•164 Jounidl of Agriculture. Victoria. [10 Mar., 1911. 



Fruit. 



The Manchester Fruit Market offers unique attractions to the Victorian 

 grower and seller. The commercial sale rooms, situated in Dean.sgate, 

 are the centre of the fruit trade. On sale days, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 

 this extensive l)uilding is Idled with buyers from the many surrounding 

 and far distant towns. Many tiers of .seats are constructed in semi- 

 circular form, so that each buyer has an equal opportunity of inspecting 

 and bidding for the various lots. In the " well " of the room are lifts 

 which rise from the cellars l;eneath, with samples of fruit brought from the 

 docks. Standing on the rostrum the auctioneer sells hjt after lot, with 

 such rapidity that huge cargoes may be dispo.sed of in a single sale dav. 



As soon as the fruit is sold, forwarding orders are placed in the hands 

 of canal and railway otificials. The orders are then conveyed by frequent 

 messengers to the docks, and it very often happens that before a buyer 

 leaves the sale rooms the major portion of his purchases is loaded into 

 railway cars and despatched to inland destinations. 



Uiifortunately. very little of this fruit .so expeditiously disposed of is 

 Australian. At any rate, it dues not come from the Commonwealth direct. 

 'On a recent sale day the fruit offered at this market included : — 



7,681 Barrels Canadian apples. 

 2,000 Barrels American apples. 

 73 Boxes Californian Newtons. 

 13,647 Cases Valencia oranges. 

 9,142 Cases Valencia onions. 

 3,568 Packages lemnns I 



1,998 Boxes lemons ■ from Spain and Italy. 



356 Cases lemons J 



177 Packages mandarines. 



Total 38,642 jjackages. 



I had the good fortune to intervit-w Mi'. \\ . 'Vebster. a leading whole- 

 .sale fruit buyer and seller. Mr. \\Vbster has an extensive experience of 

 the Australian fruit trade. He informed me that out fruit is not always 

 carefully packed. Indifferent packing, he said, incalculably injures the 

 prices, as such prices are invariably based on the inferior and not the 

 better produce. Fruit should also, he considers, be shipped more promptly. 

 He further thinks the Australian grower should insist on proper grading 

 of fruit, and the export of inferior quality should be prohibited ; higher 

 general prices all over the United Kingdom would then be secured where 

 Australian fruit is .sold. But under existing conditions the greatest damage 

 often occurs between the time the fruit is landed at London or Liver- 

 pool and the time it issold in Manchester. It is plain that, fruit undergoes 

 more handling during that period than it does during the whole of the 

 transportation from the orchard in Victoria to landing in England. 



The dealer naturally desires to obtain fruit out of the ship as soon as 

 possible after discharging commences so that deterioration may be mini- 

 mized, but this is not practicable when it comes by way of London or 

 Liverpool. Neither Liverpool nor London pos.sesses adequate rail facilities 

 at the docks, and the fruit must consequently be carted to a depot, entailing 

 double handling and extra expense. 



Buyers regularlv visit the Manchester inarket from as far north as 

 Carlisle, as far .south as BirmiiT,gham, from Hull in the east and from 

 •other distant places. Carlisle is 120 miles, Birmingham 83 miles, and 

 Hull 93 miles from Manchester. 



