322 



Grading and Packing of Fruit. 



[July, 



by a Growers' Association, with a certain measure of assistance 

 from Government Departments — a practice which has proved 

 successful in Canada. 



A review^ of the Canadian and American literature on this 

 subject wall show that in the majority of instances the growlers* 

 organisations started all these measures of reform on a 

 voluntary basis, but before an extension of the scheme 

 \^'as possible it was necessary to secure Government 

 assistance with legislation. There is a genuine desire to avoid 

 legislation here if the reform measures can be established on 

 a voluntary basis. The legislation in other countries v^as 

 generally in the direction of defining standards for certain 

 grades and classes of fruit, though in some cases it definitely 

 decided the weight of goods to be sold in each package, and the 

 size of the package which was to contain the fruit. In a few 

 instances also, legislation provided that all the fruit was to be 

 labelled and ascribed to its proper class. 



The question has rightly been asked in America: " What 

 is the object of legislation, laying down standards for produce 

 of this nature? " and the answ^er has been that standardisa- 

 tion, in establishing a guide to the measure of quantity, W' eight, 

 extent and value, sets up a standard for a given commodity, 

 and classifies other commodities by comparison with the given 

 standard. Such a standard will stabilise the business by 

 providing a common ground w^hereon the buyer can meet the 

 seller with the assurance that each is talking in the same under- 

 standable language. Most of the grievances of trade are due to 

 the lack of this common language. 



The various sections of the horticultural industry have 

 recently considered this matter very carefully among themselves 

 and in consultation with Government Departments. They 

 have in fact considered a scheme put forw'ard by the Ministry 

 for dealing with this problem. There is undoubtedly a genuine 

 desire among the best growers of this country to regard the 

 defects as the business of the growlers, and they propose to deal 

 with this matter with a definite scheme of their ow^n through 

 the Growlers' Associations, and to seek no aid from the 

 Government, other than advice and some little assistance in 

 the initial stages. The desire of the growers to put their own 

 business in order is a right one, and a very w^elcome one, and 

 it is the hope of the retailer and the wholesaler that the scheme 

 will succeed. The scheme of the INIinistry will remain in 

 abeyance, but the plans are at the disposal of the Growers* 



