THE FRUIT SEASON

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 36, 6 November 1920, Page 7

THE FRUIT SEASON

PROSPECTS OF "BUMPER" CROP TAPPING OVERSEA MARKETS By«Telegraph'.— Special Correspondent. v P 3 '™" lo " North, November 5. tii 5;-' Green, Dominion organiser of the A'Biv Zealand Association of Fruit-' Kroivere, mtervuwod to-day, said that it was p. little too early j-et to speak witli certainty as to the fruit crop in 1921, but the prospects of a bumper crop wero excellent, particularly the yield of export varieties of apples. As a rule," said Jlr. Green, "the trees are clean and healthy, and tlioro is little doubt that if normal conditions prevail the crop will largely exceed tliat of 1920. The reason for tho increased yield is that some thousands of acres of growing orchards will reach a productive stag© (his seastfii for the first time, *nd much of that whtich has so far only

borne light crops will be carrying heavy crops of exportable fruit/ -Indeed, it will be necessary to send away at least a quarter of a million cases if the local markets are not'to be glutted. A very large quantity 1 will go to England, %ut the South .American market is now available. Luckily, for shipment there, no cooling is required. All that is needed is threj. steamers, sav one in April, one in May, -and one in June. "With regard to shipping facilities, the Minister of Agriculture recently submitted to the Fruitgrowers' Federation a combined export scheme, but this did not meet with approval, and now alternative proposals are being considered." Mr. Green considered that prompt measures- would have to be takm to\-nsure the shipment of fruit and other crops of. l'ering to South America next autumn. To assist in the direction of export, a Nelson Provincial Council had baen. formed, the costs being met partly by a levy and partly by a Government grant taut of -the funds received from the orchard tax. Questioned as to whether there will be sufficient fruit at a reasonable price for the Dominion markets if the export'

is as heavy as anticipated, Mr. .Green replied in the affirmative, thouli lie admitted that tb; standard of grade might not lie as good as it had been, on account of the ; bulk of the "fancy" to ho shipped. l>nt lie considered that there would I>> plenty of "choice" and "good" (if properly distributed) left over to supply all local requirements. All that ttas now needed to stabilise the fruit industry and restore confidence was two or three vears of successful export to <le-. monstrate that the quantity and quality of New Zealand fruit was 011 a parity with'-the best of oth.'r fruit-growing countries. He thought that the resumption of commercial orchard planting 011 a . very large scale was very probable, in view of the. bright prospects alv.?ad for the fruit-growing industry, when South America and other markets were tapped and systematically developed.