WILL FRUIT BE SCARCE?

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 203, 21 May 1908, Page 3

WILL FRUIT BE SCARCE?

•AN AUCKLAND IMPORTER'S VIEW! I An Auckland fruit importer (says our special correspondent) '.states-that there will undoubtedly be a big shdrtagb in thq supply of Australian fruit'this season, owing to tho New Zealand regulations-to prevent the introductionVof the fruit fly. No one wished to -injure the growers of fruit ;here, but those engaged'in the;,'orchard industry in Auckland seemed to be going to sleep, for fruit, which should be a daily article of diet •in .that' city, was, owing to its scarcity and consequent high prices, really a luxury. This should not be, and unless the 'growers awakened to the fact that Auckland mai-kots demanded a regular and adequate supply of Nfi-uit thoy. would have to-face a strong set of public' opinion in- the direction of throw-', ing openHho doors of the port to big importations. .It was felt tliat tho mileradius clause in the regulations regarding :Australian fruit was working vory badly, and Australian growers were not going to take the risks of exporting fruit to New Zealand under present conditions. Australian orchards wero not scattered like thoso of New Zealand, but were very '; close to- 1 gather, and honco tho mile radius of •'fniit-fly-freo country" was a somewhat' difficult regulation to comply with. If the New Zealand Government had its own inspector iin Australia examining the orchards, that ought to meet the case. It was a curious circumstance that tho very best apples could bo purchased in Dunotlin for doss than was asked for miserablo specimens in Auckland.

This importer's suggestion that a New Zealand ' inspector should examine tho orchards in Now South Wales will give no security. Evon if tho inspector certified that tho fruit oxported was quite freo from any visible infection, his certificate would be valueless,, because fruit-fly eggs, invisible in Australia, could develop into maggots on -tho trip across. If the inspection at this end is insufficient —and that is admitted— there is no apparent safety apart from guarantees that fruit fly is unknoOTi within a milo of the orchard. If tho fly is known within a mile of an orchard, that orchard itself becomes immediately a source of danger. The hint that public opinion may demand that our ports shall bo thrown open to Australian fruit regardless of pests is , ouite undeserved in view of , the largo

fruit-growing ventures lately started at Greytown, Levin, and other places. Tho best fruit-growers of this country, sinco tho Orchard Posts Act was passed, have not been slumbering, and thcro will soon bo an abundanco of local fruit. Even now the wholesale prico of fruit ia not high. The usury, if there bo any, is tho middleman's.