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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5246, 16 January 1878, Page 2

The importance of a regular and liberal supply of vegetables for any great centre of population is a question of the first importance alike for the health and convenience of the inhabitants. Few will bo found to deny that Wellington occupies a very unenviable position in respect to its vegetable supplies. The articles of tliis class vended in our shops and hawked about our streets are small in quantity, inferior in quality, and excessively high in price. Wo have heard of one case where an innkeeper, who wanted a cauliflower with which to. regale his customers, after hurrying frantically from one greengrocer to another, at last secured one at the fabulous price of 7a. 6d. This was surely a case of “ buying gold too deaf.” Such a state of things does not always obtain ; but the very fact that such a thing could happen—and the fact is beyond dispute—demonstrates a scarcity in our supplies of an important article of diet, which speaks volumes, and needs no further comment. It is an indisputable fact that vegetables of all kinds are fully double the prices in this city as compared with the prices ruling for such articles in any of the Australian cities. When any article of daily consumption is scarce and dear, there is a strong temptation among vendors to palm off upon

their customers articles of such inferior quality as would not be tolerated if the supply were more constant and abundant. On the contrary, whenever food is cheap and plentiful it is good, as only those articles which are of the best quality will find a market. Moreover, when any article of food is dear, there is a tendency among many consumers to do without it, or only to use a limited quantity. This arises often more from necessity ■ than choice, as persons of scanty means naturally avoid the use of what is dear, if they can possibly do without it. We heard of a case some time since of a householder who ordered some Swede turnips without inquiring the price, and was greatly astonished when he found he had to pay a price equal to £2O per ton for them. Such a price is far in excess of prices paid in Victoria in 1852-3, during the period of the “gold fever,” when agricultural and horticultural produce of all kinds sold at famine prices. A crop of turnips will produce from ten to twenty tons per acre, according to the season and the quality of land, and the ordinary selling price is about 30s. per ton. It may be said that the instances we have cited are exceptional; probably they are. Prices of that character could not be general, for under such circumstances

people would cease to buy altogether. It must not be supposed that we are finding fault with those whose business it is to supply our wants in these matters. To boy at the cheapest market, and sell at the dearest, is a principle of trade, and influences at once the pedlar and the merchant. But it is not to the interest of the general public that important articles of consumption should fall into the hands of a few tradesmen, and come only through such channels, to be sold to the public at any price they chose. Unquestionably the most effectual means for the producer to secure a ready sale for his produce, and to insure the consumer against, imposition, is the. establishment of a market. Where such institutions exist, the grower and householder can meet, the one to buy and the other to sell, and if they are so minded they can transact business without the intervention of the “ middle-man,” who too frequently appropriates to himself a lion’s share of the profits, buying of the grower at a low price and selling to the consumer at a high one. There are very few towns so large as Wellington which cannot boast of a market for the sale of garden and agricultural produce. These institutions are to a large extent self-supporting, as dues are charged for the right to use them, and the farmers and gardeners gladly avail themselves of the facilities thus afforded them. Markets are placed under the control of an officer, whose duties are to collect dues, see that no articles unfit for food are offered for sale, and enforce the regulations of the market. It may be remarked (hat little purpose can be served by establishing a market in this city for the sale of produce, until we have the produce to sell. Upon the whole the supply of vegetables is more abundant this season than in any previous one. When speaking on the subject of our deficient vegetable supplies, we are not unfrequently met with the remark that the land around the city is unsuitable for the growth of garden produce. This is partly true and partly false. Certainly some of the land within a limited distance is not of the most productive description, but we are inclined to attribute the paucity of our vegetable supplies to the want of enterprise in this particular department, rather than to the cause above stated. Certain it is, where any attempts have been made at kitchen gardening in and about Wellington, they have been very successful, and the articles produced have been on a par with what we have seen elsewhere, and the -soil is equal, if not superior, to much we have seen under cultivation in the vicinity of other large towns. But there is no reason why we should draw upon so limited an area only for the necessaries of life. There are districts within a radius of twenty miles, or even less, where extensive tracts of good and well-watered land are found, which only require the application of a little capital and skilled labor to make them produce abundantly of the good things which we require. It is scarcely necessary to remark that there is abundant evidence to show that such enterprises would result in considerable profit to those engaged in them, Probably the scarcity of labor lias been one of the great hindrances to undertakings of this kind. Owners and occupiers of land have found it necessary to devote their attention to sheep and such pursuits as involve the employment of little labor, and although the income per acre has been far below what they might have obtained from the cultivation of the soil, yet for the reason already assigned they have preferred to do that which was within the compass of the labor at their command. But it is high time that public attention was directed to supplying the wants of the city. The extension of our railway system into the heart of the country will have the effect of opening up new sources of supply, which have hitherto been closed to us. It is a vital principle of trade and the intei - - change of commodities that wherever there is a’demand the current of supply will invariably sot in that direction. We are convinced the evil we complain of will soon rectify itself. But the sooner public attention is directed to this matter the better will it be for all concerned. The citizens will be largely benefited and the public health improved by a liberal supply of wholesome and nutritious food, for which they will be prepared to make a substantial return, in pounds, shillings, and pence, to those who are wise enough to attend to their wants.