THE APPLE EXPORT VENTURE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1086, 27 March 1911, Page 8

THE APPLE EXPORT VENTURE.

■ ■ AN AUTHORITY INTERVIEWED,- ■ ■ It was stated in The Dominion' a few days ago that a shipment of 5000 eases of Nelson apples had been forwarded to London, and that an endeavour was being made to build up an export trade in that ■;' fruit. . A' New Zealand authority interviewed eaid:—"The matter of building up this *>.- i port-trade is ono of great importance to i New Zealand. So far it seems that there : are.really encouraging prospects of developing another of tho country's sources of .wealth,, and .adding the industry, to tho ' 'list of valuable export trades; It has been argued that fruit is still dear and i scarce in parts of New-Zealand, and v.ri- •. .til the growers can supply the local wants lit is unwise to trouble about outside mar"kets; that the high prices of fruit in New Zealand , deprive the producers cf : . justifications for* opening up. markets abroad; and' that in both these circum- - stances the State should not aid-.an ex- ; port enterprise. It does not seem that .-. these arguments have had effect. Pro- '■ ."bably. it is sufficient to dnswer. that but- ': ioi might be cheaper in New Zealand ,j if wo had no outside market to cater for. ■'■' ' '. "As Nelson apples are fully a fortnight '- earlier than Tasmanian, and aro usually '. a;better colour, and as our distance from '' .'lidndou is not seriously greater than that '.. qi- Tasmania, 'there appears to l>3 no '.-'' reason why wo should not make a 'success ; "or the- trade.. '■" -"The Nelson growers nave carefully - . chosen'the vnrietits grown for export puv- , poses; and the, chief■kinds are Jonathan •■ (one of tho early varieties), Cox's Orange, ■ .Monroels. Favourite,. Scarlet Nonpariel, ■„ Sturmer, aiid Cleopatra. ' , ,The Minimum Return, '■■■"-..'"The shippers need to get a return of . :at least Ss. 10d. to realise one penny per ■ i; pound. Tho shipping charges are high, : and there is little prospect of their being ; reduced, as the shipping companies have - said that they could not take the fruit ■■ ;f(>r less. The cost of marketing the fruit • !ih London totals ss. 6d." The'detail's are as follow:—Freight in cold store, 3s. per .-case, plus-10 per cent, primage; London .agents' and broker's commission, 5 per .cent; London dock dues aad .cartage, ■' [9(l.,per case; cost of case to grower, 6d.; ; wood-wool and paper, 2d.; insurance .and '• .postage, 2d.; wages and freight from • Motucka to Nelson,. id. ; and local ship- .'■ ping charges, 3d. ' .Distance from London. "The Dominion is so far removed, from ; ■ the world's markets, it is sometimes coutended,' that . extremely perishable products by slow'transport facilities cannot ■ be sold at competitive prices. New Zealand '. is only 1200 miles further from England ; 'than Tasmania,- which is not tv big per- ' centage of so many thousands of miles. '-. And then we could' get there 'a week • sooner,-as our Nelson apples are -a. fort-- - night earlier. i -. A Few Years Hence, : '•• ''The- possibilities of the industry growing'to one of magnitude nr.6 bright. This . year's shipment of 10,000 cases is only : really a trial affair. Nelson alone could pend more now. A coun'.o of years henco ; . -she will be able'to send several times as ; .much as this year's harvest will'produce. ; -And then there are the big orchard areas ■of Otago, Canterbury, and Auckland to be reckoned. Hawke's Bay, too,, might ■ . join to some extent. So far Hawke's Bay has not gono in heavily for apples, but are likely to increase their apple areas in the -"immediate 'future in consequence of hav; ■ ing, overdone stone fruits. L ; "Nelson alone is sure to send from 20,000 to 30,000 cases of apples nest year, if this year's give tho necessary encouragement. '.-'. In fact, . Nelson talked of sending 20,000 . cases this year, but the crop is not as. heavy as it was expected it would be. If ' tho .venture is a success, five years hence there- should bo 50,000 cases exported, and in every subsequent year the quantity would increase. In view of the chance : ahead,, the growers feel that the Government guarantee is illiberal. Carrying Tomporature, "There is not- likely to be any change this year regarding the temperature at which the fruit-is carried on the vessels. ■Some of the London brokers said that last year's shipment was' carried .at too ■ low a temperature. The instruction given,jit this end was- that the fruit was to bo 'parried at a temperature of from 33 degrees to 35 degre.es, Tasmanian apples aro at that temperature.. American apiplea are carried at a higher temperature, out they have only a four and a half days' steamer journey, and have not to go through the tiopics. . An Import Duty. ■ "The wrapping paper used for'this fruit : is'a special'sulphide paper, which is not manufactured in New Zealand or Aus- ;. ytralia, and it has to pay a.duty of J!G per., ton, or 5| pfcnco per ream. ' It has ■been suggested that as the paper cannot , .be-manufachired on this side of the world, :<Tnd as it comes in small sizes suitablo !for wrapping apples in, and is, therefore, i useless for any other pur- ; ipose, the duty ought to bo suspended for : . |afew years in order to give the industry -. fi chance."