FRUIT & VEGETABLES

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 185, 1 May 1920, Page 8

FRUIT & VEGETABLES

HELD-UP CONSIGNMENTS SOLD BY RAILWAY AUTHORITIES ,

Tho suspension of all railway traffic has had a double-barrelled' effect on the city fruit and vegetable niarkets, for not only do the marts of Blair and Allen Streets supply the whole of the metropolitan area with fresh provisions, bu.t country merchants and dealers are also largely dependent on them for ,a good . dent of tneir supplies. Such supplies ■ as American oranges, apples, and lemons, ; Island and Sydney oranges, bananas, pineapples, mandarins, p';e melons (acar to tho heart of tho economical jammaker), and passion J'rirt -ill '.rrv from overseas, and, through the medium of agents, are u.jAn.jiiun i..iO»b" p '-'.e country. That trade has been entirely tilled by.the strike. Quick, cheap transit is essential in the \fruit trade, as people will pay only up to a certain, price, and all costs of freights, handlings, commissions, and profits have to be met j . out of that price; and, moreover, Wei-. lington is, perhaps, more dependent on I the railway than any of the other nietro- | ipoMtan ceJitres, because of tho high ranges of'mountains which have to be negotiated in leaving the place by road. In connection with the countrj; road trouble is brewing over the action of the railway authcritios in auctioning fruit that was'left, on the trucks tho night the eti'iko toolc place, A .Carterton man explained his '-situation to a Dominion representative yesterday, lie had about .£SO worth of fruit—bananas, etc.—on a train which did not get further than Upper Hutt. There, without consulting him, the railway people sold the fruit by auction the next day, whereas had he been notified he could have carted it back to town and resold itprobablv for as much as lie gave for it. He thought the action of the . Railway authorities was high-handed and uncalled for. It suggested silly panic. The Cartc-rton merchant intends to make' a claim on the Department foi the loss he sustained. i In another instnnce a consignment fruit for Wanganui got as far as Pal: merston North. The consignee knew this to be the case, and wired that he would take delivery at Palmcrston North and pay freight accordingly (his idea being to take the fruit on to Wanganui by roadL Instead of acting on 1 tho wire.' the.Railway officials sold the consignment by auction, entirely without authority, which meant not , only a Joss to the owner,'.but a great disappointment to his customers in Wanganui. Wellington usually gets a good deal of fresh vegetables by rail from the Mana•y:iru. Hawke's Bay, and Wanganui districts. Otaki is noted for'its peas, beans, and early potatoes, and Aramoho is a good vegetable-producing district. The best of marrows and pumpkins sold in Wellington come from Hawke's Bay, which is also a rich fruit producer in mid-summer. Not jmueh fruit comes from Hawke's Bay a,t this time of the year, but tlio. pumpkin season is in full swing! The strike means a cessation of tiieso supplies and a consequent sjiortn«s. Almost the whole of the produce ' froi.i the fertile Hutt Ynllc.y comes .to Wellington by road, which is .just as well, for Wellington leans heavily on tiiat fruitful district for its,supplies of fresh vegetables. So far, supplies from . the South Island (including, of course, Nelson) liijvc not.been affected.