H—3oa

Kumaras As intimated in the previous report, the discovery that kumaras imported from Piji and Tonga were infected by a kumara weevil resulted in further importations from these sources of supply being prohibited by the Department of Agriculture. Niue is the only present supplier, but advantage will be taken to obtain shipments from other areas if they become available. Importations were as under :

Lemon Distribution The Division continued to carry out the responsibilities of packing and distributing locally grown lemons (except the Meyer variety) and also attended to the importation of all supplies available from overseas. Owing to unsuitable climatic conditions, the production in New Zealand has been very low and as it has not been possible to procure sufficient importations the market has been under-supplied.

Lemon Processing The following is a summary of marketable grades and average prices paid :

Total Receipts, all Sheds

19

Source of Supply. Six Months ended 30th September, 1945. Six Months ended 30th September, 1946. 50 lb. Bag. Percentage. 50 lb. Bag Percentage. Niue Tonga Fiji 430 382 191 42-9 38-1 19-0 878 100 1,003 878

Source of Supply. Six Months ended 30th September, 1945. Six Months ended 30th September, 1946. Three-quarter-bushel Cases. Percentage. Three-quarter-bushel Cases. Percentage. New Zealand Cook Islands Australia 39,674 608 3,724 90-1 1-4 8-5 33,684 958 2,101 91-7 2-6 5-7 44,006 36,743

— Preferred. Commercial. First-grade Peel. Juice. Rejects. Total. Tauranga 16,675f 6,690j 1,947 l,406i 343f 27,062f Auckland 3,862f 2,761* 1,012| 537| 65* 8,239f Kerikeri 1,525 1,595J 49£ 81f 190* 39* 3,441J Gisborne 868 598| 51* 65f 1,622f 22,931 11,645* 3,060J 2,091* 638* 40,365^