H—3OA

accentuate the present difficulty, but in the meantime it is uneconomical to continue importing. The position will be reviewed from time to time, and advantage will be taken of any improvement that may eventuate.

Pineapples were received as follows :

Lemons With the exception of the Meyer variety, the Division distributed the local production of lemons and imported and distributed supplies from overseas. Apparently the local crop is still suffering from the effects of climatic conditions which have reduced the supplies available for distribution, the total receipts being approximately 7,000 cases below last year's figure. A feature of the year's production was the very low percentage of peel-fruit supplied, which was less than half the yearly average. This was mainly due to drought conditions. In October, 1946, the Tauranga lemon-shed was completely destroyed by fire. However, arrangements were made for the transport section of the Auckland branch to provide motor-trucks to transport the lemons by road from the Tauranga area to Auckland for processing. A temporary depot was erected at Tauranga, where the lemons were assembled ready for despatch to Auckland. It has therefore been necessary to import larger quantities of lemons than of late, including shipments from the coastal area of New South Wales, but, unfortunately, this latter experience did not prove a successful venture. Future importations from Australia will as far as possible be confined to lemons from the irrigation areas of New South Wales and also from Victoria and South Australia.

The total distribution of local and imported lemons was :

26

Source of Supply. Year ended 30th September, 1946. Year ended 30th September, 1947. Cases. Percentage. Cases. Percentage. Australia Tonga Fiji 6,035 4,240 6,078 36-9 25-9 37-2 6,118 2,067 6,821 40-8 13-8 45-4 16,353 15,006

Source of Supply. Year ended 30th September, 1940. Year ended 30th September, 1947. Three-quarter- •„„„ Three-quarter-bushel Cases. Percentage. New Zealand Cook Islands Australia California 66,053 719 2,101 9,700 84-1 0-9 2-7 12-3 60,557 462 22,004 72-9 0-6 26-5 78,573 83,023