Part 9

Page 683
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This transcription is complete

9944. Do you think there is sufficient fruit available in the State to warrant the establishment of jam factories ?— That is a hard question. There is not the right sort of fruit available. We have no raspberries and no black or red currants, and apricots are too expensive for jam making. We have no black plums at a price which would pay for jam making , because 7s. or 8s. a case is too much for that purpose. We certainly have a surplus of Bartlett pears and apples and peaches , as well as of Japanese plums, which are, however, no good for jam.

9945. Would it be possible to deal profitably with the surplus in the varieties you mention by means of evaporating plants? — So far as pears and apples are concerened, this might be feasible, but so far as Burbank and Japanese plums are concerned, the only profitable thing for the growers to do is to put their axes into the trees, for they are only wasting their time in growing them. I have advised several growers to get rid of these trees and replace them with more suitable varieties, and the result has been a good one. There is no surplus of good cooking plums, that is the dark coloured plums, but there may be a surplus of Satsumas now and again.

9946. On what terms do you sell ? — Generally weekly terms or cash, but weekly for the most part. We sell under private treaty, and in Fremantle on the auction system. In Perth we charge five per cent. Commission and in Fremantle, where we deliver to the shops free, we charge 7½ per cent.

9947. Have you any knowledge of the private treaty as carried on in the markets in South Australia ?— I attended those markets for seven years. I also worked in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane in the private treaty business. I was head salesman in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane for the firms I was employed with.

9948. Which system do you prefer?— The auction system cannot exist if it is desired to bring about an increase in production. In the case of the Adelaide markets 50 auctioneers would take a month to sell what comes in in one day.

9949. Which do you think is the better system for the grower ? — If the supplies are small, the auctioneering system is the better, but if there is a good steady supply the private treaty system is preferable. If it is desired to increase production, we must have the private treaty system.

9950. By Mr VENN: Do you think that Western Australia is becoming self-supporting in the matter of the supply of potatoes?— Yes, I should say so, from November until the end of May. It is quite possible that we could ship from Western Australian from December to February to the Eastern States. It is impossible to import satisfactorily from the Eastern States after October owing to the seasons. During the last Saturday 1,218 bags were landed, and this week 2,000 are expected.

9951. There appear to be thousands of tons of local potatoes still available ? — that is so , but anyone looking round the country would find that the supply of local potatoes of good quality is becoming smaller. Importers should not need potatoes here for another month. We have always had a sufficient local supply up to now. The red soil local potato sells just as well as the imported article and is quite equal to it . We could have an improvement in regard to the variety of potatoes, but there is a line of Harmony potatoes grown by Mr Roan, which the buyers are always eager to get. They say they are very good cooking potatoes and better than the Victorian variety.

9952. By Mr PAYNTER: Would you favour the auctioneers system for bulk lots and the private treaty system for smaller assorted lines?— The goods that come by rail will either have to be sold by a commission agent or by auction, unless the people, say at Bridgetown, had a man looking after the goods for them. If you want to get good fruit you do not go down to the auction sales to buy it. The fruit which is handled in an auction room is always considerably knocked about.

9953. To Mr. PAYNTER : We do not handle any dried fruit. There is a call for it at a price. There is a big call for dried figs in october. That is an industry which could be encourage. You could do better with that than with the jam business.

9954. By Mr CLARKSON : Is it your opinion that the orchardists have been planting the wrong varieties of fruits?— A lot of the orchards want resetting. The Illawara orchard has been almost wholly replanted and it is now a fairly up to date place. Sounness's orchard at Mt.Barker is every year being cut down and regrafted. The auction system has been the means of all the bad planting.

9955. Have you, as one who is greatly interested in the fruit business, ever discussed these questions with the fruit experts of the Agricultural Department ? — You cannot get a discussion with the fruit experts. They are always making bloomers. They will not let us send any stiff away by rail. I had an order recently for a few hundred cases of apples to be sent to a troop ship at Albany. The apples were in cool storage and came from Sounness's orchard, but the department would not let me send them out to the transport. I wrote strongly to Mr Scaddan about it, but I did not get them away.

9956. I thought probably you might have met the experts of the department and discussed with them matters affecting your trade and I was curious to find out whether any intelligent effort had been made by the department to direct growers as to the best varieties of fruit to plant for their own future good ?—I think that the officers of the Agricultural Department Mr Moody, and particularly Mr Wickens give sound advice to the growers, but I do not think the growers look for it. Mr Wickens is a practical and particularly good man, and, in fact, the best man the department has. But unfortunately he is only the chief inspector and not the head of the department . If the department went into the question throughly and advised growers, I have no doubt many of them would take notice of that advice. Of course there are also some who would not.

9957. By Mr VENN: Have you had any oranges from Carnarvon ?— No , but Carnarvon can grow anything.

9958. By Mr PAYNTER: What do you think of the idea of the use of second hand fruit cases?— We must use second-hand cases and if we were permitted to do so it would have the effect of keeping down the price of new cases. Of course we must treat them. We treat them and use them at Fremantle.