Fertile Norfolk Island.

How Inspection and Grading Would Assist Selling

From Our Own Correapondent.

N. I., Oct. 24.

IT is no betrayal of our domestic or economic interests to reveal the fact that, alone, among the islands ship ping fruit and garden produce to the mainland markets, Norfolk has no authorised inspector.

Buyers oversea are only too well aware of our handicap and with no ab solute guarantee of our stuff being true to label, it is seldom that we receive any thing like the top prices announced each evening over the wireless. Local agents buying occasionally f.o.b., do their best to pass their particular shipments on the jetty as they come down; but, in the hurry of despatch, it is impossible to in spect every single case or even a catch sample of every grower’s consignment.

There are those amongst us who, in their own temporary interests, forget the interests of the island as a whole and are more than careless in grading and packing. The shipment for Norfolk goes upon the market en masse, and agents and merchants on the other side who have once been caught with inferior produce, or produce that is not true to brand, will not only refuse to touch Nor folk Island merchandise in future but will do us irreparable damage by broad casting their injuries in the market place.

In the interests of the whole com munity, therefore, we should do our ut most to secure the services of a really good man, who would not only set his seal of guarantee on each outgoing case but would also be available to advise growers and planters as to the necessi ties of their individual plantations, to recommend certain crops or rotation of crops, and to detect and check disease in its earliest manifestations.

Conditions in every profession are so bad at present that it should be possible to get a first rate man for a term of years for a very much lower salary than he would ordinarily demand. We should reap financial benefit that would far more than offset the cost of such an expert and, if we cannot expect his sal ary to be met entirely from the sum allocated by the Commonwealth Treas ury to the maintenance of the island, we should be willing to contribute a sub stantial portion of it, ourselves. It could be done by imposing a small tax upon each case passed for shipment and ac cording to the grade of the produce ex amined; in that way the tax would not bear too hardly upon the small grower, but each consignor would pay in propor tion to the size of his shipment.

By last “Morinda,” to Sydney, we shipped 3333 cases of mixed produce, but prices secured are not yet known.

Within the last few weeks, after we had disconsolately disposed in various unprofitable directions of a great quan tity of passionfruit pulp, in excellent condition, one of our largest growers and most prominent settlers has received from Melbourne urgent orders for sev eral tons of pulp. It seems an incredible situation because, for months at the be ginning of the year when the fruit was newly pulped, we communicated urgently with all possible buyers throughout the Commonwealth but disposed of scarcely any—in spite of the fact that commer cial analysts to whom samples were

submitted, reported most highly upon its flavour, sugar content and mode of treat ment.

Now, when last season’s output is only a sore memory and the vines are not even flowering for the next crop, come more than one desperate demand for im mense quantities, and at once! It does not seem reasonable, somehow. What were those firms doing when we were approaching everybody likely to be in terested in our wares, months and months ago?

It really seems as though we shall not reach any satisfactory solution of the problem of our fruit until some oversea company establishes a factory on the is land and deals with each variety as it ripens and reaches perfection. Bananas that do not reach top grade, or that ripen between steamers might either be sun-dried, according to the very simple formula discovered in Tahiti and re corded in P.I.M. of April last, or turned into banana flour, for which there is an increasing demand, especially in the

U.S.A.

The red and yellow guavas that grow in vast groves all over the island, make beautiful jelly, that finds a very ready sale in Australia. Several years ago, the local manager for Messrs. Burns, Philp was induced to forward samples of this jelly to Sydney and the response was such that he expressed himself as will ing to handle as much as he could get.

But the maker left the island and no one else has been enterprising enough to ask for the same opportunity.

There are enormous canning pears grown here to perfection; loquats and figs; while the juice of the oranges and lemons that grow wild and fruit all the year round, might be bottled and the rinds turned into candied peel. Both passionfruit and guavas make a delicious light wine—passionfruit wine being com parable to a very nice light hock. In deed, there are endless possibilities open to a company of vision and gnancial resources.

Once again, the bean planting season is upon us and, from end to end of the island, rich, warm acres of soil are being

prepared to grow the Canadian Wonder Bean for export as seed. From some for tuitous combination of soil, sun and cli mate the Canadian Wonder Bean grows here to a perfection of colour and qual ity that is recognised by all buyers and for this crop we receive top prices, while every bushel grown finds a ready mar ket. The local storekeepers acts as agents and shippers for merchants on the other side, and they are very keen at grad ing and classifying, so that only the very best goes forward —greatly to the advantage of our reputation as pro ducers of the finest seed that reaches the market.

A Government inspector would do for our other produce what the store keepers do for our Canadian Wonder Beans.