Minutes of Evidence p.1401-1509 - Parliament of Victoria

1483
50i 17. Are yon in the habit of getting cases from Tasmania ?-vVe used to be the largest importers ~.r. a ..ronnsort,
but recently we have receded somewhat. . · · , · gtf"zJ;:' 1 1 ~si>il.
· 50118. Have you had any recently ?-We have, and I can tell you that the measure of a bushel
recognised in Hobart recently is 2 feet 4 inches long, H inches deep, and 7 inches across. The cubical
contents of that is recognised as a legal bushel.
50119. That is the size of case recognised there ?-Yes.
50120. Have you ever weighed a case of apples, say one of those cases ?-Yes, I have weighed
many of. them.
50121. What was the weight ?-They varied greatly.
50122. In accordance with the samples of fruit, perhaps ?-Yes, precisely :;o. If you take a mob
'codlin, a large soft apple, grown perhaps upon soft ground, it is naturally a large soft apple, the weight of
that would run about 38lbs. to 421bs. The Emperor Alexander, a large red apple, I have known as light
as 36lbs. The small hard French crab, grown on hn.rd ground, would run to 50lbs., and it would require
those various weights to fill a uniform case.
50123. Then the proper system of dealing with fruits would be to deal with measmement ?-Of
course it is.
50124. Then, if a case is no bigger than our case, the complaint of the fruit growers is met ?-Yes ;
we have no recognised case. The common ones of the gardeners here are orange cases, which the trade
greatly complain against, and will set their faces against for the future. The complaint is, that they use
the orange case for apples. The orange case has a partition in the middle, and, therefore, does not hold
a bushel. It is called a bushel by our gardeners. It may hold 40lbs. or 42lbs. according to the sort of fTuit ;
but it is not the legally recognised bushel of Tasmanin.. .
50125. Your statement to the Commission is, then, that it is unfair to recognise 40lbs. as a bushel ?
.-Yes, certainly.
· 50126. How would you remedy their complaint then ?-'I:hese gentlemen say of their cases, they
can put them into our cases, that is, they can take the orange case from Sydney and put it into a Tasmanian
apple case. ·
- 50127. By .l11r. Bosisto.-He did not say that. He saicl that he could put a VictoriM apple case
into a Tasmania,n apple case ?-Excuse me ; there is not such a thing as a Victorian apple cn.se.
50128. By the Chai1·man.-You say his statement is incorrect in that respect ?-I should like you
to notice why.
50129. If what the growers say is correct they are perfectly entitled to bring their complaint before
the Commission, because if the system of taxation in the country is to be conducted faidy, they have a
·:fight to complain if a fraud exists-you say it does not exist ?-I do say so.
50130. You say that there can be no uniform weight to a bushel at all?-Yes.
50UH. Could we determine upon a certain measure here as a bushel ?-Just as easy as Tasmania.
50132. And have a fixed measure ?-And have n. fixed measure.
50133. And we have no fixed measure ?-And we have no fixed measure. You have an
imperial measure here in the Custom House. That piled, you will find will just fill the Tasmanian
case.
50134. If the Commission visit your place, can we see one of those oases weighed ?-Yes.
50135. Have you any Tasmanian in stock now ?-No, a,nd are not likely to have for six weeks ;
but it must be evident to the Commission that weight cannot enter into the consideration of a
bushel.
. 50136. You import largely from Sydney P-Yes.
50137. Oranges particularly ?-Yes.
50138. Do our oranges in this country, to your knowledge, grow successfully ?-No, judging from
my own experience. I have tried them, and I have been long enough in the trade to know.
· 50139. Do the consumers prefer the Sydney to the locally grown orange ?-They prefer the Sydney
orange most decidedly, there is no compn.rison.
50140. Do you deal in the local orange at all-the Victorian grown ?-We have on one or two
o.ccasions, when they have been offered. On one occasion we had as many as 100 bushels, and that was
fthe only occasion when we had anything at all like a large parcel.
50141. If the duty were rem.oved from oranges, as you suggest, would it keep you from dealin"'
"in the Victorian article if it were produced ?-Not at nll.
"'
50142. Which orange 'sells the dearest-the Victorian or the Sydney ?-I think they are not in
competition. V\ 7 e never meet with Victorian oranges. I have met with them in the whole of my
experience abOLlt four times, that is extending over about twenty-eight J&'trs. They are not known in the
trade. A few years since a small parcel w11s sent. f'rom .vVangaratta, about lOO bushels, as I told you.
I have never heard, n.ltogether, of 500 bushels re~Lchmg thu; market.
. 50143. To whom do you vend your fruit-to the retail fruit dealers or to the wholesale consumer
in the way of fruit preserving ?-We sell largely to both. In July and August, when they are ripe we
sell largely to the preserving factories, to work up into marmalade, and then we export largely. '
50144. Is the system of duty an inconvenience to you in any way ?_:.Nothing beyond the simple
question of putting on so much more weight;. that must necessarily come out of the consumer.
50145. Have you any suggestion to make ?-I should like to say, while speakino- of apples and
'plums and so forth, produced here, that we are much larger exporters than importers. "'
. 50146. Of which ?-Of Victorian grown fruits. This year we have exported to Sytlney largely in
apples, and some plums. We h)1ve sent thousands of bushels of plums to Adelaide and to New ZealMd
about for three months, every boat carries as much as she can as deck cargo.
50147. Have you clone tlmt yourselves ?-We have done that ourselves.
50148. You speak of your own particular business llOWq-I speak of our own pmticular business
now.
' 50149. You have been dealing with the fruit growers of the country, and now you are much larger
exporters than importers?-Very much larger at the present time .
.50150. Call you tell us how many bushels of fruit you have exported ?-I should think about
8,000 to 10,000 cases this season.