20 JUNE 1931, Page 14

The general benefit will be far-reaching. It has become an

established sacrifice in fruit production in England to allow the fruit to rot on the trees and bushes in years of glut. It was done last year. Hundreds of tons of gooseberries and plums in Worcestershire alone were left unpicked because the wages would obviously exceed the value of the produce. Many more tons would have been left if growers had not been at pains to occupy their hands if there were any chance of the fruit nearly paying for the labour. Loss was voluntarily incurred on many farms for the sakes of the labourer and continuity. There will be years still when a glut in England, corresponding with a glut abroad or any large import of superfluous supplies from overseas, will entail the same wretched waste. It may happen this year with gooseberries, which are a bumper crop in some districts. But the canneries are likely (may we say ?) to stop the rot—to preserve fruit that would else be wasted, to main- tain a steady supply at a steady price throughout the year, and so increase consumption to the general advantage of the community. * * *