322 



Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. 



[lo May. 191: 



Seeing the evident unfairne.ss of such a state of affairs to our wine- 

 growers, the attention of the Director of Agriculture was drawn to the 

 ■matter by the Government ViticuUurist in October last, with the result 

 that the Agent-General was asked to obtain information on the following 

 points : — 



(i) Currants imported into England for manufacturing purposes. 



(2) Evaporated grape juice imported. 



(3) The quantity of wine manufactured in England. 



(4) The amount of duty payable on evaporated grape juice. 



(5) Any further information obtainable on the subject. 



A despatch was received from the Agent-General dated the 8th Decem- 

 ber, accompanied by a return showing importations of grape juice or must 

 as follows : — ■ 



A recent very marked increase is here show'n, the figures for 1910-11 

 being more than double those for the previous twelve months, an increase 

 for which the steady decline in value is, no doubt, largely responsible. 



Further information was promised by the Agent-General, and a de- 

 spatch has recently been received by the Honorable the Minister for Agri- 

 culture, dated 5th January, as follows: — 



" Following up my despatch of the 8th ultimo, the Customs Depart- 

 ment inform me that they have no information as to the disposal of currants 

 after the payment of duty. The quantities and value of currants imported 

 are shown in the Annual Statement of Trade of the United Kingdom, and 

 are as follows, namelv: — 



1906. 

 Quantity, cwts. .. 1,458,159 

 Value, £ ... 1,648,410 



" Evaporated Grafe Juice. 

 corded in the official statistics. 



1907. 1908 1909. 1910. 

 1.18S,4S1 1,297,157 1,071,209 1,310,361 

 1,392,271 1,464,091 1,156,118 1,708,710 



-This, I am advised, is not separately re- 

 Any such imports will be classified under 

 the general heading ' Grape Juice or Must,' the imports and value of 

 which are given in the Annual Statement of Trade as follows, namely: — 



1906. 1907. 1908. 1909. 1910. 



Quantity, gallons ... 43,510 109,831 85,601 67,090 163,838 

 Value, £ ... ... 5,422 15,047 8,527 7,967 16,513 



" Wine Manufactured in England. — The Customs Department inform 

 me that the quantity of wine made by licensed manufacturers of the United 

 Kingdom was in the year ended 31st March, 1911, 1,234.512 gallons. 



" There is no duty chargeable on grape juice or must as such. 



" I am sending you a copy of the Finance Act passed in the last few 

 days of the session. You will observe that section 10 of the Act imposes 

 certain restrictions on the use of British wine for blending purposes. Regu- 

 lations as to the registration of the sales of British w'ines by manufacturers 

 have not yet been issued, but as soon as they are I will send you a copy. 

 It is possible that under the new regulations we may be able to obtain 

 further information to assist us in the matter. 



