H.—3oa.

In the meantime the Division, having foreseen the exhaustion of the large purchase of barley made some eight months ago, has made further purchases in Australia, which it is considered will be sufficient to carry us through until December, 1940. MAIZE. The 1938 crop of New Zealand-grown maize was practically exhausted in January, 1939, and during the period March to June, 1939, it was necessary to arrange for importations in order to meet requirements until the new season's crop became available in July-August. Owing to an embargo on export from South Africa due to a small crop there, supplies had to he obtained from Java, the total quantity imported being 2,470 tons. These shipments, together with the New-Zealand-grown crop, were sufficient to meet all requirements up till the end of December, but from January onwards it was found necessary to arrange for further importations of South African maize, some 775 tons being imported from that country, and further quantities have recently been imported from Java. Arrangements were made with the New Zealand maize-growers to stabilize the price for last season's crop on the basis of ss. 3d. per bushel f.o.b. Gisborne, with increments for delivery in certain months, and although this was purely a voluntary arrangement it has worked satisfactorily and has proved a considerable help to the. industry. As a result of the stabilized price and assured return to producers there has been considerable improvement in the acreage of maize sown this season, and in some of the principal districts the crop has been doubled —a very satisfactory position in view of the high prices ruling for imported maize and the difficulties incidental to securing supplies from abroad under war conditions. It is hoped that ultimately local production will be stimulated to such an extent that importations may become unnecessary. WHITE MAIZE. An interesting development during the last few months has been the importation from South Africa of a trial shipment of white maize for the manufacture of cornflour. This trial parcel has proved quite successful, and while the quality is not sufficiently fine for all culinary purposes, being of a rather coarser grade than that usually marketed by grocers as cornflour, it is nevertheless quite suitable for use in the manufacture of certain foods, notably ice-cream, of which cornflour forms a very substantial constituent. A further shipment of 30 tons of white maize foe this purpose has been arranged and is diuie in a few weeks time. This industry shows some promise of development, and it may be necessary and advisable to stimulate the local production of white maize for manufacturing purposes. ONIONS. Considerable difficulty was experienced in certain periods of the year in arranging for a satisfactory supply of onions, and during the late winter and spring months of 1939 there was at times a fairly acute shortage with high retail prices. During the early stages of the onion season —March to June —fairly substantial exports were made to Australia at very satisfactory prices to growers, but in the great majority of cases it would not have been possible to have retained these onions in New Zealand to meet our later requirements owing to their inferior keeping-quality for any substantial period. However, during the past two years onion-growers have been greatly improving the quality of their crops by growing better and longer-keeping varieties, in which they have been encouraged and assisted by the Department of Agriculture. The current years' crop l —and, we anticipate, succeeding years'— should keep in sound condition sufficiently to meet our requirements for two or three months longer than has been the case in past years, although we anticipate that it will be necessary to make some importations about October-November to fill the gap between the exhaustion of our local crop and the harvesting of the early new season's onions towards the end of December. The total quantity imported during the year ended 31st March, 1940, was as follows: —14,500 crates Japanese, 8,200 centals Californian, and 12,000 centals Canadian. These importations were arranged after consultation with the Onion Advisory Committee of the Department of Agriculture, with whom the Division has kept in close touch. That Committee watches the local crop position and is able to advise when importation is necessary to supplement local production. APPLES AND PEARS. Amongst the many problems which confronted primary producers following the declaration of war, perhaps none was so pressing as that affecting the apple and pear growers of the Dominion. In the years prior to the commencement of hostilities the Dominion had enjoyed an export trade in apples to the extent of approximately a million cases per annum. War necessitated the utilization of all available shipping space for the transport of produce more essential under the conditions than fruit, such as meat and dairy-produce. The apple and pear industry was therefore faced with the unenviable position of fosing its export trade, which meant that a million cases of fruit would be thrown back on the local market, which was normally capable of consuming about two million cases on an average each year. Faced with this problem of oversupply, the growers, through their representative organizations, the New Zealand Fruitgrowers' Federation and the New Zealand Fruit Export Control Board, approached the Government for assistance, and requested the latter to take over the marketing of the fruit. After lengthy discussions as to the method to be adopted, the Government agreed to tackle the problem-,

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