LAN IMPORTANT DEPARTURE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8246, 20 February 1905, Page 2

LAN IMPORTANT DEPARTURE.

' The opening of the fruit canning factory at Roxburgh, on Thursday last was an event of gr eat Stance -in the history of the fruit-growing industry m Ivew Zealand. ifthoueh this factory is not thefi^t JgK ; to begin work m thi B colony it is the Hshment means- to %c Jf . fact that lust year m that district alone

no less than 100 tons of fruit rotted on 1 the trees for want of a market. It is hoped that the canning industry will put an end to this waste. People in the best position to judge believe that it will have this effect, and their opinion id supported by "figures. According to statistics which have been published recently, there is a considerable market for preserved fruits within New Zealand. At present this colony expends some £40,000 annually on imported fruits of various kinds, and about half this sum is spent on the preserved article. When the local market has been fully supplied, there would remain_ the export trade. °Mr Jaques, the Government canning expert, deolares unhesitatingly that there is a market in London for all the surplus preserved fruit that New Zealand can produce, and his opinion is shared by others who have studied this phase of the industry. The Government has accepted the view of its expert, and is furthering it with characteristic enterprise. Not only is it fostering the canning industry by giv- . ing expert advice to those who are embarking in it, but it is also helping the growers financially. If growers desire to co-operate and establish a factory, they are allowed to borrow part of the cost of the works from the Government at a low rate of interest. It was a similar liberal policy on the part of the State which laid the foundation of the dairy industry. Let us hope that the Government's efforts to encourage canning and preserving will have an equally beneficial effect on the fruit growing industry.