41 



charges here last year, including shipment, were 6s. 5d. a case, 

 and he believed that that was as low as it could possibly be done 

 for. The case cost 9d., paper about 2d., carriage of fruit from 

 Harcourt (about 80 miles) 4d., and the charges home about 3s. 

 lOd. The charges in London amounted to about Is. per case, 

 (including about 6d. per case for handling at the wharves) and 

 5 per cent, commission on the sales. If arriving in good condition 

 there was sale for hundreds of thousands of cases at from 10s. to 

 12s. a case. With suitable means of transport at, say, 2s. 6d. a 

 case, there is a wide opening for the export of green fruit. He 

 firmly believed in it himself, and intended to follow it as long as 

 he was connected with the fruit-growing industry. This year he 

 was not in a position to send home owing to a very short crop ; 

 but for that he should have done so. This was the first year he 

 had missed for some years past. 



Mr. Draper asked what the cases were made of? 



Mr. Lang stated he had heard from Mr. Neilson that with 

 the fruit going home this year the cases were of a better descrip- 

 tion and more uniform in size than hitherto. They had 

 followed the pattern he (Mr. Lang) had made some two years ago 

 — a case 14 x 6^ x 28 inches, made of white pine sides, with 

 kauri ends. There was no smell or taint with those. He would 

 caution the growers about the wood. The cases were sometimes 

 made of red pine, which had a very strong smell that would taint 

 the whole of the fruit in the case and make it perfectly useless. 

 There was nothing more susceptible of taking taint than fruit. 

 Last year a friend of his consigned some cherries to the Sydney 

 market. The cases were made of messmate, and the whole of 

 that fruit was spoiled. That showed how careful fruit-growers 

 should be as to the wood of which cases were made. Another 

 thing Mr. Neilson desired him to mention was that the fruit sent 

 away this year had been of a much more uniform quality and 

 superior to any that had gone in previous years. As long as they 

 could keep up the quality of the fruit they would always be able 

 to demand a good price in the London market It had told against 

 the Tasmanian fruit that many of the growers there had been so 

 short-sighted ; they packed in any rubbish — windfalls and so on — 

 and sent them home. The consequence was that the return received 

 for that very poor fruit did not realize the expenses of sending 

 it home. But from what Mr. Neilson said the matter was quite 

 difEerent this year as far as Victorian fruit was concerned. Two 

 years ago he was on the Port Melbourne pier and saw some fruit 

 consigned home, and noticed the codlin moth grub crawling out 

 of the cases. That should not be permitted. The fruit should 

 be perfectly sound, and above all things should have no codlin 

 moth or grubs. 



