THE FRUIT TRADE.

Colonist, Volume LI, Issue 12506, 6 April 1909, Page 1

THE FRUIT TRADE.

Some observers, noting Tasmania'] 6™at export trade "*' aPP^s, wondei i wiry J\ew Zealand does not send frur overseas -The answer is plain (say, "f e +u P °A St >' m the o P iDion of officer! of the Agricultural Department. Th< ftign prices which growers secure ir , «!!«« mar^ ets > at Present, easih I enable them to resist the tomptatior ,to nsk. a shipment to London or otlie, i distant places. Even in the flush oi .the season apples and pears in New Zealand are luxuries which the smaT f 3,? arn< ;r. Can s ?. arc^y afford for his »' Tlle ruling iretaii price in Wellington to-day is 4d to 6d a pound for eating apples, and not many go to a pound. The auction quotations though fairly elevated, are not aIS gether blameable for the lofty retail figures it n argued by some critics that the M t«W. P ref er ■ concerning thei. selves with-.a comparatively small turnover at a big price than with a larger volume at lower rates. Hence it. is complained by the person who w d «, k * t0 b . ut dare not be a consumer that much good fruit rots while it is waiting for people to pay dearly font. However, better times may come by and by for lovers of apples and pears. The destructive coSlfn moth, winch ravaged the trees for years, has received a check Growers once believed that the moth was invincible but the : Agricultural Department has taught them otherwise, !£r con l dence L has c ome to the plant! ers _ The output of clean, sound rruit is growing season' by season and at the present rate of progress a few years should see a stock large enough to supply the public afreasonable prices, and leave a surplus at reasonable rates for a consignment abroad.