Sales Committee would review the report. He had no idea what recommendations the report would contain, but he had learned that the Canterbury Association had expressed the desire that there should be .no interference with the present system of marketing, which in view of the fact that the evidence placed before the commission had been secured from all parts of New Zealand, was rather astounding. Otago was probably a little ahead of the other districts in standardisation, and it was very gratifying to most members of the Internal Sales Committee that the Otago growers were dealing with the standaruisation of stone fruit on their own initiative.

Mr Laing stated that the sentiments expressed in the evidence placed before the commission were very sound, and on his motion the action of the delegates to the commission was approved.

CARRIAGE OF FRUIT. The orchard instructor for the district (Mr Lloyd Williams) gave details in connection with investigations he had made in the packing and carriage of fruit from Alexandra to Christchurch, and produced

charts showing the variation in temperature in the cases, inside the trucks, and in the outside atmosphere during the journey. He stated that the temperature inside the trucks had very little effect on the apples in the cases, but that there was a difference of four degrees between the temperature of the fruit which had been packed in paper-lined cases and that which had been placed in open cases, the latter keeping the lower temperature. The pre-cooling of the fruit also assisted in its preservation during carriage, and he thought that some cheap method of reducing the temperature of the fruit before packing could be devised for the purpose of keeping the product in a good state of preservation during carriage. In

the meantime, however, he could not recommend the continuation of the practice of railing fruit to Christchurch until

further investigation of the question had been carried out in the orchards themselves. Mr Williams was accorded a hearty vote of thanks for his address. It was decided that tilt Department of Agriculture be written to asking that the

refrigerating expert (Mr Sutherland) should pay a visit to the fruit-growing districts of Otago to give information with regard to the cooling of fruit before packing. It was also decided to forward a request to the department that Mr Williams be empowered to continue his experiments in connection with the carriage of fruit.

Votes of thanks to the manager of the association (Mr Waigth) and the chairman concluded the meeting.