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45. I am speaking of the people who send the fruit away ? —They now try to send out the fruit as clean as possible. 46. What is your objection to send only clean fruit away?— They do it now without you making it compulsory. 47. The main portion of the Auckland District is exempted from this Bill?— Well, lam not saying anything to your exemption. The desire of the Auckland people is to be exempted. 48. The desire of some Auckland people is this : that they should be allowed to send diseased fruit all over the colony.—They would in their own interest, only send away sound fruit. They send away fruit in the winter. They do not send away much fruit in the summer-time. 49. You told us that if this Bill was passed people who made a living out of fruit would receive an enhanced price for it ?—Yes, because so many orchards would be destroyed, which would restrict the amount of fruit sent to the market. I send many cases of apples that I believe to be sound though my orchard is infected. 50. If you got an enhanced price for these apples would it not be for your benefit ?—No, it would not be : for this reason, I could not feel sure that there was not some undetected apple in the case infected, and I might be made to pay the penalty. 51. Mr. Symes.] How long since the Government expert was around your district ?—What I mean to convey to the Committee is that there is a considerable variety of opinion as to whether he does afford remedial relief. Not from want of assiduity on his part, but from his inability to tell them how to eject the pest. I am not offering any censure to the experts, for I believe them to be informed men though riot more than many of the fruit-growers themselves. 52. Do you know any of the orchardists in question who have followed the instruction given by the Government expert ? —Not that I know of. He may have given specific instructions and they may have been followed, but I do not know. 53. Then you do not know of your own knowledge if sufficient time has elapsed since the visit of the Government expert as to say if those remedies recommended by him would be efficacious or not ?—I know the remedies he has recommended have been practised assiduously by some of the orchardists, and part of them have been discarded. Bandaging has been mostly decided as the best method of attacking the pest. 54. You have other pests besides codlin-moths in connection with the orchards ?—Numerous ones. 55. The bandaging would be no use for those?— No. 56. Then how do they propose to get rid of those if they only believe in bandaging?— There are none of the orchardists that do not adopt the process of spraying, and wash with sulphate of lime in the winter. This is most efficacious. And in the summer-time they use Bordeaux mixture upon pears and vines and other fruits. 57. You are aware that from Auckland they send away fruit and trees in large quantities?— Yes. 58. Is it your opinion that they should still be allowed to send out from Auckland the diseased fruit and trees affected with various diseases ?—I have mentioned several times that they would not in their own interest send diseased fruit away. I myself have bought trees from the orchardists, who, I think, have exercised the utmost care in selecting them. Those wishing to get trees should only go to those nurseries they can rely on the proprietors exercising all the precautions that a Government could direct. 59. Then you do not know of your own knowledge of orchardists sending out those trees ?—No. In the olden days, of course, the guilt lay somewhere. 60. You said in sending out the apples you examined the whole of them ?—ln winter-time you do so, but in the summer-time, when apples are used chiefly for cider, they do not consider the codlin-moth much disadvantage. 61. Hon. the Chairman.] Have you seen the pamphlet of remedies circulated by the Government ?—I saw it before it was circulated.. We have to thank the American Horticultural Bureau forjthose remedies. Mr. E. Thompson, M.H.E., examined. Mr. Thompson: I have no practical experience in dealing with the codlin-moth pest in the North, but represent a district which is one of the oldest fruit-growing districts in the colony. I think it, therefore, my duty to place the views of those I represent before the Committee in reference to the proposed Bill. It may seem strange to southern members that there is such a strong feeling of objection to this proposed legislation on the part of the fruit-growers in the Province of Auckland, but the principal objection they have against the proposed Bill is in the enormous powers proposed to be placed in the hands of Inspectors. They contend that the Inspectors, so far as they know them at present, are in no way more competent to deal with the question than they are themselves. In fact, the old fruit-growers in that part of the colony look upon the present so-called fruit experts with a certain amount of contempt. There are many men in that part of the colony who for the past twenty-five or thirty years have devoted their whole time to fruit-growing. Most of them are very sensible men, and have paid a great deal of attention to their orchards. What they complain principally of is this: that the Government, while taking steps'to organize all other branches of the Agricultural Department and securing the services of experts—which they have done in the Dairying Department and in the Stock Department—but seem not to have been able to realise the great benefit which would accrue to the State by encouraging and assisting the fruit industry. For instance, in dealing with the proposed measure you will be placing powers in the hands of a class of men who are really not qualified to administer such a law properly. I have no desire to say anything disrespectful to the present Inspectors, nor do I wish it to be understood that I wish to prejudice their position in any way. You will remember that a few years ago an agitation was got