8 July, 1907.] Fruit Export Season igoy. 387 



lias been found to be a great advantage to those shippers who, after for- 

 warding their goods to the Port, have discovered that no vessel was avail- 

 able owing to changes in the time-table &c. By arrangement with the 

 Department the whole of their fruit was run into the shed and carefully 

 stowed away from weather, pillage, damage &:c. ; it was also found that 

 !he system did away with the costly demurrage charges which otherwise 

 would have been imposed bv the Railways Department for the delaying 

 of the trucks pending the arrival of the steamers. The greatest of care was 

 exercised bv the Departmental officers in seeing that fruit, although in 

 many cases wrongly marked or badlv mixed in the trucks, was properly 

 sorted and branded ; a watchman was told off to guard the fruit at night 

 and agents were promptlv notified of any shortages or incorrect markings 

 and other faults. The result of all this was that most of those who 

 " came to scoff " at the new svstem were the first to come forward and 

 acknowledge its advantages. 



The quality of the fruit was, on the whole, far in advance of previous 

 years. Very little was condemned bv the inspectors and in every instance 

 Bitter Pit was the offending disease. This defect was more noticeable 

 in the Cox's Orange Pippins sent forward, Cleopatras coming second. 

 The Jonathans showed up very favorably except that here and there a 

 form of disease known to growers as Skin Pit was in evidence. With 

 regard to Cleopatra and Cox's Orange Pippin varieties, growers will do 

 well to rememl)er that in forwarding extra care should be taken that large 

 sizes are excluded, for, in nearlv every instance where the inspectors had. 

 to reject these varieties, the grower asserted that at the time of packing there 

 was no noticeable trace whatever of the disease. In spite of that, however, 

 the larger fruits almost invariablv showed up badly in this respect. A hard 

 medium sized apple should be the standard. With regard to Codlin Moth, 

 very little was noticed ; the same applies to scab and other diseases. One 

 of the best all round varieties in point of freedom from disease was 

 Munroe's Favorite. This apple has been exceptionally good during the 

 past season. 



The cases used gave more satisfaction than thos^e used in previous years. 

 The compulsory marking of the words " One Bushel " demanded that 

 cases should approach something like uniformity, and this, coupled with 

 the knowledge that the new Victorian Fruit Cases Act would come into 

 operation on the ist July, 1907, tended to bring about the desired uni- 

 formity. This Act is designed more particularly to deal with export ; the 

 case prescribed is slightly larger than that set out by the Commonwealth 

 Government, containing as it does 2,236! cubic inches as against 2,218 

 cubic inches in the case recommended by the Commonwealth authorities. 

 This should insure good weights in every package and should do away with 

 any cause for complaint from foreign markets in future. 



Among various faults noticed in shipments, one stands out prominently 

 and that is the use of soiled wrapping-paper and newspaper shavings for 

 padding. The practice cannot be too strongly condemned. The aim of 

 every grower should be to put up his goods in as attractive a manner 

 as possible. It is recommended that in place of newspaper packing onlv 

 clean, white paper shavings, cork shavings, or wood-wool be used. All 

 ragged edges should be clipped off after the case is nailed down. Loose 

 packing must also be strictly avoided as a loosely-packed case does not 

 contain the full bushel demanded by the law. Growers Avill do well to 

 bear in mind that the inspectors are provided with a set of weighing 



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