POTATO PACKING.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 1, Issue 19, 17 July 1912, Page 3

POTATO PACKING.

SHOULD THE PRODUCE BE GRADED 1 Some Stiff Criticism. f Appointment of Grader Approved. Owing to the bad weather there was not a large attendance a; the Uddfellowa' Hall, Pukekohe, on Tuesday evening, when a meeting was convened to discuss the question of amusing a system of grading local produce. Bad Name Lowkks Pricks. The chairman (Mr Webster, President of the < bomber of Commerce), said the experience for some time past had been that the price of potatoes had not been satisfactory : sometimes farmers bad mrt with i "lank refusal to do business at all. The reason for this was the class of produce offend to the merchants, for Pukekohe * potatoes were not always what they assumed to be. Potatoes in the middle of the sacks were not so big as thnm* on the outrides It was time something was done to * this state of affairs. Yea™ ago Pukekohe had a good muuu and a big demand was created, but lately th. re had been a zood many complaints. If conndence were restored better prices would be obtained. The idea now was that ' a Government grader should bo appointed here «nd in other centres from which large quantities of produce were bring exporod. What About Oihee Statioks? v. Mr D. B. Hamilton said a grader at Pukekohe would not get over the difficulty as large quantiti.* of potato6B WOTO soot from Buckland, Bunciman and other plnces. The said the district was getting a bad name and they should attempt a remedy. In Canada certain standards were set up by the Government and sellers had to give a guarantee that the proluce was ujf to the standard; if it were n..t damages could be claimed. Perhaps the meeting might prefer that ?' stem to the appointment of a grader ? Mr Hamilton : I think they would. Fixnro the Standards. Mr B. Johns said the standards would have to vary for early and late potatoes. There were always reputable growers upon whom you could rely. He did not see how the grader idea could be worked, and the honour- • able grower who put in a first-class sample was going to suffer for others who guaranteed their produce as firstclass when it was not. If a grader were appointed it would be at the growers' expense. "Well, I am a grower," he added, and so far as I can pee they are under enough expense already.'" Hiohxr Grade akd Higher Price. Mr Webster : Don't you think that a bad reputation lowers the price of the better goods t If you paid a grader you would get a higher price for your potatoes. Mr Johns: Tou might'. He went on to say that the greatest factor to regulate price would be to have all the potatoes go through one centre. The only safeguard was for growers to submit a sample and say: My potatoes are up to that sample. Mr Weoster : The complaint is that th« does not come up to sample. In reply to the suggestion about goods going out from neighbouring stations he said the first thing to be done was to get an alteration to the law to enable graders to be appointed, then other towns which had sufficient output could have their graders. Capt. Colbeck's View. Capt Colbeck, of the Farmers' > Union, supported the suggestion to appoint a grader. When they sent a consignment south they wanted to be absolutely sure that they were of a certain and standard. Of course the standard size would have to be fixed for each month: to fix the size was simple, they would have to grade the quality in another way. Of one thing he felt certain, namely, that the potatoes would have to be graded on the farm to save expense. He referred to the abominable quality of a lot of potatoes which had been sent South, which should not be Mr J. B. Rowe said the farmers should keep a stricter watch in packing the potatoes. How Potatoes are Packed. The chairman related an incident { where Maoris had asked if they would park for a farmer as they had done > for his neighbour—put all the little ones in the middle of the bag. Mr B. McGough asked as it was mostly native labour employed, who was going to look after them. Mr Johns : Natives are engaged at bo much a bag and they put everything in. Captain Colbeck suggested a mechanical grader, which would be inexpensively made. Grading would Pay MrScbmitt, provincial secretary of the Farmers' Union, said it was a very worthy object that the Chamber of Commerce had taken in hand. What made our butter a success ? Grading! Whenever there was a doubt the merchants bought on the doubtful B ide. He believed in grading for economic reasons. Very often merchants had to turn their ' potatoes out and repack them, which cost about 10s por ton. If the grading were done on the farm at the V S,st of a few shillings it would save money. If they sent No. 1 grade they could command No. 1 price. Refly to Objections. Mr B. H. Andrew, secretary of the Chamber of Commerce, thought the idea of grading on the farm altogether untenablo An independent man was wanted whose decision would be final If there were a Government grader a farmer could ring up a merchant and sell on the grade note, and the buyer would be compelled to pay on that, f Only a small office at the station would L be needed. He described a grader's % table. Four or five bags for trial out of a lot of 50 would be good enough to work on. Some 5000 tons of pota toes a year wero going out from Pukekohe, and if 6d per ton railage wero added it would give £1 '25 per annum. ' If to that the Government added

another £125 subsidy, there would be enough to pay the grader. Voice: Who pays it? Mr Andrew: If you sell on rail it would be paid for at the other end. The grader had to be paid, and to do it by increasing the railage was the best suggestion he could make. Mr Johns remarked that grading would be to hold the merchants safe. "Well," -said the speaker, "I can assure you the merchants hold themselves safe now. The grader is to hold the farmer safe." Continuing, he said if he could get graded prime potatoes be could get a better price. Mr Johns suggested that the reputable growers would suffer by grading, but it was the disreputable growers who would suffer, ana suffer badly. The arguments of a farmer were no go against the statements of a buyer 100 miles away, but if the produce carried a grade stamp —Ist class, fair average quality, or second class—that would settle the matter. The native labor trouble could be got over quite .simply by making a contract to pack potatoes to certaip grades, or to receive only half-price for digging if they did I not couie up to the grades. Most farmers recognised that something should be done to increase the value of the potatoes going away from Pukekohe. It would cost very little to try the scheme for a year, and if it did hot do it could then be thrown out. Mr Johns said it took them all their time getting the stuff on to the trucks now; they would require to make a holiday of it and sit on a rail while they waited for the potatoes on the tin-pot table. The thing looked all right in theory, but not in practice. Mr Andrew: If you get 10s a ton more, it would pay you to spend a few minutes grading. A Bum's Protest Mr F. Perkins thought Mr Andrew was under-estimating the quantity of Pukekohe potatoes; he himself had bought over 50,000 bags this season. Referring to the wiles of the growers, Jie said he sometimes inspected a sack and bought, and after sending the potatoes away he found that the big potatoes bad been put in the sacks on the top of the load. It was quite time tney tried to raise the tone of their potatoes, for more left here than from all 'the other stations in the Waikato; 150 000 bags went away last season. 11 u. complained strongly about the rubbish that is bagged with the potatoes. " I wouldn't mind buying your land at £lO an acre," he said, " but I do object to buying your dirt at £lO a ton." " Bap with the bottoms dropping out of them," slag bags and manure bags were complain ed against as potato holers. Honors for Bucklakd. Mr Perkins said he got better potatoes from Buckland and Paerata than he did from Pukekohe. It was the same with chaff. Farmers in Buckland seemed to be more up-to-date than those here. Voice: No. Mr Perkins: Well, I can sell Buckland and Paerata chaff easier than I can sell Pukekohe chaff. That should not be and he thought a big effort should be made to raise the quality of local produce, and he was satisfied that it would pay farmers handsomely to grade their potatoes. With one dissentient (Mr Johns), a motion was carried affirming the principle of grading produce. •Finally, Mr Andrew moved, That the Council of the Chamber of Commerce, and the Committee of the Pukekohe branch of the Farmers' Union, be asked to go into the matter and put a working proposition before the Government to permit of the appointment of produce giaders. This was seconded by Mr T. Hogan and carried without dissent. Subsequently a conference of the executives of the Fanners' Union and Chamber of Commerce was held and a scheme was formulated which it is thought will be most likely to meet with the approval of the growers. The scheme provides for the trial of the grading system covering the months of November, December and January. This scheme will be placed before a public meeting to be held on Friday evening in the Oddfellows Hall at 8 p.m. All farmers and others interested in the project should make a s pecial point of being present.