The Waikato Times, THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE, AND KAWHIA ADVOCATE. Established Thirty-Four Years. THE OLDEST DAILY NEWSPAPER IN THE WAIKATO. THE LARGEST CIRCULATION OF ANY DAILY PAPER SOUTH OF AUCKLAND. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1906. THE FRUIT MARKET.

Waikato Times, Volume LVII, Issue 8048, 3 November 1906, Page 2

The Waikato Times, THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE, AND KAWHIA ADVOCATE. Established Thirty-Four Years. THE OLDEST DAILY NEWSPAPER IN THE WAIKATO. THE LARGEST CIRCULATION OF ANY DAILY PAPER SOUTH OF AUCKLAND. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1906. THE FRUIT MARKET.

Fot; excellent reasons tho Government is placing severe restrictions ujion the importation of fruit to the colony. The ravages of t lie coil lin moth anil other fruit pests have becoiw! so marked in other colonies and the Islands, tha* to allow fruit to be landed in New Zooiuiid unconditionally, would mean a grave menace to our own industry, already sufficiently handicapped by orchard pests. IjUf rather than submit to the rigid inspection the Government now insists upon, and the heavy losses entailed by the continual destruction of consignments condemned by t.ie inspectors as unlit for consumption, mai.y importers are going out of the business, as far as outside shipments are concerned. This points to the probability of a shortage during the coming season, unless something is done to replace imported fruit with that locally gi-own For New Zealand fruit, therefore, there should be an exceptionally good market. It has been suggested to. us —and the idea seems an excellent one —that the farmers of the Waikato dis rict might place themselves in a position to take advantage of the high prices that will rule, by storing i their fruii pending a profitable market for it. Cold storage space is obtainable yt the freezing works at a very cheap raie, a half-penny per ! pound we believe, and the fruit may ! be so kept with safety for about four months. The matter should he well worth the attention of local fruit growers. The Waikato is essentially a fruit growing district, and at pre-

sent a large proportion of the annual i crop, if not absolutely wasted, does | not net the return that it should. This is undoubtedly due to the fact | that thu outside markets have never I been systematically exploited. Where j consignments have been sent away at ' thu right season, the results have been most gratifying, and it is sur- ! prising that the fruit crop has not ' been regarded as possessing mor.* importance than is usually at- j tached to it. No good rea- j son presents itself to our mind j why the northern districts should j not supply the greater part of

the orchard fruit for the whole colony. If some such scheme as that suggested to us could be managed successfully, and there is no reason to

doubt that it could, there would be an extensiu) market for \Yaikato fruit, the fanners with .spare lands would fiii< 1 a pleasant and profitable addition to their ordinary lalioiirs, It would certainly he worth while to obtain au expert opinion on the matter, ana ijie (ioveruiuent I'ontolowho will lie o. II ami lion next week be coiibuited The mailer is one that may couiiiiiiitled to the lavourable coic-idd'al ion of the Agricultural and Pastoral Association.