42 



Mr. Stkes asked Tvliether, in tiie case referred to, the laths 

 were open or close. 



Mr. Lang said there was about a quarter-of-an-inch space and 

 a quarter-of-an-inch along the corner, so that if there was any 

 cool air it was allowed to come round the fruit. 



Mr. Deapek said he had had no experience in shipping. 

 Mr. Lang had stuck to it through thick and thin, and his ex- 

 perience was invaluable to all fruit-growers. He thought that 

 now was the time to begin. As to the proper varieties they had 

 been working hard to obtain them, and had shown samples at the 

 present exhibition which he thought would do more than anything 

 to teach the fruit-growers in different districts the right sorts to 

 grow. He thoroughly agreed with Mr. Lang as to starting a 

 month earlier. The Agricultural Department had brought, through 

 Mr. Wilson, specimens from England of suitable varieties. That 

 was a good lesson. As Mr. Lang had remarked, they had not 

 ventured hitherto to send the earlier varieties, and it had now 

 been proved that they would go all right. As to pears, he had 

 exhibited in England, and at the Centennial Exhibition, Phila- 

 delphia, 97 varieties, and only three specimens went bad. They 

 were sent by the s.s. Zealandia, in which there was no 

 cool chamber, but as there was good ventilation they all 

 went sound. He had contended all along that we must have 

 cool air, not cold. air. Fruit grew in about 120°, and to put it 

 down to 40° made it almost impossible for it to keep because 

 there was the thawing and the dampness that came from it. He 

 agreed with Mr. Lang that about 55° would be quite sufficient. 

 He thought that, as with the cool chambers for frozen meat and 

 butter, there might be a part of the vessel set apart for fruit 

 carriage, and through that the air could be forced. As to pears, 

 he sent the Beurre Clairgeau to the exhibition, and Mr. Bosisto 

 said they were the best that were sent. They arrived in perfect 

 condition, and were .thought a great deal of. But pears would 

 only keep a certain time before they ripened, and they needed to 

 be packed at the right time, allowing for the voyage. He had 

 sent a good many pears, but for exhibition only. The Beurre 

 Clairgeau just ripened up by the time they got there. He agreed 

 with Mr. Lang as to the list of the fruit trees published by the 

 Department of Agriculture. He had been exporting and intro- 

 ducing into the colony all the varieties of fruits that he had heard 

 of as being any good in America or England, so that they were 

 procurable in this colony. He had been trying lately to get the 

 right class of peaches for bottling, canning, and drying, and they 

 could now be had in quantity in the colony. He recommended 

 growers to get them. The yellow fleshy peach was one of the 

 best they had in America for canning. The Muir, the Foster, 



