March 1. 1908 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
9 
ADELAIDE SHOW, 
Jubilee Grounds and Building, 
MARCH 5, 6, and 7. 
10: ———— 
Show and Concert, Thursday and Friday Nights. 
Flowers. Fruits, Vegetables on view. Horses in Action. 
Poultry and Wool. 
ADMISSION, ONE SHILLING. 
The Orchard. 
Exporting Fruits. 
It is essential that our fruit-growers 
should thoroughly realise the importance 
of exporting nothing but the very choicest 
fruits, as the markets we have to supply 
require nothing but the very best, and 
the expense of getting the fruit on to 
those markets is so great that no fruit, 
except it be of superior quality, will 
realise a suflicient price to cover the 
expense of shipping and marketing, and 
leave a fair margin of profit for the 
grower. It costs just as much to pick, 
wrap, pack, ship, and sell a case of 
inferior fruit, which will never realise 
enough to defray expenses, besides in- 
juring the reputation of our fruits, as it 
does to send a case of choice fruit, which 
sells raadily at a remunerative price, and 
tends. to establish a character for our 
fruits that will result in a permanent 
and profitable trade. 
The importance of exporting nothing 
but the choicest fruits cannot be too 
strongly impressed upon fruit-growers, as 
it is the primary and absolutely essential 
condition for the establishment and main- 
tenance of a successful frult export trade. 
It is the key-note of all counsel that we 
have received from the great fruit houses 
of London and elsewhere, their invariable 
advice is:—Send us nothing but choice 
fruit, grade it evenly, and prck it honestly, 
and we will have no difficulty in disposing 
of it at a profit; but inferior, badly- 
packed fruit we do not want at any price, 
as it is hard to dispose of, injures the 
reputation of the whole State’s fruit, and 
only results in loss to the shippers. 
In order to establish and maintain a 
profitable export trade in fruit, it will 
therefore be necessary for our growers to 
lay themselves out especially for this 
JOHN CRESWELL. Secretary. 
trade, and to do this it will be necessary, 
in the first place. to grow only such fruits 
as are suitable for the markets to be sup- 
plied, and secondly, to place the fruits on 
these markets in such a manner that they 
will sell most readily and fetch the highest 
price. It is absolutely necessary to limit 
the number of verieties of fruit to be 
grown, and no grower who lays himself 
out for the export trade should grow more 
than six varieties of any one kind of fruit, 
and in most cases three varieties would 
pay very much better than six. Limiting 
the number of varieties simplifies the 
trade both for the grower and buyer. as 
buyers always prefer to purchase certain 
recognised standard varieties, which are 
known and asked for by the fruit-consum- 
ing public, to kinds that the general 
public know nothing at all about, Known 
varieties retail readily, and for more 
money, than varieties which are not 
generally known, and the public are 
chary of buying anything new in the 
way of fruit till the quality of the variety 
has become firmly established. 
The following particulars and details 
relating to the export of fruit, which are 
i. MARGULES, 
SIGHT SPECIALIS’ 
DR. OF GP TICE e 
FELLOW NATL: COLL: OPTHALMOL DY 
FELLOW SPENCER OPTICAL INSTITUTE 
49.KING WM.ST. ADELAIDE. 
ee A IU 
derived from a large nnmber of sources, 
and are the result of the actual experience 
of growers, shippers, and dealers in all 
parts of the world, must be strictly ad- 
hered to by our growers and shippers if 
we are to establish a profitable export 
fruit trade that will be a souree of wealth 
to the State, and any ueglect to comply 
with the «dyice given, which is based en 
experience, is bound to result in failure :— 
1. Allow the fruit to become full y de- 
veloped, but not fully ripe, on the tree 
before gathering ; fruit too ripe will not 
carry. The best stage at which to gather 
varies considerably with different fruits, 
and with different varieties of the same 
fruit. so that it can only be determined 
accurately by actual experience. 
2. Gather the fruit carefully, avoiding 
all bruisiug, as a bruised fruit is a spoilt 
fruit—in fact, a cull—and consequently 
is unfit for export. Gather when dry. 
Cut—do not shake or pull—it from the 
trees. 
3. Sweat the fruit carefully, by allowing 
it to remain in the picking-boxes for a 
few days. This will tend to get rid of 
the superfluous moisture of the skin, and 
to tonghen the rind, thus rendering the 
fruit less liable to injury by bruising 
during shipment. 
4, Grade the fruit thoroughly—firstly, 
for quality, excluding all blemished, 
marked, scaly. or imperfect fruit as culls ; 
and secondly, for size, as large and small 
fruit should never be packed together. 
5, Wrap each fruit carefully, using a 
soft, light, but tough paper. The fruit 
must be completely covered by the paper, 
and the stem end should be so protected 
that when packed there is no chance of 
the stem of one fruit puncturing the fruit 
packed next toit. Use attractive wrap- 
ping-paper, which should be stamped with 
the brand of the grower or shripper. 
6. Pack firmly, evenly, and neatly, so 
that there is no chance of the fruit shift- 
ing, but not so tight as to bruise the fruit 
and crush it out of shape. Only one size 
and quality of fruit must be packed in a 
case, which must be branded accordingly, 
as a single undersized or inferior fruit 
will spoil the sale of a case, or, what is of 
more importance, the sale of the whole 
shipment of the same brand, should it so 
happen that the case containing the faulty 
one is the one to be opened when the 
case is being sold. Packing should be 
done in such a manner that no matter 
which side of the case is opened the fruit 
will open up so as to show to best advan- 
tage. In the English market the case ‘is 
always opened from the side, not from. 
the end, as a larger quantity of fruit is 
thus exposed to view, and any dishonest 
packing is readily detected. If there are 
any small spaces between the fruit, never 
try and cram in a small fruit, but fill the 
space with white paper shavings, a layer 
of which is an advantage to place in the 
top and bottom of the case as well, as it 
