H—29

The average economic orchard unit is about 12 acres, but the size of such a unit depends mainly on the fertility of the soil in which the trees are established, efficient management, and the orchard practices adopted. The most urgent problem confronting the industry is the continued shortage of fruit-trees required to replace unprofitable and declining trees in existing orchards and to establish new orchards. Until this tree shortage is overtaken, greater production, which is necessary to meet the increasing local consumption and to maintain the export trade, cannot be expected. Production The quantity of fruit produced in the Dominion during the 1946-47 season was : Bushels. Apples .. .. .. .. .. 1,933,221 Pears .. .. .. .. .. 286,846 Stone-fruit .. .. .. .. 395,895 Lemons .. .. .. .. .. 106,385 New Zealand grapefruit .. . .. .. 69,675 Sweet oranges .. .. .. .. 16,280 Other citrus .. .. .. .. 610 Apples and Pears.- —The quantity of apples produced was below Dominion average, but the pear crop was about 30,000 cases more than the previous year's crop.

The total production of apples and pears for the 1946-47 season was distributed as. follows: —

The latest apple and pear cro'p estimates for the 1947-48 season indicates a total of about 2,842,000 bushel cases of apples and about 352,000 of pears. The substantial increase from the previous season has been caused mainly by the generally favourable weather conditions during the summer. Export of Apples and Pears. —A feature of the marketing of fruit in the past year was the resumption of the export of apples and pears to Britain on a scale well up to pre-war quantities. Up to 31st March, 1948, 138,467 cases of apples of the 1947-48 crop have been exported to Britain, and it is expected that more than 1,000,000 cases of fruit will be exported before the close of the season. During the next few years it is anticipated that Britain will provide an assured market at reasonable prices for all the fruit that can be sent away from New Zealand. In addition to the quantity of fruit to be exported, there are about 1,500,000 bushel cases of apples and pears to be consumed on the local market as the result of the larger crops harvested.

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— Apples. Pears. Total. Distributed to consumers by Internal Marketing Division Forwarded direct to factories by Internal Marketing Division Sold privately by growers Sold to canning-factories Sold for dehydration, pulping, cider, &c. Bushels. 1,332,729 10,411 351,543 111,591 126,947 Bushels. 207,261 70,153 8,773 659 Bushels. 1,539,990 10,411 421,696 120,364 127,606 Totals 1,933,221 286,846 2,220,067