H—3oa

Average Price, Marketable Grades

At the end of the year a bonus sufficient to bring average payout for marketable grades to Bs. 2d. per loose bushel will be paid in addition to a wages subsidy of sd. per loose bushel for both marketable and by-product grades.

Comparative Average Price, 1st April, 1945, to 30th September, 1945

For the six months under review there is a drop in production of approximately 15,000 cases over all grades when compared with the corresponding period last year. This reduction is due mainly to the drought that was experienced during the summer months. The drought was felt mostly in Auckland, Kerikeri, and Gisborne districts, Tauranga being the only district with a reasonably good crop. Weather conditions since the drought have also been unsuitable for good citrus-production. Supplies to South Island Unfortunately, the shipping position between the North and South Islands has not improved during the last six months, but the Division has endeavoured to see that the South Island has had a fair percentage of the fruit that has been available, as the following figures for the six months ending 31st September, 1946, show :

The small percentage of lemons supplied to the South Island was due to their having a shipment of Californian which were imported in March of which the South Island had the equivalent of 5,518 f-bushel cases, which gives them a percentage of 36*5 of sales for the period under review.

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Average Price to Loose Bushels. Paid out. 30th September, 1946. £ 8. d. s. d. Tauranga 23,365f 8,865 3 9 7 7-06 Auckland .. .. j 6,623§ 2,504 4 9 7 6-75 Kerikeri .. 3,120J 1,152 7 1 7 4-64 Gisborne 1,466J 534 5 0 7 3-46 Totals 34,576§ 13,056 0 7 7 6-625

— Loose Bushels. Paid out. Average Price. £ s. d. s. d. Total marketable grades, 44,502 16,339 7 2 7 4-118 all sheds

Total for New Zealand (Cases). South Island. Cases. Percentage. Bananas Oranges Grapefruit .. Lemons Pineapples 137,051 78,357 920 36,743 5,414 36,000 30,011 64 9,931 2,302 26-26 38-3 7-0 27-03 42-5