APPLES AND PEARS

Waikato Times, Volume 126, Issue 21035, 10 February 1940, Page 9

APPLES AND PEARS

INCREASE IN PRICE STATE MARKETING SCHEME EXPERIENCE AS TO GRADES (Special to Times) WELLINGTON, Friday The State took over all pip fruits from Monday last. The wholesale prices of apples and pears yesterday were twice what they were last week, but today there was a drop in price. Fruiterers seen at the city markets today expressed the opinion that the grading of apples had dropped under Government control. When the growers marketed their own crops there were five grades, extra fancy, fancy, commercial A and B, and minimum. Extra fancy were coloured and without blemish. The three last categories included those fingermarked, spotted and otherwise blemished, as well as cookers. Under Government control the grades had been reduced to three, extra fancy, fancy and commercial. I'ancy grade apples marketed under Government control were inspected today, a case being selected at random. In the opinion of retailers with many years in the trade these apples were no better than commercial sold in Wellington last week under private marketing. These fancy grade apples had blemishes and qngermarks and were greasy. In seme instances they were mis-shaped and scabbed. Gravensteins Scarce

The market was in short supply of apples all this week. The first lot of Government scheme apples came in yesterday. The three previous days had been without supplies, except for those still in store under private consignment. The result was that some inferior types of apples brought high prices because of the shortage. Gravensteins, for instance, should be at the height of their supply at present and at this time of year should be 3s or 4s a case and 2d a pound to the public. Yesterday they were I2s 6d for extra fancy and 5s 6d for fancy. The difference was caused by the small amount of extra fancy placed on the market in proportion to the fancy. In one market the proportion of extra fancy to fancy was onetenth.

Pears were supplied in the same proportion. Pears which brought 4s 6d to 6s last week were selling yesterday at 12s to 18s 6d. Lari week they could be sold retail at 4d. To get the barest return on yesterday's price 8d a pound would be a fair retail charge. There are now practically no cooking apples on the market. For some weeks before this week there were several good cooking brands on' sale. Today’s extra fancy apples brought 7s 6d and fancy 5s 6d. Pears went at 11s a case. Apples on Thursdaybrought 5s 6d to 12s 6d, against 3s to 6s last week.